Buy Street Fighter II: Champion Edition X RepliCade

What started out as a Kickstarter project has turned into a verifiable niche for New Wave Toys. The company's 1:6 scale arcade machines have gone over well with both collectors and fans, in part because of their push for authenticity. The RepliCade line runs the original arcade ROMs inside custom emulators, and the cabinets share the same design as their full-size counterparts. Street Fighter II: Champion Edition is the first cabinet to bend that rule a bit, and while it works, there are a few caveats.

As soon as you open the RepliCade box, the iconic Street Fighter II: CE artwork is visible. While other machines may have ruled the '80s, the various versions of Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat were arcade mainstays throughout the '90s. Anyone who grew up in that era spent plenty of time in front of these machines, learning moves from friends or swapping downloaded move sheets with newly discovered specials.

Street Fighter II: CE isn't the original Street Fighter II game, but it is the one that formed the basis of arcade competition. It enabled the four bosses as playable characters, and it allowed head-to-head matchups of the same characters, so no one could complain that they lost due to an opponent picking their main.

The biggest difference between a real Street Fighter II: CE machine and the RepliCade version is visible on the control panel. The eight-way joystick and classic red, white, and blue action buttons are here, but the RepliCade really only has space for one set of controls. Trying to squeeze two joysticks and two full sets of buttons onto the RepliCade may have been doable, but playability would have greatly suffered. With that said, the machine doesn't look weird because of it. In fact, at first glance, most players likely wouldn't realize something is missing. Think of it as a lost design for a single-player cabinet.

Thankfully, RepliCade didn't limit players to solo matches against the AI. To work around the physical limitations, the Street Fighter II: CE machine has two USB ports in the back. You can hook up one or two USB controllers to enable competitive play. The game ships with one mini-fight stick (complete with Street Fighter II: CE artwork), so you can go head-to-head right out of the box. The mini-fight stick uses the same eight-way joystick and buttons as those used on the built-in panel, so it's a fair match-up even if you are viewing from off-center.

Street Fighter II: CE also supports official PlayStation and Xbox controllers, which sounds great on the surface, but it's also where the New Wave team fumbles the ball a bit. While the machine worked great with the stock PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Xbox One controllers I tested it with, it failed to support licensed third-party controllers properly. The PowerA Fusion fightpad mostly worked, but not every punch and kick was mapped to the correct button. A Qanba Crystal fight stick I hooked up didn't work at all in PS3 mode. The joystick on the Qanba worked in PS4 mode, but none of the buttons worked. Perhaps the most surprising controller was the original, official Xbox controller I tried out. Long ago, I spliced a USB connector onto one of my Xbox controllers to use on a PC. On a whim, I plugged it into the RepliCade, and it worked perfectly.

The moral of the controller story is that if it's a first party console controller, it'll work. If it's a third-party product, even a licensed one, expect it to be a roll of the dice. Because there is no support for button remapping, controllers that mostly work, like the PowerA Fusion fightpad, aren't as effective as they could be. This isn't a deal-breaker by any means, but it is a bit disappointing given the care that went into the rest of the product.

Options that are available in the system settings include a game selection (Street Fighter II: CE or Super Street Fighter II Turbo), backlight brightness, marquee on/off, and the ability to flip the default location of the P1 and P2 controls. That last one is useful if you want to use a game controller as a solo player. There is also a difficulty setting, but this can only be toggled for Street Fighter II: CE. You cannot change it for Super Street Fighter II Turbo. The second game is fixed at the default arcade difficulty setting of four.

The default difficulty may not seem like much, but switching to the miniature control scheme requires a bit of a learning curve. Even veteran players may have to turn it down a notch on Street Fighter II: CE until they get the hang of it. Super Street Fighter II Turbo's default can be brutal to a new (or lapsed) player, so it's probably best to start with Street Fighter II: CE.

