Street Fighter (GO!)

"Both compelling and addictive, Street Fighter is one of the most outstanding martial arts combat games yet devised. The action is intense as you travel across 5 colourful locations, to combat 10 of the toughest and meanest adversaries you'll ever meet. Japan, China, USA, Thailand and England provide the backdrop for this thrilling spectacle that will test your combat skills and endurance to the limit. ... Let nothing stand in your way"

This game comes in two versions (US/EU) and both are notably different from each other. Two teams had a go at converting the arcade game to the 64 and both failed miserably. Interestingly for the EU release, both are on the same tape.

The EU release played here uses large blocky sprites and scrolling backdrops. The gameplay is slower but overall plays better as hits are easier to land and the enemies hardly use their special moves. At each location you fight 2 fighters, 2-3 rounds in each. Before changing location, you get to earn some bonus score by smashing a pile of bricks. Once all 10 fighters have been defeated the game loops without an ending.

Overall, the conversion is terrible. Its ugly and sounds pretty bad with music that sounds like a butchered version of a soundtrack from Galaxy Force. The game did get quite high in the C64 game charts around the time of the sequels release. I can only imagine that it sold only due to the name and left you with disappointment once you got the game home and loaded up. It is the better of the two versions, but that isn't saying much.

Once the game has been played through once, I cut out remaining fights that use up credits so I can end at the game over screen. The multiload option allows you to turn it off and progress through the game with just the japan background.

00:00:00 Title Music
00:01:25 Game Starts Here!