All Things Chill

Remember going to the arcades with a 20 dollar bill almost running to the change counter where they would drop 80 shiny new tokens in your grubby little hands? You’d wait in line for almost 10 minutes to play 2 or 3 rounds of Street Fighter II, only to get your ass kicked by that tiny kid with uncombed hair and dirty teeth. Everyone hated that MF’er. At least I did.

But when the game moved to consoles… IT WAS OVER. There’s nothing like finishing off a friend with a well-timed Shoryuken (Dragon Uppercut) and talking as much smack as time allotted before the next round began in the comfort of your own house. Stupid bets were always fun to make too. “Ok. Next one to finish a round with a special move has to go ALL THE WAY UPSTAIRS to grab some pop,” or “Ok. Whoever loses the next round has to toss all the Taco Bell bags.” The good times would keep going for hours @ a time… interrupted only by fights about being a ‘throw whore’ or ‘cheap kicker’ (Stupid ‘light kick’ Ken).

So you’d understand why I started drooling when I saw the controller @ the local EB. The Lik-Sang article on the controller is here.

Then it was time to actually put the stick to the test. We went straight into the action and had a go with Ryu, thundering Hadokens across the screen like there was no tomorrow. Instinctively, you lean onto the arcade stick while playing. Since you’re working the device somewhat elevated due to the kind of cabinet design of it, the wide surface of the board feels nothing but right for resting your arms on it. It actually is angled a bit – just like in the arcades – to support that natural comfort. Here the weight of the arcade stick comes in handy, the four big rubber feet it stands on help in keeping it from slipping. All this certainly aids being on top of the action always. Gamers who are used to negotiating smaller sticks with their left hand might need some minutes to get used to this full-sized handle one, but then the ensuing brilliant performance it helps you achieve is definitely worth it. As expected, the microswitched buttons are (as the handle stick itself), very responsive and we encountered no instances where connection was ever lost during testing. And as if to make some point, we can rightfully announce that the Street Fighter Anniversary Arcade Stick delivers what it promises from the start: simply the ulimate arcade control experience. Want to dominate at the next tournament? This beast has you officially covered.

I’m a Ryu whore (who ISN’T) so there’s an advantage to using a joystick and flat button configuration as opposed to a controller. Hadokens (Fireballs) have never come so easy. They’re like BUTTER. It has EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER on the top. It’s a thing of beauty. And… Its a limited edition, so right now… its just collecting dust… waiting for the perfect time to throw down. If you’re looking for THE game to use with this controller… Team X-box has a review of Street Fighter Anniversary Collection.

Want some SFII right now?
Flash Street Fighter 2
Shoryuken Forums

SSSSHHHOORRRYYUUUKKEEENNN!!!

~Spec

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 26th, 2005 at 7:31 am and is filed under Gadget Sightings, Video Games. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.