Compared to the arcade ROMs, there are some small but insignificant differences between what's here and what was in the original machine. The Coca-Cola soda cans (Guile's stage) and boxes (Chun-Li's stage) have been removed, just like we saw in the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection. The military insignia on the ground in Guile's stage, which was modified for the 30th Anniversary Collection, is simply gone here. The difference from the anniversary collection is surprising, as I would have assumed the ROMs would be identical across the recent releases.

One change of note, most likely due to the lack of ROM config options for Super Street Fighter II Turbo, is that you can only select from three game speeds in-game due to the ROM defaulting to free select. The fourth speed (zero) was a setting on the arcade board and is not selectable in-game, so you can't access it here.

If you're wondering, yes, Akuma is unlockable in Super Street Fighter II Turbo via the built-in arcade panel. You have to get the timing just right, but he's there, and he is player controllable.

Visually, both Street Fighter II: CE and Super Street Fighter II Turbo look great on the RepliCade screen. The LCD chosen is crisp and clear, with no visible ghosting artifacts. Colors are vibrant and really pop. Although the sprites in both games are well designed and scale well to a large screen, the smaller scale of the RepliCade makes it all look sharp and detailed.

There's just one catch: The screen is not 4:3, so everything is slightly wider and shorter than it should be. Character portraits are square, rather than rectangular, and the characters look like they've all added a few pounds. It doesn't affect gameplay, and it's easy to overlook, but if you're a hardcore fan or swapping from playing on another system, you'll notice.

As far as controls, both games play well, once you have gotten the hang of the smaller scale controls. For the first hour or so of playing, I was jumping a lot more than I liked before I mentally adjusted to using the mini-joystick. Emulation is solid, and all the moves work as expected. With that said, I doubt I'll ever play anything more than a casual round with the built-in controls. Using a controller (or a fightpad, once I find one that is fully compatible) is the preferred way to play.

Sound has been improved for the Street Fighter II: Champion Edition x RepliCade, with this being the first unit in the lineup to feature a set of stereo speakers. Sound is loud and clear, with music that doesn't get tinny or distorted. The game benefits from being placed near a wall, rather than on an open table, so the sound can reflect back at you. Unfortunately, sound is also where I ran into some problems. The first issue had to do with the sound cutting in and out. I suspect something got knocked loose during shipping, as a solid smack to the bottom of the unit seemed to get it working again.

The more annoying issue is that the sound channels on Super Street Fighter II Turbo are reversed. It might not be obvious at first, since the speakers are next to each other, but as you play, you'll notice than when you're on the left hand side of the screen, the fight sounds are coming out of the right speaker, and when you're on the right, the sounds are coming out of the left speaker. Given that New Wave Toys prides itself on accuracy, this was an unfortunate oversight. Hopefully, it can be fixed in a software update.

Despite the rough patches I encountered, it's difficult to complain about the overall package. Would I have preferred full control over the Super Street Fighter II Turbo ROM? Of course. Do I notice the swapped sound channels? Yes, but they don't detract from gameplay. Ultimately, it's the gameplay that matters and what keeps you coming back. It's also what makes Street Fighter II: CE a perfect conversation piece.

I doubt we'll ever see an EVO matchup on one of these machines, but just by being visible, it'll still spur impromptu matches at home or at the office. The system is attractive, starts up quickly, and the battery lasts for multiple hours, so you can play at a moment's notice. Stick it on a coffee table, a desk, or a shelf, and you'll garner comments and requests to play.

It's great to see New Wave Toys pushing forward with new features on the RepliCade lineup. Stereo sound is a plus, and external controller support is a game-changer for more complex input systems. As long as quality doesn't suffer because of it (in addition to the previously mentioned sound issue, our retail boxed review system was missing one of the two advertised USB cords), the quality-of-life improvements are only going to make future releases more desirable. As for Street Fighter II: Champion Edition, it's about time for me to play another round.

Score: 7.5/10