least 2,718 of them by now. They just keep making them and giving them strange prefixes,

suffixes, and adjectives to the titles. Instead of Street Fighter 3, we were graced with Street

Fighter Alpha, which little did people realize would go on to be its own sub series, all

cultivating with Street Fighter Alpha 3, a game that is arguably one of the best releases

in the entire Street Fighter series.

The game takes many of the ideas that were developing within the Alpha series and gives

them all a complete overhaul. This is of course Street Fighter, which means that it is a six

button fighter that is focused on using the right combos, specials, and grabs. It is accessible

to beginners but has so much depth that you can play the game for years and still be learning

new techniques.

The fighting offers multiple styles of specials that you pick before the match, which are

called “isms.” There is ‘A ism,” which feels familiar as it is a three level super

meter, “X ism” is like older games and that is one level super you can build up for

a power attack, and last is ‘V ism” where you can perform custom combos. Each is deep

and knowing how to master each is essential to success.

There is a healthy bunch of characters to master these fighting styles with too. From

the necessary ones like Ryu, Ken, and Chun-Li, to old favorites making their first appearance

in the Alpha series like E. Honda, Blanka and I love seeing the return of my favorite

Cammy. And there are even brand new characters like, R. Mika, Juni, and Juli. Each bring

their own bag of tricks and don’t really feel like filler.

But the biggest new addition comes in the game modes. There is the standard arcade mode

and training mode, but now there is the World Tour mode. This is one of the most interesting

additions to any fighting game. You select a character, whose stats are lower and lack

all the abilities. You then take them through a tour of fights all around the world, in

whatever order you like. By winning, you gain experience and level up your characters and

your “isms” until you have tons of combos and breakers. The fights are not always straightforward,

with some opponents only taking damage from combos, or shortened time limits and other

variables. The World Tour mode really gives you more reason to play, and I would like

to see something like it in every fighting game.

Street Fighter Alpha 3 is the end result of a lot of games building up and some radical

new experiments, and has earned its place in the legendary series.