Soul Calibur Review

Let's get one thing out of the way: Soul Calibur is the best 3D fighting game ever released in the arcades. Better than Virtua Fighter 3. Better than Tekken 3. If that weren't enough, the Dreamcast version one-ups the original arcade release in just about every way imaginable. Now that we've established that, let's explore why, and what it is about the Dreamcast version that raises the bar on fighting games in general.

From its debut at the 1998 Electronics Entertainment Expo, tucked away in a remote corner of Namco's booth, it was obvious that Soul Calibur was something special. Namco had pushed the PlayStation-based System 12 hardware farther than anyone had a right to expect from such a modest chipset. Namco took what it had learned from Tekken 3 and built on the ambitious, but limited, Soul Edge fighting engine. Soul Calibur was not only a substantial leap in graphics, but in gameplay as well. Employing a new eight-way directional system in conjunction with a physics engine that took weapon weight into account, Soul Calibur's gameplay reached new heights in both complexity and depth. Perhaps one of the most crucial additions was the inclusion of the tech-roll found in Tekken 3. No more lying on the ground as your opponent rained down attacks from the sky. Just a quick tap of the guard button and you were back on your feet, quick as a whistle. Graphically, the game was a fireworks display of particle effects, complex polygonal character models, and a light-sourcing tour de force, all running at a blazing 60 frames-per-second.

The short of it is, if you haven't played Soul Calibur, you need to. For sheer adrenaline working in tandem with eye-melting graphics, nothing could touch it. What then, does the Dreamcast version (Namco's first "real" game developed for archrival Sega in ages) of Soul Calibur do to leapfrog past its arcade counterpart in every way possible?

To begin with, the most obvious enhancement are the graphics. Despite the lack of a prerendered FMV intro, the likes of which we're used to seeing from Namco, the opening offered here will drop more jaws than Muhammed Ali. Think of the intros usually seen in Capcom games like Marvel vs. Capcom, but rendered in full, hi-res, 60fps 3D (with a splash of Samurai Shodown thrown in for good measure), and you're not even close to imagining how awesome the intro to Soul Calibur for the DC looks. Picture a first-person camera zooming in over some sandy horizon, as weapons slam into the foreground. Keep going until the weapons are replaced by a swiftly approaching Kilik (the staff user in SC). Trigger an impressive sequence of character cameos and a dynamic soundtrack, and there you have it. This has to be seen in person to appreciate. It looks so good it might as well be CG, because five years ago, graphics like these were impossible. The reason the arcade version couldn't be ported home to the PlayStation was due to hardware limitations. Despite the fine conversion of Tekken 3 to the PlayStation, Soul Calibur on System-12 used an extremely high amount of RAM to enable effects like Z-buffering and other processor-taxing effects - effects that were not present in Tekken 3. The Dreamcast, on the other hand, represented the perfect solution to Namco's problems. With hardware roughly ten times as powerful as the PlayStation, the DC can not only manage Soul Calibur's graphic fireworks, but also enhance them by leaps and bounds. With characters boasting not only improved polygon counts, but high-resolution textures, each member of Soul Calibur moves around each stage looking larger, tougher, more solid, and more detailed than ever before. For example, Astaroth's alternate costume sprouts Godzilla-like spikes out of his back (these spikes wobble as he moves), along with a tall Alfalfa-esque hairdo that swings and sways depending on what direction he's moving in. Soul Edge alumni and Siegfried's alter ego, Nightmare, wields the Soul Edge itself, with an eyeball set in the center that looks around at the proceedings independently of the sword. Details like hair, clothing, and accessories all move in rhythm with an extremely realistic physics model. Improving the quality of the characters wasn't enough for Namco's programmers though. They also added a muscle-flexing system that causes pectorals to ripple during victory poses, breasts and buttocks to jiggle realistically (read: subtle, not exaggerated as in Dead or Alive), and skin to stretch in a most natural way, with not a polygon tear in sight. These characters look incredible, and some benefit from the enhancements more than others (Lizardman's tail no longer looks like a polygonal mess). Everything looks perfectly smooth (especially faces), with minimal blockiness, putting the models in VF3tb to shame. This is an extremely solid-looking game. The characters have also been outfitted with an extensive set of facial expressions that add greatly to the game experience. Take Mitsurugi, for example. With every sword slash accompanied by a grunt or yell, his face synchronizes the appropriate expression as well. Even during win poses, each character mouths his own victory speech. Even little things like fingers are individually rendered.

