It's been 10 years now. Yep, Street Fighter 2 hit the streets in mid 1992, and here we are in the new millenium, still battling Bison and company. The first PS2 incarnation takes a slightly different approach from the rest of the series and pits players in handicap matches against upwards of 3 brutal opponents.

Taking the usual one-on-one scenarios and tossing them out the window makes for an interesting, if uneven, SF game. The one-player games take the player for a ride of varied matches whether it's three-against-one, a two-on-one tag match, a four-on-one elimination, or of course the occasional one-on-one match-up. Beating a character allows the player to use that character for the duration of the game and completing the game earns secret characters. On a side note, the ending of the game allows players to beat up as many opponents as possible in a Final Fight style mini-game that is, arguably, the most fun aspect of the game.

The game holds its own graphically, but putting Tekken or Dead Or Alive next to it shows the lack of detail. The simply shaded characters keep the look of the classic 2-D characters fresh and a few nifty effects such as heat waves when a fireball is launched spice things up. Not exactly a game to show off the system with, but when four players are on the screen, things don't slow down a bit and the speed is impressive.

The sound effects are sparse and don't add anything to the series, but fans will appreciate the fact that Capcom has retained all of the characters' voices. None of the music is memorable and will be quickly forgotten, but it still manages to set the tone of the game.

While most people will be better off with DOA or Tekken, those SF die-hards who are still out there will find this game worthwhile. The gameplay has hardly been touched and only a few new faces are to found. But as usual, Capcom has succedded on enough levels to make this one seem like a worthy entry into the series.