Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max

Written by James Dauer  on January 18, 2006

Final Glimpse: When was the last time the number in a Street Fighter game held any significance?

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The Street Fighter series has always been an abundant one. I'm hard pressed to think of another series that has had as many sequels and spin-offs, be it in the fighting genre, or any other genre in the entire spectrum of video gaming. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, mind you, but if the Street Fighter series was a middle class American family, it would already be on its second mortgage in order to pay for the weekly groceries. Well, the Street Fighter family is going to have to take out a loan to make an addition to its house because the stork is on its way, and he's bringing a new portable bundle of joy due early this February. Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max will be the first Street Fighter game on the PSP, but it isn't just a straight port of the arcade game. SFA3M comes with a few aces up its sleeve to keep it interesting for the pros, and yet still manage to dazzle the newbies.

Most noticeably Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max adds an additional four fighters to the original roster. The new fighters are Eagle, Maki, Yun (from Capcom vs SNK 2), and Ingrid (from Capcom Fighting Evolution). In addition to the four characters, Capcom has added in a special УVariable FightingФ mode that plays somewhat like the УvsФ series. Players will choose two fighters and can switch between them at any time during the fight. When a player taps out the alternate fighter jumps in kicking the opponent and adding a helpful strategic element as well as that much more visual panache.

Of course the old modes and gameplay have returned. Expect to see the usual Arcade and Training modes, plus SFA3's popular World Tour and Dramatic Battle modes. For the uninitiated, World Tour plays out somewhat like an RPG where the player chooses a character and must beat specific challenges in the game in order to earn points. These points can be used to power up the character in a number of ways, be it increasing their attack, or giving them a perfect guard. Dramatic Battle on the other hand allows the player to select two characters, one player controlled and the other AI controlled, for a two on one fight against an unlucky AI controlled character. There is also a Reverse Dramatic Battle mode which works just the opposite- the player must beat two AI characters at once.

The wi-fi multiplayer mode looks to be quite abundant. Players can have classic one-on-one fights against friends via the Versus mode or mix it up with three-on-three fights ala the УvsФ series using the Team Battle mode. There is even a Dramatic Battle mode in which two players can fight it out against another at the same time.

The controls are shaping up nicely. They are a bit more responsive than the shaky controls found in last year's Darkstalkers PSP title, though they could still use a little more work. The PSP's D-Pad never was made with such a workout in mind. The graphics are also looking very fluid and smooth on the PSP's sexy screen with very little slowdown even when three fighters are on screen.