There are many version of Capcom's Classic Alpha 3. SFA3 Arcade, SFA 3 PS1, the Rare SFA 3 Saturn said by some to be the best, The Dreamcast SFA, PSP SFA 3 and Alpha Anthology SFA3
Which flavor of Alpha is the best? Well I have my opinion on the matter.

Street Fighter Alpha 3 to many was what Street Fighter 3 should have been. It expanded on much of what made Street Fighter so Great to begin with. Newbie characters like Rose, and later R Mika were embrached with open arms and Sakura because just as iconic as the Original 16.

The Alpha series didn't suffer SF IIits until 3 it was teased with the Slightly enhanced Alpha 2 gold (dash in Japan) which was only released on consoles in the US. Alpha 3 has about 3 varients, The Arcade Version which had the most limited roster of them all. A ton of characters were added in the home ports (sound famular?) and 2 variants on the home front.

If It was not for the LONG and I mean LONG load times. I'd consider the Playstation version of Alpha 3 to be the best. According to Wiki this version uses Polygons as hit boxes so that the animation could be mostly left intact. The Real star of the Playstation version however is the world tour mode. Not only do you unlock skills here but also characters. Again Like I siad if it wasn't for the long ass load times this would be my choice.

The Saturn Version I never played for 2 reasons. one Because it requires a saturn. and 2 because it requires a Saturn. Which I don't have. Many purists Swear this beast which requires the Saturn's 4mb expansion swear this is the best version. If what I hear is true it's basicaly the Dreamcast game minus the Saikyo Dojo and Online score share functions. Besides that I can't comment much on on since I never played it. I want to though becuase I've played through the Dreamcast version with a Saturn pad.

In my opinion the most complete purest form of SFA3 is the Dreamcast version. World tour is there Dramtic mode (which I THINK if I remember right is only unlockable on the PS1 version) You got your Saikyo Dojo mode. your 3 isms plus Classic, Saikyo, Mazi and one other mode I can't recall on top of your isms (A feature also present in other version if I recall right) I don't like world tour in the Dreamcast as much The Map Screen is nowhere near as colorful as it is on the PS1 version and you don't have as much freedom the progression is very linear where it's more open on the PS1. But the fact there're NO load times a complete roster and importing your broken World Tour Fighters make this the tops for Alpha 3.

But we're not done.

The Dreamcast version made it to Japanese Arcades. Soon you could take Alpha 3 on the road care of Crawfish Interactive

For a Cart Based game the Gameboy Advance version is impressive it retains the speed of the arcade and the Graphics are amazingly close. However half the stages are gone the music is that shitty GBA Audio. The Amusing annoucer is gone as well as half the modes.
It does however Add Yun, Eagle and Maki to the Mix. Doesn't matter though The Dpad on the GBA SP sucks as does the DS pad as far as fighters go and You'll need either an arcade stick or Hori pad for it to be playable on the Gamecube.


Inspite of owning a PSP I never picked up Alpha 3 max. I have an attach able D-pad for My PSP But the button layout of the PSP does not lend it self well to Street Fighter. This is essentially the GBA version with everything put back in. I can't say much about it since I don't own it. It's a good Technical feat for the PSP but for purists this isn't the way to go.

The Last Home version of Alpha 3 comes in a driect no frills port of Alpha 3 arcade and Upper. No extra modes just dramatic mode and arcade mode. You don't even get to continue at Bison if he beats you senseless (and HE WILL he's the cheapest boss Capcom has) So it's bad ending and Game over if you lose. They had plenty of DVD room to add the home ports plus galleries and what on Alpha anthology but Alas twas not to be. It was PS2 exclusive as well so no online (and it remains a mystery why after the sucess of the SF Anniversary collection on XBOX an XBOX version was not released) It's a good pick to play with friends but the Solo experience on Anthology is meh.

So my pick for best version of Alpha 3 is a no brainer. Go with the Dreamcast. Sound advice. The Dreamcast is one of the greatest fighting game systems ever. Only now is the PS2 catching up to it.