Street Fighter 3 Alpha Max PSP

Street Fighter 3 Alpha Max PSP

Navneet Prakash, Aug 12, 2008 1715 hrs IST

A great game for gaming on the go, with tons of game modes.

Great Old-School fighting action, Tons of modes and 40 playable characters, Ad-hoc multiplayer is fun and additive, Great game to have for gaming on the go.

Controls can take some time getting used to, No change in presentation.

Expert Rating :

Expert Review

Like most guys I got addicted to arcade gaming during school, there was something about saving half your lunch money to play Street Fighter that was very alluring. The original Street Fighter (SF) is a landmark in arcade gaming, a game that took fighting games to a whole new level. SF has gone through many transitions and the Alpha/Zero series is one of them. The quick paced Alpha series didn't go well with all SF veterans, some found it to be very different from the original but most fans took to the new avatar.

The Alpha series is quite different from its predecessor, its much faster and has more spunk. The Alpha series introduced many new concepts like a power-up gauge for each player. This power-up gauge can be used to unleash a super-combo that can turn a game around within seconds. To prove my point I would love to share one of my favorite videos below, this should explain how unpredictable and spunky, SF alpha could be. This time I review the SF alpha version for the PSP called Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max, a perfect game for gaming on the go. Read my verdict on the game.

Summary

If you need some history about the SF franchise, then I guess you shouldn't be reading this review. This is the daddy of all fighting games; no strings attached pure unadulterated-multilevel-fighting that is sure to rush adrenaline right up to your head. This is the game that inspired many movies like Bloodsport, KickBoxer and the really awful movie inspired by the game called Street Fighter.

The PSP version has a large number of fighters - around 40 of the meanest hard-a$$3s you will come across in gaming. This includes the ever so popular, Ken and Ryu, Sagat, Guy borrowed from Final Fight, Chun-Li and many more. All the original characters have been given a fresh new look, Ken now sports a ponytail, Chun-Li no longer exposes her legs and Sagat has got even bigger. Let's get into the finer details.

The game offers 12-game modes, these include arcade, World Tour (Story), Variable Battle (character swap), Dramatic Battle (2 Players vs AI) and R.dramatic (1 Player vs 2 AI), Survival Mode and many more. The number of game modes is mighty impressive and clearly indicated that this is a game that will keep you entertained for weeks.

There is also an editor that lets you edit and re-create a character and change attributes, make him better at attacking or defending, improve his stamina and so on. When you play World Tour you will unlock various abilities for your characters like resist dizziness, Alpha cancel and many more. These abilities can make a lot difference in fights and so you need to choose the right ones.

The world tour is the best way to start-off the game, there are many challenges and you encounter many enemies in various battles. The World Tour has been made challenging by some special matches, that offer much more than a simple one-on-one fight. There will be times when you will get dizzy with every hit (so you have to unlock resist dizziness before entering that match) or your enemy will take damage only from super combos, these are just a few example, the game will offer you many other challenges.

This constant challenge makes the world tour very interesting and worth playing. There is also arcade mode, which is a simple start-fight-exit kinda game, good ol-action without any story mumbo-jumbo. Enough about game modes, lets get into the action in the game.