This time, the re-release is for the current generation console, the Nintendo Switch.

Sold with a price tag close to Rp 700,000 (US$52.60) locally, the nostalgic allure of the original title is the key thing that keeps this re-release from feeling like a complete rip.

Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers keeps the gist of the original’s proven-gameplay intact.

After all, why fix a good thing? What it does add are visual and audio options that let players choose between the original 16-bit graphic of the arcade or an upgraded manga-like HD version, and the original soundtrack or a modernized one.

These options are fun entries into the game, and old-schoolers who roamed the arcades in the early nineties should experience a good burst of nostalgia when they pick the original’s look and sound.

There are also two “new” players, Evil Ryu and Violent Ken. Veteran fans of the Street Fighter franchise will realize that the two characters have appeared in other iterations of the series (Street Fighter Alpha II and SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos, respectively).

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While their dark-skinned “evil” looks seem awfully out-of-touch in the current climate, the addition of the two characters provides a welcome addition to the re-release.

Far less significant is “Way of the Hado”, a new mode, which has players try to feed off enemies in first-person mode through a variety of special moves that include the famous fire-ball hadouken attack.

Utterly disjointed in aesthetics from the main game, and equipped with horribly-unresponsive controls, the game is a frustrating mess that will have players tearing their hair out trying to execute the attacks on the Switch’s Joy-Con controllers.

The game also retains its simplistic world championship non-plot, in which two players face off against each other, each utilizing their chosen character’s mix of regular attacks and special skills.

As always, the players’ reflexes, hand-eye coordination, strategy and technique, will determine the outcome. And it is that reliance on players’ individual skills that made Street Fighter II a pioneer in the fighting genre, and an ongoing influence.

Ultra does provide a few varieties in the game modes, including a Buddy Battle mode, which lets players team up with a “buddy” to fight off against computer-controlled opponents.

Players can even team up with a computer-controlled partner to battle another computer-controlled enemy. These options read much more exciting on paper than they do on screen, as much of the series’ prowess lies in how much it is about individual skills.

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While the Switch’s Joy Con controls feel a little clumsy at first, especially for players used to the larger handles of the Xbox and PlayStation controllers, it doesn’t take long to get around them.

The developers clearly know that the Joy Con doesn’t lend itself much to in-depth fighting controls and as such have provided a simpler, one-button method on the touchscreen to execute special moves. In and of itself, this takes away much of the game’s individuality as an arena where the abilities of executing special moves have always differentiated good and great players.

There is no way to play Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers that is not fun but for all of the fun it provides, it is difficult not to think that the game is overpriced and would have worked better as a cheaper “gimmick” game than a full-fledged release.

Those with the extra budget and a major quest for younger-day reminders will delight in all its hadouken-glory, but others may opt to simply purchase Street Fighter V or the other slew of fighting titles available in the market.

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“Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers”

(Capcom)

Available now on Nintendo Switch

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