Super Street Fighter II HD Remix

Forget everything you know about the project; (take a deep breath) Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix has been given another new makeover, free rein to break the usual 150Mb XBLA size limit (not an issue for PS3), another delay, and one welcome surprise.

After the game’s animation frames met neither the standard nor the speed Capcom had anticipated, Remix producer Rey Jiminez was forced to again delay the game. The shots originally released a while back are out and a new art style has been created to ensure consistency. The new style has meant starting from scratch, further delaying the game but meaning we get to play it this year rather than some time in 2056. Characters are now less detailed than the original concept, but are more in keeping with the bold lines and solid colours of the original. It’s an odd misstep for Capcom and one which might have been avoided. The art team at the well-regarded Udon studio are comic artists and illustrators rather than animators; the art style they settled on was unmanageable by one team, requiring costly outsourcing and now a totally fresh start for the art pipeline.

Still, there’s no use crying over spilt milk, and a few months wait won’t date a game that’s remained fresh for over a decade. “Few games are able to stand up to the rigors of competition,” says re-balancing man David Sirlin. “Street Fighter does, and so the experts love it. It’s easy to get into, has memorable characters, and a fast-paced fun factor. That perfect storm of design elements is why a 14-year-old game with 14-year-old graphics still has tournaments every week in Tokyo.”