Street Fighter II on XBLA

By Tom Bramwell Published 2 August, 2006

Great balls of fire.

Capcom's much-heralded Xbox Live Arcade version of Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting has finally made it out today.

It's going for 800 points - the same as Cloning Clyde - which is GBP 6.80 / EUR 9.30 / USD 10.00 depending on where you are. And if you don't fancy taking the plunge, there's a trial version to download too. Whether you pay or not, it's 48.78MB.

As well as the single-player arcade mode, two-player versus, customisable controls and 12 achievements, the game supports multiplay through Xbox Live.

There's online multiplayer in both ranked and unranked matches, as well as the game's new "Quarter Match", which is a spectator-based mode that allows you to "buy into" an ongoing match in the way you might have done back in the days of real arcades.

We'll be bringing you a review of the game soon, obviously, but feel free to report on your experiences below - we're particularly interested to hear how the net-code holds up.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (37) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • optimusprym8 #1 6 years ago

    damn work!

  • DraculaAD1972 #2 6 years ago

    First thing that seems apparent is the difficulty of Arcade mode. Jesus, I don't remember it being this hard.

    Second is that at this moment in time, it is pretty hard to get a game on live. Will need to wait I think until the servers calm down a little.

    Such a relief that it is finally here.

  • McBradders #3 6 years ago

    Hard?

    What do you mean? Can't connect? Can't find a match? What? :(

  • DraculaAD1972 #4 6 years ago

    I mean that I can't connect to a game. I can SEE lots of games are happening but no beans getting into any. And no, it isn't my NAT status.

  • McBradders #5 6 years ago

    Rubbish!

    This isn't exactly a new thing on LIVE, I get it all the time on DOA 4, and used to get it a lot on UNO too until they patched it.

    Bogus :(

  • alpha-0ne #6 6 years ago

    ok is there a guide to all the special moves or are they stright forward to pull off, havnt played it since the SNEs days so cant remember :-)

  • morriss #7 6 years ago

    I've just play 7 games in a row as Ryu and couldn't get past the 1sr round (Chun-Li). :(

    I suck.

  • mattigan #8 6 years ago

    "SPINNING BIRD KICK!!!"

  • McBradders #9 6 years ago

    Moriss:

    I don't think it's you, people all over are saying the computer AI is ridiculously hard, even on one star difficulty.

  • Perksey #10 6 years ago

    There are definately Live issues. Got to play 1 game in about 20 attempts, kept timing out. Very dissappointing. Lets hope its patched soon. And my god is arcade mode hard. Imagine it will play better with the DOA arcade stick.

  • ilmaestro #11 6 years ago

    morriss ftw!

  • Azazel #12 6 years ago

    CYBER-RUBBER-DUCK!!

    Thank you lord. But why am I in work?

  • Jontacular #13 6 years ago

    The d-pad on the 360 pad isn't precise enough for decent play imo - especially when it comes to dragon punches. Still, the sound effects are as spiffing as they ever were.

  • bigbadbeasty #14 6 years ago

    Is there a nice Saturn pad we can use?

    Or better still can you use USB joypad?

  • Suki #15 6 years ago

    I find it quite easy to play on the analogue stick, actually, though bizarrely I can't manage Zangief's 360 piledriver.

  • Pod #16 6 years ago

    What motion are you using for it? You can improve your success rate by going from horizontal to down then straight up and fire. That said. I know thats an acceptable motion in the later games. Hyper might have been more strict.

  • login_name #17 6 years ago

    At last, something worth playing on Live!, well it would be if the controllers didn't suck and the net code wasn't buggy as hell. :(

    Oh well, I guess I'll have to go back to one of the dozen other SFII conversions and invite my friends round for battles and beers - the way SFII is meant to be enjoyed, with company.

  • LarryLoxley #18 6 years ago

    Please! Someone reassure me this is still incredible fun! Hopefully they will patch the difficulty setting but I am only in it for the Live action!

