Street Fighter Alpha 2

I can't think of a fighting series that has endured as long, or that has as many followers as the Street Fighter series.  With loads of versions, on various platforms, this game has definetely stood the test of time.

One of the reasons Street Fighter has been around so long is it's near perfect gameplay. Capcom has had much time to hone these characters, and the balance is amazing. It's just an all-around great game for both the beginner, as well as the expert player. Beginners will find the game easy to get into, and learn the basic moves. Experts will find the multi-hit combos, and super combos will take (possibly) years to perfect. In other words, there is something here for every skill level, which makes this one of the most all around playable games available.

At work this past week, I have been playing "Street Fighter II- Special Champion Edition" on my Sega Nomad (For those un-familiar it is a handheld that plays Sega Genesis cartridges). One thing I noticed was that, although SFA2 has been up-dated for 32 bit, they are still  largely the same game. Many characters are the same, many moves are the same, and graphically they  look almost the same. The newer version has much better background animations, more moves, more colors,  and better detail, but they are not significantly different. Rather then re-do the game with each new version, Capcom has chosen to re-fine the game. As a result, each Street Fighter seems to get better and better. Street fighters may all look alike on the outside, but once you play you will immediately notice the difference in playability from one version to the next.

Most Street Fighters retain many of the same characters, as well as offering some new ones to play. The characters this time out are: Adon, Akuma, Birdie, Charlie, Chun-Li (My fave), Dan, Dhalsim, Gen, Guy, Ken, Rolento, Rose, Ryu, Sagat, Sakura (My second fave), Sodom, and and Zangief. All are richly detailed, and contain a variety of moves and special attacks.

The games general moves are as follows: Block/Air Block- This can even be performed in mid air. Grab/Throw- Executed when close to an enemy. Defensive Fall- Reduces damage to player by allowing a safe fall to the ground. Recovery/Escape- Recover from dizzyness more quickly, and escape grab moves. Taunt- Piss off your opponent. Alpha Counter- This is a quick counter move against your opponent. Each character has two Alpha Counters depending on which button you press. Avoid being floored- A roll type move to (as the name implies) "avoid being floored". Like I said, there are lots of moves to learn, and perfect in SFA2. Just learning to execute all basic moves will take some time. The time spent is well worth it though.

Along with the basic moves, you also have the Special moves. Now, these are the moves that will take you the longest to learn. Once you do though, you will find them very effective, as well as a visual treat.

Super Combo level guage- Each time you execute normal, and special moves the Super combo guage builds up. Once the gauge reaches certain points, you can perform Super Combos, Custom Combos, and Alpha counter moves. There are 3 levels to this gauge. Once it is at it's fullest, you can perform the Super combo using 1, 2, or 3 attack buttons simultaneously to increase or decrease the number of hits inflicted. More buttons you hit, the more damage, but also the more power consumed from your combo gauge.

Custom Combos- Once the Super combo gauge is at level one or above, you can create custom combos by pressing 2P + AK, or 2K + AP, This is a very cool feature, but unfortunately I found it hard to implement. I got it working a few times, but I could not perform custom combos with any type of regularity. It is a very good idea though, and Street Fighter purists should really love it.

One thing I found quite useful was the "Auto Guard" feature. Once enabled, your character can perform combos using only a couple of attack buttons pressed in unison. This made combos a cinch, but the drawback was that your gauge would never progress above Level one. Great feature to get beginners into the game, without killing the "skill" factor for the Street Fighter experts.

Ok, so I mentioned all the features that make this such a fun, and well balanced game, now you probably want to know what I didn't like.

One of the things I really don't like is the introduction sequences.  True, they don't affect gameplay, but they do reflect the overall quality of the production. They are very mildly animated, and look very amaturish to me. This is an area that Capcom seems to overlook in most of it's fighters. I really wish they would spend more time in this area. Currently, the games look "outdated: in this area. I feel the series would look more up to date, if a little more time was spent on the opening (and ending) game sequences.

Another big problem is the voice overs. What was this a joke!!! To me it sounds like they took a first year Japanese student learning American to do the voices. They are absolutely horrid!!!! There really is no excuse for a company with Capcom's resources to let this one slip by.

The backgrounds animate better then they ever have but still they are lacking. This is probably a memory problem, but still it is worth mentioning. They also tend to look a little un-inspired.  I was playing Darkstalkers last night, and there is a world of difference. Darkstalkers looks awesome, and SFA2 pales in comparision.

Since I brought up Darkstalkers, I will make a few more comparisions. Although Darkstalkers isn't even close in balance, it is a far better in it's color use, background animations, and character animations. It is not as polished as Street Fighter, but overall I perfer the Darkstalker experience. I also perfer the mega multi hit combos of the "Super Heroes" series, but this is more a matter of taste then a comparison of which game is better.

Overal, Street Fighter Alpha 2 is a great game. I really don't think anyone will be disappointed with it. I do recommend it, but I also know Street Fighter Alpha 3 is out now for Playstation. I didn't play it enough to review it, but I will say it is much better!!! So, it boils down to cost. If you find SFA2 cheap enough, I say get it. It is a worthy adition to any gamers library. If your looking for the best Street Fighter at any cost, get SFA3 instead. Either way, you will be happy with your purchase.
 

RATINGS
GRAPHICS 87%
SOUND 85%
GAMEPLAY 93%
ORIGINALITY 75%
REPLAY VALUE 96%
OVERALL 87%