Tales of Console Collecting – Super Nintendo Street Fighter II Console Pack

Street Fighter II: The World Warrior was released in the arcades in 1991 and changed the arcade landscape forever.  I still remember the buzz surrounding the game, and the crowds gathered round the machines.  It was also a popular topic in the playground.  I remember the discussions about new versions appearing in the arcades down the seafront, with Ryu and Ken being able to do multiple Hadoukens and in mid-air.  There was also one particular machine with a weird glitch, whereby Ryu would turn into Blanka!  Back then I wasn’t really aware of the concept of bootleg boards.  There was also talk of cheats allowing the player to select the bosses.  It wasn’t long after that rumours of a Super Nintendo conversion began to circulate.  The thought of being able to play a near arcade perfect conversion in the home was incredible at the time.

Street Fighter II was released for the Japanese Super Famicom in June 1992, and European gamers had to wait until December 1992 for its release.  It was the first game released for the system on a 16-Megabit cartridge.  It wasn’t quite arcade perfect, but was an incredible conversion all the same and well worth the wait. 

On Christmas Day 1992 I received my first ever console and arguably the best present ever from Father Christmas, the awesome Super Nintendo Street Fighter II Console Pack.  I admit it didn’t come as a massive surprise as I had been on about the console for months, but I was ecstatic all the same.  I also received Super Mario World and Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts that year.  My Dad had chosen the latter based on magazine reviews.

Fast forward to 1997, and I was working on a ship, getting regular shore leave in Japan.  My first pick ups for the Super Famicom were Axelay and Hagane.  I bought them from a little games shop in Sodegaura.  The games were used, but in superb condition and extremely cheap.  I still have these games twenty three years on.  Japanese games were largely superior to their PAL counterparts, running full screen and at 60Hz, and the fantastic artwork won me over.  I eventually decided to part with all my PAL consoles and games, and my collection became exclusively Japanese. 

Now my collection has come full circle, and I recently picked up the Super Nintendo Street Fighter II Console Pack again.  

I probably won’t play it much as there are much better versions available, plus I have the original arcade board.  However this pack brings back so many memories, and I’m really pleased to add it to my collection once again.  I was fortunate to receive a few computers and consoles on Christmas Days over the years, including an Amstrad CPC 464, Amiga 500 Plus Cartoon Classics Pack and a Sega Saturn bundled with Virtua Fighter.  The Super Nintendo Street Fighter II Console Pack remains my favourite and most memorable, closely followed by the Saturn, but that’s another story!

It’s in excellent condition overall, with just some light wear to the box.  Unfortunately the Street Fighter II instruction manual is missing, but I should be able to pick one up fairly easily. 

Now I just have to dig out my old Super Play magazines to find out the cheats for playing as the bosses and accessing Sheng Long.