  • Jontacular #19 6 years ago

    Well, it's obviously still fun - it's Street Fighter! It's just frustrating to have to play it with a spongey, imprecise d-pad - if you're going to play it online, you want your skills to be up to scratch, after all.

    I'll have to give it a bash with the stick later - but I must admit I'm all about the pad for Capcom fighters.

  • fergal_oc #20 6 years ago

    It's great, tho I struggle with default difficulty when I get 6 rounds in just before the bosses.

  • Caimbeul #21 6 years ago

    lets face it MS got it wrong with the D_Pad on the Original X-Box and cocked it up again this time. Only Sony & Nontendo seem to know how to make one. Are there any alternatives with a decent pad?

  • Cyhwuhx #22 6 years ago

    .::: The d-pad isn't working that well for me, I've been practising my moves the entire morning and I still can't get them to work at the moments I want. At one point I thought I was going mad: I started Street Fighter Alpha 3 on PS1 just to check if I was really doing the moves wrong. But as everything went smooth again in that game I blame the 360 controller (and my inexperience with the 'd-disc').

    The difficulty of the Arcade Mode is set pretty high. Not entirely sure if that's due to my lack of skill with this version or due to the game itself, but I can't see many people liking that if they aren't into the game proper. Getting an online match is hard, most players 'timeout' when you try to connect. And when you do get to play the game suddenly is slower than the offline one (it didn't look like any lag was going on, but it certainly felt that way).

    In short, still a great game, the online bit: not entirely sure, but could someone please create a SNES or PS controller for the 360? Pretty please?
    Edited by 1 at 02/08/06 @ 12:08

  • Suki #23 6 years ago

    Pod - I've tried the six point method too, though not yours. I'll give it a bash later and see how it goes.

  • conwaye3 #24 6 years ago

    The d-pad is poor. I had no problems playing anniversary edition on an old xbox pad. At least that d-pad was smooth.

    The Arcade mode is tough and the fighters cheat like hell far more than on home versions. I think this is because its the Arcade version tho.

    Online sucks so far. Lag doesnt seem to b e much of a problem but I've only been able to get a game on quarter matches not ranked games.

    This reminds me all too much of pro evo 5 and getting matches. Might end up getting games on PS3 to play games online just because of this. I would have thought Microsoft would have default code that works that all developers can use! Bit disapointing so far tbh.

  • Fatnick #25 6 years ago

    The secret is to play with the stick rather than the Dpad, as i have a feeling that was the control device its been configured to work best with. The port is a good one. Although it defaults to a small window, you can stretch it to fit a 16:9 display and it still looks pretty good. The online play is also pretty smooth - althoughyou can have problems finiding a ranked game, the game itself seems far more lag-resistant than the incarnation on the original Xbox. My only snag is the arcade mode. Although the difficulty is probably authentic, its far too dificult for a home version. I like a challenge, but the problem with the arcade mode is that it basically appears to have been designed to drain 50ps. On the default difficulty, the opening matches are fine but after the first bonus stage it becomes rediculous - look forward to being thrown by opponents who can recover faster than you can after being struck by one of your punches.

  • jamesbee #26 6 years ago

    Tried the demo in Arcade mode, why on earth have they made it so hard? Is this supposed to be the first guy?

    Perhapse when the AI was running at 2mhz it was ok but now it's running 2,345,667 times faster it just kicks my ass all the time. Fireball, fireball, kick, fireball, fireball kick. I think in 7 tries I have taken one round off it.

    D-Pad is abit crap for this isn't it? Never really gave much thought to it before....

    Even worse, it seems that if you steal a round it decides to be even harder and takes you apart the next round. I STILL have not won a match in some 15 tries.
    Edited by 1 at 02/08/06 @ 13:09

  • Nostromo13 #27 6 years ago

    god this thing is difficult, purely a multiplayer game it seems.

