Review RossBonaime 5/5 · May 3, 2025
I remember when Street Fighter II kept getting various iterations when I was a kid, I never thought of them as "cash grabs," but rather, making an already great game even better. That's absolutely the case with Street Fighter II: Championship Edition, which isn't a massive overhaul, but an expansion and slight improvement on what came before it. Playing the …
I remember when Street Fighter II kept getting various iterations when I was a kid, I never thought of them as "cash grabs," but rather, making an already great game even better. That's absolutely the case with Street Fighter II: Championship Edition, which isn't a massive overhaul, but an expansion and slight improvement on what came before it. Playing the two games back to back, you see the small changes that just make this a bit better, from the way characters control, to the character animations and backgrounds that are just a fraction better.
But of course the big addition here is four new characters, taking the bosses and finally making them playable, as well as letting players face off against themselves. I've always found the mirror matches to be strangely difficult, as if I'm facing off against someone with the same skills as me in battle. This time playing the game, I mostly focused on trying out the different bosses, and here's how I'd rank these new additions to the game.
(Fourth) Balrog - All power to whoever could master Balrog, but that ain't me. As a kid who played this game over and over again with all sorts of characters, Balrog was the one who I never wanted to play as. The limitations of his moves were exhausting, and even to this day, I find him to be maybe the most frustrating character in the entire series. He's got some competition with Dan, and that's saying something.
(Third) Vega - Vega is sort of like turbo mode before turbo mode existed in this series, which I think is a gift and a curse. He can often feel a bit unwieldy, considering everyone else isn't as fast as he is, and you're just sort of flailing around for some battles. I like his theatricality, but one of the coolest moves when he was a boss, where he attaches to his stage's background, simply isn't possible in most of these arenas.
(Second) Sagat - Call me basic, but the main characters I usually go back to are Ryu and Ken, as I just love the way they control, and Sagat is basically just like them but with bigger reach. Also, high AND low fireballs? Be still, my heart! He still never felt as comfortable to me as Ryu or Ken, but he's always been an option I'm completely fine with.
(First) M. Bison - I mean, after wanting to play as him in Street Fighter II, you finally get your chance here, and he's as badass as you would hope. If mastered, he's such a powerhouse, and he's just a blast to control. For a while, he was my favorite character to play as, but then I fell back to my old favorites. Still, when I get in a groove with M. Bison, he's just the best.
