Street Fighter II' Champion Edition
  

  
Everything that was great about "vanilla" Street Fighter II2 was brought back in Champion Edition. The updated character art and backgrounds went a long way in keeping the game looking fresh. Champion Edition not only brought players back to arcades, but helped Capcom continue the SF2 series into the future by becoming another smash hit at arcades. Worth mentioning, "sequels" of arcade games in the early 90's were somewhat rare... so there was a lot of excitement surrounding Champion Edition. As someone who was always at the arcades in the 90's, I remember seeing the crowd behind the Street Fighter machines just get bigger.... and bigger... and bigger. 
   

   
Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition released on the Sega MegaDrive & Genesis version of the title. It was first of two Street Fighter II ports for the console coming in a 24 Megabit cartridge. The Genesis version was originally planned to be a straight-up port of Champion Edition. However, after Street Fighter II Turbo was announced on SNES, Sega ordered their version to be delayed so Capcom could add the SNES Turbo content to this version as well.
 

FUN FACTS :  In the original SF2, Vega (Claw) did not have a block animation, but instead performed backflips to evade the player's attacks. With the 4 original bosses now functioning like normal characters in the hands of human players, Vega received his very own block animations in SF2: Champion Edition.


Special Champion Edition features "Champ" mode with Champion Edition rules and "Hyper" mode with Hyper Fighting rules. The ten-stars speed settings in "Hyper" mode, which were only accessible in the SNES version through a cheat code, is available by default in the Genesis version, and a cheat code that allows players to adjust the speed in "Champion" mode was added in its place. This edition was also the first console version of Street Fighter II to feature the original arcade intro.
 

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Page Updated: November 2nd, 2021 Developer(s): Capcom Publisher(s): Capcom Designer(s): Akira Nishitani           Designer Akira Yasuda               Designer Yoshiki Okamoto       Producer Artwork by: Bengus (CRMK), Akira Yasuda (Akiman), Kinu Nishimura, Shoei, Mick McGinty  (U.S. Box Art) Platform(s): Arcade, Genesis, TurboGrafx-16, PC, PlayStation, Saturn, Sega Master System, Wii Virtual Console Release Date(s): April 1992                       Arcade June 12th, 1993             PC Sept. 27th, 1993            Genesis/MD as SF2: Special CE Sept. 28th, 1993            Genesis/MD as SF2: Special CE Oct. 29th, 1993              Genesis/MD as SF2: Special CE July 29th, 2008               Wii Virtual Console Oct. 13th, 2008              Wii Virtual Console Oct. 17th, 2008              Wii Virtual Console Characters:  Ryu, Ken Masters, Chun-Li, Guile, Dhalsim, Blanka, Zangief, Edmond Honda, Balrog, Vega, Sagat, M.Bison Featured Video: Related Games: Street Fighter 2, SF2 Turbo, Super SF2, Super SF2 Turbo, Super SF2 Turbo Revival, Super SF2T HD Remix, Street Fighter, Ultra SF2, SF3: New Generation, SF3: 2nd Impact, SF3: 3rd Strike, SF3: 3rd Strike Online Edition, Street Fighter 4, Super SF4, Super SF4: 3D Edition, Super SF4: Arcade Edition, Ultra SF4, Street Fighter 5, SF5: Arcade Edition, SF5: Champion Edition, Street Fighter Alpha, Street Fighter Alpha 2, Street Fighter Alpha 3, SFA3 Upper, SFA3 Max, SFA: Anthology, SF: Anniversary Collection, Street Fighter EX, SFEX2, SFEX3, SF: The Movie, Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo, Super PF2T HD Remix, Pocket Fighter, Art of Fighting, World Heroes, Fighter's History, Fatal Fury, Fatal Fury 2, Mortal Kombat, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters, Martial Champion    Gameplay Engine  10 / 10 Story / Theme  9.5 / 10 Overall Graphics  9.5 / 10 Animation  10 / 10 Music / Sound Effects  9.5 / 10 Innovation  9.0 / 10 Art Direction  10 / 10 Intro / Presentation  8.5 / 10 Replayability / Fun  10 / 10 "Ouch" Factor  10 / 10 Characters  10 / 10 BOTTOM LINE  9.9 / 10  Review based on Arcade version       Final Words: Even in 1992-1993, some kids preferred to "complain" about a new version of a fighting game instead of just shut up and enjoy it. The ones playing the game were having the most fun, as usual. I didn't complain, I put tons of quarters into the SF2: CE cabinet and loved every second. You wanna play? You better beat me first... put your quarter up and get in line. I'm not moving!  Playable bosses? Sign me up. This was a necessary update and a smart move by Capcom at the time. Remember, for true appreciators of the game... it was "amazing" just to see Balrog, Vega, Sagat, and M. Bison appearing on other stages besides their own. Just chillin'. It was an exciting time. Call it a rehash... call it the same... call you whatever you want... it doesn't matter, because SF2: Champion Edition was the hottest thing at the arcades and on consoles when it debuted. If you wanted to play the new version of Street Fighter in the early 90's... you put your quarter up, shut up, and quickly learned why it was the most popular fighting game. The only legitimate complaint that Street Fighter 2 fans could've possibly had is that bosses weren't playable, and Capcom answered their prayers with Champion Edition. Money in the bank... Happy players. Another year or more of ultra competitive gameplay, growing the fighting game scene worldwide. Welcome back to the arcade! Those were the days. After some time, someone at Capcom decided everyone wanted faster gameplay... and thus, Street Fighter II ' Hyper Fighting / Turbo soon followed Champion Edition, adding to the worldwide phenomenon that Street Fighter 2 (and fighting games at arcades) was steadily becoming in the early 90's. ~TFG Webmaster | @Fighters_Gen    Click Here for all character artwork! Click Here for all character data images!