Street Fighter Alpha: Warrior's Dreams

"Amazing!"

Capcom decided to rely on the success of the previous "Street Fighter" games and build a new version from the ground up. The result--a masterpiece that not only succeeds in the arcades, but also on the then-new Sony Play Station called "Street Fighter Alpha". The Play Station version is the one I'm reviewing for today.

GRAPHICS--10/10

The graphics in this version are excellent. The character animations are very fluid, which is perfect for a system like the Play Station. The characters look excellent, with all of them being given an anime look. The characters' winning poses are amazing as well, which ranges from Chun-Li jumping for joy to Adon giving a thumb's down to a defeated opponent. The backgrounds are excellent, ranging from a snowy Russian neighborhood with cats walking around the area to the streets of Las Vegas in which people throw money at you when you win a match. Overall, the graphics are amazing.

SOUND--10/10

The sounds are excellent as well. The sounds of punches or kicks being landed successfully are very realistic. The voices of the characters are excellent, which range from Ryu's trademark "Soryuken" when he throws a fireball to Charlie's "Sonic Boom", which is the same as Guile's from "Street Fighter II".
The music is excellent as well, with some very jazzy songs being played. Best of all, you can switch from the very jazzy music to the normal arcade MIDI music if you like to. Overall, the sounds are excellent.

CONTROLS--10/10

The controls are excellent. You've got your normal arsenal of punch and kick buttons, plus two buttons (the L2 an R2 buttons) which emulates the pressing of all three punch or all three kick buttons, which makes pulling off Super Combos a whole lot easier. The character move like they should. Another cool feature with the controls is that you can block in mid-air, which null some of the more powerful air attacks. Overall, the controls are excellent.

STORY LINE--10/10

Suffice to say, each character has his or her own story line, which makes the game all the more interesting.

GAME PLAY--10/10

The game play is excellent. You get ten playable characters (13 if you count unlocking the "Street Fighter" veteran boss Master Bison, the hidden character Akuma and the very unique character Dan). You also have eight difficulty levels, which means the higher the level, the more challenging the fights get. You can also change the damage level. There's even a training mode which you can practice pulling off certain moves and/or combos. Overall, the game play is excellent.

OVERALL--10/10

This is, by far, the best version of "Street Fighter" you can get for a home console. You owe it to yourself to buy this game. This game is amazing!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/28/04