Tuesday, February 1, 2000

12:49 PM
If you've played a Street Fighter game then you'll know a simple truth: they're great AND there's loads of them! So how do you go about making this sequel that little bit more magical, that little bit more special than all the rest? How do you give it that little bit of extra edge that makes this game different, better, and worth buying? Well, ask Capcom, because with Street Fighter Alpha 3, they've done it again!

Okies, now the graphics of the game are fantastic! So it might not have the fluency of Soul Calibur, but that's because this game is 2D. And with 2D, you can only do so much. The thing is, 2D has been perfected. You cannot improve (too much) with 2D graphics, as we've now (practically) reached the pinnacle of it. This game is arcade perfect thanks to the power of Dreamcast, and Capcom's own magnificence. Having mastered the likes of 2D a long time ago, it's now becoming apparent that Capcom are now testing the oceans of 3D with their toes. They have done well, considering the likes of Powerstone and Resident Evil. 

Anyway, everything from the Arcade version has made it to the Dreamcast. Including the spectacular eye candy. Yeah, I'm talking about the graphics when you perform a super combo! Characters look great and the backgrounds are all intact. This really is arcade PERFECT, and one of the best conversions to a home console EVER! There is no absence of frames, no slowdown, and loading times are virtually non-existent. 

As I've said before time and again, you would be (very) hard pressed to beat Capcom at gameplay. After so much experience using trial and error with previous games, they have now come up with a unique way to enhance and extend SFA 3's gameplay. In a word: 'Isms'. There are three types of gameplay allowed: V-ism, X-Ism and Z-ism. Depending on which you choose, the overall gaming experience is differed. Also depending on which ism you choose, the super bars are changed. A certain ism will allow you only one super bar. This has its advantages and disadvantages i.e. your character will be able to perform the super move quicker as the bar is filled with more ease, but it has lesser effect than a different ism with 3 levels (but harder to fill one).

With 30+ characters and a fantastic multi-player feature, this game is excellent to play with a bunch of your friends. The more players there are, the better this game gets. And yes, everyone has their super combos intact allowing you to deliver levels of punishment which should be illegal! You see, it's mostly a race between who can get their super bars filled first, this usually decides the victor of the match.

What's the matter? Is your opponent blocking every punch, kick and fireball that you throw at them? Capcom have even thought about this by adding a blocking bar, which rests under the health/time. Every block causes this to go down and eventually, once it has been depleted, they're wide open for an inevitable pummeling! This is your chance to give them what's been coming to them! Make it good, and make it hurt! 

The sound is again typical Street Fighter sound. That basically means the usual Street Fighter music. Screams, fists punching, battle crys, kicks connecting, and many other sounds (and some disturbing ones) have come to the DC version. The voices are all well selected, and even the music suits the stage and sets the correct atmosphere.

Yes, you guessed it, the game is not suitable with the Dreamcast pad. Sometimes I wonder why Sega didn't stick with six buttons. Apparently, their market research showed that we want four buttons on the front of our pads, not six (?!). Myself, I prefer the traditional Genesis/Saturn six buttoned pads as do millions of other people. Anyway, as you (should) know by now, the remedy for this problem is to buy the special DC Arcade stick. You can pull off specials with much more ease and fluency with it, and it is a good investment for most future titles and even some current ones. So go out there and buy that sucker (you can put a rumble pack in there)!

Overall, simply put: with friends = game lasts ages. Without friends: Long, but not as long as other titles in this genre (Soul Calibur). This game has got loads of characters and some great new features, but the one player mode (although long), will get exhausted. On the other hand, the more people playing, the longer this game's life span becomes. So if you're a loner, give this a chance, but beware, it won't last too long. If on the other hand you're cool and have some friends, you CANNOT, I repeat, CANNOT miss out on this one! I love this game, you will love this game, so get off your ass and buy this game!

Congratulations Capcom, you still got it!

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10
9.5
8
8.5
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Street Fighter Alpha 3 Review by AZ

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