|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||
It's been a while since a new Street Fighter game came home to the console systems. The last game to be released was Street Fighter Zero(Alpha) 2, which came out in the summer of 1996. Now it's the summer of 1997, and finally, an SF has come home....but this one is different from the others that came before it!
---Game Information---
Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha, the third version of the polygon Street Fighter game, is not actually made by Capcom, but rather, Arika. Because of this, the game differs from other games that have the SF name. Besides the fact that the game uses polygons and has a 3D look, there are also a number of brand new characters and moves.
Of the characters present, 10 are from past SF games. These characters are Ryu, Ken, Zangief, Guile, Chun-Li, Gouki(Akuma), Vega(M. Bison), "Evil" Ryu, Dhalsim, and Sakura. (Since Sakura and Dhalsim are taken straight from Street Fighter Zero(Alpha) 2, the game's name was given the "Alpha" add-on.)
The new characters in EX are quite interesting. First comes Hokuto, a Japanese girl clad in a samurai-style outfit and equipped with fans(which she uses in her super moves and win poses). Hokuto's attacks are more like counter moves than offensive ones. Next up is C. Jack, a big man who resembles a gangster and carries a baseball bat, which he can use to hit oncoming projectile moves with! D. Dark is an odd character, dressed like a member of a SWAT team, complese with gas mask. He carries a whip, which can be used for choke holds or like a taser, knives, and grenades. Pullam Purna is an Arabian girl who has many kick attacks, some of which may remind players of Cammy from the past SF games. Probably the craziest character in the game is Skullomania, a man dressed in a skeleton suit whose attacks are fast and furious, and travel all over the screen. If that's not enough, he has a "Raging Demon" super attack, too! Kairi, Hokuto's brother, has a scar over one eye and may remind players of Guy from Final Fight and SFZ/A.
However, despite the fact that he supposedly uses the same fighting style as Guy(Bushin), he plays much more like Ryu does. Allen Snider, one of the better characters in the game, plays much like Ken or Ryu, but also has several grab attacks and a charging fist attack which plows through projectile moves. Allenm unlike the other "Ryu clones", also calls out the names of his moves in English. Darun Mister, Zangief's rival, is basically just like Zangief, only with slightly different attacks and much cooler super moves. Blair Dame, the game's token scantilly-clad female character, is much like Pullam Purna or cammy, being that she is very fast and has many kick attacks. With her moves moves, she is probably the fastest character in the game. Garuda, a samurai warrior, is of the game's hidden bosses and is both fast AND powerful. All of his attacks involve him sticking blades out from various places of his body, which looks very cool in his moves. Cycloid Beta and Cycloid Gamma are the only characters whihc do not "fit" the game. Both are simply wire-frame bodies of the game's characters and have various attacks taken from the other fighters. The problem is that they have little personality to them...! Finally comes B. Hokuto, who, like "Evil" Ryu, is simply a more powerful version of the original.
---Review---
Graphics:
Although the characters in EX are a bit blocky when compared to certain other 3D fighting games, they are still very colorful and animate very smoothly. Much like other 3D fighters, there really isn't much going on in the background, as they are all stills, save small animatons like flying birds and falling leaves. The only background that is not like this is D. Dark's, which is in a sewer and features running water that ripples around the characters' feet and continues to flow in the same direction no matter what angle your character stands at. In all, the graphics just get away with an above-average rating.
Sound:
All of the music tracks in EX are superb, being arranged versions of the arcade tunes. The quality of the voice samples and sound effects are also of a high quality.
Gameplay:
As for play control, Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha will take players back to the "good ol' days" of Street Fighter. Although the game has a 3D look to it, the game is mainly 2D and the control is much like Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo, except for the multiple super moves and the unblockable guard breaks, which can be used to dizzy an opponent. Players can also "link" their moves together, such as doing both of Ken's super attacks in a row. This registers as multiple hits, and while it may seem a bit "cheap" at first, it makes the game a lot more fun to play.
Fun:
What more needs to be said? Although not made by Capcom, Arika's Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha is just as much fun to play as the other Street Fighter games and is the best 2D fighting game to hit the Playstation so far.
---Overall---
Graphics- 9
Sound- 9.5
Control- 9
Fun- 9
Arika's arcade hit comes home and is better than the original!