of the month is Street Fighter 2 Alpha, a really underrated game. Like all the other

fighting games I've reviewed, it came out in the arcade originally and then it was ported

to the Super Nintendo. For some reason, lots of people don't know about the SNES version

but it's actually a really good port! Without any further ado, let's get down to gaming.

The intro cut scene is probably the most epic thing you'll ever witness. Look at these badasses

with their brooding poses. If you didn't shed a tear right now, then you're probably a robot.

Go beep to yourself in the corner while we humans enjoy this game. Anyway, it's a pretty

cool little intro that looks nice considering that it's coming from a 16 bit cartridge.

Alpha 2 was made in 1996, near the end of the Super Nintendo's lifespan, so it has a

lot of tech capabilities that earlier games didn't have.

Anyway, let's play the arcade mode and see if it's stood the test of time. Player select

. . . one thing I love is that you get 18 characters. Maybe if you're used to Marvel

vs Capcom, this doesn't seem like much, but for the Super Nintendo era, that was a big

deal. 18 is the highest of all the fighting games I've reviewed - the closest was Super

Street Fighter 2 with 16. Let's choose the main protagonist of the series, Ryu.

Ah, classic Street Fighter action: Ryu vs Chun Li. The Alpha series is a prequel to

the main Street Fighter games so all the characters look slightly younger. The art style is really

anime-ish and japanse and I like it. The sprites are really smooth -- and the backgrounds are

way richer than anything from Street Fighter 2 or even Turbo. The combat system is pretty

much what you'd expect from the Street Fighter series: lots of different characters with

varying speeds and strengths and a bunch of special moves. All the old moves are here

like the Hadouken and the Spinning Bird Kick but, of course, there are plenty of new ones.

For instance, Zangief can do a fireball punch and Ken can do a shoulder roll. The difficulty

of this game is pretty fair - it's adjustable and the computer-controlled enemies are strong

without being cheap. It's probably my favorite Arcade mode in Street Fighter history because

it's the perfect length: 8 matches and then a final boss battle. Short and sweet. The

boss depends on which character you chose; for instance, Ken always fights Ryu because

the two of them are rivals and it makes sense. But lots of the characters just fight M. Bison

because Capcom was fuzzy on their story lines and didn't know who to make them fight.

Okay, let's talk about the characters. Alpha 2 has a few of the original Street Fighter

cast like Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Zangief, Dhalsim, and Bison, but the rest of the 18 are new.

Birdie is an ugly brute with a chain, Adon is a creepy Muy-Thai dude, and Sakura is a

little girl who's pretty much in love with Ryu. Charlie is basically a Guile clone but

without the ridiculous hair that made Guile so legendary. Some of the new characters I

liked were Rolento with his baton, Rose the scarf-wearing psychic, and Akuma, Ryu's greatest

enemy. How can you not like him? He's a scary little dude who shoots fire out of his hair

when goes "Yooooosh" when he's pissed. He's such an inspirational character; he teaches

you that no amount of adversity can separate you from your dreams. Just make a grim face

and shoot fireballs at all your life problems.

The most obnoxious character is obviously Dan. He was originally supposed to be a joke

character but now he's in every Street Fighter game! I hate this guy. Why couldn't they have

given us Blanka instead? Or Guile? Or E. Honda? But no, we get this arrogant moron who stole

all of Ryu's moves and turned them into sucky mockeries. His cheap sham of a hadouken only

goes three inches before it dies out. I only play as this guy when I'm playing against

a friend and I want to troll them.

The best characters are usually the fast ones like Ryu, Ken, Chun Li, and Akuma. They're

powerful and they can jump around, shooting fireballs and doing all kinds of damage but

the big guys like Zangief and Birdie are wimps in comparison. They're huge, hulking monsters

and they're easy targets. What's really is sad is that the Alpha Zangief is even worse

than in Street Fighter 2.

Still, I love Street Fighter Alpha 2. It feels a lot more modern than most of the other fighters

of the day. You can do air blocks and even Super Combos (which the first Street Fighter

Alpha game invented). Here's how these work: as you play, you'll build up energy in your

Super Combo bar and, when it reaches certain stage, you can do a more complicated button

combination and unleash a super attack. The super attacks are unique to each character,

which adds a lot of variety to the gameplay. You can also use your super bar to do Custom

Combos. Just fill up the bar, press 2 punches and a kick at the same time, and then you

can string together a bunch of attacks really quickly. Kind of reminds me of Killer Instinct's

Ultra combo system.

Some people complain that the Super Nintendo version of Alpha 2 isn't as good as the arcade

one - which is true because arcade cabinets were superior back in the day - but what's

wrong with this port? The graphics look great, the animation is always fluid, and you still

have tons of special moves and Super Combos to choose from, not to mention 18 characters.

I'll admit there are minor load time issues which is rare on a Super Nintendo cartridge

- there's a two second awkward silence before every match - but I barely even notice anymore.

And, true, the musical arrangements aren't as good as the arcade version. The compositions

are good but they put some awkward 16 bit saxophone tone on almost every song that I

don't really like. These little things are kind of annoying but is it worth hating the

game over? Definitely not. I believe that Alpha 2 is one of the best Super Nintendo

fighting games because it's just pure fun. Lots of characters, good graphics, plenty

of move options, and a good experience overall.

THINGS TO MAKE IT BETTER:

-Swap out some of the boring new characters (like Charlie) with classic Street Fighter

characters like Guile and Blanka. I miss those guys!

-Get rid of Dan! He gives me a headache. -Make the big characters stronger so it'll

actually be worth it to play as them.

Still, Street Fighter Alpha 2 doesn't have any glaring flaws. Only minor port issues

and a few inconveniences. It scores a 9/10. I really love this one and I suggest that

you play it if you can get your hands on a copy. I hope you enjoyed Fighting February

and Mosh March - we're finally done! My name's SNES Man and I'll talk to you again sometime

soon.