• Tag Archives Sega
  • Super Street Fighter II (Sega Genesis)

    While somewhat subjective, it always seemed to me that Street Fighter II was the last really hugely popular arcade game. Sales numbers would seem to objectively back that up. Street Fighter II is second only to Space Invaders and Pac-Man in terms of number of arcade machines sold. Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat II are also high on the list but they don’t really come close to Street Fighter II. The original Street Fighter II sold 60,000 machines (Street Fighter II Championship Edition sold even more at 140,000 machines). By comparison, the Mortal Kombat machines only sold in the range of 20,000 to 30,000 units. See https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/the-25-best-selling-arcade-games-of-all-time.htm for more sales info. Part of this of course comes down to the decline in the popularity of arcades as home systems finally caught up. 16-bit systems were close but 32-bit systems were arcade perfect or so close to it that it didn’t matter.

    Being one of the most popular arcade games, Street Fighter II was also one of the most anticipated home conversions of all time. This was in the 16-bit era of home gaming so home systems were significantly less capable than arcade machines at the time. It was all about how close to arcade perfect you could get but there were always some sacrifices. Graphics quality, sound quality, and even game play on home systems were usually at least somewhat below arcade standards.

    Nintendo managed to get the first home conversion on the Super Nintendo system. The Super Nintendo had better graphics hardware than the Genesis but it also had a slower CPU. Many early games on the Super NES suffered from problems with slow-down when a lot was going on on-screen at the same time. As programmers became more familiar with the hardware, this became less of an issue over time.

    While the Genesis version was not quite as graphically impressive as the Super Nintendo version, it did have a few advantages. First, it did not suffer from slow down as much as the Super NES version did. This wasn’t a huge problem or anything…more of a relatively infrequent mild annoyance. The Genesis kept more of the background animations as well but it suffered from a poorer color pallet and lower quality sound. The standard Genesis controller also didn’t have six buttons which was pretty crippling, however, plenty of aftermarket controllers were available (see below).

    One challenge with the home conversion of Street Fighter II and its sequels was the controller. The arcade version used a joystick and two rows of three buttons. The Super Nintendo controller actually had enough buttons though they weren’t really arranged in the ideal way for this game. Other systems didn’t even have enough buttons. Needless to say, this spawned an entire market in various six button controllers.

    While not arcade perfect, this arcade conversion was probably the most impressive there had been up to that point. Even to the casual player today, this version is perfectly fine to play instead of the arcade version. Of course, these days you can emulate the arcade version or play arcade perfect conversions on newer systems. It’s still worthwhile to check out the Super NES or Genesis version or even the other conversions at the time to see how impressive they were considering the hardware they were running on. Whether you prefer the Genesis version of the Super NES version probably comes down to what system you owned. Most people owned one or the other and were pretty fanatic about it. The system wars were a bigger deal then than now. While I prefer the Super NES version (that was the system I owned at the time after all), the Genesis version is solid too.

    It can also be a little confusing when you say ‘Street Fighter II’. Street Fighter II: The World Warrior was the original and this version was ported to the Super NES. Genesis didn’t get a version until Street Fighter II: Championship Edition. Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers was an even later version that was on both systems. However, the comparisons above generally apply to all variations of Street Fighter II.

    Screen shots above are from the Genesis version of Super Street Fighter II.


  • Aero the Acro-Bat 2 (Sega Genesis)

    Aero the Acro-Bat 2 is a side-scrolling platform game released in 1994 for both the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo. This is a pretty typical platformer of which there were endless quantities of in the 16-bit days. However, it is at least an above average one. As the name suggests, this is a sequel. Like the first game, it was developed by Iguana Entertainment and published by Sunsoft and involved many of the same creators.

    The story… Ok, well the story doesn’t really matter all that much for this type of game. Suffice it to say that it involves an acrobatic bat, a protagonist named Edward Ektor, a Museum of Horrors, a magical box, an ancient castle and a kamikaze squirrel among other interesting things and characters. The game is split into eight worlds, most of which (except the last one) have three acts. The basic mechanics haven’t changed too much from the original game. For instance, Aero still has his basic drill attack and can throw stars at enemies. However, a few new moves have been added and the controls are somewhat improved.

    Sequels don’t always improve upon the original but in this case, Aero the Acro-Bat 2 seems a step up from the original. It has improved graphics, is a much longer game, has improved play control and more moves, and has a distinctively darker feel that helps it stand out from the original. Having said that, there’s nothing terribly original about the Aero games as platformers in general. They just do what they do better than most. This game gives you pretty much exactly what you would expect out of a 16-bit platformer.

    Reviews for Aero the Acro-Bat 2 were all quite positive. If you like platform games then this is one you should definitely check out. While not the most original game in the world the execution is very good and it is a fun game to play. As far as which version to try, I would say pick the one for your favorite console. Both versions are good and I don’t think one really stands out from the other. Unfortunately, there isn’t much to talk about in the way of re-releases. There was a Nintendo Virtual Console version for the Wii in the past but there doesn’t seem to be any Aero games available online for the Switch. If you do want to give this one a try, you’ll have to track down an original cartridge or be content with emulation.

    Screen shots above are from the Sega Genesis version of the game.


  • The Triton Pad

    Source: GamePro – Issue Number 33 – April 1992

    These days it seems that third party controllers only exist so that people can buy cheap, crappy replacements. First party controllers, though expensive, seem to always be the best. Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo seem to have finally perfected the controller.

    However, this wasn’t always the case. Third party controller used to, at least in many cases, improve upon the quality of the OEM controllers. In addition, they also offered additional features not found on first party controllers. These features ranged from more buttons to turbo to wireless capabilities (first party controllers were always wired back in the day) and much more.

    The controllers featured in this ad are some that I have never heard of. This leads me to believe that they never really caught on. Perhaps because in this case their quality wasn’t so great or maybe it’s just because they were ugly. In any case, they do offer some rather unique features.

    This ad is from the April 1992 issue of GamePro and features the Triton pad TRI-1000 series of controllers. While the advertisement isn’t terribly specific, the fact that the ad mentions Nintendo and Sega and the photo features three controllers probably means that these controllers were for the Super NES, NES (notice the middle one has fewer buttons), and Genesis (black to match that console).

    The ad mentions five specific features. The first and main feature is that it is programmable, meaning you can essentially record a series of moves and button presses, up to 9 in this case. This leads into the next set of features, most of which involve playback of those recorded control movements. The first is called “Repeat” which repeats the controls that you have recorded. The second is called “Shrink” (though I’m not clear how this name relates to the function) which allows you to replay a program at Turbo or Super Turbo speeds. Third is the “Hold” feature which allows you to “Play your moves while the Triton Pad repeats programmed maneuvers”. I’m also not clear on exactly what that means or how it is different from the first feature. In any case, the main point is that you can record a series of controls and play them back in different ways. The final feature is a rapid fire feature which was a common capability of almost every third party controller at the time.

    I don’t know how well these features worked but I could imagine they would be useful for doing things like repeating special moves easily. The fact that I have never heard of them may mean that they didn’t work so well. Having never used one I can’t say for sure but they are certainly interesting controllers. There used to be quite a bit of variety in controllers (anybody remember the Power Glove?). These days it’s pretty boring. The only choices seem to be the latest Dual Shock controller (or Microsoft/Nintendo equivalents) or a cheap knockoff.