• The Perfect Version of the Arcade Blockbuster
• 3 Fighting Styles for Every Character
• New World Tour Mode and Other Enhancements

Discussion
When Alpha 3 first hit arcades, I was a pretty jaded gamer. There were a lot of crap-tastic sequels hitting all over the place and I just wanted something good to show up at the arcade. I still remember walking into such a place, and seeing the Alpha 3 logo and running to it like it were a long lost girlfriend. I played two rounds and felt more depressed than anything. It felt like a carbon copy of 2 with worse backgrounds (I had only seen Akuma’s static cave and one other), with nothing really new. I wandered off to go play some SNK games.

Months later, while working for a family owned game store that carried imports, a funny thing happened. Rumors were circulating of an enhanced version for the homes that had more characters, more modes, PocketStation support (*sigh*), and some crazy thing called a World Tour Mode. Thankfully the Japanese version played in English (more or less) and wouldn’t you know it, Capcom not only made me a believer again, but Alpha 3 now stands as one of the PlayStation’s Hallmark achievements.

You are given the entire Alpha squad plus more characters that were originally missing like E.Honda. The “Ism” that gives you your super moves is now separated into 3 separate Arts – A, V, and X. Each represents a different class – Alpha gives you the two super moves and 3 levels of the bar. X References Super Turbo, where you get 1 Meter, but it’s got a hell of a punch behind it. Finally, Variant is the Custom Combo from Alpha 2. This splitting of the Arts helped remove some insane spamming that was taking place in the Alpha 2 days. I still recall the kid that did the 88 Hit with Chun-Li and didn’t even blink an eye...

Anyway, the crème-de-le-crème in the whole pudding cup, and the one that hooked me for life was World Tour Mode. It’s basically Street Fighter RPG. You choose a character, and then the game throws you around the world to different locations fighting other characters with specific goals. These goals can be simple (Kill ’em!) or absolutely insane (“Beat them using only throws in 20 seconds!). What makes it even more fun is that Capcom figured out a few RAM tricks to get the PlayStation hardware to accept more characters on screen. Several missions you have to beat up to 4 characters in a row, at the same time.

Even better, once you have met certain levels, you can actually adjust categories on your fighter to best suit your need. There are also power-ups you can acquire like auto-blocking which can be turned on and off at your leisure. Once you have the character you want, you can actually import the RPG version into the standard game. What’s that, a stronger Blanka with Anti-Dizzy? Yes, please, thanks!

With good loading times, more options than fireballs, plenty of characters, and an amazing amount of content, Street Fighter Alpha 3 is one of the absolute must-have PlayStation games of the entire library, if not all time.
 

• Variant below, though the game originally released in the Fighters Edge cover art style.
   
• Worth 20 points in the Fighters Edge Program.
   
• The game has ties to the anime based Street Fighter: The Motion Picture. Bison is more aligned with his celluloid counterpart, and Juli and Juni are based off of Cammy being Bison's personal slave. Their costumes and fight styles are based off of Cammy, now with leggings, long sleeves and a dual tag team option.
   
• In Fei Long's stage, the two old men in the background are interactive just like Samurai Shodown's referee. They will raise the player's flag whenever they hit the opponent and vice versa.
   
• If you focus only on the original 8 characters in Street Fighter 2, it's taken almost 7 years for all 8 to get a shot at being a 'main' character on the US cover of the game. 
  • Ryu, Blanka, Chun-Li from Super NES SF2 Cover
  • Guile from the Genesis Champion Edition Cover
  • E.Honda and an almost Invisible Dhalsim on Super NES SF2 Turbo.
  • Zangief on the cover of Street Fighter Alpha 3
  • Ken finally makes it on the Fighters Edge version of Alpha 1
     
• One of the illustrations used in production for the game show Birdie holding his hand up to the viewer; one of his rings is that of the Transformers' Decepticon Insignia.
   
• Many members of the Mad Gear and other Final Fight characters show up in two stages.
   
• Anyone catch the humor of Dan's stage? Often the SNK punching bag in-joke of the game, his background is a children's playground, showing how childish he is to the other Street Fighter characters.
   
• There are over 20 hidden entrance openings depending on which characters you select.
   
• Although the PocketStation support was locked out of the US version, you can unlock and play it via a GameShark code. You just won't be able to load the PocketStation data back into the PSX game.
   
• Also available on the Dreamcast, PSP, Game Boy Advance, and import Saturn. The Import Saturn version uses the Ram Cartridge to help with loading times and animation frames.
   
• Personal Trivia: When I was working on the page redesign for Game Rave, that is, going to the above banner-style header rather than the three separate scans, Alpha 3 was the game I used to figure out the layout style. I love that Ryu vs. M. Bison image.