Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX

"A fighting game worth buying."

After a long wait the PSP finally receives a fighting game worth buying. Though I would have preferred 3rd Strike, Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX is the next best fighting game the PSP could get.

I just want to start off for a moment to address the issue of load times, as most PSP owners see this as a major concern. With this game, the only load time that seems a bit long is the initial loading of the game. Otherwise, there are no problems with the load times. The fights load quickly and you'll barely notice any slowness in the game. Now for my official review:

Story: 4

To be quote honest, stories in fighting games don't really interest me though the endings are worth watching. Not much to really say here. Each character has an ending that explains what happens to them afterwards or explains other things about them.

Graphics: 7

The graphics aren't anything really special, and seem pretty much unchanged from Street Fighter Alpha 3 for the PS1. Capcom could have really improved with the game's graphics but it's sill nice to play and nothing is really wrong with it. The mode selection screen is pretty unappealing, however the fight graphics are pretty awesome. This game also allows you to pick a screen setting: wide or normal. The wide screen (ful screen) is pretty nice though I prefer the normal screen setting better. With the normal setting the characters look nicer and you have a border for the sides of the screen the take up the empty space.

Sound: 8

The sound and voices have remained unchanged compared to other Street Fighter games and I wouldn't have it any other way. The music still fits and sounds nice.

Gameplay: 9

Not much to say for the gameplay of a fighting game. You basically choose a character out of many and you choose a mode to play in. Modes include arcade mode (that standard fights), world tour mode (a special mode where you can level up characters for use in other modes). Other modes include the dramatic battle modes where you can do a 2 on 1 with you or your computer having the partner. With the difficulty range from 1 to 8 stars you can pretty much setup how hard you want the game to be. Believe me though, 8 stars is quite difficult. You will also be able to setup the number of rounds and speed so the fights are what you want them to be. Overall the gameplay is quick and you need somewhat fast reflexes to truly be good but even if you're a little slow you can win. Once you get the hang of how to fight the game gets to be much more enjoyable and you'll slowly develop a character you like best.

Controls: 9

Quite possibly the most important aspect of any fighting game, the controls for this game are easy to use. In addition to the "normal" controls there is an "easy" option that pretty much improves the move recognition so you can input commands much more sloppily. One of my main concerns for this game was the fact that there was no R2 button, which I was accustomed to when playing this on the PS1. For those used to playing primarily off the R1 and R2 buttons as the high punch and high kick, it can be easily compensated with a few changes in the button configuration, so no need to worry.

Additional Features: 10

Many additions were made to this game as it was ported to the PSP. First off the additional characters of the console ports make an appearance in this game along with a new character. The characters added don't seem out of place or anything and they blend quite well with the game's design. In addition to characters added, new game modes have also been featured in this game. Tag Team matches make an appearance while many of the already loved game modes including the World Tour return.

Overall: 8

Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX is ben my most anticipated fighting game to come to the PSP as most of the other fighting games already out have been a disappointment. The game is fun and becomes much more enjoyable with a few friends to go against. Whether it be for single player or multi-player, this game is worth buying and definitely has my approval.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/14/06