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Review: Super Street Fighter 2 X: Grand Master Challenge (For Matching Service) |
I’ve had this game for quite a while now, hidden in the bowels of my Dreamcast CD rack, and time has come to review it, to give it another spin in the Dreamcast’s tray, after initially only playing it an hour or so. I never played it again since, for many reasons, one of which is that I’m spoiled rotten by how much games have come along since, and the fact that it’s essentially the same game I used to play the shit out of as a small fry. Upon playing this title again, I’ve come through disappointments and pleasant surprises, and not even come close to tasting it’s true potential.
You know the drill better than anyone else. You’ve spent hours, days, weeks on the previous versions. So to avoid rehashing the exact same game, a few tweaks and pulls have been made to make this quite possibly the smoothest version of SSF2. It’s a dream to play, the controls are tight and responsive. Some moves are added, but of utmost interest, is the small gauge. The sucker fills in pretty slowly, but that’s because the alphas resulting from it’s depletion give out a good spanking. In the name of balance, and all that jazz. The game is a joy in the gameplay department, and there’s not much more to be said. You get Turbo speeds from “0″ to “6″ for a sluggish or hyper-active battle, all up to your whims. These additions make battles more interesting, and add in more depth, obviously. However, not is all without doubt…
This is quite possibly one, if not the, hardest fighting games I’ve ever played. It gets so absurdly hard, I couldn’t finish it on even 1 star difficulty. I don’t suck as such, there are games I’ve beaten on the highest difficulty such as SoulCalibur, Capcom VS SNK and more. But I don’t know if this is just humanly possible for a mortal being to complete on the highest difficulty. My troubles would begin every time I had to fight Cammy. I quite literally took over 20 continues. I lost count, but I kept on trying until I won by the hair on my chin (well, stubble actually). But I gave up in the following fight, as the CPU just decided to go another notch higher in the bitch meter. It was insane stuff. Things I had never expected to see in my lifetime. A clear example of this was Cammy throwing me whilst I was in the middle of a Psycho Crusher. I had my jaw on the floor, and things didn’t get better when she finished me off in 16 seconds. Gathering my courage, I tried with every character I ever showed proficiency with. All fell to powerful combos, mid-air throws, and impeccable timing. No, I really wasn’t playing a human. This was the lightning quick agility of a processor beating you down. I nearly had a depression on the couch, as I watched Cammy flaunt her cute buttocks towards me. She suddenly became so vile, so evil, my written words could not describe it with enough accuracy. If you think you’ve mastered Street Fighter 2, I guarantee you will be schooled to the point where you will never allow yourself the honor of being called a master of this game.
Thankfully, SSF2X was built as an online multiplayer frenzy in mind. It’s part of the “For Matching Service” line that Capcom has established on the Dreamcast, and so, unfortunately for me and you readers as well, it could not be tested. I don’t live in Japan, and I’m sure the majority of Higher Voltage’s readership doesn’t either ; )
The training mode will help you on your way to defeating the vicious AI (or maliciously vicious human player), but I’m afraid the Japanese was a little too much for me to wade through all the options. It’s basic stuff though, so I don’t think I’ve missed out on anything. There are dummy commands and the like, so knock yourself out.
I’ll leave you with this, since it’s always good to hear. Along with being the most difficult version yet (so I estimate), it’s possibly the prettiest (new frames of animation were added here and there) and best sounding as well. The Capcom Q-Sound system gives extra “pep” to the background music. Presentation is minimal though.
I personally didn’t find anything in this game to go nuts for, but I haven’t been in the mood for SF2 in quite a while either, so I won’t let that cloud my judgment. Those of you dissatisfied with newer fighting games, or just looking for some retro gaming with a lemony zip of freshness, do yourself a world of favor and pick up Super Street Fighter 2 X : Grand Master Challenge for the Dreamcast : you’ll rediscover something great, and break a sweat too.
