Even though the concept of a Street Fighter rehash sounds very old, Street Fighter Alpha 2 proves itself to be among the best fighting games on the market, be it in the 2-D or 3-D arena. Players jaded by performing the same moves with the same characters for years, take note: Capcom managed to put it all together in Street Fighter Alpha 2, creating a fantastic fighting package that mirrors the arcade version.
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Alpha 2 contains the same eclectic mix of old-school Street Fighter characters, a few Final Fight characters, and a couple of totally new creations - including the old Russian brawler Zangief; the mystical Yoga master Dhalsim; Street Fighter 1 alumnus Gen; grenade-tossing Final Fighter Rolento; and Ryu's biggest fan, Sakura. Toss in the three hidden characters from the first Alpha (Akuma, Dan, and Bison), and you've got a fine selection.
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The graphics in Alpha 2 are the best the Street Fighter series has ever seen. They approach cartoon-like clarity, right down to facial expressions. The sound is right on, and the music is festooned with arranged versions of classic Street Fighter tunes.
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The gameplay has been tweaked from Alpha 1. The designers removed the simple-to-do chain combos and replaced them with custom combos, which allow your fighter to go absolutely insane for a short period of time (and dish out heavy-handed pain with lightning fast attacks). Super combos remain the same as the previous Alpha, with three different levels for each attack.
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Though Alpha 2 may be the same as the rest of the Street Fighters, its high gloss graphics, sound, and gameplay really make this a near-perfect fighting game. 3-D fighters may be the future of the genre, but Alpha 2 proves that 2-D fighting can at times be better than its polygonal brethren.
<p> Gamespot.com