One Piece Grand Adventure Review

Just shy of a year after bringing One Piece Grand Battle to the US, Namco Bandai delivers its follow-up, One Piece Grand Adventure, and you have to wonder what the developers spent that year doing. The additions of an adventure mode and support characters to the brawler gameplay model are somewhat notable, but the majority of Grand Adventure has literally been copied verbatim from Grand Battle. Even if you weren't disappointed by the shallow, repetitive nature of last year's model, Grand Adventure gives you little incentive to invest in this year's One Piece.

If you're not already familiar with the piratical exploits of Monkey D. Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates, turn back now. One Piece Grand Adventure simply isn't for you. Fans, however, should have no problem leaping feetfirst into the grand adventure mode, which initially casts you as Luffy--though once you complete his grand adventure, you'll unlock new quests for other characters, like the clown pirate Buggy the Clown. The grand adventure is spread out across a series of isolated island chains, and each one features a number of conflicts that you'll have to resolve before you can move on. Unsurprisingly, that resolution usually involves you punching a bunch of guys in the face. There's a little variety to the action; sometimes you'll just be punching one guy in the face, sometimes you'll have to eliminate a field of guys with your face punching, and occasionally you'll be given odd, non-face-punching-related tasks like destroying a number of boxes, using your fighting prowess to clean all the snow off a building's roof, or racing another character while riding what appears to be some kind of Chocobo knockoff.

Succeeding in these challenges gives you experience points that you can invest in your main character or in any of the other fighters that join up during the course of your adventure, though there's little reason to switch your focus midstream once you've already invested experience points in a particular character. You can earn additional experience by meeting certain bonus conditions, which change from fight to fight and include finishing the fight with a special move, never jumping during the course of the fight, or beating your opponent within a certain time limit. The bonus conditions add a bit of novelty to the action, since it's easy enough to just mash your way through most fights. Still, the grand adventure mode is pretty thin, and even though each adventure is relatively short, the combat is simple and repetitive enough that you likely won't be inspired to play past the first few. Outside the grand adventure mode lays the grand battle mode, which is a handful of stock fighting modes, including a regular one-on-one versus mode, an arena mode where you have to fight your way through the ranks of increasingly challenging opponents, a custom tournament mode, and a training mode. If you want to play with a friend, this is where you'll do it, though the absence of any kind of four-way action seems like a pretty glaring omission.

Keeping with the One Piece feel, the combat in Grand Adventure is frantic and over-the-top, and different characters have unique suites of moves that suit them. Luffy's fighting style, for example, usually involves him testing the elasticity of his rubbery frame, while Zolo primarily fights using his array of swords. Each character has a good dozen different combos he or she can pull off, as well as a throw and a handful of special attacks that can be activated only when you have enough of your skill meter filled. You can also tap in to your skill meter to summon a support character for a short while. Depending on which support character you choose, they can attack your enemy up-close or with projectiles, restore your health, or even be ridden into battle. The support characters are a bit clumsy, and they're more effective at creating more onscreen chaos than they are at pitching the odds in your favor, a sentiment that applies pretty well to most of the combat. Each character's moves may be unique, but the button combos used to pull them off are all but identical, making it easy to switch from one character to another but eliminating the requirement of any modicum of skill. The decent variety of moves each character is equipped with seems like a bit of a waste, since you can best most enemies just by mashing on the main attack button repeatedly.

The only real motivation to change up your attacks is to avoid hearing the exact same canned battle cry over and over again, a problem that plagues the whole of the game's sound design. When you're not listening to a generic, synthesized orchestra, you're being punished with gratingly enthusiastic sound bites. The game's visuals are more compelling--the characters sport some solid cel-shading--but virtually everything you'll see in Grand Adventure was lifted from last year's Grand Battle. Top it all off with some stifling frame rate problems, and it's hard to get too excited about the game's presentation.

One Piece Grand Adventure is definitely a more fleshed-out game than its predecessor, but the game feels as though the developer just threw in the features it meant to include the first time around rather than develop a full-blown sequel. If you already invested in One Piece Grand Battle, you should save your money, because you've effectively already played One Piece Grand Adventure. Everyone else, aside from maybe the most devout One Piece fans, should avoid Grand Adventure because of its insubstantial story mode and shallow gameplay.

