Street Fighter Zero 2-Super Famicom Review

Released at the end of 1996, Street Fighter Zero 2 (Alpha 2 in the West) was one of the last releases for the dying Super Famicom. This SFC release was heavily compromised in terms of graphics and detail, but remains a testament to the power of the SFC, even at the end of its life.

Zero 2 features all 18 fighters from the arcade original. Sprites are heavily downsized compared to the arcade/Playstation/Saturn. Lacking the same amount of animation, they nonetheless are a decent approximation of the original. Music is generated by the SFC sound-chip, far inferior to the stellar "rebook" CD audio of the 32-bit ports.

Besides the lower-quality audio and cut-down sprites, the game features some odd loading times. For a cartridge release, load times are a puzzling features. About 4-5 seconds before matches, they don't cripple the game, but are quite annoying.

Gameplay is one area where this port shines.Fighting with the SFC controller is as fluid as ever, and those who enjoyed previous Street Fighter games on the SNES/SFC will feel right at home here. The speed of fighting feels slower than the PS/SATURN versions, most likely due to the slow processing speed of the SFC/SNES.

Zero 2 is my personal favourite of the Zero/Alpha series. The combo/super move system is wonderful, and the game has a rich and deep fighting system that is not as convoluted as later SF games.

Many have stated that there is no purpose in playing this cut-down version of the game on the SFC. This may be true, as it offers no advantages over the vastly superior Saturn port. However, it is a interesting curiosity from the late 16-bit era. Not a terrible port, but a curiosity for sure.

+Showed the power of the SFC/SNES
+A decent port given the hardware limitations
+Great controls and fighting system
+All characters present

-Load times
-Cut-down animations
-Fairly rare game
-Chip sound is inferior to CD versions

RATING: 6.9/10

X-Men vs Street Fighter-Sega Saturn Review

Released in late 1997 for the Sega Saturn, this Capcom release is a testament to what the Sega Saturn was capable of. While it never made it outside of Japan, this release is highly discussed among fans of Capcom fighters and the Sega Saturn alike. Let's find out why.

X-Men vs Street Fighter is a tag-team fighter like the Marvel vs. Capcom series. You take control of two fighters from a list of 17 (Apocalypse is the final boss) fighters. This list may seem small nowadays, but was sizeable at the time of release. Most of the fan-favourites appear on the list, however Marvel vs Capcom players will certainly notice some players missing.

Like Marvel vs. Capcom, tagging in your other character can be done in different ways. You can break you block and allow for a super move (with the drain of your meter). Or, you can opt for a more simple tag-in attack. In any case, fans of MVC games should feel at home with this somewhat simplified version of combos and attacks. The fantastic Sega Saturn controller makes playing the game even better, that is if you can track down a model 2 Saturn Controller.

X-Men vs. Street Fighter is considered to be arcade-perfect by many. This is certainly accurate, as very little is missing in the way of lost frames of animation. This is largely due to the "4MB" memory-card which many Saturn fighters made use of. The game needs the cart to run, and they can be an expensive item to track down nowadays. However, the cart will work for other Saturn fighters such as Vampire Savior and Marvel Superheroes vs. Capcom.

For fans of Capcom fighters, X-Men vs. Street Fighter is a fantastic version of a classic arcade game. If you have a Sega Saturn (and the ability to play import games), this game sits pretty high up on the Saturn fighter throne.

+Pretty close to arcade perfect.
+You get to play it with the Sega Saturn controller (the best fighting gamepad).
+Fairly short loading times.
+Sounds great

-Needs 4MB memory cart.
-Japan-only release (need ability to play imports).

RATING-9/10