PixlBit

The first game in the series to really shake up the Street Fighter formula

When Street Fighter II was released, it became a break-out success. This led to Capcom releasing several different versions of the game, such as Street Fighter II Turbo, Street Fighter II: Championship Edition, and Super Street Fighter II, which introduced four new characters. You can't blame Capcom for milking one game so much because it was Street Fighter II, blast it! But all of these versions of SFII were basically the same game with tweaks here and there.

In 1995, Capcom released Street Fighter Alpha: Warriro's Dream in the arcades, which was much different in style and roster than Street Fighter II. As the word "alpha" suggests, it is a prequel to Street Fighter II, but I can't go into specifics about the story. Its art style was more anime than before, and it gave us new characters such as Birdie, Adon, and Rose. It was ported to the Playstation and Saturn.

In 1996, Capcom released Street Fighter Alpha 2 in the arcades. This game is both a sequel and a remake of the original Alpha. What's amazing here is that the game was ported to the Super NES (along with Playstation and Saturn), which has some problems handling the game yet manages to. This is the version I played. While Alpha 2 is different from its predecessor, it still manages to feel like a Street Fighter game.

Alpha 2 has a total of 18 fighters, the most of any SF game to this point. All the fighters from Alpha return; new fighters include Rolento and Sakura, and Dhalsim and Zangief are also included. This is the first time Capcom included characters from other Capcom games into SF: Guy and Rolento are from the Final Fight games, and Gen is from the original Street Fighter. Fighters are slightly larger than before and detailed well. Zangief, Birdie, Katana, and Sagat are the biggest fighters, their size exaggerated to make them more menacing.

There are three modes in the game: Arcade Mode, Versus Mode, and Option Mode. In Arcade Mode, you choose a fighter and will fight through several stages before fighting the final boss (which is usually either M. Bison or Akuma). Then you get to watch a short ending for that character with a small picture and text (the text is a little sporadic in how fast it moves). Unfortunately, there are no hidden fighters to unlock, making the incentive for the beating Arcade Mode moot (unless you actually want to see all the endings). Also, Arcade Mode is the only 1 player mode in the game. It would have been nice to atleast be able to choose a one on one match against a certain opponent.

Versus Mode is where this game shines. Fighting games are at their best when played with a friend, or a group of friends. The big roster means you and a buddy can fight against each other with all kinds of different fighters, keeping the game from getting boring. Option Mode gives you lots of customization options such as the difficulty setting, button configurations, time limit, and game speed. You can make the time limit infinite or change the speed to Turbo 2 (if you like super fast fighting).

The actual fighting is what you're used to in a SF game. Y and X are for punching and A and B for kicking. You can perform combos and throw your opponent if you're close enough. The newest addition here is the Custom Combo Gauge at the bottom of the screen. It has three levels. If it is on level 1 or higher, you can perform a custom combo by pressing any combination of punches and kicks, which is perfect for guys like me who are not good at fighting games and memorizing all the combo button combinations. Alpha 2 also introduced air blocking and fall breaking to the series.

While it's impressive for the Super NES to be able to handle this game, you can tell the poor thing is in pain while doing so. The game will load for about five seconds right after the announcer says "Fight!" This is the most irritating because you have to wait right before the fight begins and you want to be ready. There are also loading times before and after the fight, which is almost unheard of in cartridge-based games. Some animation is choppy while other frames of animation were removed altogether. Capcom used a special decompression chip to fit everything they could onto the cart, but the game still suffers.

Final Verdict--4 Stars: Recommended

Despite the irritating load times and choppiness, SFA2 is a great game, possibly one of the best in the series. It introduced some great characters and inventive gameplay elements. Best of all, it's not just another SFII clone with a few tweaks; it's a completely different beast. It's available to download on PSN, Wii Virtual Console, and Wii U Virtual Console. If you're looking for a physical copy of the game, it'd be best to go with the Playstation or Saturn version. While not as good, it is impressive that the Super NES could handle such a game at all.

Join me every Saturday as we take a look back at all kinds of retro games, good and bad.