STREET FIGHTER ALPHA 2 (SNES)
|
Publisher: Capcom.
Developer: Capcom. Released: December 1996. Genre: 2D Fighter. Other versions: PS; SAT. Posted 14th January 2013. By Tom Clare © 2013 |
As winter began to set on the SNES’s sparkling lifecycle, signs were that Super Street Fighter II (1994) would be the format’s last dose of a fighting series it had helped launch towards stardom and global recognition. By 1996, the gaming circus had moved on to the next round of the console war, with Capcom marking the evolutionary step by unveiling a successor to the SFII sequence – the Alpha games. The first bypassed the SNES, so it came as something of a surprise when Street Fighter Alpha 2 surfaced in 16-bit form, just in time for Christmas.
More a technical achievement than a creative one, Alpha 2 nevertheless delivers another eminently playable dose of one-versus-one beat ‘em up action, sacrificing relatively little next to its 32-bit siblings. In-game at least, it looks a peach. Sure, there are a couple of shortcomings here and there; a crumby, basic-looking character select screen and lame ending sequences proving the chief culprits, but the rest of it looks rather smashing. The anime veneer synonymous with the Alpha’s is impressively realised, though likely a matter of taste; Ryu and Final Fight’s Guy really suit the colourful new look but Chun-Li is reduced to a rather naff, cartoon imitation of her iconic SFII sprite. Nevertheless, every fighter is blessed with an array of smooth, stylish animations, with every jump, flip, taunt and fireball positively fizzing with colour and dynamism.
Ken and Rolento enjoy a heated staring contest
|
A devil man and a fashionista attack each other in an Genoa port
|
The backdrops are superlative too. Chun Li’s demonstrates an impressive step forward in the interpretation of the SNES’s graphical capabilities, taking her legendary China street stage and vamping it up to include a small army of bicycles riding to and fro in the background. There are numerous standout stages, from Gen’s ominous Chinese alleyway, to Ken’s banquet and Charlie’s skyscraper skyline (complete with Capcom H.Q.), whilst a personal highlight has to be that of grenade-chucking, staff-wielding loon Rolento. Hazard signs, barrels and a funky billboard act as a beautiful, neatly-judged nod to the industrial site where he waits as a boss in Final Fight.
And it plays like a joy. Rarely has SF felt so fluent and controlled so freely in console form. There are no awkward patches of slow-down between moves or animations, collision detection remains pretty much inch-perfect and the responses are pin-sharp. As ever, this results in a beat ‘em up whereby tactics and timing are everything, and though character-balancing is a shade short of SFII overall, the large number of battle combinations means there’s still a chasm of variety and intrigue to experience. Wisely, all the Turbo options you could want are here under one roof, so there’s no need to go chasing a hypothetical Street Fighter Alpha 2: Hyper Fighting to get your speedy kicks. Alpha 2 adds super-specials to the mix, allowing the player to unleash what is akin to a beefed-up special move; so Ryu can unleash a huge fireball, Ken a stronger, more far-reaching uppercut and so on, with the screen turning a brilliant yellow should you land a K.O. The super-specials are another cool facet that requires mastery and timing to make full use of, and as you’re tasked with filling a bar before utilising them, they’re not overplayed.
There is the odd little issue here and there though. Each bout is punctuated by a rather ungainly 1-2 second pause following the call of ‘Fight!’, and whilst the 18-strong roster is a pleasantly sizable one, the absence of Guile, Balrog, Vega and Blanka may irk some purists, especially as a few of the more obvious like-for-like replacements leave a little to be desired. Compressing a PSone game to fit a SNES cart is no mean feat though and it’s remarkable just how complete a playing experience it delivers with this in mind, but the area that always seems to suffer in ports of this nature (same story with the handheld BlazBlue games) is the sound. Alpha 2 doesn’t escape this pitfall, as here the tunes are weedy and repetitive, the voice sampling tinny and lacklustre.