Bushido Blade came along a year ago and tweaked everyone's perception of what a fighting game could (and perhaps even should) be. It was light on characters but heavy on depth, with weapon selection, huge fighting areas, and a free range of movement that had never been seen before in a 3D fighter. This year's model comes equipped with sharper character graphics, a simplified, yet more complete fighting system, and best of all, many more characters to select from.

The single-player mode received more enhancements than any other mode. The game now revolves around two feuding clans. Instead of just fighting a few of the game's other characters and a boss or two, there are now various stages, each of which requires you to slice and dice a few ninjas (in a throwback to BB1's slash mode) before facing a character from the opposing clan. Along your journey to the enemy clan's compound, you'll meet friends and get the opportunity to make them selectable from the main screen. These support characters show up, and you play the next stage as the support character. If you die, you simply revert to your main character and advance as before. But if you complete the stage as the support character, he'll be unlocked for play in all modes. The cool part, which shows that the developers put a lot of thought into the single-player mode, is that there are cinemas for all the support characters as well, all with individual voices and motions. The cinemas, which use the game engine, look great and tell the game's occasionally twisted story. The voice-over work, however, leaves more than a little to be desired. While the title screen and intro remain Japanese, the in-game speech has been done in English, and done, well, poorly.

The gameplay is pretty much the same, yet it feels quite a bit different. The controls have been changed and slightly simplified. There are now two attack buttons and no block button. To block attacks, you simply need to attack back to get your weapon in the way of your opponent's. The stance changing has been reduced to one button, which is somewhat troublesome at times, since you can't just switch between high and middle and back to high without cycling through your low position. Also, the damage system has been revamped. Arms can still be rendered unusable, but leg wounds result in slower motion, instead of BB1's hobbled legs. Strikes to the torso cause attack speed to slow down quite a bit. Avid Bushido Blade 1 players may find this new setup a bit confusing, but once you get used to it, it's actually superior to the old configuration. All of the old moves are there, as well as quite a few new ones. There are even a few throws in the game to help mix things up.

The character graphics have been improved quite a bit, but the backgrounds have suffered in the transition. There's a lot more pop-up, which is extremely noticeable at long ranges. The backgrounds are also solitary areas. There are no areas that connect together as in BB1, which may disappoint players who like to wander around the environment instead of just fighting. Also, some of the death animations have been lifted directly out of BB1, which is fairly disappointing, considering the quality of the rest of the motion. With the exception of the terrible voice work, the sound is really terrific. If a character is sporting a spear or other wooden weapon, it will sound like wood when it bounces off anything. Weapon clashes, screams, and strikes have all been improved.

When I first popped in Bushido Blade 2, I was surprisingly disappointed with the game. The controls seemed totally foreign, and it really seemed like they made a few small improvements to the original and shoved it out the door. But once you give it a few hours, you too will come around and realize that the things missing from this version were taken out to better the overall gameplay. The additional characters and stances really make Bushido Blade 2 a winner. It's taken quite some time to come out in the US, but the game still holds up after seven months as a Japan-only title.

Celebrity Deathmatch Review

Celebrity Deathmatch, MTV's clay-animated comedy series, featuring random celebrities killing one another off in an exaggerated, gladiatorlike fashion, was a surprise hit back in 1998 when it debuted as a part of MTV's own Super Bowl halftime show. Since its initial matchup between shock-rocker Marilyn Manson and convicted mass murderer Charles Manson, hundreds of different celebrity matchups have been featured on the show, ranging from the marginally relevant (Bob Barker vs. Weakest Link host Anne Robinson) to the utterly insane (psychic John Edwards vs. Nostradamus). While the show is still technically on the air, Celebrity Deathmatch isn't quite at the level of popularity it once was, which makes the timing of Gotham Games' console and PC representation of the show, MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch, a bit peculiar. However, Celebrity Deathmatch's biggest problem isn't its timing, but, rather, it's the absolutely horrid gameplay and complete lack of any worthwhile features.

