Genre: Fighting
Developer: Crawfish Interactive
Publisher: Capcom
Released On: Dec 06, 2002
# of Players: 1-2 Players
Memory: N/A
ERSB: Teens
Supports: GBA Link Cable
MSRP: $29.99
Also On: PSone, Dreamcast
Website: StreetFighterAlpha3.com
Best: Fighter for GBA.

The GameBoy Advance has been getting its fair share of SNES games ported over the last two years, and who can blame developers for doing so? These are games sitting in their vaults otherwise collecting dust, so they might as well release them to this flashy new portable system, exposing the games to a whole new generation who missed out the first time the games came out in the early ‘90s. Surprisingly, Capcom has taken the ports a step above the rest. Porting a game they made for the Playstation and Dreamcast on the mighty GBA. Did the transaction go well? Read on and see.

For those who enjoy more than the average 12 characters in a fighter. You’re looking in the right place. We’re looking at well… over 30 characters being in this game to fight as. A vast majority of them are old favorites, but there are 3 totally new characters making their way onto this version of the game. Great huh? Remember the game modes from the Psone SFA3? Well they all made it to the GBA. There’s the obvious versus mode, which is done through the GBA’s link cables. But for single player we have Survival Mode and World Tour Mode. Survival Mode is your standard marathon match, going after successive opponents until one finally hands you your behind on a silver platter. World Tour Mode, however, has some RPG-like qualities to it as characters gain experience with each victory, and thus level up and get stronger plus learn new skills and abilities. So you can kick you friends level 15 Ken with your level 25 Ryu.

Making their way back are the “isms” of the console versions of Alpha 3. That means all three of these approaches to combat will return, “X-ism”, “A-ism”, and “V-ism”. For those unfamiliar with what these play styles mean, here is a quick rundown. Each of these “isms” refers to a style of play specific to a certain installment of Street Fighter. “X-ism” refers to Street Fighter II, which allowed players to use one super powerful combo attack. “V-ism” refers to the combo system that was available to players in Street Fighter Alpha 2. Finally, “A-ism” refers to the super combos that were available in the original Street Fighter Alpha. All you need to do is pick your “ism” of choice and take advantage of the benefits it brings to combat. If you’ve played the Street Fighter II GBA port you should have no problem dealing with the 2 button layout of Alpha 3. And its just as solid even if you only have 2 buttons. Alpha 3 also comes with the best 2D graphics for a fighter seen on the GBA system. A few special effects from the original don’t come off quite as dynamically as we all expected, and health bars are sometimes impossible to see. Sound is kinda disappointing but good enough.

Conclusion
Street Fighter Alpha 3 is and I’m sure going to the be the best fighter on GBA for a long time. I thought there was no way in hell SFA3 could make a proper transition from a home console to a handheld. If you’re a fan of fighters and own a GBA. Do yourself a favor and pick up this Gem.

~ditto~

The Good
+ Tons of players to choose from.
+ World Tour Mode.

The Bad
- Two button setup.

The Stupid
? I thought I wouldn’t enjoy this game.