Street Fighter Alpha (series)

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Street Fighter Alpha
Title screen of Street Fighter Alpha
Developer(s)Capcom
Publisher(s)Capcom
ReleaseJune 1995
Genre(s)Versus Fighting
Mode(s)Up to 2 players simultaneously
Arcade systemCPS-2

The Street Fighter Alpha (Street Fighter Zero outside the USA and Europe) series of fighting games is part of the Street Fighter series by Capcom. The series serves as a prequel to Street Fighter II, and explains the events which happen before that game.

Games

There are three games in the series:

  • Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams (SFA)
  • Street Fighter Alpha 2 (SFA2)
  • Street Fighter Alpha 3 (SFA3)

The names of the game are commonly abbreviated to SFA, plus the series number.

There are also many versions of the game with slight modifications, as well as ports to home consoles.

The series has been ported to the PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast, Game Boy Color, PlayStation Portable, and Game Boy Advance. SFA and SFA2 were ported to the PC; SFA2 was also ported to the SNES, making it the last Street Fighter game for that console.

Capcom will be releasing Street Fighter Alpha Anthology (Street Fighter Zero: Fighters' Generation in Japan), which includes SFA1, SFA2, SFA2 Gold, SFA3, and Pocket Fighter. It will be released on 6/13/06 for the PS2.

Development

After Super Street Fighter II Turbo, the main producers claim to have been at a loss as to what to do next, despite large demand for Street Fighter III. Inspired perhaps by the Street Fighter II movie, Alpha was born. The game was drawn in the sprite style that was used for Darkstalkers, a similar fighting game. Also borrowed from was the concept of a super bar with multiple stocks (Darkstalkers had allowed for three while Super Turbo allowed only for one), as well as the (although eventually dropped) Chain Combo.

One particular secret feature of Alpha that supports the claim that Alpha was inspired by the movie is the Dramatic Battle mode, in which two characters (Ryu and Ken) would fight a third (M. Bison) at the same time, similar to the ending of the movie. This feature was a fairly popular part of Alpha, and at least one version of each game would have a hidden option to fight in Dramatic Battles.

Series progression

Each game in the Alpha series can be seen to be updating the storyline in the previous games. This combined with Capcom's decision to change some of the storyline after the games have been released has made the Street Fighter II story confusing.

Each game in the series introduced more characters from Street Fighter II. Characters were also introduced from other games such as Final Fight and the original Street Fighter.

Gameplay

The fighting system of Street Fighter Alpha is based on those of previous Street Fighter games, with a different super combo gauge from that of Super Turbo. The super combo gauge, similar to Darkstalkers, was divided into three levels. The amount of super combo gauge that was required to perform a super combo depended on the number of buttons pressed, and later on, the strength of the button.

The one major addition to the Alpha system was the introduction of Custom Combos or Original Combos in Alpha 2. A Custom Combo would allow a character to chain any move into any other move, while the super meter gradually decreased. Although the ability to perform super combos were unaffected, characters were kept in forward motion, so the character was left vulnerable should the opponent end up on the other side of the character. In Alpha 3, and other fighting games where Custom Combos are used, characters were not kept in forward motion, but the ability to perform super combos were restricted or eliminated altogether.

The gameplay and characters used in Alpha were the basis of many Street Fighter spinoffs, and some characters considered to be central characters in the plot were first introduced in the Alpha series.

Street Fighter Alpha 2
Title screen of Street Fighter Alpha 2
Developer(s)Capcom
Publisher(s)Capcom
ReleaseMarch 1996
Genre(s)Versus Fighting
Mode(s)Up to 2 players simultaneously
Arcade systemCPS-2

Street Fighter Alpha

The original SFA was released in 1995 as the prequel to Street Fighter II. Fans were disappointed that the game did not feature nearly as fluid animation as Darkstalkers. In addition it was felt by many fans that the game was rushed to release, with a low number of characters and stages.

Street Fighter Alpha 2

This was released in 1996 as an update to the original SFA. The story behind this game is a retcon of those found in Alpha, and canonically, all but one ending (Charlie's) occurred (although, some of the endings in Alpha 2 could be considered as continuation of endings from the original Alpha, particularly Ken's and Sagat's). Alpha 2 brought back every character from Alpha, including the hidden characters Dan, Akuma, and M. Bison. Alpha 2 also brought back Gen, Zangief, and Dhalsim from previous Street Fighter games (the latter two allegedly due to popular demand), as well as Rolento from the Final Fight series. Sakura made her first appearance in this game.

The US home version (for the PlayStation and Saturn) featured several characters not found in the arcade version which includes classic versions of Dhalsim and Zangief that had no super moves and played like their original versions in the Street Fighter II series. An update of game was released in Japanese and Brazilian arcades called Street Fighter Zero 2 Alpha, which added these characters and classic versions of Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Sagat, and M. Bison, as well as some gameplay updates. This game reached the US in the form of Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold, which is only available on Street Fighter Collection for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn, and further presented the first Alpha appearance of Cammy, who was wearing the same outfit and had the same moveset she had in X-Men vs. Street Fighter.