Celebrity Deathmatch contains a decent number of real-life celebrities, available for your personal amusement, including the aforementioned Marilyn Manson, Carmen Electra, Dennis Rodman, Anna Nicole Smith, Mr. T, Carrot Top, Jerry Springer, Ron Jeremy, Miss Cleo, Cindy Margolis, Busta Rhymes, Shannen Doherty, Tommy Lee, and all five members of N'Sync. Each celebrity has his or her own unique--albeit narrow--range of attacks set to reflect his or her personality. Anna Nicole Smith, for instance, can hit you with a large drumstick of meat, send her yappy little dog after you, or smash you with a pair of melons (the fruit variety, thankfully). Every character also has a special kill attack that can be performed once your opponent's life meter has dropped to nil. Mr. T drops the A-Team van on you; Tommy Lee plays your intestines like an electric guitar; and Ron Jeremy drops a pair of oversized balls on you--disco balls, that is. It doesn't get much more gimmicky than Celebrity Deathmatch's premise; but whereas the TV show manages to stay reasonably fresh from week to week, by providing at least timely and semi-relevant comedy, the game's version of the gimmick is so utterly limited that you'll be done with it almost immediately.

The most limiting thing about Celebrity Deathmatch isn't actually even its gimmick, but, rather, its gameplay system. Every fighter has an extremely short list of attacks available to them, and only about half of these are actually useful. Some attacks are so insanely gimmicky that they actually buck any sort of functionality or usefulness for the sake of a joke. Additionally, the attack system is about as rudimentary as you'll ever find, involving so little skill that all you'll ever need to do to win a match is just hammer on the attack buttons until your opponent is dead. Sure, they'll occasionally block, but not often enough to ever require any form of strategy or plan of attack on your part.

The word "limited" is highly useful when describing the roster of modes in the game as well. The only two gameplay modes featured in the game are deathmatch and episode. Deathmatch is just a stand-alone match between any of the fighters in the game. Episode lets you choose from six available "episodes" of the show, each one with three predetermined fights on the card. Once you've beaten an episode, you'll unlock a hidden character (like Frankenstein or a generic alien) and a new fight arena as well. It should only take you about 90 minutes--tops--to blaze through the episode mode, and once you've unlocked everything, that's all she wrote. The game also has a create-a-celebrity mode, which, theoretically, is supposed to let you create your own roster of famous people to bludgeon to death. Once again, however, the word "limited" comes into play, as there just aren't many options to choose from in this mode, leaving you with only a scant few options and no real ability to create anyone recognizable.

Celebrity Deathmatch's graphics and sound are also decisively lacking in pretty much every way. The game doesn't really try to emulate the show's clay-animated art style, and, instead, goes for a straight cartoon-styled polygonal translation of each celebrity. The models for the characters look decent enough, but each of them lacks much in the way of animation. There's a few different deathmatch arenas to try out, but none of them look particularly good. The game's audio is a bit better, thanks to the infrequently amusing commentary of Johnny Gomez and Nick Diamond. It's functional commentary, though a lot of the humor is a little on the crude and offensive side. (In fact, there's far more offensive humor in the game--more than the TV show ever allowed.) Cheesy voice actors play the parts of the various celebrities, and they're no worse than the actors employed on the show. The rest of the audio might as well not even exist, as it consists largely of poorly mixed sound effects and the show's looping theme song, which only plays in menu screens.

MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch is a mess from top to bottom. The jokes are rarely ever funny, the gameplay is a veritable smorgasbord of repetitive and boring action, and the underwhelming graphics and sound don't help matters. If you're a fan of the TV program, you may find Celebrity Deathmatch amusing for the 20 minutes it takes to see every single gag in the game once, and even that might be a bit of a stretch. As for anyone else, stay as far away from Celebrity Deathmatch as is humanly possible.

Mortal Kombat: Deception Review

The latest in Midway's influential and long-running fighting game series, Mortal Kombat: Deception, picks up where 2002's Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance left off by featuring lots of new and returning fighters and a variety of surprising new modes of play. The new GameCube version of the game, released some months after Deception's debut on the PS2 and Xbox, lacks the earlier versions' most compelling feature--the ability to play online--but partly makes up for that (and lost time) with a couple of classic characters exclusively added to this roster. The strangest part about Deception is how it includes several completely off-the-wall modes, the likes of which you'd never expect from a fighting game. These are the single-player konquest mode, which is a story-driven adventure; puzzle kombat, a competitive Tetris-style puzzle game that's an unabashed homage to Capcom's Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo; and chess kombat, which is inspired by the classic computer game Archon. The konquest mode is disappointingly bland, while these other two modes are at least amusing. However, the core one-on-one fighting action is easily the best part of the game. It's gory, intense, and quite complex, meaning it captures much of what has made MK an institution among fighting games.

