50 Cent (the currency, not the rapper)

Street Fighter Anniversary Collection (Xbox, PS2; $29.99; Rated T; capcom.com/sfac)

(three stars)

There was a time when people had to travel to play the latest and greatest video games.

Back before the Internet, before PlayStation.

There was a time when laundry money was meant for more than clean shorts- it was meant for dominating the video arcade.

And one game more than any other in the early 90's determined whether you had the skills:

"Street Fighter"- the king of the cabinets.

Welcome back the nostalgic smell of stale cigarettes and body odor with the release of the "Street Fighter Anniversary Collection," a compilation of the greatest hits from the grandfather of 2-D fighting.

"Anniversary" contains all of the versions of "Street Fighter II," (Championship, Hyper, Super, & Super Turbo) and the full version of "Street Figher: 3rd Strike," the official sequel to "Street Fighter II." Although all the games are on the same disc, "3rd Strike" must be played separately from the "SFII" versions due to the different fighting engine and graphic capabilities that occurred between the series.

When playing the "SFII" portion of the disc, players can mix and match characters from all of the different versions of "SFII" see who's best. What to see who can throw-down better between "Hyper" Ryu and "Super Turbo" Ryu? Go ahead. With all of the characters available throughout the history of "SFII" and multiple versions available of the same characters, you can mix and match 'till the cows come home.

But don't expect a pretty show. These are graphics from the 90's folks, revolutionary for the time, but pretty harsh on the eyes by today's standards. No, they're no Atari 2600 graphics, but they aren't "Dead or Alive" graphics either.

For an updated look, better to play with "3rd Strike." Released in 1999, "Strike's" art style is fantastically animated and can compete with anything released now. With much more of an anime influence, "Strike" is more comparable to the "Guilty Gear" fighting series than its older brother. Still, the mechanics of fighting between "SFII" and "3rd Strike remain the same. Being limited to two dimensions means the focus of the fighting is on timing and setting traps for your opponents, all the while keeping a quick fireball in your back pocket.

Both versions are playable online which is worth the price of admission for an old gamer who wants to remember what its like to beat the pants out of, and have the pants beaten by, a total stranger. The online set-up for both games is horrendous, and don't expect the instruction booklet to provide any guidance on challenging friends to a match. Still, once you go toe-to-toe with someone, the game plays as smoothly as it did in the arcade.

As an added bonus to celebrate the fifteen year anniversary of the "Street Fighter" series, Capcom has included the "Street Fighter" full-length animated movie. Too bad they didn't include the debacle of a live-action movie that starred Jean-Claude Van Damm.

Oh well, they must be saving that for the thirtieth anniversary.