And it plays like a joy. Rarely has SF felt so fluent and controlled so freely in console form. There are no awkward patches of slow-down between moves or animations, collision detection remains pretty much inch-perfect and the responses are pin-sharp. As ever, this results in a beat ‘em up whereby tactics and timing are everything, and though character-balancing is a shade short of SFII overall, the large number of battle combinations means there’s still a chasm of variety and intrigue to experience. Wisely, all the Turbo options you could want are here under one roof, so there’s no need to go chasing a hypothetical Street Fighter Alpha 2: Hyper Fighting to get your speedy kicks. Alpha 2 adds super-specials to the mix, allowing the player to unleash what is akin to a beefed-up special move; so Ryu can unleash a huge fireball, Ken a stronger, more far-reaching uppercut and so on, with the screen turning a brilliant yellow should you land a K.O. The super-specials are another cool facet that requires mastery and timing to make full use of, and as you’re tasked with filling a bar before utilising them, they’re not overplayed.
There is the odd little issue here and there though. Each bout is punctuated by a rather ungainly 1-2 second pause following the call of ‘Fight!’, and whilst the 18-strong roster is a pleasantly sizable one, the absence of Guile, Balrog, Vega and Blanka may irk some purists, especially as a few of the more obvious like-for-like replacements leave a little to be desired. Compressing a PSone game to fit a SNES cart is no mean feat though and it’s remarkable just how complete a playing experience it delivers with this in mind, but the area that always seems to suffer in ports of this nature (same story with the handheld BlazBlue games) is the sound. Alpha 2 doesn’t escape this pitfall, as here the tunes are weedy and repetitive, the voice sampling tinny and lacklustre.
Two of Street Fighter's chunkies. Time to make Zangief jump lots
|
Ken reacts angrily when he finds Guy wearing the same outfit as him
|
A port it may be, but there’s a lot that the SNES aficionado shouldn’t overlook. For instance, there’s a bunch of now-familiar characters making their sole 16-bit appearance. Charlie may be a little unconvincing as blatant stand-in for Guile (fighter jet ‘n’ all), but Sakura redeems things as a zany Japanese schoolgirl with a gangly, clipped version of Ryu’s move-set, with a running uppercut and chargeable fireballs adding to the fun. Guy, Rolento and Sodom (er, I mean, Katana) make the transition from Final Fight and whilst they don’t entirely convince, they offer a credibly diverse range of fighting styles. It’s also the one and only time on Super Nintendo you’ll get to harness the ferocious power of Akuma, and with 18 brawlers in total, there’s plenty for the SF connoisseur to sink their teeth into.
Indeed, Street Fighter Alpha 2 was all set to become a heavyweight, only for a paucity of game modes to deny it. The Arcade mode is pretty standard one-player fair as you battle through a sequence of fights before being rewarded with an ending. They’re pretty disappointing next to Street Fighter II’s it has to be said, and don’t demand four-star difficulty or above to attain, but with so many characters, there is something to work with. Versus is as good as you’d expect from multiplayer Street Fighter, but given the wealth of options available in Super Street Fighter II Turbo, two modes feels like a distinct step backwards. It’s a shame they didn’t carry forward Survival or Team Battle options in order to keep things fresh, as it’s hard to imagine they’d take much space on the cart. Still, Street Fighter Alpha 2 offers all you’d expect of a game bearing the name: slick visuals, a strong challenge that rewards practice and, of course, the prospect of lots of fun with a mate.
Indeed, Street Fighter Alpha 2 was all set to become a heavyweight, only for a paucity of game modes to deny it. The Arcade mode is pretty standard one-player fair as you battle through a sequence of fights before being rewarded with an ending. They’re pretty disappointing next to Street Fighter II’s it has to be said, and don’t demand four-star difficulty or above to attain, but with so many characters, there is something to work with. Versus is as good as you’d expect from multiplayer Street Fighter, but given the wealth of options available in Super Street Fighter II Turbo, two modes feels like a distinct step backwards. It’s a shame they didn’t carry forward Survival or Team Battle options in order to keep things fresh, as it’s hard to imagine they’d take much space on the cart. Still, Street Fighter Alpha 2 offers all you’d expect of a game bearing the name: slick visuals, a strong challenge that rewards practice and, of course, the prospect of lots of fun with a mate.
|
|
|
|
Similar to...
Super Street Fighter II
|
Visual: 8/10
Audio: 4/10 Gameplay: 8/10 Longevity: 6/10 OVERALL: 7/10 Vid by SNESguide1 |
|