The Street Fighter Alpha (in Japan and other parts of Asia, Street Fighter Zero) series of fighting games is part of the Street Fighter series developed by Capcom. The games serve as a prequel to Street Fighter II, and explains the events which happen before that game.

Games

There are three games in the series:

• Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams (SFA)
• Street Fighter Alpha 2 (SFA2)
• Street Fighter Alpha 3 (SFA3)

The names of the game are commonly abbreviated to SFA, plus the series number, as can be seen above.

There are also many versions of the game with slight modifications, as well as ports to home consoles.

The series has been ported to the Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn, & the Sega Dreamcast. Street Fighter Alpha 2 was ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, making it the last Street Fighter game for that console.

Development

After Super Street Fighter II Turbo, the main producers claim to have been at a loss as to what to do next, despite large demand for Street Fighter III. Inspired perhaps by the Street Fighter II anime, Alpha was born. The game was drawn in the sprite style that was used for Darkstalkers, a similar fighting game. Also borrowed from Darkstalkers was the concept of a super bar with multiple stocks (Darkstalkers had allowed for three while Super Turbo allowed only for one), as well as (although eventually dropped) the Hunter Chain.

One particular secret feature of Alpha supports the claim that Alpha was inspired by the anime was the dramatic battle, in which two characters (Ryu and Ken) would fight a third (M. Bison) at the same time, similar to the ending of the anime. This feature was a fairly popular part of Alpha, and at least one version of each game would have a hidden option to fight in dramatic battles.

Series Progression

Each game in the Alpha series can be seen to be updating the storyline in the previous games. This combined with Capcom's decision to change some of the storyline after the games have been released has made the Street Fighter II story confusing.

Each game in the series introduced more characters from Street Fighter II. Characters were also introduced from other games such as Final Fight and the original Street Fighter.

Gameplay

The fighting system of Street Fighter Alpha is based on those of previous Street Fighter games, with a different super combo gauge from that of Super Turbo. The super combo gauge, similar to Darkstalkers, was divided into three "levels". The amount of super combo gauge that was required to perform a super combo depended on the number of buttons pressed, and later on, the strength of the button.

The one major addition to the Alpha system was the introduction of custom combos or original combos in Alpha 2. A custom combo would allow a character to chain any move into any other move, while the super meter gradually decreased. Although the ability to perform super combos were unaffected, characters were kept in forward motion, so the character was left vulnerable should the opponent end up on the other side of the character. In Alpha 3, and in spinoff games where custom combos are used, characters were not kept in forward motion, but the ability to perform super combos were restricted or eliminated altogether.

The gameplay and characters used in Alpha were the basis of many Street Fighter spinoffs, and some characters considered to be central characters in the plot were first introduced in the Alpha series.

Street Fighter Alpha

The original SFA was released in 1995 as the prequel to Street Fighter II. Fans were dissapointed that the game did not feature nearly as fluid animation as Darkstalkers. In addition it was felt by many fans that the game was rushed to release, with a low amount of characters and low quality backgrounds.

Street Fighter Alpha 2

This was released in 1996 as an update to the original SFA. The story behind this game is a retcon of those found in Alpha, and canonically, all but one ending (Charlie's) occurred. Alpha 2 brought back every character from Alpha, including the hidden characters Dan Hibiki, Akuma, and M. Bison. Alpha 2 also brought back Gen, Zangief, and Dhalsim from previous Street Fighter games (the latter two allegedly due to popular demand), as well as Rolento Schugerg from the Final Fight series of games. Sakura Kasugano made her first appearance in this game.

Street Fighter Alpha 3

This game was released in 1998, with updated graphics and characters compared to Alpha 2. Alpha 3 reintroduced many characters from previous Street Fighter II games. The most notable absence (and indeed, the only one out of the eight "world warriors") was Guile, although he was available for use in certain home versions. Home versions would also reintroduce three of the four "new challengers" to Alpha.

External links

• Links on the Killer List of Video Games (KLOV) (http://www.klov.com/)
  • Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams (http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=9806&letter=S)
  • Street Fighter Alpha 2 (http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=9804&letter=S)
  • Street Fighter Alpha 3 (http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=9805&letter=S)