"You are a masochist aren't ya?"

I kanuto24, aka rascalz, rebuilding my reviews back from scratch. So here goes.

After playing this game for almost a year, I think the review that I made for this needs to be revised and updated. Anyway here goes.

GRAPHICS

The graphics on this game is really something. It's like playing the arcade version, or basically any other higher port of the game. All the sprites of each character are intact and you can really tell that crawfish made such a good job and not just a half-assed job on the conversion.

Each character looks exactly the same and you can clearly see even their faces, the eyes etcetera, even the smirks and smiles during the victory poses.

Added to that is the extremely beautiful super combo moves and super combo finishes which is equally vivid as the one's in the arcade and other versions. Also, each and every special move is also intact, and I for once I have never encountered any choppy graphics when I was playing the game.

GAME PLAY

This is the “meaty” part of the game. It's game play. In this game, it is true that all you do is to beat the crap out of the CPU controlled opponent, but then again you can do this in so many variations which adds a little bit of twist every time you play a different mode.

The first mode is the normal arcade mode. Here, you can choose from the a humongous amount of characters, 34 all in all after unlocking the secrets. After picking one, you the go on through various fighters, each one whom you must defeat in order to reach the final boss.

Another mode is the sakyo mode. Although this one is not available until you finish a certain task in the game, which I won't divulge as it will spoil everything for you. Anyway, This mode is named from Dan's fighting style which means “the strongest”. The things it does are-

- Attacks inflict less damage
- Cannot link attacks to Special Moves/Super Combos
- Easier to be dizzied
- Very short Guard Power Gauge

As you can see, you do not receive any special bonuses but handicaps instead. Well that is why it is called the strongest as only the strongest will survive these handicaps.

Second mode is the Mazi mode. This mode makes your character inflict more damage, but also take more damage. Also, no matter how many rounds is set to win, losing a single round will lose you the match.
Then there is the Classic mode. This forces your character to use X-Ism, and makes them play as if they were in the original Street Fighter 2, losing the following features-

- Air Blocking
- Alpha Counter
- Defensive Fall/Defensive Roll
- Guard Power Gauge
- Super Combos/Super Combo Meter
- Taunt

It does, however, offer the following bonuses-

- Not able to be comboed in the air
- Not able to be Guard Crushed

Then there is the Survival mode, where in you fight hordes of enemies and only receiving a little amount of life back after you defeat each enemy. This mode however, has many mini-modes in itself. The mini-modes are the numbers of enemies you want to fight in succession.

Then there is drama mode wherein you pick a character and the CPU will automatically pick a fighter to fight with you(which is also controlled by the CPU). You then go on through a number of stages until you win. The drawback on this is that when you are trying to chain a combo, the CPU character tends to hit your opponent thus losing the chain your about to do. Also, the CPU character tends to be a super meter hog, unleashing a super moves right after you fill in a level.

SOUNDS

This is one of the drawback of the game although just a minor one. The theme music are recycled and can be heard over and over again. The character voices are also repetitive and is the same as other characters. Example is ryu and ken when they shout shoryuken! And also hadouken. These are just samples, there are other repeats too.

However the hit sounds(when you land a super move/special move/normal move) is the same as the arcade.

Although it has it's drawback on the sound, it is really just a minor one and does not affect actual game play.

CONTROLS

This is one of the most hated part of nubs. They tend to dislike the control system right when they start the game because there are only four buttons in the GBA and therefore crawfish needed to make some adjustments.

First off, you can perform the middle punch and kick by pressing two buttons simultaneously. However this is not an easy task to do in the beginning. So in all honesty, I suggest you modify your button mapping to your liking and preference to ease up the task. This is available though the options and therefore is not really that much of an issue, except you are the type who are what we call as “combo whores”. At any rate, playing in the GBA tends to have it's limitations and for the most part this is it.

So if you want to play exactly the same style as you do in arcade with all those infinites combo then you should not pick this game up as it will disappoint you. You cannot perform your infinites over and over again with ease. However, if your willing to sacrifice some flashy infinites with more basic to intermediate combos then the controls of this game will have to do.

REPLAY VALUE

The replay value of this game is unprecedented. With tons of modes to play you will be playing this game for quite some time. Also, the 34 character selection is too good to pass up. Each has pretty much different fighting styles that you could try to learn or even master, except for the shotos (ryu/ken/akuma and sometimes even dan and sakura) because they play quite identical with a slight variations and move priorities.

Another thing that increases it's replay value is the versus mode with your friends. Here you can pit your strategies, poking, turtle mode and flashy combos against each other. This is really a blast as you do not have to waste quarters to challenge each other and at the same time you can do this almost every where.

GOOD POINTS

1. Amazing graphics.
2. Lots of modes to play.
3. A lot of characters to choose from, increasing re playability.
4. Lots of unlock able modes, specials and characters.
5. Close to perfect port of the arcade version.
6. Street fighter alpha 3 at your finger tips, and can be played on the go.

BAD POINTS

1. Some what limited and restricting controls.
2. Repetitive sounds.

OVER ALL

Even with the basic flaws which are not really game killers, this proves to be one of the best fighting games ever released in the game boy advance.

RENT OR BUY

I definitely would suggest that you buy this game, and fast. With a lot of stuff you can do and the amazing versus mode with your friends, this game will be worth every penny that you are going to spend.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/26/05