August 26, 2021
Slot of the Week: Street Fighter II
Finish the working week with a trip back in time as we explore the classic arcade game themed slot Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, featuring everyone’s favorite characters, plenty of dramatic battles, and big wins to boot!
Not only is this cluster pays slot big on retro value thanks to its close-to-the-original graphics, storyline, and sounds, you’ll also be treated to plenty of ways to emerge victorious via three well-designed features. Get your Hadouken button push sequences at the ready!
In Short:
- Street Fighter II is a cluster pays online slot by NetEnt
- It is available to play at 12 New Jersey online casinos including Golden Nugget, SugarHouse, Unibet Casino, and Pala Casino
- Street Fighter II is based on the hit 90s arcade and console game of the same name
- The maximum payout of Street Fighter II is $12,000 in the base game and up to $120,000 in the free spins feature
The Basics
It’s been 30 years since the hit arcade game Street Fighter 2 launched back in 1991 before being ported to various home computer systems and consoles in the years that followed. The iconic 1- and 2-player fighting game that arguably saved the early decline of the arcade video game business is one of the most popular games in history, giving it an almost legendary status.
It’s no surprise, then, that when NetEnt announced it was developing a slot based on the video game, many people were beyond excited, with the 2020 release fulfilling the developer’s promises to do the title proud.
The result is an outstanding slot representation of the characters, storyline, and blocky graphics that we all know and love, giving you the opportunity to reminisce and be rewarded at the same time.
Newly launched at select New Jersey online casinos, Street Fighter II: The World Warrior is certainly like no slot you’ve ever seen!
First Impressions
When you first load the Street Fighter II slot, you’ll be presented with a very familiar splash screen depicting a street fight at the foot of a tall building, up which the camera view pans to reveal the famed Street Fighter II logo in fiery red and yellow. It’s from this first moment you realize that this slot is going to stick very closely to its video game inspiration!
Just like in the video game, your first action will be to choose one of the eight characters, each of whom have their own special effects on the reels. You’ll then be pitted against another character on their home turf for a shot at one of the slot’s two main features.
You’ll want to make sure you’ve got the sound on (preferably with headphones!) to enjoy the full experience of this awesome slot, with audio treats ranging from the 16-bit soundtrack (which changes with every venue) to the attack sounds and victory celebrations of the fighters. Meanwhile, the blocky graphics will no doubt put a smile on your face, from the various venues and fighters to the reel symbols themselves.
Symbols
The symbols in Street Fighter II are kept very simple and in line with the design of the original game. The highest paying symbols in the game are the victory and defeat faces of the eight playable characters and, in the boss fights, the four boss characters.
The lower paying symbols are the J, Q, K, and A card value symbols, in all their blocky glory!
Speaking of symbols, four matching character faces aligning in a 2×2 shape will automatically join to create a colossal symbol, so look out for those too.
Street Fighter II Features
Aside from the base game, which centers around a fighting match, there are three different features to enjoy in the Street Fighter II slot. Since the main game is a bit different to what you might be used to, we’ll take a closer look at that first.
Base Game: Battles
The premise of the original video game is as follows. Bad guy M. Bison, hell-bent on world domination, has selected the world’s toughest fighters to battle it out in an effort to find the most elite subjects for his mind-controlled Shadaloo organization. The eight base characters have their own motivations for taking part, while the four boss characters provide additional challenges.
The slot game stays true to this storyline, with the base gameplay taking the form of one such street fight.
When you start the game, you’ll be prompted to choose one of the eight characters as your fighter, each of whom imparts a special wild effect on the reels as follows:
- Dhalsim from India: Places randomly 3 or 4 wilds
- E. Honda from Japan: Places 3 wilds on the same reel
- Ryu from Japan: Places 3 wilds on the same row
- Guile from USA: Places 2 vertical stacks of 2 wilds
- Zangief from USSR: Places 2 horizontal stacks of 2 wilds
- Chun Li from China: Places randomly 2 or 7 wilds
- Blanka from Brazil: Places 1 or 5 wild on the same reel
- Ken from USA: Places 1 or 5 wilds on the same row
It’s worth noting that the volatility of the game changes depending on the character you choose, from frequent wins at the top of the list above to big wins at the bottom.
Once you’ve chosen your character, you’ll be pitted against a random opponent from the remaining seven characters and flown to their home turf for battle.
The reel set consists of a 5×5 setup, with each spin triggering a new set of symbols to fall into place. Wins are triggered by finding clusters of 4 or more matching symbols anywhere on the reels at once.
This central area is where the fighters will direct all their powerful attacks, with clusters of their own face reducing the health of their opponent as indicated by the health bar at the top of the screen.
Each cluster win can trigger a cascade of additional cluster wins due to the fact that winning symbols disappear and are replaced by more from above.
