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"REMEMBER THAT INFAMOUS 'WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT' WE HEAR SO MUCH ABOUT? WELL, IT'S HERE!"

There are two types of fighting gamers. There are the Gods, and there are the button-mashers. Gods take move lists to arcades, can squeeze countless special moves and combinations about a dozen different games into their heads and still have enough skill to beat the hardest game ("Samurai Showdown 2", for example) with the weakest character (Cham Cham). The button-masher, as the name implies, just wants to kill a few minutes by letting their anger and random pressing of commands do the beating of a character, with minimal timing and skills developed along the way. In between the Gods and the button-mashers resides yours truly, a gamer with some skill on "Tekken 2", "Virtua Fighter Kids" and "Fighting Vipers", and no skill whatsoever in "Last Bronx", "Street Fighter EX + Alpha" and "Tobal # 1". To their credit, those games can still be fun and mindless entertainment when played without regard for skill (needles to say, though, that you won't be getting your money's worth if you do not invest effort in getting the moves and timing of the game down pat). Rare is that fighting game that is so lacking in fun factor and spark that not even a two-player bout can spark thrills: THQ's "Vs." (for PSX), Tribeca's "SHADOW", Naughty Dog's "Way of the Warrior" (for 3DO), Takara's "Toshinden URA" (for Saturn), etc. For every successful gaming franchise, dozens of failures and wannabe contenders are left in its wake. And in the fighting genre, it is Capcom and a little title called "Street Fighter II" (sequel to an obscure original that time has forgotten) that got the ball rolling.

In a move that resembles the approach of Namco, Williams, and Sega toward their intellectual property of years past, Namco is taking advantage of the CD storage medium and 32-bit technology to bring back arcade-perfect renditions of three of the last eight "Street Fighter" games released on arcades. And, like most games that are part of a greatest hits collection, the amount of nostalgia the gamer feels toward the three games in the two-CD set ("Super Street Fighter II", "Super Street Fighter II Turbo" and "Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold") will determine just how much he/she will derive from this affordable $39 investment. Is Capcom's tribute to it's legendary series cashing on the lasting popularity of the franchise, or are there bonuses not available in previous versions of these games that make them a must-have? And what's the deal with Janet Reno :-)?

GRAPHICS/VISUALS: B-
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"SSF2" has dated pretty badly by 1997 standards when compared to the likes of "Marvel Super Heroes Vs. Street Fighter" or "Three". The characters animate very jerky and there are very few frames per movement, but they at least control and handle like a dream (a hallmark of the series). "SSF2Turbo", appearing for the first time on mainstream 32-bit systems (Capcom ported the game to the 3DO in December 1994), fares better with more frames of animation, more parallax effects on the backgrounds, and more color and detail in the kick-ass intro. Still lacking when compared by Capcom's latest though; I'd say it is worth checking out these two game's graphics if you're a big fan of Capcom games and would like to appreciate how the art direction of the series has evolved through the years. If you can stand the frequent framerate drops (these games are running on emulators after all), they are also mighty playable.

"Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold" (try saying that ten times with your mouth full) looks stellar, with vibrant backgrounds that come alive with activity and sprites that move around fluidly and handle even better. Special effects like blue shadows and explosive fireballs fill the screen, all with not a hint of slowdown in sight (although there is some minor dip in the speed when two big characters collide). If you've seen or played the stand-alone version, though, the improvements in "SFA2G" are pretty minimal (Evil Sakura, Cammy from "X-Men...", one-button Supers, etc.); PSX gamers who buy their version of "Street Fighter Collection" will get their "SFA2G" upgraded to the stand-alone version Capcom released for Saturn a while back (Evil Ryu, the full-screen intro, the secret backgrounds, etc.). That means that the Saturn version of "SFA2G", since it already included many of its new features in the stand-alone version, feels more like a rehash of a good game than a rerelease of a classic (the game, after all, is a little over a year old). Visually, though, this CD is the cream of the crop of the set, and would score much higher if the two previous games weren't so dated in their look. And for those bitching at me for being too easily swayed by eye-candy and bashing the anime-style of "Street Fighter Collection", I say eat a s%^* cake and have some leftovers with it. I like "The Slayers", I love "Sailor Moon", and I appreciate hand-drawn art as much as the next guy. "SSF2", "SSF2T" and "SFA2G" look great, just not great enough.

MUSIC/SOUND EFFECTS: B-
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There are a couple of music tracks here and there catchy enough to be memorable (Cammy's England background music in "SSF2T" comes to mind), but overall I feel that music is not the specialty of the "Street Fighter" series. Maybe it's because I'm so used to hearing a gazillion tunes, yells and explosive effects from the surrounding arcade machines when playing Capcom fighters; music is something I do not easily associate with "Street Fighter" games (not even "EX + Alpha" for the PSX), which is an oddity I don't seem to have with other fighters. The taunts from the fighters ("Hadouken", "Canon Drill", "Tiger Uppercut", etc.) and the classic sound effects of the kicks, punches and assorted magical projectiles come through loud and clear in glorious Q sound (whatever that's supposed to be). Utterly predictable stuff, but by no means is it offensive stuff. Just too close to "filler" status for my personal liking.

