Street Fighter II will always have a place in my heart. How can it not? That's the game that, in 1991, started the fighting genre as we know it, and, fifteen years down the road, it still remains a great time, whether you're pounding away at someone in the SNES version or digging your fists into the PlayStation 2 edition of Street Fighter Anniversary Collection. But there's also a fond place in my heart for the spin-off series that was Street Fighter Alpha. Maybe it was the way it signified the super combos into an art form, or maybe it was the hand-drawn style in general and how it was revamped into more of an anime-style masterpiece. Who knows, maybe it was the way I was spoiled by the Dramatic Battle option at the time and recreating the final fight from the Street Fighter II animated movie. Bottom line is, the original Street Fighter Alpha got me hooked all over again, just as the original SFII did, and I'm glad that Capcom finally gave it its due in a collection all its own.

Street Fighter Alpha Anthology is made up of five Capcom brawling games that focus on the Alpha era, ranging back from 1995's release of the original Alpha: Warriors' Dreams and culimating with the final Alpha (thus far), Street Fighter Alpha 3 from 1998. In the middle of that are the two variations of Street Fighter Alpha 2, original and Gold, as well as a fun little fighting game called Super Gem Fighter MiniMix, also known to some of you hardcore players as Pocket Fighter (that's the name it was released under when the game arrived for the PlayStation years ago). All of these games have been emulated to sheer perfection, but what else do you expect from Capcom? The last time I checked, the only emulation they really came up short on is the conversion of Final Fight they packed into the lame Final Fight Streetwise. Fortunately, a better version of that exists in Capcom Classics Collection, so I'll forgive 'em.

The art style continues to be one of the big highlights for the Alpha games, as the characters remain drawn out beautifully, and their details manage to shine through even on the highest definition of televisions. The super moves alone are worth a view, as the players break away into multiple blue shadows for a super attack that's just incredible to watch, whether it's Ken's unpredictable triple punch that launches an opponent twenty feet in the air, or Zangief's firing off of a backbreaker that literally looks as if it could snap a spine in half upon the final impact. The backdrops look beautiful, even if some don't animate as smoothly as others, and give the atmospheric look of a world tournament, from the Great Wall of China to a village with bikers that don't seem to notice two people are pounding the crap out of each other. Go figure.

If anything works here, however, it's the game controls. It's best if you have one of those third-party Street Fighter dedicated controllers at hand, so you can actually get into the controls just as easily as if you were playing on an arcade cabinet. If all you have is a typical PS2 pad, however, no worries, as the gameplay still works wonders. Like in previous releases, you can map your favorite buttons wherever and then get to fighting through a series of modes. The controls work fine and the ability to set off super moves with ease is a nice touch, although some of the later movements in games like Street Fighter Alpha 3 take a little practice, due to the numerous styles offered in that game.

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