Now Playing: Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix

As a big fan of the fighting game genre, the Street Fighter series is one which is very important to me. Some of my earliest (and best) gaming memories involve playing SF2 on the Sega Mega Drive back in 1994, when I was barely able to hold the pad.

From there, the series hasn't really progressed too much until recently. We had SF3 which was widely disregarded, and various updates of existing installments, particularly SF2.

Of course, February 2009 saw the release of Street Fighter IV, the best fighting game in the last decade. I haven't managed to get hold of a copy just yet, but to satisfy my SF needs until I can do so, I picked up this title from Xbox Live Arcade.

SSF2THDR is the most modern installment of SF2, and for me is the most accomplished. Graphically, this goes without saying, but in terms of gameplay this is as finely tuned as any other fighter on the market. It's still relatively simple to pick up and play, but to master this game real skill and dedication is required. 

Picking up the offline achievements is pretty easy; after all, I have played before to some degree. A tricky one for me was "Combomaniac", achieved for a 7-hit combo. Although this sounds simple (and essentially is) pulling it off took several attempts. The easiest way of doing it is the following:

Pick Deejay

Bring in another controller and select Zangief

Hit a crossover medium kick (jump and hit B)

Instantly duck, and perform 4 successive quick jabs (X button)

Hit up and fierce kick (RB on the 360) to perform a Jacknife Maximum

That should bring you to 7 hits. It will most probably take a couple of goes but that is definately the easiest way to do it.

Technically, the hardest single player achievement is "Sheng Long is in Another Castle", which is unlocked for beating Akuma in arcade mode. There is some speculation about the criteria you must fulfil in order for Akuma to appear, but it basically consists of beating arcade mode without continuing, and also getting a couple of perfects in there as well.

Needless to say, arcade mode should be set at one round and the easiest difficulty. To beat it easily, I used M. Bison and spammed his Psycho Crusher technique (hold direction opposite opponent for two seconds, then towards and punch). I think I got four perfects. If you get it right, in the final match with Bison, Akuma will duff him up and you face the Master of Fists instead. 

In this game, Akuma is a BASTARD, and ridiculously overpowered. Beating him one-on-one is stupidly difficult, so the best way is to exploit weaknesses in his game. A popular method is to use Cammy and her Spinning Back-Fist technique to twist through his projectile attacks, but I found this method very hit and miss and often tricky to pull off correctly. After trying several different tactics, this is what I did to beat him:

Select Chun-Li

When the match starts, perform a jumping medium kick (jump and B)

As soon as you land, perform her Lightning Kicks technique (rapidly hit B)

He'll back off pretty quickly, and probably go for a fireball

Jump over again and hit him with the medium kick, then the Lightning Kicks

Repeat until he keels.

With this method I beat Akuma first time, but I think I got lucky. You may not be able to pull it off first go, but this is most certainly an effective method. Whichever method works best for you, eventually he will fall and you will get your hard-earned achievement.

All that I have left to do with this game are the online achievements. I think I'm going to go down the boosting route as soon as I can; while I'm a fairly accomplished SF player, most of the people still left online are veterans who have been hitting hadoukens with Ryu since 1992, and I keep getting severely beaten. I'm going to persevere for a while, but if an opportunity to grind out the wins comes along I won't pass it up.

Still, I need the practice for SFIV...

- DC Nightmare