"Alpha 3 at its best..."
Best Features: The amazing roster spanning the entire cast of Street Fighter Alpha 2 and Super Street Fighter II Turbo plus new characters, excellent fighting engine, deep extras and new features that separate it from the home versions, good background designs
Worst Features: The PSP's bad d-pad and general shape creates problems, iffy music and sound effects, no online fights (just local Wi-Fi)
If you've ever stepped into the fighting games arena, surely the words "Street Fighter" must have come up at least once. SF is the standard-making fighting series that just about any fighting game fan knows about. In 1999, Capcom released what I believe to be their best 2D fighting effort ever and that was Street Fighter Alpha 3. Now, some 6+ years later, Capcom tries their luck with the game on the PSP. Did the reclaim the magic?
Graphics:
While the Street Fighter III sub-series gets all the praise in Capcom's house, the Alpha series has always brought its own graphical style to the table. This series always favored bright and colorful anime-style graphics as opposed to heavily detailed and animated sprites. Alpha 3 doesn't disappoint here as the graphics are alive and well-animated. The effects of each move are well documented and brings the fight off the screen. Since the PSP's widescreen is a different ratio than the arcade units and the preset resolutions of the home versions, Capcom included the ability to play the game in the PSP's native screen ratio or in the resolution of the arcade/console games, cropping the sides of the screen to fit (though, Capcom adapted the display for the widescreen very well and I personally just leave it in that mode). The backgrounds are lively and vibrant with lots of action and plentiful scenery.
Sound/Music:
The sound and music in this game aren't quite up to par compared to the rest of the categories. The music in this game is composed using the CPS2 sound mixer and carries a sort of techno vibe but generally isn't done as well as the rest of Capcom's fighting lineage (their themes for SSF2T still ring in my head). Its bland and lacks the pep of its other cousins in the fighting world. The sound effects aren't much better as Capcom seems to have cut back a little on some of the more dynamic sounds from the console/arcade originals. Overall, its not a bad package but I've heard better as well.
Control:
The control of the game is not being called into question here. SFA3 has always had precise control which allows for accurate execution of special moves when the moment demands. No, instead, the complaint here comes from the weak design of the PSP's d-pad. Plus, the shape of the PSP is always a hand-cramping nightmare (hit the L button a little too much and you can look forward to some tough times). Once again, the PSP's physical design hurts a good game from receiving the score it really deserves. However, that notwithstanding, as I've said the game has otherwise impeccable control. So if you can get over that hurdle (possibly by modding the d-pad), then you likely won't have many problems.
Gameplay:
But griping aside, what you've got here is a killer package. This is Street Fighter Alpha 3, the game that I believe to be most exquisite fighting effort from Capcom to date. First off, the game is unlike any other SF game you may or may not have played (even its other Alpha counterparts). The fighting engine here is built around juggling and lots of it. This alone makes for some very stylish fighting. Coupled with this are the Alpha series trademarks such as Alpha Counters (an automatic block-and-counter system) and air blocking. Advanced players will learn to make use of all the recovery methods (such as Air Recovery or ground rolling) to sustain their offense even if they've taken a hit. The "ISM" select allows players to choose a mode that offers different methods of play to best suit their style of offense while the Guard Crush meter keeps the "turtle" players from defending the whole match by placing a price on blocking. Finally, add in a roster that includes every single character from the Street Fighter Alpha and Street Fighter II sub-series along with a few new characters (some not even seen in the previous home releases, which themselves included extra characters not included in the arcade version). On the modes front, you get a plethora of choices (again, including some modes not found in any home version). Along with the standard modes such as Arcade and Survival, you can play Dramatic Battle; a two-on-one affair that you can challenge from the 2-person team or go it solo and try to topple the computer's 2 members. Variable Battle is a two-on-one match that is governed under tag rules (this mode is new to the PSP version of SFA3). VS 100 Kumite allows you to challenge a ladder of 100 opponents to see how many you can best. And then there's the creme de la creme of Alpha 3: World Tour. Customize your favorite fighter by leveling up their stats while bolting on extra features (such as air blocking in X-ISM, increasing your Guard Meter strength, or doing more Guard Meter damage per stroke) you earn as you chart a battle path across the globe. This is true fighting at its finest.
Replay Value:
The single player depth to be found in this game is unlike any other in the handheld fighting genre. World Tour alone is enough to keep some players going (it worked for me on the Dreamcast). The idea of making characters with features that are uniquely their's really helps keep interest. Plus, all the aforementioned single player modes making fighting alone all the more fun (in addition, there's Free Battle mode with is the equivalent of VS Com (choose a match type and go up against a computer rivals that you select)). But, if you're in the mood for some human competition, you may be a little disappointed. Street Fighter Alpha 3 only supports the PSP Ad-HOC mode (better known as WLAN or Wi-LAN) for local matches (the player must be in your vicinity to start a VS match). It doesn't have Infrastructure capability (read: PSP online). Any of the main match types can be played in VS play (singles, Dramatic, Variable, etc.) along with Team Battle (choose up to 3 characters to take down your opponent's stable). Its a solid fighting game package that could have been made a lot better had it supported Infastructure (however, there are ways around this if you have a wireless router and broadband Internet access).
Overall:
So, in the end, Alpha 3 proves it can withstand the test of time. Over 6 years after its release in the US, it still has what it takes to be an entertaining and challenging fighting game for the handheld crowd. Even though you can't play the game over the Internet, the single player experience makes up for it. Get over the control issues and you're in for a smooth ride. As Street Fighter Anniversary Collection said: "True fighting is art." When you have games like this, I can't disagree.