Super Street Fighter II Turbo

Super Street Fighter II Turbo from 1994 is the culmination of a long line of refinements with which Capcom gradually expanded the original Street Fighter II through the Champion Edition, Turbo, Hyper Fighting, and Super versions. This version added new characters including the mysterious hidden boss Akuma, who could defeat an opponent with a single special attack, pushed the pace of fights to the maximum, and was the first in the series to introduce the Super Combo meter – a gauge that fills during battle through successful attacks and defense, and once full allows devastating super special attacks with their own unique animation. The roster grew to sixteen playable fighters plus the aforementioned hidden one, making the game the most comprehensive and best-balanced version of the classic Street Fighter II ever.

On CPS arcade hardware, the game looked sharper than previous entries, character animations were smoother, the color palette richer, and details were added to the backgrounds of the individual arenas around the world. The accompanying music got a more energetic arrangement of each fighter's theme and a faster, more urgent rhythm matching the accelerated pace of the matches. The faster pace combined with the new combo system pushed the game's depth a step further and opened room for more advanced techniques and combo chaining, which players on the competitive scene around the world gradually mastered.

Super Turbo became a favorite title of the tournament community and is still considered by many players to be the most balanced and enjoyable version of classic Street Fighter II ever. Its super combo system foreshadowed the direction other fighting games of the nineties would take, and the game itself remains alive thanks to an active community, organized tournaments, and later remastered versions released for modern consoles. Even today, Super Turbo is a reference point for discussions of how a balanced and fair 2D fighting game should work, and many professional players still consider it one of the pinnacles of the genre.

Why play it: For players craving a balanced, fair 2D fighting game, Super Turbo remains the genre's reference point thanks to its active tournament community and the super combo system that influenced other fighting games of the nineties.