"Best Handheld Fighter (Till SFA3 at least)"

Street Fighter Alpha, the best fighting series of all time. And you get to play it on your Gameboy?! Totally sweet dude....

Graphics: 8/10
It's hard to rate a Gameboy Color game on graphics. To put it simply, your characters are recognizable and stand out well from the backgrounds(which are actually nicely detailed). Only three colors per character, but it's no big deal. They aren't as large or detailed as that certain NGPC game which everyone loves, but I prefer these a bit, not as cartoony or impish.

Sound: 5/10
Yeah, it's pretty awful. The music when the game starts makes you want to shield your ears. The sound effects are OK at best. They didn't even bother to include voice clips for moves or anything, which is understandable. But then again, you're probably playing with your sound dial all the way down anyway. If you aren't, then TURN it down.

Gameplay: 9/10
It's pretty damn solid. Most, if not all, the moves are there(though a few are changed a bit, for instance, Akuma's red fireball is half-circle forward instead of back). You get specials, supers, even taunts (Dan even still has his unlimited use of taunt, though all his alternate ones are missing!). Of course you've only got 2 buttons, but thanks to analog technology you get to make 4 out of them. Tap lightly on A and you get a weak kick, press it and you get a fierce. Of course that means the Strongs are gone, which are used often for combos. But, that's not really the point of this handheld port. The point is, you get fairly accurate SFA gameplay anywhere you go. Add to that an actual DIFFICULT AI and you won't get bored of popping this game in. Plus, you can use Akuma, Dan, and Bison either through Random Select, or using a little code, just like in the real Street Fighter Alpha 1. Oh yeah, and you DO have Alpha Counters too, or else it wouldn't be Street Fighter Alpha!

Overview: 8/10
If you love the Street Fighter Alpha series, you should get this game. Or if you love your Gameboy Color and want the best fighting game for it there is, get it. Otherwise, wait a week or two and get Street Fighter Alpha 3 for GBA. Either way, Crawfish Interactive is doing a pretty nice job with their fighting ports to handheld. I'd like to shake Dan Murphey's hand.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/24/02, Updated 11/24/02