Those familiar with the other versions of Deception will find that the GameCube version is identical for the most part, though it does have a few key differences. Yeah, it's too bad there's no online play, but you do get two new characters, both playable right from the get-go. Shao Kahn is the stronger and tougher-looking of the two, although each one is a respectable facsimile of his classic MK counterpart. Each also has his signature moves (Shao Kahn has his sledgehammer and his taunts, for example), plus a bunch of new ones. Goro looks a bit anemic, but all in all, these two fit in well with the rest of the cast, and they're a nice bonus. The other thing about the GameCube version of Deception is that many more characters are unlocked right up front (including Hotaru, Kira, and everyone's favorite, Noob-Smoke), so you immediately get a total of 20 fighters to choose from, whereas the PS2 and Xbox versions have only 12 initially playable. This means there's less reason to play through konquest mode, the key to unlocking most of the game's hidden content. Konquest mode is a drag, so this is a good thing.

The fighting system in Deception hasn't changed much from that of Deadly Alliance. Once again, the main twist that distinguishes this game from other 3D fighting games is that each character may freely switch between three different martial arts styles during battle--one of which is always a weapon-based style of some sort. Each character possesses a handful of unique special moves, as well as a bunch of different chain combos, some of which involve switching between different martial arts styles in midcombo. The sheer variety of different martial arts featured in MK: Deception is quite impressive, and the overall look and feel of the action is clearly inspired by kung fu movies--to good effect. Whereas many fighting games take their cues from anime and aim for action that looks more stylish than downright painful, MK: Deception goes for the hard-hitting staccato rhythms of Hong Kong action cinema and doesn't skimp on graphic violence. The results don't always look perfectly fluid or natural--especially since many of the characters look rather stiff--but the fighting in MK: Deception nevertheless features a ton of painful-looking moves that cause the opponent on the receiving end to reel backward, oftentimes gushing blood. The fighting action is ridiculously over the top, and, as a result, it's often quite funny.

There's a good, responsive feel to the action. The game plays OK using the stock GameCube controller, despite the small D pad and asymmetrical button layout. There's decent variety within the roster of selectable characters as well. In MK tradition, the fighters here aren't drastically different from one another. Though their special moves and combos are unique, it's not difficult to learn how to play as the different characters once you've grasped the basic game mechanics. The typical match unfolds as your average best-two-out-of-three-rounds fighting game battle, but MK: Deception does have a few twists. For one thing, it's now possible to execute combo breakers (in a nod to the fighting game Killer Instinct) that let you instantly disrupt the opponent when you're on the receiving end of a string of attacks. Combo breakers are really easy to perform, but the catch is that you can use these only a few times during a match, and they cause no damage to the opponent. So they introduce a welcome bit of strategy to a match. Should you use your breakers right away or try to save them to turn the tables at the end of a match? MK: Deception makes a few other tweaks to Deadly Alliance's gameplay, such as eliminating the powerful impaling moves from that game and adding (back) a whole bunch of uppercut attacks--MK standbys that seemed noticeably absent from Deadly Alliance.

Treasure has never aimed for the center and, thankfully, probably never will. Rakugaki Showtime tackles the venerable institution of the competitive party game and benefits from Treasure's dose of genre-bending game mechanics.

Loosely translated as "Doodle Showtime," Rakugaki Showtime chronicles the story of four doodles who fight the evil Big Daddy and his scribbled minions. Using the power of the smiley ball, Yukiwo, Sasami, Pitan, and Tsubohachi uphold the law of the Godhand that had drawn them in the first place.

