Did You Know SNES Street Fighter II Is Missing A Key Feature Of The Arcade Original?

Now, does the Genesis Champion Edition prototype have the CPS1 chain combos?
Edit: Can confirm, it does.

I knew the hardcore audience preferred the Mega Drive version, but I'd always assumed that was solely down to the layout of the six button control pad.

Stuff like this makes me remember how much of a dullard I am at Street Fighter and fighting games in general. I feel accomplished if I can pull off special moves. And when it comes to combos my brain can't recognize they exist unless a guy shouts them out like in Killer Instinct.

hardcore music fans know the SNES SFII is still king, though. 🤘

edit - more on topic, id have to disagree that this hackey, exploity detail is a "key feature" of sf2, given that it wasnt ever (to my knowledge) advertised as such, and it seems that most fans of the game never knew it was missing or even existed in the first place. add to this the fact they treated it as a bug and fixed it in the very next iteration, and beyond. ✌️

I don't know man, I had been to Street Fighter tournament where they play the SNES versions of SF2 Turbo and had seen some people doing some very impressive combos. I'm pretty sure I had done a few myself at the times too. Even if some are completely remove, it doesn't take away from the fun factor of the game. The reason why many people don't talk about them was cause they don't exist, these are just button mash combos those so called season players found out and made up so to stir up interest. You can go back to older games, find a few extra hit boxes on one version and says yeah I'm gonna name this cause it didn't happen in the other version.

I always preferred the Megadrive version, not necessarily just because of this but the (6 button) controller was a much better fit for such games

@Bobb
Sounds like a situation similar to Smash Melee NTSC vs PAL.

I like street fighter 2 because the arcade cabinet used to play on repeat in my favorite pizza joint. I’d be hearing the intro and the demo screen going while downing slices.
Unfortunately, I am terrible at street fighter 2 and every other fighting game not titled smash bros.
I have trouble with these kinds of controls and they never make sense to me.
This is a cool fact though! So many different versions of street fighter.

Was not aware of this, I only ever played the snes versions of SF2. Well I ain't about to start using it now, I don't need such exploits to defeat my opponents;)

click . . . bait.

Well, it worked. So, here goes my two cents:

No one considers this some important discovery other than a handful of people desperate to find something to grasp onto to try and claim a perceived belated "victory" in some console war 30+ years after the fact.

If I had to choose which of the two versions to play, it would be the SNES version every single time. It looks noticeably better, sounds orders of magnitude better, and plays absolutely brilliantly with exactly what is there (and without having to purchase any additional controllers just to play it properly).

I never even knew about these particular chain combos until recent times where they were brought up for no other reason than someone wanting to claim victory in some SNES vs Genesis YouTube video that I happened across by chance. That's how important they are to what makes Street Fighter II so brilliant. This is not some "key" feature in the slightest, and not having them is about as meaningful as the fact they were removed from later games in the series, as the literally multiple millions of fully satisfied SNES Street Fighter II fans can full-well attest to.

And I really don't know how complex these particular chain combos can get in the arcade original, but I can tell you for a fact that I can easily chain three hit combos together in the SNES' version in such a way that the opponent cannot counter until they are done, one being a hard air kick into a soft punch into a shoryuken (as I recall), so it definitely has some form of chain combo moves. Much like this video well demonstrates:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZNElxnFQk0

So, I'm not sure if this article is once again being slightly vague and somewhat leading intentionally or if the writer just isn't aware there's more to this point than basically saying one version has chain combos and the other not. I'd put money on the former to be blunt.

You've been pushing a lot of these basically "Genesis Does" articles recently, while trying "real hard" not to overtly come across as biased towards the system you have openly disclosed you prefer, and something is starting to stink here.

Let's leave any fanboyism for YouTube videos, forums, blog posts, and various reader comments, rather than have our "professional" writers also fall victim to it in modern times too.

This "news" piece is a:

PS. And, regarding this whole tale coming from some people above about preferring the Genesis version because the 6-button controller was/is better for Street Fighter II; you're telling me you actually believe the Genesis 6-button controller was/is better than this also-pay-extra-for-it SNES controller for playing Street Fighter II:

https://youtu.be/QRUMzw70Lvg?si=zWzrjjGMjA_-cc2w

If the conceit is that you actually had/have to purchase a new controller or two to play the game in the best possible way, or even properly at all in some cases, the point is settled: 1. SNES had/has by far the best controller for Street Fighter II that every owner got free in the box as standard. 2. And SNES also had/has the best pay-extra-for-it controller for Street Fighter II as well.

If which version is best comes down to controllers alone--which it really doesn't--SNES wins.

Final point: When compared against the SNES, the Genesis has a faster CPU, a higher standard horizontal resolution, access to more VRAM for sprite tiles, etc. These are real advantages in their respective areas. Some of this other thinly-veiled console wars stuff that's come up recently, including this article and quite a few other articles on this site now, is just desperate clutching at straws.

