Show me a gamer who hasn't spent ample amount of time with any Street Fighter game, and I'll show you a weak, spineless excuse of a gamer. Sure there are more SF games than there are Ralph Nader supporters, but some of those games were excellent. SFEX3 is another 3D outing for Ken and Ryu and the gang, and while the graphics aren't quite as defined or polished as the aforementioned TTT or DOA2, you still won't have any problem figuring out who Blanka or Vega is. Considering this game is on the PS2, you will probably love seeing your favorites displayed as crisp as they are on this next gen powerhouse.
When you start playing in Original Mode, you'll find yourself in a predicament that you've never experienced in a SF game before. You against 3 other opponents. Finish off all three and you'll get to add one to your team. Now you can tag that opponent during the subsequent battles and even the score a little bit. Defeat the next opponents and you'll be able to add another member to your little team and so on and so forth. If you make it to the end and take on M. Bison, you'll get to the credits. Now in most games, the credits are to be skipped quickly so that you can get back to the start menu. Not so in SFEX3. While the credits role, you'll get to take on a slew of generic bad guys, while the game keeps score and how many you take out in the time it takes for the credits to end. Cool idea. Of course, the game also features tag battles, 4 player battles etc. You know the routine.
Graphically the game looks very good, but as mentioned not quite on par with TTT or DOA2. It's not really in the players themselves, although they do tend to look a little more cartoony and less realistic than Paul Pheonix or Tina Armstrong. The backgrounds are lush and there are multiple levels of scrolling which I found to be distracting at times, but they too, lack the detail of other games in the genre.
Controlling your players can be a little frustrating only because some of their moves from the 2D games, didn't get the 3D treatment. The other control problems are compounded by the fact that there has been so many different SF games, all featuring different abilities that it's hard to know if this game supports this or that move or not. Considering Capcom manuals rarely give you the real move list, you'll probably be resorting to an Internet guide or Strategy book for all of the moves available.
A cool feature is the Edit Character feature where you start off with a character carte blanche. You'll have to earn his special moves by performing various tasks while fighting. Pull these off and you'll earn experience points which in turn allow you to buy moves for your special guy. Turn that zero into a hero!
Musically the game is decent but the sound effects take center stage here. From the swell of the fireball to the thuds and oomphs of kicks and punches to the decent voice work, SFEX3 sounds as good as it looks.
If you own a PS2 and are a SF fan, I'm sure you'll get a kick out of SFEX3. It tends to look and play a little rushed in spots, and probably another month in tweaking the gameplay, graphics and moves, would have put this one over the top. But it's decent nonetheless. Rent first, buy later.
