Street Fighter EX3

"MOTS (More of the same)"

This is one of the first game that I bought for PS2. It caught me in the eye when I saw it on demo in my local electronic store. Here goes my opinion on this game:

Graphics: 7/10
I think CAPCOM can do more with this (like TTT or Soul Calibur) with less cartoony character, but nice enough to catch my attention.
The lighting effect from the punches and special moves are slightly improved from EX 2 (barely noticeable). The background look separated from the foreground (from the ground and players), given an odd looking game (unlike Soul Calibur). There are a lot of slowdown in the Japanese version and it is fixed in US version.

Control: 10/10
It is the tightest control in SFEX series. It is very easy to pull out special moves. Calling your tag partner is a breeze (HP+HK).

Sound/Music: 7/10
Good as ever, typical CAPCOM fighting game music. The special effect sound is ok like the SFEX2. The music changes to the character's theme when you do tagging (I noticed it in two player mode).

Gameplay: 6/10
As I told you in the synopsis, it is more of the same (like other SFEX series). In addition to that, there are several differences like hard attack (I like guard crash better), momentary combo (interesting enough), tag combo (not enough combination of character that can do it), critical parade (like MARVEL vs. CAPCOM series where you can call your tag and do special together). Other than that, there are things that are missing like GOUKI or Akuma and two player versus mode (without tag teams). I love using Gouki, but CAPCOM has removed him in the character list. It is also better if CAPCOM included all the character in SFEX series (like TTT). The character creation mode is rather interesting, but more like training mode in other SFEX series where you have to take the test and get experience level to purchase special moves. You can then customize the moves into blank character (called Ace).

Replayability: 6/10
It is more like SFEX2 with steroid. If you have played SFEX2 intensively (from my friends opinion), you'll feel bored soon after you played this game.

Final Score (not average): 7/10

My suggestion:
Try it first with your friends and see whether it is worth to buy.Better wait for Virtua Fighter 4 or Tekken 4 or other SFEX incarnation. If you are a SFEX hardcore but don't play SFEX 2 much (just like me), just buy it.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/02/01, Updated 03/02/01