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Pocket Fighter – The Greatest Street Fighter Game You've Never Played

If you're Capcom, you've learned a number of reliable lessons in the past 30 years:

1.Street Fighter II will always be popular enough to warrant a new tweak or remake.

2.Mega Man fans love playing the exact same game over and over again.

3.Adorable, super-deformed (SD) versions of popular characters are a good idea.

4.Having popular characters show up as cameos in other games is a great way to cultivate fan love.

Pocket Fighter combines at least three of the items on the list – and it features a cameo by Mega Man, so it can claim an honorable mention for #2. Featuring mostly fighters from Street Fighter II (and also Sakura and Ibuki, popular characters from subsequent Street Fighter games), Pocket Fighter uses the SD versions of the World Warriors that first appeared in Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo – the fan-favorite Dr. Mario-esque puzzle title featuring Street Fighter II characters (which recently found new life via Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network), but boasts streamlined 2D fighting gameplay. Like the forgotten Red Earth (the origin of Pocket Fighter character Tessa), Pocket Fighter also uses gems that appear during matches to level characters up.

Pocket Fighter also features playable characters from Darkstalkers in addition to its roster of Street Fighters. Succubus Morrigan, ghost Hsien-Ko, and catgirl Felicia are all part of the starting roster of characters. In addition, the game has battle appearances from Mega Man, Rush, Roll and Tron Bonne (all from the Mega Man series of games), as well as heroes from Breath of Fire and Cyberbots – other cult-popular Capcom franchises.

The most memorable part of Pocket Fighter may be Sakura's dimissal of Dan's Saikyo style tutelage - “your techniques are useless,” but the game is a classic for its fun, fast gameplay. The relative rarity of the game also plays a role in its cult status. The game was originally released in limited numbers in the United States, making it an item to find for game collectors. Now the original Pocket Fighter for the PlayStation (PS1) is more readily available, and it's also been included in the PS2 Street Fighter Alpha Anthology collection. If you have exceptional eBay skills, you can also net the WonderSwan or Saturn versions of the game, but your most reliable source for Pocket Fighter is GameQuestDirect.

Remember – no preowned discs, no gutted games, just factory-sealed new games at discount prices.