Rakugaki borrows its basic pick-up-and-throw concept from Konami's Poy Poy and builds on it, adding to the strategy and the spazziness. The concept is simple - to be the last one alive on the field. To achieve this goal, you must balance offense and defense. While the characters have a handful of close-range fighting moves at their disposal, most of the damage you cause will come from throwing things. You can throw things in one of two ways - directed or homing. Directed lets you chuck the object in-hand at any one of the pads located on the outskirts of the playing field, while homing lets you target the opponent closest to you. While you'll use homing more often, directed can let you strategically detonate explosives from across the field. In addition to black-hole bombs, ICBMs, and standard-issue boulders, Rakugaki Showtime features the ever-versatile smiley ball. Although happy at first, the smiley ball gradually becomes angrier the more it's flung about. When it finally reaches the pinnacle of anger (announced with a choral "Hallelujah"), you can relieve the grinning ball of its rage and unleash one of three character-specific super moves. While most of the super moves are purely offensive, some characters' attacks have defensive or healing qualities.

Movement is also key to survival in Rakugaki Showtime - it is what makes the game as spastic as it is. Movement, for the most part, is based on jumping. You can perform a standard jump in place to dodge attacks, or you can jump to one of the pads located around the board with an extra tap of the jump button. With additional taps, you can cancel your jump in midair and drop back down to the ground or bound from pad to pad. The result is an incredibly fast-paced game that takes some getting used to - between the camera panning, constant bounding across the field, and projectiles hurtling through the air, Rakugaki's insane action can be a little overwhelming.

Each play-through of the game takes roughly 30-45 minutes, depending on your skill. After winning the game with a particular character, you will be awarded access to one of the enemy characters for both single and multiplayer play. With seventeen characters, there'll be plenty of variety for all.

As fun and different Rakugaki is, its decidedly Japanese graphics are unlikely to appeal to many. The characters look as though they've been doodled on paper cutouts, with hastily scribbled colors constantly shifting within their crude borders. While the backgrounds are fully 3D, they're largely untextured and flat in appearance. The simple graphics do give the game a certain weird charm, however, and also allow for the fast and furious gameplay that makes the game stand out in the first place. The game's music is typically Treasure, mixing up a bevy of happy tunes with an odd rock bent. The game's sound effects go mostly unnoticed, with the exception of the aforementioned "Hallelujah!"

This game will never come out in the States. As much fun as it is - it's just too Japanese and way too out there, so it's a good thing the game is very importer-friendly. Those looking for a great party-game fix should give Rakugaki Showtime a look.

Street Fighter Alpha 3 Review

Street Fighter Alpha 3, Capcom's latest flagship title, has made its way to the PlayStation in a nice, timely fashion. This faithful arcade conversion sees Capcom bend over backwards to deliver its most rewarding home conversion yet. This time around, a pack of returning veterans has its first "Alpha incarnation" alongside four newly introduced women fighters. For those still skeptical about the PlayStation's 2D capabilities, Street Fighter Alpha 3 will make short work of any resident doubts. The game's graphical prowess and arcade-perfect gameplay combined with its cache of bonus modes makes Street Fighter Alpha 3 the latest standard for 2D excellence on the PlayStation.

Street Fighter Alpha 3 has a total of 34 characters, four of which become unlocked only after you play through the game's various modes. The alumni from Street Fighter Alpha 2 are joined by four new fighters: Karin Kanzuki, Rainbow Mika, Juli, and Juni. However, only Karin and R. Mika can be considered truly new since both Juli and Juni have moves and animations derived from Cammy. For Street Fighter Alpha 3, Capcom also brought back old favorites like Guile, E. Honda, Blanka, Balrog, Dee Jay, and Fei Long. In an effort to give the game detail beyond any of the previous Street Fighter Alphas, Capcom has given each character a unique ending. This means that bonus characters such as Guile, Evil Ryu, and Shin Akuma all have endings that reflect their origin or purpose. Each of the older characters retains moves from previous Street Fighter games, while a few receive new abilities that are balanced through the "ism" system. Street Fighter Alpha 3 employs the ism system as a method of establishing balance and strategy. X-ism, A-ism, and V-ism determine moves and attributes that carry their own pros and cons. The isms are imbued with advantages and limitations so you will need to discover which mode fits your fighting style most. For instance, the advantage of X-ism is that it has the highest damage rating, but you can't air-block or ground-recover. X-ism also has the upper hand when it comes to guard power - this makes the mode ideal for players accustomed to classic Street Fighter 2 regulations. A-ism, on the other hand, is the mode most players have become accustomed to since the premiere of Street Fighter Alpha. The "A" in the name represents Alpha, where abilities such as air blocking, air and ground recoveries, taunts, a three-tiered super meter, and Alpha counters have all become the de facto expectation. V-ism stands for "variable" mode and is by far the most difficult mode to master in Street Fighter Alpha 3. With V-ism, you have the ability to activate Alpha 2-style custom combos. Aside from the various pros and cons of each ism, there are also a few moves that are ism specific. All of these considerations factor into choosing the right ism for your fighting style.

