Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD & It’s Massive Sprites
You may have read about the upcoming, remastered version of Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo that will be coming out on both the XBox Live Arcade and the PS3’s online service. Since the initial announcement, we have learned a few more details and I’ve been able to piece together my thoughts on the developments.
First of all, Gamekult posted a “confidential” slide from the Capcom press conference that actually showed off the new Ryu sprite and how it compared to the original sprite in addition to the previous standard of high-resolution fighters, Guilty Gear X. (Also see this new Ken sprite)
I took the liberty of cleaning up that slide and adding some fresh comparisons so that it is easier to see the difference. I’ve even added the Ryu sprite from Street Fighter 3 — the largest Ryu sprite until this generation.
When I laid my eyes on this new sprite, I really had to do a double take to make sure that I was reading it correctly. But indeed, the new character sprites for SSF2T HD are so big and detailed, they don’t look like sprites at all. It looks like one of my remake dreams that I thought would never come true is actually becoming a reality.
As good as this single sprite looks, the true test will be seeing it in action. The number of frames in the character animation can make a huge difference. If they could exceed the animation in Street Fighter 3, I suppose that would be excellent.
It is also worth mentioning that the new sprites and artwork featured in this high definition remake is by UDON, the masterminds behind Capcom’s beautiful Street Fighter and Darkstalkers comic books.
When an iconic game like Street Fighter 2 receives such an overhaul, there is bound to be some gamers that are concerned. I thought this was addressed well by this comment made by Velops on the Joystiq post…
“There is also a risk that fans will not like the changes made to the animations. Hardcore fans have honed their skills based upon the the exact number frames for each attack animation. This includes hitbox sizes, reaction, and recovery times. If the change is noticeable, it could completely change the tiers for competitive online play.”
At the same time, I don’t think people should get too worried. Those dedicated to the original version will still have it to enjoy for their tournaments. Plus, there is nothing wrong with learning something new. A true fighting master should be able to learn different battle systems and adapt accordingly.
To ease the worry about how authentic this remake will feel, David Sirlin has confirmed that he is working on this project. He has worked on ports of Street Fighter 2 before and is an expert at the game himself.
Needless to say, I’m more that glad to see this true high-definition remake process turn into a continuing trend. Obviously, it would not be practical for every game, but it would be great to see some of the truly great games get a high-def makover while keeping the original feel intact. (High-res Sonic Trilogy, anyone?)
In case you missed it, we have an ongoing conversation about the Street Fighter remake going on in the forums. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Update: A new Ken sprite has been unveiled
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Wow, that’s amazing for a SFII remake. I’d love to see a KoF game with such sprites… Long life 2D!
so obviously fake it hurts.
A: why would a capcom eployee take a photo of a presentation of a game to distribute online at the cost of their job?
B:why is the slide of it in english?
C:why mark it as “confidential” when all their employees would deem it as confidential regardless? it’s just an attempt at whoever faked it to add some credibility.
d: the strokes and lines of the illustration are obviously just that, not a sprite.
http://pic16.picturetrail.com/VOL699/2583063/14718773/247761357.jpg
yep, a company like capcom would DEFINITELY let some lousy photoshop hack job like this through!!
idiots!
but that’s done Udon, and not by Capcom? So it’s not Akiman or Kuni who designed that sprite for concept design?
Who is the team behind this HD Remake?
@ gique
umm bro theres like 3 pages of other pics
http://www.gamekult.com/images/A0000056894/p1/
Wow gique, you are an idiot!
This game will be fun to play again because of the new look for 30 minutes..the time it will take to see all the characters and all the stages. Then you will be reminded that it’s still the same game and doesn’t have the depth of Street Fighter III.
God almighty !! allahu aqbar !! thank the lord !!! god bless capcom !!!
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah ! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah !
(street fighter deseaseful fan)
I’m very curious. Will this project be ported to Live for Vista? Since Microsoft wants to merge their XBox Live service for Vista’s Live project, I was wondering if there is any colaboration regarding porting this to Vista’s Live?
I would kill to play this on my computer since a lot of computer monitors can support the 1920×1080 resolution.
Any word on the promise of a Live version?
Not that I’m aware of…
Hey Racketboy, Why not make the game in 16:9 ratio? Wouldn’t that remove most of the scrolling to the left and right? Instead of having a box around it to make it a 4:3 ratio? I mean if you’re going to redesign the graphics for 1080 resolution why not make the game in 16:9 ratio? Sort of loses the meaning of HD in some ways. Because HD means widescreen with what HD resolutions are…
I really am super ready to play this game. This has redefined the way I will deal with sprites from now on. For a long time I have been shrinking great art work to fit 100-150 pixel scales but no longer. I would love for this remake to be for a new street fighter game that has every character in the franchise in it. Much like the dream battles from KOF. Speaking of KOF they need to make this happen with them too. I will see you all on Xbox live when this game comes out.
(first forum) ummm go ryu?
This indeed looks interesting. Now what needs to be done, is a remake of the Samurai Shodown series. The SS series is the best of the 2d fighters in my opinion. The main reason is the characters; pretty much all of them are sweet and I can get into the overall theme and feel of the game. I wonder what happened to fighting games, they all seem pretty cheese now a days. Ive been waiting for a good one to come around to give me an excuse to buy a console. Are there any good ones out? The last one I checked was Virtual Fighter 5 and I watched a few videos online. Back to my point, the characters were lame and it just looked like something I could not get into. What happened to creativity? Graphics and eye candy only go so far.
i want street fighter alpha series and 3:third strike in HD.
then i want SNK/Playmore to release their KOF in HD.
This is realy cool. there is a fairly easy technique i recently discovered that lets you do this. the quality wouldnt be quite as good but with adjustments you can upscale any sprites, losslessly to ANY resolution using vector graphic programs.
i am currently in talks to begin working on a 2d sidescrolling shooter that combines modern advances such as HQ sounds resolution and responsive controls with the classic elements of the classic hardcore sidescrollers (and dont worry there is no stealth section)
while i was researching spriting techniques i discovered vector drawing. this technique allows upscaling to any size without afecting your image! If you have access to the origional sprites you can load them in to some editors and convert the image to a vector graphic. its not perfect but works quite well. After a few tweeks you have your sprite to upgrade to any future resolution.
I noticed many of you were suggesting games you would like to have re-made. my suggestion is that you give it a try yourself. There are many free click and drag 2D progams such as Gamemaker. if you combine this with a vector package (again free) such as inkscape you can re-make most of those classic games you were talking about.