Basically, the storyline is the same as every other SF 2 game (beat Bison and discover your reason for fighting), but the interesting twist in this game is that you can choose a character from all of the different SF 2 games that they have appeared in.  So if you feel like taking out Bison with Ken as he appeared in Street Fighter 2 Turbo, then you can do so.  Or for another interesting twist, you can have player one fight as Ryu as he first appeared in Steet Fighter 2 versus his counterpart from Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo to find out once and for all which version is stronger.  It's a nice way to go through the SF history and also develop different strategies cause different versions of the same character play differently.

 

Control: 4/5

 

The game control is almost as good as the arcade versions.  It's a little bit tighter then previous versions so sometimes it's difficult to connect combos with the arrow pad or the analog stick.  That is another plus, being able to play with both the stick and the pad.

 

Graphics: 5/5

 

Arcade perfect.  What really makes the graphics stand out though is how older character models from past SF 2 games can perfectly blend in with the graphics of Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo and not look out of place.

 

Sound: 5/5

 

Everything comes out clearly, and for characters that appeared in past SF 2 games, the original sounds are intact!  So that means that for the first 3 SF2 games, Ryu and Ken will have the exact same voice! Oh those were the days...

 

Music: 5/5

 

The music has never gotten better!  What's interesting is that if you go into the gallery section, you can listen to the tunes of all the music from the game based on what CPS system you want to use.  FYI, CPS is basically what kind of cpu program capcom was using at the time.  The higher the number, the greater the graphics and the sound.  For the first 3 SF2 games, Capcom was using CPS 1.  When they moved on to Super Street Fighter 2, they moved to CPS2 (and the last CPS2 game would be Alpha 3).  The Arranged section plays the music if it appeared on a CPS 3 system ( I love Akuma's theme in this section).  Another intersting trait is that you can listen to music for the characters that didn't arrive till Super SF2 on the CPS 1 system to hear what it would sound like if they did appear in those earlier games.

 

Difficulty: 6/5

 

How can this earn a 6 if the maximum is 5 you ask?  First of all, the AI reacts to your moves a lot more, so they aren't as dumb.  Second of all, one of the most irritating things about the difficulty is that it feels like the AI has been taking some steroids.  The cpu will do more damage to you then you do to them.  I can hit Fei long with a shoryuken, but when he gets back up and hits me once with a regular kick, he does more damage!  What makes this even worse is that if you fight Dee Jay and he uses his Machine gun Upper, it will take off half of your life!  Not to mention the fact that the cpu can throw projectiles twice as fast as you (and I'm talking about charge characters like Dee Jay and Guile), and you've got one frustrating game.  Best of luck getting to Akuma...

 

Extras: 4/5

 

Well they threw in a pretty decent training mode. As well as gallery mode.  Not only does gallery mode allow you to listen to music from all of the SF 2 games, but you can also see the original openings from those games as well and it's also here that you can see SF 2 the animated movie, in it's entirety.  This is what Megaman Anniversary Collection was lacking, the option to listen to the stage music.  But Street Fighter gave it to us!  The only reason why this section didn't recieve a 5 is because you can't train against the cpu if they are in a mode other then super turbo.  Also, the sound option in gallery mode doesn't add in sound effects or vocal effects (It would be nice to hear vintage SF2 Ryu yell "Hadouken" without having to play an actual game mode), and because the version of the SF 2 movie added is the super censored version.  So not only do we get no Chun Li shower scene, but the opening where Ryu delivers a shoryuken into Sagat's chest is altered (which was one of the coolest scenes in the movie btw).  They could have at least given us the "American" uncut version.  And I miss the original announcer from the first 3 SF 2 games.  I don't like the "nerd" voice in Super and Super Turbo.

 

+: Training mode, Gallery mode, the SF 2 anime (arguably the best of all the animes released) and the option to choose several movelists from past SF 2 games. Also, this game is only $29.99!  And did I mention that loading times are almost nonexistent?

 

--: The "steroid" cpu and the fact that the anime movie included is the super censored version.

 

Replayability: 4/5

 

Against the cpu, arcade mode will make you want to throw the controller down and never pick it up again, but against a group of friends, you have nearly endless battles with 13 characters to pick from and several different styles for them.  Not to mention gallery mode which is really nice.

 

Overall, this is basically Street Fighter Collection 1 and 2 combined with the "ism" choice from Street Fighter Alpha 3 thrown in for good measure.  The only reason not to get this game would be if you already own SF collection 1, SF collection 2, the SF 2 anime, and you have SF3 Third Strike on Dreamcast.  Otherwise, it's worth it for the low price of $29.99 to pick it up and add it to your collection.