SF2 offers a lesson in the impact of small design decisions. Mechanically, this game is identical to its predecessor; however, the developers nudged up the speed of the messages and battle animations (and allow the player to speed them up a little more by holding down a button) and this makes a world of difference for the game’s playability. Improved balancing and boss encounters also help. The only thing that felt like a step backwards was the humor, or relative lack thereof. This one has a frank quality to its translation that’s amusingly endearing, but I just didn’t find myself chuckling aloud frequently the way I did with the first