GAMEPLAY/FUN FACTOR: C+
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Let's forget for a moment that each of the three games have at their core the best fighting engine a company has ever designed (Capcom designers had the game in mind since the early 80's, but held on the project until technology could advance up to their standard), and that each of these games has truckloads of history and trivia associated with them (unsold carts of SNES versions of "SSF2" filled Capcom warehouses and almost sank the company into bankruptcy, giving third-party developers an example of how unsold cartridge inventory can kill profits). And let's forget about the fact that, if you're a die-hard "Street Fighter" nut (which, as you can probably tell by now, I am not), you don't care about anybody else's opinion and are going to get the Saturn collection anyway. I'm here to tell you that, when it comes to extras and packaging, "Street Fighter Collection" cannot begin to shine the shoes of the king of compilation interfaces, Sega's own "Sonic Jam".

There are two CD's in the package, and each lack any sort of museum or trivia database for fans of the series. If you're relying on the history and past glories of a successful series, a little more polish in the package would be appreciated. The game's manual does a very poor job indoctrinating newcomers into the "Street Fighter" universe, as well as explaining the differences between the three game's evolving fighting styles (it assumes the player knows such terms as two-in-one combo, cross-up attack, etc.). There are no fancy fonts or transitions between the first two games, and "SFA2G" is a stand-alone game that could have been sold all by itself. Finally, the selection of games chosen by Capcom for this compilation has to be severely questioned: why not include "Championship Edition", or "Hyper Turbo"? Since this is a collection, how about the original "Street Fighter" in all it shallow two-button glory? Apparently Capcom wanted it's collection to have a really old skeleton ("SSF2"), a relatively contemporary of the "Street Fighter" universe ("SSF2Turbo") and the cream of the current console crop ("SFA2G"). A 1-2-3 crash course in how the company made its millions, and not a hint of polish in the whole presentation (although the artwork on the cover is pretty cool).

If you absolutely have to get your fix of Capcom goodness, then this three games will tide you over until Capcom and Sega of America decide how to handle the distribution of the 4 Meg-powered "X-Men Vs. Street Fighter". All three games handle beautifully, and two of them have my favorite character in the "Street Fighter" universe, British agent extraordinaire Cammy as playable characters (she's hidden in "SFA2G" though, and only playable in VS. and Training Modes :-( ), as well as long-forgotten characters like E.Honda, Dee Jay, Fei Long and Hawk. Funny thing about Cammy's first appearance in "Street Fighter 2 Turbo" (which kinda bombed at the arcades, victim of the "Mortal Kombat" craze of the early 90's) is that she looks so much like Serena/Usagi from "Sailor Moon" fame. Funny thing that both Cammy and Usagi/Serena share those long and floaty pair of blond hair pigs that just seem to float in a life of their own. Funny thing that "Sailor Moon" premiered in 1992 as an anime TV series, and less than a couple of years later Cammy made her debut on the gam...wait a minute! You don't think...that Cammy was an attempt to capitalize...on the popularity of the then-hot lead character of "Sailo...". NAH! Can't possibly be true. It must be one of them weird creative coincidences. Yeah right! And whoever has come up with the new McDonalds TV spot with the guy that can't talk because he's so bundled with winter wear over his mouth has never seen "South Park"'s own beloved Oh-my-God-they-killed Kenny. Who says cartoons and videogames don't influence the world's youth into action?

OVERALL: B-
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Unacceptable lack of polish in the package make me recommend you skip these collections unless you're a really big fan of the titles in the compilation; I'll have to return this birthday gift back to the store and use the dough for another game that has less borrowed elements and recycled code than this Capcom fighters (how about a Sega fighter? Just kidding!). Since not everybody played "Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo" at home (only a handful of us were wealthy enough back then to own 3DO's), this is a chance for next-generation newbies that skipped the 16-bit systems to play as the legendary but neglected characters from early in the series. The Saturn's control pad is perfect for "Street Fighter" gameplay, and reaction time and fun factor against either the computer or another player is seamless. Of course none of this is news to anybody who has bought/played/rented "Street Fighter Alpha", or the much-praised sequel. It's a trade-off that only you, your conscience, your wallet and your addiction to Capcom can come to grips with.

I have "Street Fighter EX + Alpha" for the PSX and "SSF2Turbo" for the 3DO, and eventually a Capcom beat-em-up will be part of my permanent Saturn collection (probably "Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter", with the heavenly combination of The Hulk and Sakura...oh, the depravity my little head is concocting is so naughty and bad; I must be punished :-P). "Street Fighter Collection" has the gameplay to talk the talk, but it can only walk the walk of a path that has grown wider, deeper and more crowded than back in 1992. I'll stick to the polygons until then, and practice on "Marvel Super Heroes" for kicks; when is "Star Gladiator 2" coming out for the PlayStation?

NeXT!!!