Street Fighter II: Champion Edition
Street Fighter II: Champion Edition, released as in Japan, is a 1992 fighting game developed and published by Capcom for arcades. It is the first of several updated versions of Street Fighter II, and part of the Street Fighter series. The main changes are the addition of the four grand masters as playable characters and mirror matches. The fighting techniques of the eight main characters from the original game were further balanced for competitive play.
Champion Edition was followed several months later by Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting.
Gameplay
Champion Edition feature the following changes from the original World Warrior iteration of Street Fighter II.In addition to the standard eight fighters, the four Grand Masters |Balrog], Vega, Sagat, the final set of opponents that the player face when fighting against the CPU, are now playable fighters and can be used when either, fighting the CPU or against another human player. [The Grand Masters in Champion Edition are considerably toned down from the CPU-only iterations from World Warrior but remain relatively strong compared to the original eight. The Grand Masters have a standard ending sequence after completing the single player mode which shows portraits of all four characters, overlaid with scrolling text specific to the character while sinister-sounding music plays.
Champion Edition is also the first game in the series to feature mirror matches - the ability to match-up any character against a clone version of themselves. To distinguish each player, one character will be assigned their standard palette, while the opponent will be wearing an alternate color scheme and have a blue name tag under their life bar. As a result, the single player mode now has the player facing against all 12 fighters, with the additional match being a mirror match. The player can also pick each character's standard or alternate scheme on their own volition, which is determined by which button is used when selecting the character at the player select screen.
The techniques for the original eight were refined to adjust the game's overall balance, with Ryu's and Ken's fighting styles being further differentiated from each other starting with this entry.
Graphical changes include different color palettes for the backgrounds of each fighter's stages, redrawn character portraits and revised ending visuals for some of the characters. There is new background music for the staff roll sequence.
Releases
PC Engine
The PC Engine version was published by NEC Home Electronics and released exclusively in Japan on June 12, 1993. Unlike the Super NES version of The World Warrior, it includes the barrel-breaking bonus stage and numerous sound clips. This version was released on a 20-Megabit HuCard, and with optional controllers with more buttons. This version was released on Virtual Console on November 16, 2009.Genesis/Mega Drive
The Genesis/Mega Drive version, titled Street Fighter II': Special Champion Edition and released as in Japan, was released on September 27, 1993 in North America, September 28, 1993 in Japan, and October 29, 1993 in Europe. It is the first of two Street Fighter II versions for the console and is in a 24 megabit cartridge. A six-button control pad was made primarily for it.This version was originally intended to be a standalone port of Champion Edition, similar to the PC Engine version. The Genesis/Mega Drive version was announced in March 1993 and was originally intended for release around July 1993. However, the game's release was later delayed to September 1993 because the two prototypes in early 1993 did not satisfy the Capcom executives. Following the announcement of Street Fighter II Turbo for the SNES, Sega had ordered its version to be delayed so that Capcom could add all of the extra content from the Turbo version as well, resulting in the title change.
Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition was released as a plug and play system in 2005 as part of the "Play TV Legends" series by Radica. It also includes the Genesis version of Ghouls 'n Ghosts.
X68000
On November 26, 1993, Capcom released an X68000 port of Champion Edition exclusively in Japan, which consisted of four floppy disks. The port is almost identical to the arcade version, with identical graphics and almost identical soundtrack. The game includes a joystick adapter for the Super Famicom and Mega Drive versions of Capcom's CPS Fighter joystick controller. On an X68030 with multiple PCM drivers installed, the music and voice quality can match that of the arcade version's ADPCM sound system.Other releases
Street Fighter II Turbo for the SNES, while based on the succeeding game in the series, allows players to choose between Champion Edition rules and Hyper Fighting rules.The arcade version is included in Street Fighter Collection 2 for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn, as well as Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 1 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox and Capcom Classics Collection: Reloaded for PlayStation Portable. In 2011, Street Fighter II: Champion Edition was included alongside Street Fighter II and Street Fighter II Turbo as part of the Street Fighter II Collection for iOS devices. Arcade1Up later released a home arcade cabinet featuring Street Fighter II: Champion Edition, Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers and Super Street Fighter II Turbo.
Reception
Arcade
In Japan alone, 140,000 Street Fighter II Dash arcade hardware units were sold at each, earning ¥22.4 billion in hardware sales revenue. In the United States, between 20,000 and 25,000 Champion Edition arcade units were sold, similar to Street Fighter II: The World Warrior. This totals about 160,000165,000 Champion Edition arcade units sold in Japan and the United States.In Japan, Game Machine listed Street Fighter II Dash as the most successful table arcade cabinet of May 1992, outperforming games such as Sonic Wings. Street Fighter II Dash went on to become the second highest-grossing arcade game of 1992, just below The World Warrior. Dash was also the fourth highest-grossing arcade game of 1993 in Japan.
In the United States, Champion Edition drew a high amount of orders upon its debut in March 1992. It was number one on RePlays May 1992 coin-op earnings chart for upright arcade cabinets, and remained at the top of the charts through summer up until September 1992. Champion Edition was also the top-grossing overall video game on the Play Meter arcade charts in June 1992, and remained there through September 1992. It went on to be the highest-grossing dedicated arcade game of 1992 in the United States, according to RePlay and the Amusement & Music Operators Association. Later on RePlays charts, Champion Edition was number four on the upright cabinet charts in April and May 1993. It was one of the top five highest-grossing conversion kits of 1993.
In the United Kingdom, the game was also a major hit, like the original Street Fighter II. In Australia, where the game cost AU$6,000 or per unit, the launch of Champion Edition drew large crowds queuing up outside arcades to play the game. On Australia's Timezone monthly arcade charts published in the June 1992 issue of Leisure Line magazine, Street Fighter II: Champion Edition was the top-grossing arcade conversion kit.
Street Fighter II': Champion Editions worldwide arcade earnings exceeded $2.3 billion in gross revenue, making it one of the top three highest-grossing arcade games of all time, after Pac-Man and Space Invaders.
Accolades
Upon its North American debut at the American Coin Machine Exposition in March 1993, it was declared the "game of the show" by RePlay and Play Meter magazines.Street Fighter II Dash was awarded List of [Game of the Year awards|Best Game of 1992] in the Sixth Annual Grand Prize , as published in the February 1993 issue of Gamest , winning once again in the category of Best Action Game. Dash placed 3 in Best VGM, No. 6 in Best Graphics, No. 5 in Best Direction. The Street Fighter II Image Album was the No. 1 Best Album in the same issue, with the Drama CD version of Street Fighter II tied for No. 7 with the soundtrack for Star Blade. The List of Best Characters was not dominated by Street Fighter II characters this time, with the only character at the Top Ten being Chun-Li at No. 3.
''Special Champion Edition''
The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis version, Street Fighter II': Special Champion Edition, yielded sales of 1.665 million cartridges. This version was below Capcom's sales expectations, due in part to competition from the original Mortal Kombat. This version was nevertheless a best-seller in Japan, the UK, and US.The Mega Drive version, Special Champion Edition, received positive reviews. In November 1993, Famitsu magazine's Reader Cross Review gave II' Plus a 10 out of 10. It received 10 out of 10 for both graphics and addiction from Mega, who described it as "a candidate for best game ever and without a doubt the best beat-'em-up of all time" and gave it an overall 92% score. MegaTech scored it 95%, and commented "the greatest coin-op hits the Megadrive in perfect form". Edge gave the PC Engine version of Champion Edition a score of 8 out of 10.