Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers Reviews
Ultra Street Fighter II - The Final Challengers packs the punch of the 1991 original arcade release, and the inclusion of two new modes and all the SFII characters helps make the experience unique, but the price doesn't justify the package. There's just not enough here worth the asking price for the release.
I've loved this game since I was a child, and I've always felt that it was in need of only minimal tweaks to bring it up to date. And Ultra Street Fighter 2 is exactly that – familiar territory but with better graphics, plus a few nice-to-have but non-essential extras. My biggest concern are the controls, since the Switch clearly isn't built for fighting games. The Switch Pro controller is an effective fix, but it's expensive. If you don't already have one and invest in one just for this game, you're looking at £95 – which is quite steep for a game that's nearly 30 years old.
Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers will still entertain Newcomers and presents itself with a great graphical overhaul that fits mostly even a bit better than Street Fighter IV. The Way of the Hado Mode is a big disappointment and if you're familiar with fighting games you'll soon want to get a pro Controller instead of playing with the Joy Cons.
Review in German | Read full review
Ultra Street Fighter II is a more than competent release, but if you’re a seasoned veteran it’s very difficult to recommend the move over to this update… even if the Switch hardware is perfect for this game.
Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers‘ greatest success is how well suited it is to Nintendo Switch. Setting the console in Tabletop Mode, detaching Joy-Con and passing one to a friend, it’s a reminder that there simply isn’t any experience like it, let alone the fighting legacy that it now becomes a part of. Whether a play on nostalgia or not, the result builds to a definitive version of a fighting great.
An overpriced package that offers little new content, Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers isn't a marvelous return for this venerable series. Being mobile is great, and the game looks good, but everything else about this release is skippable for all but the most die hard SF fans.
Ultra Street Fighter II: The New Challengers feels like a lazy afterthought from a developer reluctant to commit fully to the Switch. It's so frustrating given that Street Fighter II is itself a classic game, but Ultra does little to provide reason to purchase it yet again. Way of the Hado and an Art Gallery are nice touches, but ultimately superficial and fail to justify the game's price tag.
Street Fighter 2 remains a good game, whatever incarnation it appears in, but the new modes add nothing (and are bad) and it's far too expensive. A conundrum, then, and one only you can decide if you're willing to pay out for.
Street Fighter 2 on Switch is a disappointing release made worse by the rip-off price.
Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers is a fun fighting game with interesting new mechanics and touted as the definitive version of Street Fighter II, but it comes off as lazy and overpriced, padded with a lackluster buddy mode and an unnecessary and almost broken "Way of the Hado" mode reminiscent of the worst of the Wii era.
Street Fighter 2's core gameplay remains as fundamentally strong and compelling as ever, with the Switch breathing new life into it. Fans of the franchise, and of fighting games, would be remiss if they didn't pick this up.
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Review in French | Read full review
Meet the new Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers, mostly the same as the old Street Fighter II. Beyond the veil of some visual wizardry and a few rote fleeting fluff modes, this is the old school foundation that a lot of folks built their fighting game careers on. That's not a bad thing, especially with the Switch's on-the-go hook, but it could just as easily have been a downloadable release.
It's still amazing that such an old game can remain so playable after all these years, although it's equally incredible that Capcom still insist on charging full price for it.
There are no drastic changes, just smudges at its corners, and the failure of any apparent dramatic variations feels disappointing in its own right. Capcom could very well have tried something different and experimental, and I think that attempt would have had more virtue than simply a good, portable version of an existing game. Ultra Street Fighter II is indeed fun to play, but I can't help but feel sad to see a legend retire by aiming for the middle.
It might sound strange to call an anniversary repackaging of a decades old title a "must own" for a new system, but Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers is just that well produced.
Ultra Street Fighter II retains all that made the original SFII a classic: solid gameplay, charismatic rooster... that now you can enjoy and share everywhere. It's as fun as it was 25 years ago, but at the same time, it feels like a missed oportunity: the new modes doesn't add nothing new or interesting enough (and Its price isn't cheap).
Review in Spanish | Read full review
As an exercise in nostalgia, or an introduction to one of the most seminal fighting games, Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers is great. Its new modes, characters, and features are ultimately disappointing though, making the definitive edition of Street Fighter II less meaningful than it should be.
Ultra Street Fighter 2: The Final Challengers is a solid addition to the still thin game library of the Nintendo Switch. Sadly though, the new game modes feel sluggish and even flat-out mediocre due to the lack of emotion, making gamers wonder if paying $40 bucks for the experience is actually worth it.
Review in Spanish | Read full review