Before we go any forward with the Street Fighter series, why don’t we take a look back, shall we?
Overview
With many updated versions of Street Fighter 2 going “Turbo” and “Super”, Capcom makes the choice of creating another Street Fighter to get fans off their back as to when they were going to make Street Fighter 3. Taking place after Street Fighter 1 and way before Street Fighter 2 existed, this new fighting game tell us the story of what happened between the two tournaments.
Graphics 8/10
It seems Capcom went a little anime on us, as everything in Alpha is totally new. The sprites, the artwork, and stages have transformed into something nobody was prepared for who played so much of Street Fighter 2 franchise. Since is their first version of making new graphics from scratch, they gave several makeovers to most of the fighters’ designs. Like Ken, who now sports a ponytail, Birdie, who looks nothing like his original sprite, and Bison, who must’ve taken too much steroids juice.
The stages can be seen as a tribute to where the warrior fought in Street Fighter 1, but was it necessary to make two version of every stage that they made? I love how they battle in front of the Japanese neighborhood with the supermarket or on the Great Wall of China, but having night time/day time, cloudy/snowy, and sunset/night time stages were over exaggerated. When I saw the stage that Ken and Charlie shared, it made sense with one scene with the crowded people betting on you (they throw money around after each round) and peaceful, not as notice scene for the second one. The flashy effects are in some vibrant colors and I like the special boom look when you finish someone off with a super then what SSF2T did.
Gameplay/Controls 8/10
Since Capcom was the first company to create super moves, they reedited their super bar meter in Alpha and revamp it for the better. At the bottom of the screen, the super bar is a long meter that goes through three levels max, by attacking and such. Each level represents how damaging and how many hits the super move you choose to do will make. Level one would do some okay damage, level two comes out decent, but level three will not only give high damage, but they might come with some advantages like going through regular projectiles or be an anti-air, sucking in airborne players, so they can’t be evade. Speaking of evading, another clever command in this Alpha is the overhead attack. It’s a simple, yet interesting command that surprisingly hit your crouching blocking opponent from above.
Going along with the title, the game also has inputted a maneuver called “Alpha Counter”. Costing you one level off you super meter, this is an advance counterattack to help thwart off people who attack you with basic hits and sometimes never let you get a shot in, possibly setting you up for a powerful combo that had in store. All you have to do is block a punch or a kick and if you’re fast enough, perform a back to down quarter circle motion with a punch or kick (it depends who you are fighting as) and smack your opponent, sending them back in a swirling motion. This may not seem important, but in certain situations, this could be a definite lifesaver or turn around if you are on the losing end.
Controls register well and the combos are okay, but only real things to look out for is doing those charging back and forward supers and trying to do the special codes to play secret fighters (more on that later). As for computer AI, unless you are really clueless on how to play any fighting game, you won’t get much of a challenge until you get halfway through the game. Be warned, whoever is your rival in the end may be tough as nails or soft as wool in terms of difficulty. It just fun to actually, for once, have your quest about personal issues with someone other then the same last ultra dangerous boss, who everybody must fight in the end.
Sound/Music 9/10
The high point of the game is, indeed, the music. The returning fighters get some remixed music or new tracks that sound somewhat related to their original themes. The game provides an excellent soundtrack for the new fighters. Some sound like it party time, some sound like it time to get serious and could mean life or death.
The sound bits you hear are cool. Ryu and Ken now have different voices and everyone else is recognizable to the point you can figure whose who just by listening and not watching the screen, although hearing some words will be hard to understand (case in point, Birdie). The announcer’s tone sounds like he’s doing a bad Sylvester Stallone impression, except you can hear what he makes out and the crushing sound of getting hit by Super KO does really feel like you been hurt badly and hearing a cheering crowd is always something I like.
Replay Value 7/10
Initially, there are ten fighters to choose from. Ryu, Ken, Chun Li, and Sagat play just liked they did, with a few minor changes to their look and specials. Adon and Birdie from Street Fighter 1 makes their way back and gets some great cool moves. Final Fight’s Sodom and Guy step up with their own brand of arts. Newcomer, Charlie (who really isn’t a newcomer if you think about it) is the infamous man, who we all know, is a friend of Guile’s. Maybe we will find out how he would later die by Bison’s schemes. Rose is a totally new fighter with her own set of attacks and has a personal vendetta against Bison.
To fill out the void, there are two question mark blocks made for each player to have the game random select for them if they can’t decide for themselves. After several weeks, we would find out that it was possible to fight and play three hidden fighters in Alpha via codes within those random select boxes. Akuma, “The Raging Demon” who everybody hated to fight, Bison himself, and a guy name Dan, who seriousness in Alpha 1 would fool fans in future games and later be uncovered as Capcom personal jab to SNK and it should be obvious why. Even with the two player battles, it’s in the middle for replay life span. It still fun, after beating the game with all the characters, but it not going to be a long term thing.
Overall 7/10
As you can see, I wrote a good amount of positive things for this first timer Alpha. Sadly, as fine as it is, the replay ability of the game is average and that’s what brings it down. You’ll uncover a few findings and some nice fights, but it won’t even cross your mind to play again as much when you reminisce about it. For the Street Fighter fan in you, go ahead and buy it to add to your collection.
- by Mr. Boombada