Are some specific Genesis fans really THAT bitter and frustrated, even after all this time?

This makes me wonder why is was not included for the SNES but retained for the Genesis. And I wonder about the PC Engine version. There are two versions of Street Fighter 2 on SNES based on CPS1 games. If both of them have that "fix", then that makes it odd that Hyper Fighting arcade wasn't fixed since it came out a bit after the first port. It also seems to be a weird thing for Sega to ensure was included by Capcom for their version. I suppose it's possible they consulted with high-level players. It's an odd situation.

@RetroGames Woah, that's a crazy rant.
Yes, even in 1992 Capcom knew there was a hardcore arcade fanbase that was going to pay for arcade stick controllers advertised in the back of magazines.
Do you think Capcom wasn't a company that would want to rake in some of those dollars for itself with a crazy controller of its own?

Yes, the Genesis was made a three-button controller five years before the SFII port was developed. The Genesis was made by Sega, a company primarily experienced in arcade games, arcade games where two or three buttons were at its time usually sufficient to play most games. Are you suggesting Capcom should've been content to release a version of the game exclusively using a compromised control scheme, like it's unfair that some players would be willing to pay more to get a controller properly suited for the game?

lol, SCE on the Genesis was superior to SNES's World Warrior in almost every way.
SCE versus Turbo is a different story, but I still kind of prefer SCE. The music is a lot closer to the arcade, and the 6-button Genny pad is just fantastic. (claims that SF2 -requires- it are quite moot when you consider that almost every Sega game benefits from it)

Only thing WW has going for it is it's the original, original SF2 graphics/colors/rules, and it has a unique arranged soundtrack.

that image in the article echoes my own view on this. Having spent so, so, so much time on the OG SNES game, it's clearer why I didn't do as well on the later games not knowing about these chains. dang. But, also I know the frame times of some champions changes as well as some hit boxes. I saw this very clearly with Chun Li. But, I also agree that this shouldn't be considered a feature since it was never marketed about the original game.

Key feature? Way to misunderstand what this really is - it's a bug. And they fixed it in the later arcade releases. But yeah.."key feature" hahah.

@sdelfin Because this a chain "glitch". And later arcade versions removed it (CPS-2). Chain combos still exist in the other home ports (SNES and PCE). This is probably the most misleading thing on the internet haha.

@RetroGames Now that's pretty salty of a rant. Unlucky for you, I like buns. /j

And btw, was there ever a version of the Genesis with the 6-button controller built in?

...although Sega definitely redeemed themselves with the Saturn release.

It's not a key feature though it was a bug caused by the original arcade hardware something that they chose to correct themselves in the SNES version but not in the Mega Drive version. If it was a key feature it would have been advertised by Capcom and not removed on the CPS2 games. It maybe more arcade accurate but it's not how Capcom envisioned the game to play so no key features are missing from the SNES version.

@ValZ i think it was the Majesco Genesis 3 unit but i could be wrong.

Good to know there was a bug no one knew about that was missing in the SNES version that Genesis owners can now go and enjoy 30 years later.

The SF2 feud between SNES and Genesis was really heated at the time. SNES had the exclusivity of the original SF2, and finally Sega got SCE (bosses could be played) to restore pride and proclaim supremacy. I still recall the review in Australia's Hyper Magazine ending with "take what is rightfully yours". Oh, the bitterness! Of course, it was uglier than Turbo that had arrived on the SNES, and forced you to buy a 6-button controller because the standard 3-button Genesis one was almost entirely useless.

As much as Genesis owners still want to salivate over their SF2 SCE and pretend it was the best, history will always tell us SNES got SF2 first and got the better versions. Be happy so many people got to play it at home at the time. Because it really was the first sense of playing a modern, hugely popular arcade game at home, and that was a revelation.

@ValZ I think the Genesis 3 came with six buttons, but I never had one (just checked the boxes, it did). I'm not counting those AtGames things >__<

Nomad had six buttons.
CDX came with six, too. Wondermega 2 did.

Looks like there was a Megadrive 2 that came with six, but I don't see any Genesis 2 bundles that did. I'd be surprised if there weren't at least some kind of store bundles that came with them.

> This is nothing! This is crap, an inconsequential unintentional bug, just an excuse for Sega fanboys to use in outdated console wars arguments! Grow up!

> Proceed to write e-novel post about how SNES version is superior

@Azathoth It's becoming a running gag on this site. People showing everyone how much they do care about Sega VS Nintendo by telling all the "sega fanboys" how much they don't care. On every single MD post. Even the best games of the Mega Drive list.

@Asaki I love the Genesis but SF2 was king on the SNES IMO. It made me want a SNES after playing it in the arcades. It was possibly the best arcade port of the 16bit era in terms of graphics, sound, and gameplay compared to the original.

