Capcom looks at the Alpha titles as they continue Street Fighter retrospective video series

Can anyone stop this fighting machine?

Next week sees the release of Capcom’s Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, a compilation of classic titles that set the bar for the fighting game genre. Capcom have the released the next video in their retrospective series, looking at the memorable titles that make up the franchise’ history. Narrated by FGC star James Chen, this new video looks at the Street Fighter: Alpha/Zero games.

The three Alpha titles launched in the mid-’90s, taking the series lore back to its roots and presenting events that take place before 1991’s Street Fighter II. Alpha reinvented the wheel with a much more technical approach to every aspect of digital punching. They are the first titles in the Street Fighter series to fully explore the potential for extended combos, wake-up games and meter-management.

Alpha’s varied roster gave us younger iterations characters we’d come to know and love, such as Ryu, Ken and Chun-Li, while also bringing back forgotten characters of games past, like Birdie and Gen. Even characters from 1989’s Final Fight got in on the action. Adding to these recognisable faces were cool new stars such as Sakura, Karin and, my personal favourite Street Fighter of all-time, Rose.

Today, Alpha 3 is considered by some fans to be the best Street Fighter title, with its great soundtrack, wide cast of characters, detailed stages and slick anime visuals. My heart will always belong to Alpha 2.

Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection launches on PS4, Xbox One, PC and Switch on May 29.