How much of a huge 2D fighter can they fit on this little cart?
There's quite a wealth of information that can be told about Street Fighter Alpha 3; it being one of the most prominent 2D fighters of all time. Originally a CPS2 arcade game, it was ported to about every system that could handle it. Hopefully, the reputation of this game precedes it. The only question is, can a GBA cartridge handle it? Well, yeah. Pretty much, but you'll have to keep reading.
The storyline is long and possibly confusing since each and every character has his or her own introduction and motivations. This nifty website includes just about every plotline factoid, in case you want to do a little (a lot) of reading up.
In terms of gameplay, SFA3 on the GBA is exactly like the original. Every single move is there, as well as all the frames of animation -- or at least it's extremely close from what I can tell. Each "ism" and Mazi, Saikyo, etc, mode is there. Confused?
- A-ism: Perform level one, two, or three super moves. This mode doesn't really have any drawbacks.
- V-ism: Perform custom combos when activated, instead of super moves. Very powerful in the hands of an expert.
- X-ism: Enables one powerful super, but disables air-blocking. Designed to be similar to Super SF2 Turbo. (The 'X' comes from the Japanese title, Super SF2 X)
Take those three "isms" and multiply that by 36 characters (plus two more boss versions of characters) and that's a LOT of gameplay. The sprites are shrunken down a bit, but all of the animation seems to be there. And, hey, who's to complain about three new (borrowed, more like) characters in addition to the complete SFA3 lineup? There are even dramatic battle and survival modes. Pretty nice. Five of those characters, extra game modes, and some extra cheater-like abilities need to be unlocked, though, either by spending a lot of time finishing game modes, or just putting in a couple of codes.
Six buttons are pretty essential for SFA3, so how did they work around that for the GBA version? L, R, A and B work as the regular quick and fierce attacks. To do a medium punch, hold L and hit B, or hold R and hit A to do a medium kick. It's configurable, though, so that any command can be assigned to that imaginary button. It might be a little uncomfortable, but it works. There may have been a better way to do it, though, like toggling B, A, and R from punches to kicks with the L button, like how SF2 worked on a 3-button Genesis controller. Or, maybe, make the four buttons the quick and medium attacks, and forward+medium makes a fierce attack, like in the first Capcom vs SNK. If only...
The overall presentation doesn't entirely stand up to the console versions. They seem to have cut most of the different backgrounds and voices, and left only a couple of generic character endings. Vega sounds more like Fei Long, and I'm pretty sure I heard Akuma yammering some of Sagat's voice samples. There isn't even any conversation with the mid-boss characters. Personally, I was hoping I could get around to seeing the endings for all fifty-thousand characters on the GBA, but alas, I was disappointed. Only a few of the original songs have been left in the game, and they don't sound that great, either. Oh, snap.
All the essentials of one of the best 2D fighters ever made remains intact on the GBA, but all of the deleted endings, backgrounds, and music are sorely missed. If those things don't matter to you, it's worth getting. It still doesn't quite stand up to the console versions, though, what with their six buttons and miraculous amounts of media on these newfangled optical discus devices. It still has full character animations (for the resolution, anyway), perfectly intact gameplay, and three new characters. Weigh these pros and cons a bit before making a buying decision.