Above your own character you’ll see a Wild bar. Each time you land a winning cluster of the high paying character face symbols, the same number of blue boxes will be marked on that Wild bar. Fill the bar completely in one spin and your character will unleash his or her special move, in the case above, Ryu’s famed Hadouken blue fireball, along with their special wilds for more win potential on the reels.
Beat The Boss Free Spins
If you manage to fully deplete your opponent’s health in the base game and end up winning the battle, you’ll trigger the Beat The Boss Free Spins feature. This is where the four additional characters of Balrog, Vega, Sagat, and M. Bison, the big baddie himself, make an appearance, as you’ll be pitted against each one of them in turn if you’re lucky enough to make it through the feature’s four levels!
Each boss battle lasts for as many free spins as it takes for a winner to emerge, with each win being boosted by the level’s multiplier, which starts at 2x in level 1 and reaches 10x in the final level. At this stage you can just sit back and watch those awesome 90s graphics as the two characters battle it out to the benefit of your bankroll!
Insert Coin Gamble Feature
At some online casinos you will also get the option to replay the Beat The Boss Free Spins feature to see if you can improve on your last performance. This Insert Coin Gamble Feature lets you restart the battle at a cost or you can choose to take your winnings and live to fight another day!
Car Smash Bonus Game
One of the original video game’s three bonus rounds has also been introduced into the slot version and it’s probably everyone’s favorite, the Car Smash! If you don’t manage to beat your opponent in the base game, you’ll trigger the Car Smash Bonus Game.
This feature hands the character controls over to you, so you can punch and kick the car to smash it up for a random payout of 5x to 15x your bet. You can even do the various characters’ special moves, such as Ryu’s Shoryuken uppercut and Hadouken fireball, if you can remember the controls!
(Look closely at the image above and you’ll notice the car’s license plate says NetEnt!)
Street Fighter II Payouts
As a cluster pays slot, Street Fighter II pays out when you get clusters of 4 or more matching symbols anywhere on the reels at once. The number of matching symbols in the cluster, the symbols themselves, and your bet per spin amount will determine your payout.
Here’s a breakdown of the various payouts in this slot game:
| Symbol | 4x | 5x | 6x | 7x | 8x | 9x | 10x | 11x | 12x | 13x | 14x | 15x | 16+x |
| Victory | 0.5x bet | 0.75x bet | 1x bet | 2x bet | 3x bet | 4x bet | 5x bet | 7.5x bet | 10x bet | 12.5x bet | 15x bet | 20x bet | 30x bet |
| Defeat | 0.25x bet | 0.5x bet | 0.75x bet | 1x bet | 2x bet | 3x bet | 4x bet | 5x bet | 7.5x bet | 10x bet | 12.5x bet | 15x bet | 20x bet |
| J, Q, K, A | 0.25x bet | 0.35x bet | 0.5x bet | 0.6x bet | 0.75x bet | 1x bet | 2x bet | 3x bet | 4x bet | 5x bet | 6x bet | 7.5x bet | 10x bet |
With a large range of bet sizes to choose from of $0.20 up to $400, that gives a maximum payout in the base game of a whopping $12,000!
Of course, thanks to the cascading wins and the extra multipliers in the free spins feature, that win potential is pushed even higher!
Street Fighter II RTP and Volatility
So how does this game compare to other slots in terms of payout volumes and frequencies? The best metrics for this purpose are the Return to Player (RTP) and Volatility (or Variance).
The RTP of a game is defined as the percentage of money played that is paid out to players over the long term. You can think of it as the opposite of the house edge. When it comes to the Street Fighter II slot, the RTP ranks at around 96.06%, which is a touch higher than the industry average of 96%, making it a pretty attractive game to play in terms of payouts.
In terms of this game’s volatility, it’s ranked as Medium to High, which means the balance of small frequent wins versus larger, less frequent wins is more on the latter side of the scale. Remember, though, that you can adjust the volatility to your liking with your choice of character.
Ready? Fight!
Since the original Street Fighter II video game was such a massive hit, it’s no surprise to find that NetEnt’s slot of the same name is also a success. The team at NetEnt have done a remarkable job of staying true to the game’s design, storyline, effects, graphics, and sounds, to the point where you’ll actually forget you’re playing a slot!
You will end up utterly absorbed and transfixed by the attack effects that you may remember from your younger days. Rooting for your player in each battle brings the added bonus of unlocking the more profitable free spins feature for even more potential win power. And even if you aren’t victorious, you’ll have a blast smashing up that car in retro style for a commiseration reward!
Street Fighter II has just recently been released at select New Jersey online casinos, including Golden Nugget, SugarHouse, Unibet Casino, Pala Casino, and Caesars Casino.
Interested in giving it a go? Simply check out our reviews of the online casinos linked above and sign up at the one that suits you best. Make your first deposit, claim your welcome bonus, then fight your way to retro glory!
