Review #459: Street Fighter EX2 Plus

 I need to stop using the really good openers on my first impressions!

Videogame covers should've never involved character renders. They're awful!

 Way back when, Capcom managed to bring their flagship fighting game franchise, Street Fighter, into the third dimension by not making it themselves, thanks to Arika's EX series. Woefully underrated, Street Fighter EX2 stands as what I believe to be the best in the EX franchise.

 The game is a bit lacking in modes, we've got an Arcade ladder(7 opponents and 2 bonus rounds(Mini-games), Practice, Trials(From very basic 'perform the move' affairs to a bit more complicated combos), Bonus Mode(Play the bonus stages by themselves, and a few extras), VS and VS Team(Both against Player or CPUs) and finally, Director, in which you can make highlight reels if you, for whatever reason, are interested in that. Fighting game staples such as Survival or Time Attack are nowhere to be seen and characters don't even get endings. At least the character roster is fairly large, featuring 24 different characters, 10 veterans as well as 14 Arika originals. Returning characters have new moves, altered moves and even new animations so they feel relatively fresh.

A perfect example of Arika's hit or miss designs. One of these characters' awful design, while the other is all kinds of awesome... but it depends on who you ask.

 The game works with Street Fighter's classic 6 button set-up, three kicks and three punches, blocking is done by holding back against the opponent and throws are performed by pressing strong attacks when you're as close as possible to your opponent. The game might have 3-D graphics, but it plays entirely in 2-D. There's an ever-present three-tier energy gauge, which is filled by doing or receiving damage, which can be spent in Super Moves, Excel or Guard breaks. Super Moves consume a single energy bar, or you can spend all three to use a devastating Meteor Move, Excel is performed by pressing Medium Punch with Light Kick and, for a short while, makes everything combo into everything, sorta like Alpha 3's custom combo. Lastly, Guard Break is an attack that costs a single energy bar and is done by pressing a punch and a kick of the same strength, which breaks an enemy's guard and staggers them. To be honest I didn't felt the need to use them and Excel seemed more worthwhile. The game plays like a dream, it's pretty fast and performing combos works pretty well, it's a bit more lenient than your usual Street Fighter game.

 While Ex2 Plus is missing a ton of fluff and fat, it hits all the right notes when it comes to what makes a fighting game good. The fighting is fast, satisfying, easy to understand but with layers of depth for those willing to invest their time. And while there aren't a whole lot of modes, there's 24 different characters, with only Ken and Ryu sharing moves, and even then, Arika did a fantastic job in making both of them feeling very different. Arika's original characters are weird and diverse to say the least, so there's going to be at least a few that you'll like and a few that you'll hate.

Get used to Skullomania, whether you like it or not, he's sort of become Arika's mascot.

 There's not much else to say about Street Fighter EX2 Plus. It's a game worthy of carrying the Street Fighter name, although it's not as deep as Street Fighter III, heck, or even as deep as IV, but there's a good amount of tools for players to delve into. Characters have a good amount of basic moves, special and super moves, and Excel allows for fancy shenanigans, if you know what you're doing, or mashing to your heart's content if you don't. And while it lacks some of the gimmicks EX3 added, I think that EX2 offers a purer and more refined experience, everything flows better in this game, plus, Sakura at the cost of losing Hayato was a steep price to pay, if you ask me.
 8.0 out of 10