Why do players prefer Alpha 2 over Alpha 3?

[R69NiX]

I notice a lot of people are disappointed about no online Alpha 2 and that they'd prefer that over Alpha 3. Why is that? What is it about that game that makes it better?

[Celestial Lexi]

complainers are louder than people who like something

[CreamFilled Chewy Hamster]

3 had its downsides but was better overall, but when ur used to 2 ur like mmmm no i'll stick with it.
Also I think you have to play 3 with this collection to play online

[Heisenberg]

Alpha 2 plays more like classic games. Aplha 3 plays like s h i t

[strike478]

Originally posted by Super Alexa:

complainers are louder than people who like something

[str00dle]

not a huge fan of v-ism combos or guard gauges. also alpha 2 has such a solid theme - the announcer, music, stages, character select. it's sicc.

[Dacaskos]

It's just a different game. They dropped the ball not offering Alpha 2 Online. It has a huge following. A3 and A2 are really different in terms of gameplay, there's no comparison. It's sad they didn't offer as well.
Champion Edition would've been nice too for a more classic SF2 experience.

[TonyTheTGR]

SFA2 and SFA3 are alike in sprites and name only. A2 is a completely different, refined beast that gave you the conviences of all three ISMs basically, without having to sacrifice super moves for CCs or vice versa. The CCs themselves are completely different - activation has an invincible window and the character auto-drifts forward and can't turn around or block once you've started it (it's committed, just like a Super Move is); it has a very different pacing and doesn't have some of the broken stuff in A3 (like Crouch Cancels).

A2 is definitely deserving of it's own following, and its' following is deserving of their own online experience. Unlike how SF2 series or SF3 series remains pretty common in their core elements, A2 and A3 are almost like night-and-day different.


IIRC, A2 has MUCH MORE arcade presence/exposure than A3 did, too; at least here in the west US.

[strike478]

Originally posted by Dacaskos:

It's just a different game. They dropped the ball not offering Alpha 2 Online. It has a huge following. A3 and A2 are really different in terms of gameplay, there's no comparison. It's sad they didn't offer as well.
Champion Edition would've been nice too for a more classic SF2 experience.

I think sooner or latr there will be something like hamaachi mod unless Capom wont stop it.

[ProsodiJ]

Different games. A2 is more popular in the West, A3 in the East with people like Daigo saying it's his fave SF game and is still played competitively in Japan till this day. People will argue till the death with one is "better" but both are great and both have broken crap in them.

I prefer A3 myself but Capcom really should have offered both.

[Moonzlash]

Alpha 2 is big in the US. But in Europe and Asia, It's Alpha 3. I prefer Alpha 3 all the way, When I hear people moan about alpha 3, its always about the "vism". Do you know how hard it is to do vism combos!?!? Not easy at all!!! Hit frames on A2 are soo easy, takes zero effort to link up combos. I think thats why most people moan, because they can't handle the fast pace of alpha 3.

[FranFran]

i preffer alpha 2 gold because music... maybe there is any option in the game to put the music you want? i would love to play with that dan old skool mix music background

[MidnightPhreaker]

For me personally (my opinion only, others have their own), I preferred Alpha 2's style.

The Gameplay - Alpha 3 gave the impression of “Different Styles” but mostly that just meant locking certain moves/specials/supers off from the other styles (certain traditional moves could only be used in certain ISMs). Alpha 2 was just here’s all the tools and options, now go for it. (Also Custom Combos were much more something you really had to commit to and had a lot of downsides)

The Music - One of THE best game soundtracks of all time . When Alpha 3 came out it was all techno-ish that basically sounded similar, I mean it’s not horrible but really dissapointing.

I mean C'mon (just to give 1 example);

Alpha 2 Akuma Theme - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhBTqXxdvyY
Alpha 3 Akuma Theme - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IulCTxGBN2g

(Also the Announcer is Alpha 2 is amazing, not that annoying & ridiculous odd catch phrase spewing idiot from A3)

The Arcade Mode - Alpha 3 returned to the predictable, battle XX opponents then fight Bison. Alpha 2 had sub bosses unique to the character and the final boss was also very specific to the character, with intro banter between the two fighters. Ie Ken fights Ryu as the last boss, Ryu fights Akuma/Shin Akuma, Guy’s sub boss is Rose and final boss is Gen.

And a lot of the stories continued from their Alpha 1 endings in Alpha 2, so those of us looking forward to story continuation well most got thrown away in Alpha 3 for a cheap “Now that I’ve defeated Bison, <insert short sentence>.

[?]

Alpha 2 feels meatier and has custom combos. 3 feels fluent and slick but imo not as fun.

[Scruffyy90]

2 had all of the ISMs available at all time for all characters. Gave you a viable alternative for offense and defense.

[Bigdaddyflavaflav]

alpha 2 is a scrub game with better single player arcade. it's all nostaliga, the whole game is mash low strong, alpha counter everything and broken easy valle cc combos