Street Fighter Alpha Anthology

The games in the Street Fighter Alpha Anthology represent the golden age of arcade fighting games. These token gulping games were fast, fun, and remarkabley well designed. From insane chains of combos, killer moves, and balanced gameplay that bordered on the sublime, Street Fighter Alpha(Zero) was a beautiful series of arcade games. While the games are great, the anthology itself is weak. No flashy menu, no behind the scenes photos or videos, just games. Luckily for Capcom they are good games.The Street Fighter Alpha games remind me of why I always got my tail handed to me in the arcades. True fighting games require zen like calm, mastery of complex moves, and a keen sense of timing. I knew the basic moves of most of the characters, but that was never enough. To the casual observer, Street Fighter was a button-mashing mess, but really it's more like chess. Chess at hundred miles per-hour.

The Street Fighter Alpha Anthology features five great arcade games: Street Fighter Alpha, Street Fighter Alpha 2, Street Fighter Alpha 3 (special "arranged" version unlockable), and Super Gem Fighter MiniMix (known as Pocket Fighter on U.S. consoles). It also includes PSOne and SEGA Saturn fave Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold, essentially a remix of the arcade version of Alpha 2. While each game has its strengths and history, causal gamers will skip right to Alpha 3, the most balanced and frantic game of the bunch. It's one of the crown gems in the pantheon of Street Fighter.

Now, we all have to wonder what Capcom lackey got stuck with assembling this collection. From dull packaging, dry menus, NO bonus content... this is not what one expects from such a high profile franchise like Street Fighter. How about some ads? How about a trailer for the Street Fighter Alpha movie? How about some history? Most annoying, how about a stinkin' move list? It's been a while for some of us. Yes, they are downloadable, but really, I'm buying 10+ year old games, throw a guy a bone.

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