"Chun Lee kick to the dick: Perfect!"
--from rap album I produced back in the 90's. 
Eulogy to an old lover: Street Fighter Alpha 3
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 On 10/14/2013 at 09:39 AM by BrokenH See More From This User » |
Ah, Street Fighter Alpha 3. There was a blog of mine where I described how Final Fantasy 6 may have saved my life. By contrast, SF Alpha 3 was a bad weather friend. It never prevented me from trying stupid shit such as over-dosing on cough syrup and lithium pills or cutting on my arm with a katana soaked in jasmine oil but it DID make hell more hospitable! For all the agony I was going through, SF Alpha 3 sure was fun to play. Whether I was literally starving in college, trying to off myself using the dumbest methods available, or paying rent at a boarding house run by zealot fundamentalists, SF Alpha 3 was there for me.
If FF 6 is that reputable girlfriend everyone likes, Street Fighter Alpha 3 is more of the metaphorical bad gurl you fool around with behind the façade of social normalcy. I can remember countless hours spent drawing Cammy’s ass thong. SF Alpha 3 kind of warped my perspective on what is “decent” when it comes to concept art. Along with Dark-Stalkers 3 : Vampire Savior, capcom taught me everything about how NOT to portray a female character! (At least based on today’s hyper sensitive socio-political climate.)
But those were different times then. No one debated how Juli and Juni were being objectified by M. Bison as some sort of twisted male power fantasy. No one was creating a petition to make Cammy wear pants. Sakura wasn’t getting harassed over her school-girl costume and red panties. Rainbow Mika proudly flew her freak flag whilst using her voluptuous butt bounce attack. It’s difficult to say exactly “why” this was. My generation did believe in equality yet it seemed like we were more subdued and quiet about it. I guess there was the golden rule “anything goes” in videogames!
Ingrid makes an appearance in Alpha 3 Max. I figured if Yuri and Alice from Shadowhearts ever got around to having a daughter,Ingrid is obiviously the end result. lol.
But SF Alpha 3 wasn’t just about the buxom beauties. It was lightning fast and seemed to focus more on offense than defense. Kicks and punches effortlessly chained together in a blur of shadow animations. Charged fireballs could hit an opponent multiple times. Challengers such as Rolento and Rose were good at setting traps and even re-directing attacks back at their opponents. Then there were the sprites. The sprites were “beautiful”.
Looking "fab",Chun!
For me, Chun Li looked her best in the Alpha games. She was buff but not so much it went into ridiculous territory akin to her 3rd Strike design. By contrast, M Bison suddenly went from being thin to totally ripped. Not to mention, I preferred how he kept his cape on while fighting this time. For me these touches made Bison a more dramatic and imposing super villain.
This is chaos,beautiful chaos!
There was a ridiculous plethora of modes. In “Dramatic battles” you could fight two opponents at once and it was also the first instance you could level up a character in “world tour mode” or have allies teaming up with you against a solo enemy. These touches may not seem revolutionary now but back in the day they were exciting inclusions when it came to 2D fighters.
Street fighter’s story telling has never been Shakespeare but I thought the Alpha series in general kicked it up a notch in the narrative department. Every character had a rival and their own custom ending. Not to mention, there were “bad endings” if you lost to Bison!
"Bison,you JERK!"
Revisiting Street Fighter Alpha 3 has been a bumpy ride. For the record, it’s AWESOME on the psp! My goodness, I cannot believe how well it holds up. I’m loving it just as much now as when I played it when I was much younger. Yet just as SF alpha 3 used to drop in on my darkest hour, it’s kind of the same now. Most of you know about my “triumph” finally getting my rpg done. You also know how someone found a bug and I had to pretty much fix it, re upload my game, and include a save as an apology for those of you who fell prey to the dreaded “rope glitch”. We’re talking creepy déjà vu vibes here!
On RMN (Rpgmaker network) It’s as if I’ve been caught making out with SF Alpha 3 in my closet. I will not lie. Much of my approach when it comes to illustrating female characters comes from capcom fighting games in general. If you’re not up to date on that whole drama, I’m pretty much being slammed as misogynistic and worse for some of my artwork. When people wonder why I seem like such a jerk around politically correct high horse feminist types they should look at the responses to my RMN gaming page! Need a really say more?
(Fret not. I’m not trying to get any of you involved but I do want to make my readers aware “being the nice guy” or “concerned activist” are code words used for being internet bullies sometimes. As I’ve already told James, it’s weird how I always considered myself a liberal pacifist yet here I am coming into serious conflict with other liberals. It kinda hurts and makes me wonder if any movement can truly be “sincere” and devoid of corruption. Humans are so easy to manipulate and lead astray. Why do we suck so much? Guess I‘ll be an independent from now on.)
So, SF Alpha 3 has gotten me into a bit of trouble, hasn’t she? I know I should let her down gently to ease up the heat on me and get on the right side of the tracks again. I could still be one of those respectful “white knights” if I tried diligently to clean up my act. But damn it, I love “her”. I know she may look inappropriately dressed. I know she may show off her thong a little too much. But she is a very big part of who I am!
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