The Nintendo Switch will go down in history as one of the greatest consoles of all time, but its lack of power did lead to some major games missing out on this console. Fighting game fans, in particular, didn’t experience many modern fighting titles on Nintendo’s system. While it was home to Dragon Ball FighterZ and a recent port of Guilty Gear Strive, newer entries in Street Fighter, Tekken, and King of Fighters completely avoided the system.
Although it won’t go down in history as a fighting game machine, it’s worth noting that the Switch did have an exclusive Street Fighter game that was not released on any other modern console. Does anyone remember Ultra Street Fighter 2: The Final Challengers?
On paper, this port of the legendary fighter seems pretty lame. Rather than port one of the bigger Street Fighter games in this franchise, fans were stuck with a new Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix port. While the UDON-drawn sprites were decent, fans felt robbed of a modern game from the franchise.
Granted, the most modern game of this series at the time was Capcom’s controversial Street Fighter 5, but we all make mistakes.
It doesn’t help that Ultra Street Fighter 2: The Final Challengers is still a staggering $40 on the eShop, only going down to $20 when on sale. The game looks even worse since Capcom released its Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection on Switch, adding every version of SF2, minus this HD port.
However, there is a novelty to The Final Challengers that isn’t seen in any other version of Street Fighter 2. Firstly, it’s nice to have a version of this game where the characters can use these finishers with their original colors. Previous ports of the game didn’t have the original colors, so having them back here is great for authentication.
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+ 2It's also a nice touch that you can pick these nicely drawn UDON sprites in Ultra Street Fighter 2: The Final Challengers. Turbo HD Remix is the only other port of this fighter with these redrawn sprites, and it's stuck on the PS3 and Xbox 360. Shockingly, the game was never ported to PC, with The Final Challengers remaining a Switch exclusive.
Gameplay-wise, this is just classic Street Fighter, and there’s a beautiful simplicity to that. Pulling off simple attacks and not worrying about game-breaking combos almost makes this a cozy kind of fighter. Players can even switch to the old Arcade sprites if they want to.
Some exclusive features make this game unique. Maybe not $40 on the eShop special, but still unique, nonetheless.
Violent Ken from SNK vs Capcom: SVC Chaos makes his grand return in Ultra Street Fighter 2 alongside Evil Ryu so they can break the game together. Obviously, these are just reused assets with different names and new special effects, but they’re still neat characters to have. Plus, seeing a Capcom character technically created by SNK return here is pretty cool, especially now that Terry and Mai are in SF6.
click to enlarge + 2Fans will also remember the weird Way of the Hado mode. Through motion controls, players can do the Hadouken motion to beat up some Shadaloo goons in first-person. Calling this game mode “good” would be too generous, but you won’t see it in other ports of the legendary fighter.
Gamers won’t be rid of this title anytime soon, as Ultra Street Fighter 2 will likely be backward-compatible with the Nintendo Switch 2. The game doesn’t do anything too crazy, so fans should still be able to pick up this fighter and play it without worries. Hopefully, it will get a price drop soon.
Ultra Street Fighter 2: The Final Challengers is a solid port of this legendary fighter. It might be worth $20 when it's on sale.
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