Street Fighter Alpha 3 (1998)

Note: this is the SFA3 MAX version for PSP, including all additional characters in that roster.

Street Fighter Alpha 3 is a truly expansive step up from Alpha 2, adding a gargantuan roster and thoughtful redesigns to the mechanics from previous games to make one of my favorite Street Fighter entries.

The plot continues some of the current plots that M Bison has cooking - creating new assassins (Dolls) and operating the Psycho Drive to give Bison his near limitless power. Each of the 39 total characters have their own plots and aims, whether it's becoming the best street fighter around, stopping M Bison and his evil plans, building an army, petty vengeance, etc. Each character brings their A-game for personality but the new additions might be some of the best in the series (Karin, Cody, R Mika).

For battle system, the awkward balance between super meter and custom combo meter has been overhauled to feature various Isms that tweak characters to fit each playstyle. Whether it's the traditional three-tier super meter of original Alpha, a custom-combo quicker type, or a high strength single super style resembling SFII, there's a dizzying amount of options to try out. Special move inputs have been slightly improved with only the type of attack button varying the super (as opposed to pressing multiple buttons) though there's plenty of tricky charge and throw inputs throughout. Previous mechanics like Alpha Counters are also paired with a guard power gauge that prevents excessive blocking and bonuses to guarding at just the right time. It sounds like a lot because it definitely is, but there's plenty of flexibility and replay value behind mastering every ISM and combo type, even in some (difficult to execute) crazy infinite cases. It's much more fun than frustrating, thankfully. There's also quick recoveries and strong anti-air options to keep players on their toes.

Visually the game is high quality, high detail, and brimming with vibrant color, keeping the anime design from previous Alpha titles. Building a contemporary dance/house/techno score from the ground up the soundtrack is consistent and sounds more similar from track to track but is excellent to listen to during matches. The crunch of each track is never low energy and quite a few tracks might be some of the best music I've heard from the entire series. It's a tough match now between Alpha 2 and Alpha 3 themes for Sakura!

On home console ports there are additional modes on top of a basic training mode, including a single player focused World Tour mode that can focus on fun challenges and stats where multiplayer is more difficult to come by. Given the already gargantuan amount of settings and characters this will ensure that players spend a significant amount of time having fun with what Alpha 3 has to offer.

While not balanced in the least, Alpha 3 has a lot of different options that prioritize fun and experimentation over strict competitive play. In a competitive fighting environment this sounds divisive and unappealing but in practice Alpha 3 might be the most fun I've had with a Street Fighter game to date, with quicker play and a wealth of matchups to try out. It's not the first Street Fighter I'd have people play but it's a Street Fighter I think everyone should play!

Considering how much I loved Street Fighter Alpha when it came out, it's still a bit surprising to me that I never really kept up with the Alpha series. As the Alpha series continued, that's around the time Street Fighter III came out, and since that wasn't really my thing, I assumed ALL Street Fighter games at the time weren't my thing. It turns out, the Street Fighter Alpha series is exactly what I wanted SF to be.

Even though I've owned different iterations of the Alpha games, I've never really explored Street Fighter Alpha 3, and with the release of the Capcom Fighting Collection 2, I decided to go all-in with Street Fighter Alpha 3 Upper finally. Now, I truly think it might be in the running for my favorite Street Fighter game ever, which makes it in likely competition for my favorite fighting game ever.

This installment, in particular, just feels so packed. As the final game in the Alpha series, this is essentially the bridge between the prequel Alpha series and Street Fighter II. Because of that, this cast is full of characters that we've seen from the Alpha series, as well as a roster packed with original Street Fighter II characters. This lineup is absolutely massive, and it's almost an embarrassment of riches, as you can choose between 33 different characters here, each of which feels distinct and enjoyable to play in their own ways.

But not only that, Alpha 3 gives all these characters their own story within this world. Granted, most of them end with the same sort of fight with M. Bison and the explosion at his Shadaloo base, but this game does seem to care about giving each character a proper story, right down to which characters you play in your adventure. It's such a smart choice that doesn't take much, but makes all the difference.

I also always felt like this game had some pleasant little surprises around each corner for me, whether it was a particularly fun storyline for a character, a character who just was a joy to play as, or little references and jokes that showed a great sense of humor that Capcom had about this world at the time. I mean, hell, you can even fight against two characters at once. If Street Fighter 3 was going to be the game for the hardcore players, Alpha 3 was the game for people who wanted to just have fun and explore the possibilities of what Street Fighter could be. I don't need a game that's technical and hard as hell when I can have a game as ambitious as this.

I played through this game with all 33 characters over a week and had a ball with each of them — which I can't say about most fighting games. In my attempt to play through Capcom's fighting game history (for the most part), this is so far my standout surprise of this marathon, a game I thought would be good and turned out to be stunningly great.