Capcom - Street Fighter II (1991), 8/10

Street Fighter II is among the most accessible, well designed, and memorable fighting game experiences available, particularly in its many polished forms released after the original World Warrior edition, singularly Street Fighter II Turbo which offers new features without compromising the foundational style and experience. Like any great competitive game, it is easy to pick up but impossible to master. The mechanics can prove frustrating to learn in the beginning, but the triumph beyond frustration makes the experience worth its trials. The original arcade experience is great as-is, but Turbo mode adds a layer of complexity and entertaining variation, and the additional characters in later iterations add another set of interesting variables to learn as a player. The variegated experience is theoretically infinite, but the gameplay is simple enough to pick up and play for any audience, or group of friends, making accessibility a non-factor. The plot is rather straightforward and non-essential to appreciate the crux of the experience, which is the mechanical gameplay. 

Characters have unique fighting styles, and while some are clearly more powerful than others, there is a generally workable balance between each move set and each character hosts their own strengths and weaknesses in their greatest form. Combos, while not originally intended within the game's design, become a major factor in gameplay, and while CPU battles can be frustrating, they are largely compatible with most play styles, and reward careful gameplay balancing aggression and thoughtful defense. While the characters themselves are not the most complex in narrative presentation, they do all have interesting origins, as expanded upon with the completion of each character, adding reward to repeated arcade gameplay, and these characters certainly have aesthetic and stylistic uniqueness, and visually beautiful art, which combine to make Street Fighter's characters form one of the best fighting casts in the genre. The music and art design are a substantial part of why SFII persists as a classic, along with its intermingling with pop culture (cosplay, hip-hop, media references, etc.), but this stems from intentional artistic design rather than pure fandom exposure. SFII is among the best titles of the 16-bit era and persists as a cultural artifact for good reason.