Trivia

  • Street Fighter Alpha 2 featured an early use of "EX" characters, which were alternate versions of characters possessing different movesets.
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Title screen of Street Fighter Alpha 3
Developer(s)Capcom
Publisher(s)Capcom
ReleaseJune 1998
Genre(s)Versus Fighting
Mode(s)Up to 2 players simultaneously
Arcade systemCPS-2

Street Fighter Alpha 3

This game was released in 1998, with updated graphics and characters compared to Alpha 2. Alpha 3 reintroduced many characters from previous Street Fighter II games. The most notable absence (and indeed, the only one out of the eight World Warriors) was Guile, although he was available for use in the home versions, starting with the PlayStation version. The remaining "New Challengers" (Dee Jay, Fei Long, and T. Hawk) were also reintroduced for the home versions.

In Japan, an update of the game called Street Fighter Zero 3 Upper, (which was based on the Sega Dreamcast version) was released featuring many gameplay tweaks, with a port to the Game Boy Advance that included three Street Fighter characters from Capcom vs. SNK 2 (Eagle, Maki and Yun) that were not in the original version of Alpha 3.

A second update, titled Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX (a.k.a. Street Fighter Alpha 3 Double Upper) was made for the PSP, which introduces the crossover character Ingrid to the Street Fighter canon. This game was released on February 9, 2006 and is currently only available for the PSP. This game is very much like the other games but has featured every single fighter plus additional ones totaling forty different fighters. The game contains different modes which include a story mode where you can create you own custom fighter with raised abilities of attack and defense. This is a new feature which is only available on this game.

The rest of the game is similar to the others like the Arcade mode and Practice mode and even includes a multiplayer feature, where you can battle head to head or in a tournament. the game also has some bits redesigned and has new features of gameplay such as controls and combos.

SFA3 is considered by many fans to be the best Street Fighter game (to date), containing almost every character to date (excluding many Street Fighter III characters). The Sega Saturn port (released only in Japan, as one of the last games for the system) is notoriously hard to find but is often considered to be superior, surpassing even the Sega Dreamcast version. However, upon close inspection of both the Sega Saturn version of Street Fighter Zero 3 and the PSP version, Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX, visually they seem identical.

A direct arcade port of SFA3 has been announced for a PS2 release on the upcoming Street Fighter Anthology this June. Screenshots have surfaced that this version of Street Fighter Alpha 3, although omit the characters added in Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX, will include new ISMs that will mimic other Capcom fighting games. One ISM mimics the game mechanics of the Darkstalkers series by adding chain combos and the advancing guard. Another ISM is based off of Street Fighter 3 and includes the parrying system associated with that series. The most surprising, however, is that one of the new ISMs makes some the characters retain all of their move variations from the Marvel vs. Capcom series of video games, despite Capcom legally being unable to release any of the Marvel games into a collection.

Street Fighter Alpha Anthology

Released in 2006 for the Playstation 2, known as Street Fighter Zero: Fighter's Generation in Asia, this compilation includes Street Fighter Alpha, Alpha 2, Alpha 2 Gold, Alpha 3 and Super Gem Fighter: Mini Mix (the arcade name for Pocket Fighter). By completing the single player mode of each game additional games unlock including a bonus versions of Alpha 2 Gold and Alpha 3 (which includes all the added home version characters and new fighting styles) along with the new Hyper Street Fighter Alpha. The Japanese version also unlocks a full English version of Alpha 2. It is currently unknown if there what, if anything, will be in its place for the US release.

In the Japanese release, the bonus version of Alpha 3 is listed as Street Fighter Zero 3 Upper in the command list window, although it is unknown if the added characters from this version (Eagle, Maki and Yun) are playable.

Hyper Street Fighter Alpha is a Versus only version of Alpha 3 that allows you to pick older version of each character where available. For example you can choose to pit Alpha 1 Ken against Alpha 3 Ken much like Hyper Street Fighter II: The Anniversary Edition.

Characters

Introduced in Street Fighter Alpha 2

Cammy appears only in Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold for the PS1 and Saturn as a secret character, and is only selectable in versus mode. She was carried over to Street Fighter Alpha 3 as a regular character.

Introduced in Street Fighter Alpha 3

Guile, T. Hawk, Dee Jay, Fei Long, and Evil Ryu were added to the console versions. Eagle, Maki, and Yun appear in the GBA and PSP versions of Street Fighter Alpha 3 from their appearance in Capcom vs. SNK 2. Ingrid from Capcom Fighting Evolution was added to the PSP version, which is called Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX (a.k.a. Street Fighter Alpha 3 Double Upper).

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