After playing Alpha 3 for the PS I decided to buy the prequel to the prequel for my Saturn, which I was trying to gather games for. Well I was a little disapointed with the game overall. While it did have some bright spots, there was that feeling of "I wish there was more". The game is not bad but in lingers in the "average" department.
First there are plenty of new characters in the game. I think around 7 or 8 total. Ryu, Ken, Chun-li, Bison and Akuma, the last 2 are hidden, are the only mainstays. The moves are basically the same as the old SF games so veterans should feel at home here. The Saturn controller works well and the graphics are pretty good as well. Also , unlike other fighters, the HARD setting is actually CHALLENGING! Shock! I never thought that would happen but I was wrong.
On the other hand there are plenty of drawbacks that hinder the overall game. First of all the new characters are only okay. I use the old ones more than the newer cast. If there were more of the new faces around then it would have been much better. Even a better selection with the same amount of characters, would improve this game. An example would be that dude with the sai weapons. He is okay but would have been better in a game with more characters to use. Case in point Alpha 3. However if they were to eliminate him and make someone better and less boring to use then that would have been good as well. There are only 2 modes of play as well which are Arcade and Versus. This game is not one that you can play with friends for over an hour simply because there are only a limited amount of fighters. While 13 is a respectable #, you have to remember that 4 or 5 of them will not be used. This makes it easy for everyone to get bored and pretty quick. The arcade mode occupied me for a few minuites, but since I beat the game I have had no desire to play through anymore. Also what is up with the FREAKIN SOUND!!!!!! All of my Capcom games seem to go silent every few seconds during a match. It gets annoying and fast.
Unless you are a SF nut then I suggest staying away from this game unless you find it for less than $5 because this game is shallow and might wind up in storage collecting dust if you are not into fighting games that much.
