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"The first 2d fighter to dethrone the original Street Fighter II!"


Now dont get me wrong. Street Fighter II is a damn good game. And until I played this I still believed that it was the best fighter of all time except Tekken 3 (keep in mind Soul Calibur and Super Smash Bros had not come out yet). I picked this up since the reviews were awesome. I was used to the many addons of Street Fighter II were they add a couple new characters, one or two new modes. But nothing could've prepared me for this. Wow. If I had played Street Fighter Alpha 2 it probably would've been disappointing, but oh well! This game is frickin' awesome!

Graphic-wise, its simply amazing. Thats the only word I can describe its graphics for the time. They were the size of the Street Fighter characters, but they were hand-drawn! They were very detailed and well-done. The backgrounds are also something to awe at. All of the levels have animated backgrounds like the original, but sometimes what you do can affect the backgrounds! For instance, in Dhalshim's level, if Dhalshim is losing, his wife in the background will start crying. But, if he is winning, she will cheer for him.

Also, there is the really awesome cut-scenes. Although they are slid videos, they look very well done. I dont know why Capcom couldn't make them anime cut-scenes, since they've done it with Megaman and other games, but oh well. It would only spoil me. Another thing which is really awesome about this version is that they made a perfect arcade-port! As we all know, Capcom was not known for making good Arcade Fighter ports to the PSX. X-Men vs Street Fighter was perhaps one of the worst ports known to man. The tag feature was taken out as well as the noticable slowing down to 3 fps during a super move. However, Capcom obviously got the message and worked hard to make a good port. They succeeded with flying colors. The game goes at a constant 60 fps!

The control is the best you could possibly hope for in a Street Fighter game. A perfect emulation of the Super Nintendo control. You have the simple low/high punch and kick commands like always, and, unlike the Dreamcast version, you still have the shoulder buttons for the stronger attacks. So, score one for keeping the control working well. The controller allows you to use the old-school control pad for classic moves, but you can also use the wheel for a new feel in combat (not that anyone actually DOES use it). So...in simplest terms...I'm trying to fill up space. I mean, it has great control! Heh heh heh....

Gameplay is old-school fun. If you've played a Street Fighter, you know what to expect. Characters fight, use a variety of punch and kick combinations, a couple throws here and there, some super-human moves, defeat some big dude, win game. This one though has a huge amount of characters from around the Street Fighter universe. Also, they added another Ryu clone (crowd: wow). Street Fighter Alpha 3 however features the system introduced in Super Street Fighter II, which includes a bunch of new characters and Super Moves. However, there they were hard as hell to do. Now, they are considerably easier. Also, they all now have different ''styles''. Really the only thing that changes is the special moves they can do, but it is still an interesting innovation. While two styles are just merely alterations of moves, one style actually just makes an after image of yourself, allowing for alot more damage!

Each character (besides the Ryu clones, that is) is very original and unique, which is nice. On one side you'll have the Ryu-like character. On another you have a Bruce Lee rip-off. On another you have a boxer, etc. The combat has been greatly improved since the original Street Fighter 2. The original Street Fighter II was ''throw, tornado kick, low kick, throw...''. Capcom changed that so that now the throw button has been rendered virtually useless. I mean, you can stil use it and all, but now because of the huge variety of moves, there's really no need to unless there's nothing else to use. I really do like that, and I have become a much better player because of that.The game is incredibly on two player mode. Not just because you're playing against a friend but just the feel of it. The nostalgia, the sheer excellence of it. Its really an amazing game. There's even a special RPG type mode, but I'll get into that later.

Unlike most Capcom fighters, they actually tried to put in a story in this one! Not much of one for the single-player mode, but at least its some! Every character first has their background story, which you will learn by reading the strategy guide or guide-book. Each character has two ''story'' battles, where theres a conversation with the fighter before the match, and then there's of course fighting Bison, followed by his or her ending. Some of them are original, however, some of them are directly from the Street Fighter Anime. Not that I'm complaining. I LIKED that Anime. Still, I'm not sure why they're only slides. But, oh well. Also worth noting, some secret characters from Final Fight are here. Cody and Guy are yours to control! Guy is a very fast paces and agile fighter. However, for some reason of which I can not figure out, Cody is in jail for the murder of his girlfriend (of which all Final Fights fans know we rescued in FF1). So, after breaking out, he is still hand cuffed and in prison uniforms. That makes him very slow, sluggish, but powerful if he ever lays a hit.

Sound and Music is pretty good too. There are no tracks which are really memorable, but as long as there are no annoying tracks, I dont think it can get a bad score. The game has a bit of voice acting, but not much. Mostly just the announcer shouting different crap at the beginning of the match. There are a few grunts and yells here and there, but again, nothing much.

If you want a game with incredible replay value and want some RPG elements, then make sure you pick this up! There is a special mode known as ''World Tour Mode'' where you can actually build up your character! You heard me right, you can actually play through an RPG style game where you fight opponents, and gain points depending on how well you did. The more exp you get, the more moves you can learn! Some of the abilities are very helpful, such as a faster build up rate, autoblock, super air throw, etc. The world tour mode even has a story for each character! There are even some characters (like Evil Ryu or Shin Akuma) which can only be unlocked in World Tour Mode. And no, as if the being able to go through an RPG mode with over 40 characters, isn't enough, after you build them up, you can use them in vs mode! If you thought regular play was fun, wait till you face your friend using an average character while your guy can do super moves twice as fast as him, have autoblock on, and slowly heal over time! Guaranteed ass-whoop. Even more fun is when you go against your friends with your built up characters for an ultimate duke-it-out session!

Overall, you have the best 2d fighter ever made and one of the best games ever made. If you are a street fighter fan, this is the game to have! Old-school fans and hardcore Street Fighter fans will love it! And I'm sure you will too.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/24/03, Updated 01/24/03