I have been a fan of Capcom?s "Street Fighter" series since the beginning
and I must say Alpha 3 is the creations crowning glory. How to make a good
Beat?em Up? You need atmosphere, characters with personality, gameplay,
graphics and sound. Fortunately Capcom has put in the best of the best
ingredients and here is the result.
Overview
The backstory: Well, it?s a traditional fighting tournament and of course
each character has its own motive to join in. Battle No. 5 and 10 starts
with a short intro scene telling the story. Nicely done and very
atmospheric.
Graphics 10/10
This game brings the CPS 2 to the top. Just one word to describe the
visuals: Perfect! From the intro to the ending, from the
character-select-screen to the highscore-screen. 25 fighters and a few
hidden characters are available. Partly known from the prequels (Blanka,
Honda, Cammy), partly brand new entries (Cody, Karin, Mika). Each fighter is
unique with fantastic animations and each move is a treat for the eyes. A
masterpiece in character design.
Backgrounds are awesome, too. A great variety (no sharing here), colorful,
excellent drawn, full of animations and 3-D elements. For instance Ryu?s
stage: His background is based on 5 floors and the most stages have that
typical "Street Fighter"-3-D-scrolling-ground as well. The backgrounds are
very individually depending on the protagonist. So what would be more
suitable as a steelwork for Zangief?
Finally this game features the best ending scenes I?ve ever seen.
Gameplay/Controls 10/10
I cant?t think of a better control in a fighting game. Special moves are
extremely smooth running. Gameplay is excellent. There is always time to
react to your opponent?s attack even in the turbo mode. SFA3 offers three
different gameplay styles called X-ISM, Z-ISM and V-ISM. To be brief: In the
X-ISM (the beginners mode) super combos are easy to handle. The Z-ISM is the
"normal" mode well-known from the prequels, the V-ISM is for advanced
players and allows to perform your own custom combo. The differences are
more complex but it would be beyond our scope to explain everything. Of
course the "Alpha Counter" and the "Safe Fall" are in on it as well. All
the fighters are very well balanced.
Sound/Music 10/10
The Music is outstanding. It fits 100% to a fighting game. Turn the volume
up and watch the intro. It?s like a firework that will blow you away. The
most compositions are very disco styled. My favorite themes are from Blanka,
Cammy, Zangief and Dan. Even the ending soundtrack is superb. It?s so
emotional. Believe me, you will be moved to tears. The Music is from
brilliant quality as well as the soundeffects and voices (I love the
announcer between the battles).
Replay Value 10/10
Because of the great number of characters, the secrets, the fantastic
gameplay, the rocking soundtrack and the action loadad atmosphere the replay
value is enormous and you will spend months to master this goody.
Overall 10/10
One of the best 2-D fighting games with excellent presentation. I actually
often turn on my cab just to listen to the music and watch the demo.
- by Kai