In a show of bravado reminiscent of Namco's Tekken series, Capcom has added a wealth of extras to the PlayStation version of Street Fighter Alpha 3, making it Capcom's best home conversion ever. When you first enter the game, only arcade and world tour are available for selection. Arcade mode takes you through a regimented plotline for each character, complete with dialogue, sub-bosses, and of course, the showdown with M. Bison. The world tour mode combines round-to-round fights with RPG-like elements, similar (perhaps to the point of seeming a little ripped off) to the Edge Master mode in Namco's Soul Blade. You go on a "world tour" with your favorite characters and gain experience points by defeating challengers from each country. Gathered experience points go towards "leveling up" your character, like in an RPG - the better the fight, the bigger the reward. While your characters level up, they will also be granted access to special ism-plus abilities, such as auto guard, alpha cancel, and damage plus. Once you have earned these skills, you can then augment each ism with abilities previously unavailable in normal arcade play. For instance, X-ism lacks air blocking, but through world tour mode, you can enable an X-ism character to perform air blocking. Character levels peak at 32, while each ism maxes out at level five (considered mastery). As an added bonus, you can take characters you created in world tour mode to fight in versus mode by importing from memory cards. Aside from world tour, you can also unlock the following modes: team battle, survival, dramatic battle plus, and final battle. Kudos to Capcom for making a Street Fighter with more replay value and flexibility than ever before. Visually, Street Fighter Alpha 3 far excels anything the PlayStation has seen to date. While not as effects intensive as the sprite storms found in Guilty Gear, Street Fighter Alpha 3 offers something much more important: animation. Street Fighter Alpha 3 demonstrates that with each successive Alpha game, Capcom has steadily raised the standard in animation and graphical quality. Most character animations brim with a copious number of frames, and as a result, everything is smooth and pleasing to the eye. More importantly, Street Fighter Alpha 3 looks nearly arcade perfect. Even though one can spot animation loss under some scrutiny, the omission is subtle, and the game will look identical to everyone but the most serious of diehards. Additionally, the bonus characters that are only available on the PlayStation are all respectable without the stigma of being just a cheap afterthought. Equally impressive are the super combo animations where the entire screen boils over with special effects and shadow delays. In dramatic battle, Street Fighter Alpha 3 pushes the PlayStation's 2D envelope by having a three-character (two of them have to be Ryu/Ken or identical) fracas with not a hint of slowdown or glitch. To round off the package, Capcom has included ample character art to be admired during the game's surprisingly tolerable load times. The sound effects in general come across as hearty and capture the excitement heard throughout arcades. The voices for the returning fighters bring home a sense of nostalgia previously encountered with Capcom's Street Fighter Collections discs. The most significant audio advancement over previous Alphas is the music itself, which has taken a turn toward more dance-oriented electronics. Most of the songs range from interesting variations of drum and bass to the more frenetic techno anthems Capcom is so accustomed to writing. If you have the sound system to do so, play this game loud.

Capcom might have had a spotless game had it not overlooked one important aspect of Street Fighter Alpha 3: game balance. While it's important to sport a large and diverse roster (34 characters in all), it is also key to make sure that no one character's move or combo can be abused to spoil the versus game. This, unfortunately, is Street Fighter Alpha 3's biggest problem. Characters such as Rolento or Zangief all have techniques that can be exploited to make a versus game extremely frustrating. For example, Rolento nullifies the brilliance of the guard crush system simply by nature of his attacks (his normal attacks do incredible guard-meter damage). Other problems include characters who are ranked fourth tier or worse simply because their moves have such low priority that they're altogether useless. Throw in the volatile world tour creation system, and you have a fighting game rife with gameplay exploits. Even so, most Capcom fans will be delighted with Street Fighter Alpha 3 simply because the home version is so over-the-top with bonus modes and extra characters. We can only hope that Street Fighter Alpha 3 is the first step for Capcom in a trend to make console games exceed their arcade predecessors.