Review #190: Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max

 Get ready fighters, Go for broke!

 This is the second port of SF Alpha 3 I played this year, the third version I've bought(GBA, PS2, PSP) and the fifth I've played(Arcade, PS1, PS2, GBA and PSP). It's a game I've played over and over throughout the years, and it still hasn't gotten old, in fact, this may be the best version yet.

 The first thing that you'll notice after pressing start, is that the game has a TON of modes. The classic Arcade Mode(Console Version, meaning you can retry the last fight), the return of World Tour(A fan favorite that hasn't been seen since the PS1 version!), Survival, Variable Battle(Tag-team! Sadly, only 2 vs 1), Dramatic Battle( The player and a CPU VS 1 CPU at the same time, the opponents are randomized this time!), Reverse Dramatic Battle(You VS 2 CPUS), Training, Free Battle(Normal, Team, Variable, Dramatic and Reverse Dramatic), VS 100 Kumite(Even if you lose, the ladder keeps on going, the objective is to see how many you can defeat of 100 opponents), Final Battle(Skip directly to Boss Bison... or boss Akuma) and lastly, Network Battle. Did I mention that it's a ton of modes? No other port of this game has had so many ways to play the game.

 I've already talked about how SF Alpha 3 plays, but needless to say, everything is here, all the ISMs, all the modes(Mazi, Saykio, etc), all the endings. This port has the most characters yet, having all the PS1 additions, the GBA newcomers(Eagle, Yun, Maki) and a 'new' character, Ingrid(She's from a cancelled Capcom Fighting game, but her first real debut was Capcom's Fighting Jam). She... doesn't really fit Street Fighter, she feels right out of King of Fighters, heck, she's a bit of an Athena clone. She also seems a bit overpowered, but that's just my estimation. One thing that really bothers me, and hasn't been addressed ever, is that there's no in-game movelist. To add insult to injury some characters don't have access to all of their moves on each ISM, which can make it even more annoying. This time around, there's no excuse, I'm pretty sure the Japanese version had an in-game movelest. Another issue is that the PSP's directional pad and analog nub aren't the best, you can turn on "easy motion" to add leniency to the input recognition, but it's not perfect.

 The game looks very crisp on the PSP's screen, and every frame has been kept intact. As for the sprites themselves, they are pretty much timeless, animation isn't the best in the Street Fighter series, but it's still really good, and the bulky, colorful, anime-ish style looks fantastic. The Music is just phenomenal, the soundtrack is just perfect, I've played the game over and over again, and I still love the music.

 This is straight-up the best version of one of the best fighting games ever created. There's a ton of modes ensuring that you won't get tired of the game any time soon, a ton of characters, and a ton of ways to play with each character thanks to the three different ISMs and Modes. Not to mention World Tour Mode and the fact that you can pretty much create your own ISM as you develop your fighter. The controls aren't the best, true, but you can adapt. If you like fighting games, own a PSP or both, you need this game.
 9.5 out of 10