Champion Edition

''Street Fighter II: Champion Edition'', released as (stylized as ''Street Fighter '' with a prime symbol) 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 (the final four computer-controlled opponents in the single-player mode) 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, and M. Bison), 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 (with the character used by the player to clear the game on top), 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 (e.g. a red dress for Chun-Li, blue skin for Blanka) 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, developed by Capcom, 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 (stylized as ''Street Fighter Plus'') 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 (pulse-code modulation) 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 (Normal mode) and ''Hyper Fighting'' rules (Turbo mode).

The arcade version is included in ''Street Fighter Collection 2'' (''Capcom Generation 5'') 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 ($182 million) in hardware sales revenue (equivalent to $ in ). 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'' in its May 15, 1992 issue as the most successful table arcade cabinet of the month, outperforming games such as '' Sonic Wings'' (''Aero Fighters''). ''Street Fighter II Dash'' went on to become the second highest-grossing arcade game of 1992, just below ''The World Warrior''.alternate url
/ref> ''Dash'' was also the fourth highest-grossing arcade game of 1993 in Japan.alternate url
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In the United States, ''Champion Edition'' drew a high amount of orders upon its debut in March 1992. It was number one on ''RePlay''s 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 the top-grossing video game on the ''Play Meter'' arcade charts 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 (AMOA). Later on ''RePlay''s charts, ''Champion Edition'' was No. 4 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 Edition''s worldwide arcade earnings exceeded $2.3 billion in gross revenue (equivalent to $ in ). This makes it one of the top three highest-grossing arcade games of all time, after ''Pac-Man'' (1980) and ''Space Invaders'' (1978).

Accolades

Upon its North American debut at the American Coin Machine Exposition (ACME) in March 1993, it was declared the "game of the show" by ''RePlay'' and ''Play Meter'' magazines.

''Street Fighter II Dash'' was awarded 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 (video game music), 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'' (1992). This version was nevertheless a best-seller in Japan, the UK, and US.Official American sales chart, February 1994, published in Mega (magazine) issue 17

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.読者 クロスレビュー: ストリートファイターII ダッシュプラス. Weekly Famicom Tsūshin. No. 257. Pg.40. 12–19 November 1993. 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.''Mega'' magazine review, 1993 ''MegaTech'' scored it 95%, and commented "the greatest coin-op hits the Megadrive in perfect form".''MegaTech'' magazine review, December 2010 ''Edge'' gave the PC Engine version of ''Champion Edition'' a score of 8 out of 10.

Notes

References

Further reading

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External links

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1992 video games
2D fighting games
Arcade video games
Capcom Power System Changer games
CP System games
Fighting games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Nintendo Classics games
Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition
Street Fighter games
TurboGrafx-16 games
Video game sequels
Video games developed in Japan
Virtual Console games
X68000 games