  • Jontacular #28 6 years ago

    @ Wonga - without wanting to sound like too much of an old fart, I've been happily dragon punching for a good 16 years now, and can tell when it's down to the pad. It's a piece of piss with a SNES pad or Dual Shock.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #29 6 years ago

    I haven't played it yet but I think that the hard AI has a reason. You simply don't want to beat a game easily, then go on multiplayer and get your ass kicked everytime because you never really had a challenge. That is one of the most discouraging things that can happen. You thought you were good but actually stand no chance.

    Reading this comments I guess it may be too hard. Luckily this is something that can be patched.

  • bloodflowers #30 6 years ago

    I own the arcade board of SF2-HF. The difficulty in this is no different at all when both are set to 4 stars. This isn't unsurprising, as Capcom are running the old code on an emu layer apparently.

    However, what does make it harder is substandard controls - the 360 pad d-pad is shockingly poor, showing a lack of forethought during design. Also having 4 face buttons + 2 triggers is far from intuitive, and while it was like that on the SNES, at least you were using proper click triggers, not analogues.

    I have one of the Hori 360 pads as seen on play-asia - don't bother. Similar trigger/face button issue, and the buttons are less responsive, and while the d-pad itself is a better shape, it's incredibly glitchy. I've also got one of the Neo-SE ones - similar story, feels cheap and glitchy. Went through them trying to find a better controller for DOA4....

    Can you use normal USB pads with the 360? Someone really needs to bring out an adapter or a Saturn style controller for the machine. Alternatively there's a full DOA joystick, no idea if it's good or bad.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #31 6 years ago

    Also having 4 face buttons + 2 triggers is far from intuitive, and while it was like that on the SNES, at least you were using proper click triggers, not analogues.

    Eww, you have to use the analogue triggers? That sounds horrible.
    Edited by 1 at 02/08/06 @ 13:37

  • Nostromo13 #32 6 years ago

    no, you don't have to use the triggers as the controls are entirely customizable.

  • bloodflowers #33 6 years ago

    You don't /have/ to, but the only alternative is switching them for the bumpers, which aren't as comfortable to reach. Theres a full controls config though, so people like me who tend to not use light punch/kick as much can always switch it around.

  • Pod #34 6 years ago

    Theres currently no usb adapter. Microsoft have put encription on the port so only licenced 3rd party adapters can be used. A usb adapter would mean that Microsoft would lose control as any controller could be used by daisy chainning adapters (I guess) which are easily available. I'd be surprised if we see a USB adapter. On the other hand. There are a number of people who have hacked the xbox pad itself to run other controllers through. Do a search on google. I've seen a SF anniversary controller and a saturn pad done using that method. Not for the soldering noob's mind!

  • Fatfish #35 6 years ago

    Go with the old school setup then - light kick=A, heavy kick=B, light punch=x and heavy punch=y. Map the medium ones to the analogue triggers or bumpers. Never used to use the medium attacks anyway - light attack for counters and heavy attacks for damage. Medium attacks were just there to confuse my brain when thinking about which button to press! Actually, the only character that did need a medium kick waas Chun-Li - her jump off the wall and land on your head with one foot was great, and people used to have real difficulty in countering it for some reason.

    And anyone who says they need to refer to a manual for the moves obviously never played this enough when they were younger. I haven't played a SF game since the days of the SNES, and yet the moves are still clearly burned in to my brain through excessively repetitive play!

    Can't wait until I get home this evening. Gutting about the d-pad though.

  • alpha-0ne #36 6 years ago

    Dont worry people an xbox live arcade pad is on the way from MS

  • MrDo #37 6 years ago

    Only played one ranked game, but connected fine and game appeared to play well, certainly seemed better than the sometimes laggy Xbox Street Fighter Aniversary. And I won... just:)

    Just glad it's come out and there are people online to play... unlike Xbox Street Fighter Aniversary.


    Yes the pad isn't great but it's a question of getting used to the pad until an alternative is in the shops:)
    Edited by 1 at 02/08/06 @ 15:02