Gaming Target - Game Boy: Street Fighter Alpha 3

Written by Ilan Mejer on May 03, 2002

First Impressions: Hado-o-oken!

Dreamcast gaming on the go; such are the ambitions of developer Crawfish Interactive and Capcom Entertainment. The Gameboy Advance has more than proven its abilities when handling beloved SNES classics like Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo. The time has come for a new generation of portable software, and SFA3 might just be it. Whereas Capcom themselves (unprofessionally) handled SSF2T Revival, Crawfish was contracted to follow up their GBC conversion of SFA with a port of the latest game in the Alpha franchise. According to reports, the GBA port will contain all of the characters and features of the Dreamcast version, with a few new exclusives to spice up the already attractive prospective of owning one of the most powerful 2D fighters on the go.

What does this all mean? Well, grab the 34 SFA3 characters from the DC game, add in three new characters (Eagle, Yun, and Maki), drop them in one of various game modes (Normal, Mazi, Saikyo, Survival, or World Tour), and you will have a better fighting experience on your GBA that you could have wished for! The World Tour, easily the mode that made the console ports of the original SFA3, is of special consideration. In it, you will take your chosen character through travels and fights, earning УexperienceФ with every step. With that experience, you will be able to empower them in a variety of categories, including their Isms, Supers, and strength. Additionally, by completing unique challenges, you will be able to adopt new abilities.

All of the characters, moves, supers, and Isms return. After you choose your character, you will be able to choose their super move and their fighting style (Ism). The X-ism is almost identical to Super Street Fighter 2 gameplay, in that you will be able to unleash one very powerful super move. The A-ism provides you with an extended super bar, which can be filled multiple times, thereby allowing you to choose the strength of your super. The V-ism is for those that miss SFA2's custom combo system, only now it has been tweaked and enhanced for gameplay balance. In motion, the game already looks stunning. It runs quickly and smoothly, despite the smaller character sprites and expected compromises in the graphic and animation departments. The backgrounds, while not quite as animated as previously, are still looking beautiful.