Street Fighter Alpha Anthology [PS2]

The best game in the whole set, though, has to be Street Fighter Alpha 3. The ultimate iteration of the series, it had every single character from the previous Alpha titles as well as a number of exclusive fighters that hadn't been used before. The "Ism" selector was a great addition too, and it allowed users to customize their fighting style to fit the classic Alpha mentality, the old Street Fighter II series, or a customized combo system for something entirely new. Character-wide air throws, longer juggles, and a reconfigured method of grabbing deepened the gameplay quite a bit as well, and the character balance is my favorite of the bunch. For those of you who never picked this one up for your Dreamcast or don't have access to the arcade version, don't miss your chance at playing Alpha 3 -- it's awesome.

Pocket Fighter, while fun, isn't anywhere near the league of the other four titles and is the last game available in the collection. A "cutesy" interpretation of classic Street Fighter and Dark Stalkers fighters, it offers a barebones but humorous take on some of the most popular arcade characters of the 90s. It can be genuinely entertaining in small doses, but can't offer the depth of its bigger, more established counterparts.

Perhaps the most compelling piece to the Street Fighter Alpha Anthology puzzle, however, is one of its secrets. Granted, it's one of the worst-kept secrets in existence, but that doesn't change the fact that it isn't immediately accessible from the start. Of course, I'm speaking about the hidden Hyper Street Fighter Alpha Mode -- a special inclusion that gives users the ability to mix and match versions of characters from different games for one diverse (and huge) battle royal. There are even secret "Isms" that further change the way the game is played by introducing styles from Darkstalkers, Street Fighter II Champion Edition, Marvel, and SF3 Third Strike. That's pretty awesome!

And now, the bad news: there's more to creating a compilation than simply putting a bunch of games on it and calling it a day. The Activision Anthology and original Mega Man Collection had it right when they incorporated huge amounts of content from advertising, commercials, and design documents to create a more complete experience. Hell, Capcom has already proven that it knows what it takes for an in-depth retro set with its popular "Classics Collections" for PSP and PS2. That's why it's so disappointing to see that none of the cool historical stuff (or artwork and other similar goodies) was included here. If I wanted to be especially nit-picky then I could also mention the obviously-aged audio and visuals, but I'm not going to. These are old games, get over it.

Closing Comments
Though it's unfortunate that Capcom hasn't shown much production value by omitting retrospective features and other historical content, Street Fighter Alpha Anthology still plays great despite its age and the number of times we've seen these games before. Street Fighter Alpha 3 is still one of the best fighters of the last 10 years and the other titles in the set are no slouch either. I'm also a big fan of all the extra options and customizable bonuses that Capcom has thrown in for uber-fans and the harder default difficulty brings a new challenge after all these years. This is really, really good stuff... it's just really, really old too.

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