STREET FIGHTER ZERO 3
REVIEW

Previous Street Fighter games on the Playstation have suffered from long loading times, and missing animation frames. Finally, these have been fixed. Always preferring my Street Fighter games on the Japanese Saturn, this is the first I would say can’t be improved upon, even with the mighty 4 megabyte Saturn cartridge! I would say the animation is on a par, if not better than the arcade version’s, even on big sprites such as Zangief. Loading times are surprisingly quick, with the average wait around 5 seconds.

For the third in the Zero/ Alpha series, Capcom have given the game a complete overhaul. Animation has been improved, all new backgrounds added, new fighting styles for every character created, lots more new characters to choose from and extra play modes included! You now have a choice of 33 fighters (34 if you include the two versions of Akuma), each who has 3 fighting styles. These are selected before playing, and are called ‘ISMs’. There are X-ISM, V-ISM and Z-ISM. Depending on which you choose, your fighting style can differ greatly. The standard Street Fighter 2 style is back, with the array of super moves, as is the customisable combo from Alpha 2. Which style you choose, depends on how aggressive and skilled as a Street Fighter player you are. Be warned, though. Street Fighter Alpha 3 is not for beginners! Even on the easiest setting, the computer can put up quite a challenge!

The new characters consist of every fighter from the previous Street Fighter games (from Street Fighter 2 onwards), including Fei Long, Dee Jay, Blanka and the clawed Vega. Guile also makes a welcome return, but has to be earned! Various newcomers also enter the fight, from a female wrestler, to Cody from Final Fight. Now there are lots of useable characters to play with, unlike previous games in the series.

A major new game mode in Alpha 3, is the World Tour Mode. Here you choose any character, and must fight in different countries. Battles consist of bouts with various characters, and can even have you fighting 2 opponents at once! Some battles require you to only use super moves to deplete your enemies energy or beat them before a short timer runs out. After each battle, your score is totalled, and experience levels increased. Finish a fight quickly, or without losing any energy, gains a massive level increase. It is in this mode that the 3 hidden fighters are earned. These are Evil Ryu, Shin-Akuma and Guile. They are gained by achieving a high experience level before taking up the final confrontation with M Bison. Then they must be beaten in a fight of their own! Each even has his own story to accompany them in the main 1 player story mode.

Survival, practice and 2 player modes return, with survival mode having various selections. Completing the game in story mode also gives you the superb Dramatic Battle. Last seen in Street Fighter Alpha 1, Dramatic Battle has been improved greatly for Alpha 3. 2 Players can join forces against any other computer controlled fighter, and create a crazy 3 player fight. Thankfully, both human players cannot harm each other in this mode, so all projectiles and stray limbs connect with the enemy, and not your friend’s head! There are 4 Dramatic Battles, 2 of which are earnt by finishing the first 2. The only limitation, is the Playstation’s small memory. Because of this, there are only two out of three fighters which are different. One must always be a duplicate of one of the others. You can get around this by choosing Ryu and Ken against anybody else, as they have the same bodies, just different heads. Ken gains Ryu’s stance and voice, but this is negligible.

Artwork is to the usual Capcom high standards. Quite why 3D beat ‘em ups are so popular is beyond me, when Street Fighter is clearly at the top of it’s field in both looks and playability. Animation is fluid, special effects are impressive, and backgrounds swell with detail! If Capcom have to create another 3D Street Fighter game, I hope they use Dreamcast/ NAOMI hardware, so it looks as good as Power Stone. For the first time, the 2D artwork could be transferred to 3D without looking stilted and angular.

The music is the biggest let down. Street Fighter music has always been very memorable, even to the point of players choosing specific backgrounds just to hear their favourite tune! Now, it’s very non-descript. It’s far from bad, but just doesn’t stick in your head like it used to do. The sound effects are all bone crunchingly good, and the speech is crystal clear.

To every Street Fighter fan out there, this is the best of the lot! It’s sheer perfection! Lots of characters and fighting styles, quick loading and an almost infinite life span in 2 player. Get it now! To anybody who has either not played a Street Fighter game or doesn’t like 2D games, then WAKE UP!! You’re missing out on the best there is! Beginners maybe try previous games in the series to get used to the style, as you’re arse will be well and truly kicked in this one! The Dreamcast version is also superb. Obviously, it has tiny loading pauses, and no missing animation frames. The World Tour Mode is expanded, offering more routes. Any characters are able to fight against anybody in the Dramatic Battles, too. There’s even a 3 player simultaneous mode, where 2 fighters can pick on a third!

Screenshots (click to enlarge)

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