IIRC SCE was outsourced by Capcom to another company. All the sprites for all the home releases of SF2/SCE/Turbo' were taken from the vanilla SF2 on SNES.

The sound on Genesis SF2 was laughably bad and even worse somehow on SSF2. Graphics took a big hit too. It's has since been fixed by Romhackers but it took 30 years.

Not saying it shouldn't be your favorite, to each their own, but there are measurable differences in visual/audio quality.

@Hexapus Capcom did outsource some of their games, and may have been doing so with the beta version of the game that is out there now, but as I understand it, Capcom developed SCE internally in the end. Sega may have insisted. I do want to say that the SNES port of the first edition of SF2 is probably the most important game of the 16-bit generation.

I've looked pretty thoroughly into the differences between the SNES, Genesis, and PCE versions of the game, and there are more differences than it seems, and each version had advantages and disadvantages. I disagree that the Genesis sound was laughably bad as you put it, but I also know your opinion is not unusual. The scratchy voice samples in the Genesis version just never bothered me, even back in 1993 when I rented it, but I'm just one guy. I have to point out that the voices on the SNES are incredibly muffled, so it's not really a huge improvement, at least to my ears. PCE version has the best voices by a mile. As for music, I find the SNES versions all over the place. Some is great, but some not so much. Ken's theme on SNES is really bad for me, and I've seen that view shared by others as well. I think the Genesis version has the most consistent music. The Genesis version also has extra elements in the backgrounds that the others lack. I say all that to show that there are good reasons to prefer any of those three versions, depending on what one prioritizes. And each of those three has their fans. Just to give a little idea of where I'm coming from, while I did rent the Genesis version first, I ended up picking up a SNES and ended up owning Turbo for it, yet I still prefer the Genesis version now.

I agree that Capcom really messed up the sound for Super Street Fighter 2 on Genesis. They probably should have stayed closer to how they composed it for SCE. The SNES version is the way to go there, and the music was much more consistently pleasant for me.

@sdelfin Check out Retro Gamer Boy's video on the Pyron Romhack. He's a hardcore MD fan and he even admits that SCE was better in his memory than it was in reality. He does some great comparisons between the original release and the Romhack(which can be patched again with an audio romhack).

Maybe I'm remembering the WW SNES audio with my own nostalgia bias but I do know that any shortcomings like low/muffled sound can be corrected depending on variables like TV settings, EQ, stereo tuner/speakers, headphones, etc. However crackling/compressed sounds cannot be fixed no matter how much home audio tech you might have. IMO arguing in favor it, out of brand loyalty in some cases, is kind of silly.

I was playing the romhack version a few months ago on my everdrive and I do think it's really solid. Definitely equal to the SNES counterparts but that's not what people got back in 93(94?). If it was we wouldn't even be talking about this. I do prefer the Genesis sound over SNES in general, I mean we got Revenge of Shinobi, Streets of Rage, and a ton of other great OSTs for the MD. I think that's part of my criticism of the MD versions, I know the Genesis could so much better.

You definitely make some good points and I respect your opinion. It's all very subjective and there's no wrong way to play SF2. It's also really impressive what Capcom was able to put out with the deadline and outsourcing problems.

@RetroGames In a way, Snes' SFII does have a chaim combo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKpNfKihkq8

Watching the CPS1 video of "chain combos" I feel like my friends and I would do this n the SNES as well. We just called them 3 hit combos or combos. Maybe I'm mixing my arcade memories with my home version memories but the only difference I see is that the CPS-1 combos are a bit faster. Maybe you could block it part way through on the SNES?

@Hexapus Yeah, and that was basically my point, that there's always some subjectivity with such things. I often do point out that all three of the versions I talked about are very good overall. Using the PCE version as an example, for some people the lack of parallax is not a big deal, but others consider it to be a deal breaker. And as the Genesis version has been improved after the fact demonstrating that Capcom could have done more with the game on the hardware, the same goes for the SNES version, so whichever version someone prefers isn't really indicative of the hardware. The SNES certainly could have had voice samples like the PCE version and the music could have sounded more like the arcade if they wanted. And Super SF2 on the SNES is a great improvement in the ways that matter to me(with one odd quirk). Of course, these days, if I play SF2, it's going to be the arcade version the vast majority of the time.

Beyond that, I decided to check into this chain combo after your last post. Perhaps the terminology within the fighting game community is different and the normal combos seem like chain combos to us. The video is about that cancel of the second kick to trigger a punch, which seems to be the key for big follow ups(probably for distance reasons). I was able to do the cancel pretty easily in the Genesis version once I understood the timing. It was a bit tougher for the arcade version, but I did it there too. As expected, I could not do the cancel in the SNES version. I was, however, able to have the second kick hit(which is expected behavior) and follow up with a hadouken, though I don't know if it would be unblockable as a true chain.