Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha

Knuckle up and get ready for the latest PlayStation brawlfest from Capcom. Street Fighter EX Plus adds a cool wl polygonal 3D look to the classic game while keeping the fun, basic gameplay that's made the series one of the fighting genre's all-time best.

Over 20 characters ranging from old-schoolers Ken and Ryu/to new fighters Garuda and Skullomania flail their fists in Arcade, Versus, Practice, Survival, Time Attack, and Team Battle modes. Gameplay kicks some serious bootey with easily .performed combos and throws, as well as classic Street Fighter fireballs, dragon punches, and hurricane kicks. EX's graphics are blocky at times, and you can't move in and out of the background like in Soul Blade, but the colorful super moves and the viciousness of each attack will have you and your friends in a rowdy rumble-rage for hours.

Street Fighter EX Plus might not be the best Street Fighter ever, but it's high enough on the list to become a worldwide fight-night favorite. Next time you have a beef with one of your friends, don't take it to a mediator--take it to the streets.

Graphics

EX Plus adds polygonal characters to the Street Fighter series, and although blocky, they add a sense of realism to the violent collisions of combat.

Sound

The slaps and smacks of hand-to-hand fighting are well represented, but the sometimes mellow music doesn't lit the game's intensity.

Control

Since it's easy to control the different characters, even the greenest fighter will be duking it out like a pro after only a couple of rounds. A greater variation of moves among the characters would have helped EX earn a perfect score-there are too many Ken and Ryu clones.

Fun Factor

Cool combos, new characters, and EX-tremely fun two-player battles make Street Fighter EX a PlayStation fantasy come true for fighting-game fanatics.

Street Fighter takes on a whole new look in its latest entry into the 32-bit arena. A total of 23 fighters (which includes 12 hidden fighters) grace the screen--with veterans like Ken and Ryu and newcomers like Cracker Jack and Guarda--providing formidable challenges. While Plus looks like a 3D game, it plays more like a 2D game because there's no way to circle around your opponent. Although Plus is a sharplooking game with its eye-catching fireballs and very fluid character animation, the flat, uninteresting backgrounds don't fare too well. The biggest Plus of this Street Fighter is that the controls are perfect. The special moves and high-hitting combos are simple to execute and should keep fighting fans happy for quite some time.

Finally the most popular fighting game series in the history of video games enters the third dimension. Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha is an enhanced version of the arcade title Street Fighter EX Plus. This PlayStation exclusive will have the most number of features and characters yet.

Any Street Fighter aficionado can pick up SFEX-A Ot instantly. It plays and feels like any of the classics. Gameplay may feel a bit more sluggish than the 2-D games, but this is due to the extra frames of animation each group of polygonal fighters gets treated to. The result is a smooth-moving game that can stand up to the graphical might of the earlier Virtua Fighter games.

The EX series introduces several new characters to the SF universe, even more than Street Fighter III did. The newbies include pugilists C. Jack and Darun, the acrobatic Skullomania and the rest of the supporting cast of Kairi. Garuda. Pullum.

Allen. Blair. Hokuto and D. Dark. PlayStation owners also get treated to several extra characters not in the arcade version, including Dhalsim. Sakura and Cycloid Beta and Cycloid Gamma.

Most of the other new fighters have new-looking, never-before-seen moves, but the joypad executions to perform them remain the classic, if not outdated. SF-style. But some of the older moves we've grown used to have been slightly modified. For example, classic Chun-Li's Spinning Bird Kick is now done with a fireball motion (instead of a charge down then up), and each spin of Ken's and Ryu's Hurricane Kick must be performed separately. This may sound like bad news at first, but those of us who have played to death the million previous incarnations of Street Fighter II may welcome the little changes.

Although the arcade fighter saw limited distribution, it was still popular with fans of the long-running Street Fighter series. The name recognition and classic gameplay style may instantly elevate Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha above its Tekken and Dynasty Warrior competition. Keep an eye out for this hot polygonal fighter.

Gamer's EDGE

Every Street Fighter character now has an unlockable attack. They take up one section of your super combo meter (one-third of a full meter) and are excused by pressing corresponding Punch and Kick buttons at the same time (e.g. Light Punch + Light Kick). If this attack lands, you will automatically dizzy your opponent. This can be used to set up or used in conjunction with any number of manual or super combos.