Street Fighter EX2 Plus Official Trailer (1999, Capcom)
37Street Fighter EX2 (ストリートファイターEX2) is a 2D head-to-head fighting game with 3D graphics, co-produced by Capcom and Arika originally released in 1998 as a coin operated arcade game for the Sony ZN-2 hardware. It is a sequel to the original Street Fighter EX, a 3D spinoff of the Street Fighter series. An updated version of the game titled Street Fighter EX2 Plus was released in 1999 for the arcades as well and subsequently ported to the PlayStation.
The original version of Street Fighter EX2 retains all of the features from the previous game, Street Fighter EX Plus, including original features such as "Guard Breaks" (unique moves which cannot be blocked by an opponent) and "Super Canceling" (the ability to cancel a Super Combo into another Super Combo).
The primary new feature in the game are "Excel Combos", ("excel" being an abbreviation for "extra cancel"). Much like the "Custom Combos" featured in the Street Fighter Alpha series, Excel Combos allows player to connect a series of basic and special moves for a limited time. During an Excel Combo, the player begins with a basic move and can follow up with a different basic move or follow-up a basic move with a special move, which can be followed by a different special move. However, the player cannot connect any move with the same move, nor can they cancel special moves into basic moves during an Excel Combo.
Recurring Street Fighter characters Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Zangief, and Guile, who were all in the original Street Fighter EX, return in EX2, along with original characters Hokuto, Skullomania, Doctrine Dark, and Cracker Jack. Dhalsim, who was in the PlayStation version of Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha, also returns along with four additional classic characters new to EX series: Blanka and Vega from previous Street Fighter games, along with new characters Sharon (a redheaded female special agent) and Hayate (a Japanese swordsman). Darun, Pullum, Blair, and Allen were omitted from the original Street Fighter EX 2, although Pullum and Darun would return in Street Fighter EX2 Plus (see below), while Blair and Allen would be featured in an unrelated Arika-developed fighting game Fighting Layer.
The game also features four hidden characters: Kairi, from the original EX returns as a hidden character, along with new characters Shadow Geist (a costumed vigilante similar to Skullomania) and Nanase (Hokuto and Kairi's sister, a young girl who wields a staff). Garuda, from the original EX, returns as a boss character. All four characters can be selected by the player after meeting certain requirements.