The game that is customizable to your delight...well, your own super combos, that is.
Overview
Once fans played Street Fighter Alpha, it was a sure agreed on by many as a breath of some fresh needed air the series. Capcom decides to keep this spin-off going with Alpha 2. Bringing everything back from the first release, Capcom does it again by injecting some new features here and there to further enhance the spectacular game play Alpha had even higher.
Graphics 9/10
Capcom taking fighters’ sprites that were in first installment had no problem transferring them into this conversion. Three old faces return in this one. “The Red Cyclone” Zangief get some increase in muscle tone, and Dhalsim brings his zany tricks of Yoga to another level. Then, there’s Gen. Like Adon, he was from the old Street Fighter 1. Now, he comes back possessing two different styles of fighting, Mantis and Crane, by pressing all punch or kicks at once. Sakura, a Japanese high school student, is such a huge fan of Ryu, she has able herself to copy his moves and make them her own, adding more hits to her execution. Rolento was a boss from the first Final Fight arcade game and is equip with his baton, grenades, knives, and a special hang man’s tool, ready to dominate the 2D fighting circuit. The artwork for everybody is filled with some excellent color, shading, and detail.
The character and stage selection screens are arrange well and they pick some clever spots to have all the battles take place, too. The back alleys, seeing elephants resting, a men’s restroom (why?) and being watch by the cast of Final Fight are just some of the interesting zones to duke it out in. Capcom also takes a page some SNK’s book and put some interesting small detail, like little water puddles splashing or people reacting to certain moves. However, I thought something more evil would be in Bison’s stage, but hey...nothing is perfect.
Gameplay/Controls 9/10
The classic tactics you learned from the Alpha 1, like alpha counters and overheads attacks, show up again in full swing. The super bar now has some other uses other then the alpha countering and super moves, which feel a lot better to do. The newest and best system they put in is the custom combo art. By opening it, your super meter starts to drain away, serving as a time limit to enter a trance in which you automatically walk forward. During this, you are able to connect together basic and special attacks to make your ideal super combo! The buttons hit precisely when they are hit, preventing the custom combo from begin utter useless. What’s even more fun is that it’s possible to perform super combos within your custom combos, if you keep an eye on your meter and timing. However, abusing this can lead you to trouble as you can still be hit out of the custom system, so don’t go maniac once you get to level 3.
The new fighters have some powerful traits to make them not like others, like Sakura controlling the size of her fireball, Rolento’s thought provoking tactics, and, of course, Gen’s confusing fighting styles switch.
As for difficulty, the CPU is more in the middle. ‘Not to hard, not to easy’ is the best saying I can describe about the AI. The biggest improvement is the blocking portion of the fighting as now fighters can only perform a block if the attack is near them. This helps as in past Street Fighters games, you automatically did a block, even if the attack far way for you. With this change, it let fights be a little fairer. The only hardships you will have to endure is doing 360 degree moves and thinking what and how you are going to perform your custom combos at the right time.
Sound/Music 8/10
Alpha one’s musical soundtrack is in here and is more cleaned up. The tracks exclusively for Alpha 2 are very original and will get stuck in your head from time to time, but I did wish they made more music tracks to let Alpha 2 stands on its own. Sakura’s theme in general is addicting to listen to.
To the thrashing of the fireballs and the ‘ping’ of string that Rolento does, the sound effects are done well. You will feel awesome when you succeed hitting in your custom combo, and the sound bites for it will have you feeling a great rush. No sign of breakups can be found within the arcade speakers, if it wasn't so soft to listen to and not surrounded by other arcade machine louder then it.
Replay Value 9/10
At eighteen fighters at your disposal (which means no more special codes to get Akuma, Dan, and Bison), it won’t take, but a few minutes to quickly learn everybody’s way of fighting, especially if you know a lot of the characters’ arsenal by heart, if you played them in other Capcom fighting games before Alpha 2.
Having the fighters’ get their rivals as their end bosses are nifty in one player mode. The custom combo feature is really what made the game’s value sore, with its unlimited possibilities of combo ideas. Trying to custom attack your friend in 2 players versus is a rewarding experience unlike any other game I played so far. The fighter’s endings do seems to be less important, but in this case, even story driven fans won’t care as much, including me. The game is too damn fun!
Overall 9/10
I think I made it clear that this game was a solid title from the beginning. The unique features are totally cool and the game play remains in the form that the people fell in love with for years. Alpha 2 is a must play for any fighting game fan and a must buy for any fighting game fan.
- by Mr. Boombada
