Ever wished for Street Fighter 2 on the Atari XE/XL computers? Well, regardless, one dev is making it happen.
Polish developer Krzysztof “Vega” Góra, renowned for his ambitious Atari 8-bit projects, has just unveiled early progress on his latest endeavor: a new conversion of the legendary Capcom fighting game Street Fighter II (1991) specifically for the ATARI XE/XL.
In a recent update, Góra shared two short videos showcasing this work-in-progress. He emphasized, “It’s still the early version so it’s far from finished but I wanted to let you know that something like this is being created.”
This adaptation is being crafted for standard ATARI XE/XL computers equipped with 64KB of memory. Góra clarified, “The game will be on a cartridge so it will work on a normal ATARI XE/XL with 64KB of memory.” The foundation of this version is the Game Boy edition, enriched with exciting additions for the retro gaming community.
Squeezing in the technical challenges
Among the impressive features already implemented are digitized voice samples for the start and end of each match, along with unique phrases for the currently playable characters: Ryu, Ken, and Zangief. These fighters can all perform their signature moves, from Ryu’s iconic hadoken to Zangief’s powerful double lariat. Furthermore, the game boasts eleven background music tracks that faithfully recreate the atmosphere of the original arcade stages. Góra noted, “We have all music and samples in the game in this moment….about 11 songs…and many, many samples.”
Addressing technical aspects with posters on the AtariAge forum, Góra explained, “The game uses the 4KHz samples […] so we cannot change very often colors in one line […]we add PMG on the boards so it will be better.” Regarding sprite drawing speed, he commented, “yes, it’s the stock drawing[….]with more memory game can draw faster sprites[…]but it seems with background will be too slow[…]when the game will be finished I check it.”
Street Fighter 2 visual enhancements
Detailing the current color usage, Góra stated, “we use PM0+1 for the white ryu color[…]and PM2+3 for the red zangief color.” He also hinted at potential future visual enhancements: “but it’s possible if I change resolution of PMG from double to Quadruple[….]and change 1 color for ryu and zangief…”
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The graphics for this promising port are being created by “S1M,” the talented artist behind the recent Bubble Bobble (Taito, 1986) conversion. The music is being composed by Michael “Miker” Szpilowski, and the digitized voices are the work of Grzegorz “GienekP” Karpiel. With the editor of Atariteca also on board as a tester, this new Street Fighter II adaptation is already shaping up to be a highly anticipated release in the current Atari homebrew scene.
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