Street Fighter Alpha

Say Street Fighter Alpha and most players picture colorful, stylized bouts with an expanded roster of fighters. That this branch of the series made it all the way to the Game Boy Color is a small surprise in itself, and at the same time proof of just how popular the Street Fighter brand was in its day. Capcom tried to cram its iconic fighter into a handheld.

The Alpha series, known in Japan as Street Fighter Zero, is a prelude to the story events between the first and second games and delivers brisker, more energetic bouts. The foundation, however, stays true to the roots of the genre. You pick a fighter, face an opponent in one-on-one combat and try to overpower them with a combination of ordinary blows and special moves.

The handheld treatment on the Game Boy Color naturally runs into the limits of the hardware. The smaller screen, limited number of buttons and more modest performance force developers to adapt both the pacing and the scope of what the fighters can do. Even so, it is admirable that the game managed to preserve the legibility of the characters and the basic feel of a fighter on such a small device at all.

Street Fighter Alpha as a whole is prized for its artistic style and a deeper combat system that added new mechanics and characters to the series. With this sub-series Capcom appealed to players craving something between the classic Street Fighter II and the later entries, thereby expanding the world of its iconic brawlers.

For Game Boy Color owners this version was a chance to take a slice of the famous fighter along with them. From today's perspective it is mainly an interesting example of how Capcom stretched its most famous brand across every conceivable platform, including the handheld.

Why play it: A pocket-sized take on the stylish fighter Street Fighter Alpha, alluring for series fans craving one-on-one bouts on the go.