E-Mail This Article to a Friend Happy anniversary Street Fighter stays sharp in its old age BY JIM MURRAY
	Street Fighter Anniversary Collection Published and developed by Capcom. For PlayStation 2.

Had yours truly been a jock or one of the "cool kids" in high school, my high-school yearbook quote would have been some fire-’n’-brimstone line from Vince Lombardi, or maybe a verse from some shitty Pink Floyd song.

That, however, is not the case. See, since I’ve been an admitted videogame dork since my youth, I decided that in my high-school yearbook I would use a quote from the one videogame that truly took over my life. Yes folks, if you were somehow able to get your hands on said annual (that’s Melrose High, Class of 1994), you would see the following sentence right next to my big fat head: "Attack me if you dare. I will crush you."

That quote (as any gamer worth his or her salt should know) comes from Ken, one of the characters of arguably the greatest 2D fighting game ever made: Street Fighter II.

I bring this sad yet comical stage of my life up for two reasons. One, because I wanted you, the reader, to know just how sickly obsessed I was with this great game; second (and more importantly), because the developer of the Street Fighter series, Capcom, has just released Street Fighter Anniversary Edition for the PS2.

This 15th-anniversary package is a true Street Fighter geek’s paradise. This game is comprised of Hyper Street Fighter II, which basically blends all of the previous Street Fighter editions (and believe me, there’s a lot of them; Capcom’s been whoring out this game for many a year) and incorporates the character variations from each series. This is my favorite part of this anniversary package; this is where I get to go back and remember how many quarters and allowances and greasy teen romances I blew while mastering this game. For super-dork purists like me, you’ll be happy to know that the graphics and music and sound effects (SHO-RYU-KEN!!) are just like the old arcade classic. My favorite touch is that if you select to play as, say, Ken from the original Street Fighter II, your opponent can then only select from the original eight characters from that game. This keeps things nice and balanced, and really, who in the hell wants to ever use those shitty characters like "Dee-Jay" and "Cammy" that they added to later versions of the game? Ugh. No thanks.

Street Fighter Anniversary Edition also includes the latest edition in the series, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. Now, I had never played this game until I picked up the anniversary package, and I must say that it’s pretty damn cool on its own. It’s a crisp-looking and fun and balanced game that also has amazing 2-D graphics (albeit a bit Cel-shaded). It plays basically like all the other Street Fighter games, and even includes some of the older characters. Look, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike wasn’t ever in any arcade that I’ve seen around here, so for this game alone it’s worth the $29.99 bargain-bin price of Street Fighter Anniversary Edition.

All in all, I’m pretty impressed with this lil’ piece of nostalgia that I’ve been playing on my PS2. Is the game perfect? Well, when you’re a purist/dork like me, you’ll never be satisfied with everything. For instance, I really wish Capcom went the extra mile and just put the straight-up versions of all the Street Fighter games in this package, rather than giving it to you "buffet-style." Also, where’s the original Street Fighter 1? And the "Alpha" Street Fighter games from the mid to late ’90s? This is just nit-picking, trust me. This is a solid piece of software, and for just under 30 bucks you’d be a fool not to buy it. And if you do, pop it in your PS2, throw Nevermind in the ol’ CD player, grab the sticks, and pretend it’s 1991 all over again.

Score: 9.0 (out of 10)