Im wondering which Alpha game is taken more seriously/competitively usually? I know generally the last iteration is taken competitively in games, but with the Alpha series… Ive heard some really conflicting things. I know 1 isnt that highly regarded but If I were going to train in one, which one would I generally find more competition in? 2 or 3?
Thanks!
I usually see an okay amount of A3 players on Fightcade, and pretty much no one ever playing A2.
There’s a quick handy guide for what games have the most online competition on Fightcade, which is probably the most viable of online platforms for the majority of old games.
Alpha 2 has a big facebook page I run, just look it up with the title. A lot of good players you can set up to play.
To answer your question it’s preference. A3 has more BS in it with walk/crouch cancel infinites, wonky hitboxes, V-ism being over powered, otgs, get grabbed out of guard, fireballs sucked, etc.
A2 has bullshit such as not being able to block low post cc activation if you wasn’t blocking already, alpha counters were very strong but could be countered, customs doing 35-55% with a lvl 1 depending on character, Chun Li was stupid strong.
You will find more players on fightcade playing, but few are usually good. Usually if someone is on for A2 they are decent/good. Both games are fun if you are into it’s style. I don’t play A3 so I can go into much specifics outside what I said (I watched a lot of A3 tournaments).
I will say the tier difference in A3 and isms is huge and some characters are trash, while in A2 the tier differences are small. Even Birdie who is doo doo tier can be used and do well in A2. In comparison in A3 if you use A or X ism you can lose more than half you life taken and lose a chunk of guard with corner guard crush V-isms on block. Very very very few characters are good in A or X-ism and you as a player have to be really good. Foosties are very dominate in A2.
We don’t talk about Alpha 1.
Play both and just see which you like. Everyone I know who loves A3 or A2 have a ton of fun, and that’s what counts. Neither is competitive anymore. A2 is easier to pick up though, you could literally learn both. A3 takes more technique because various v-ism combos you have to learn.
I played lots of A3 in the arcades. I was entered into the famous daigo versus Valle tournament at nickel city in San Jose. I hated A2 at the time and regarded it as a crap game. I played a good amount of A1 in the arcades as well.
That was in the arcade era though. Once those games times has passed and I had lost what little skill in them I had, when revisiting them I greatly preferred A2 and still to this day consider it superior to A3 even though A3 was where the bulk of my experience lay.
I just find A2 to be more focused upon fundamentals than A3 personally.
I forgot A3 had unblockables too, V-Akuma godlike.
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the time i go play in the arcade and work there he have little tournament in the 1990 , player like a lot more a2 and dont really play a3
player just play a2 and after jump on Street Fighter III , 
this is really a long time ago , i`m really missing the good old arcade era and playing street fighter all the weekend it friend and go eating some good chinese food in 3.00am
A2 is mainly footsies. You bait ccs a lot also, and counter alpha counters.
A2 is in many ways the true successor to ST. People who play ST can hop on and play A2 no problem. If you play ST and then hop into A3, it’s like, the most god awful experience ever. Fucking isms up the ass and a full v-ism makes it so you basically can’t attack the other if they know what they’re doing. You press a button, v-ism activated, invincible frames and wham, combos up the ass. If you block? Guard crush, combos up the ass. Have fun watching someone infinite you in the corner doing 1 damage until you’re dead or timer runs out.
A2 feels a lot more solid to me, you can play it like Street Fighter and succeed even if you aren’t all that great at the particulars of the game. As much as I hate SF4, I’d play it any day over A3 because IMO A3 is trash. It can be fun if it’s you and a buddy who have no idea how to abuse v-ism, or if you stick to a-ism or x-ism only.
A2 has awesome music, memorable tracks for each character. Gold suped it up a bit and made the quality even better. Every character has a personal end game boss to fight and there are personal dialogues as well.
A3 has great graphics and sweet animation. It’s a beautiful game and has a great roster as well. That’s about the only thing I like about it over A2, except the protraits are better in A2 but that’s an art design decision and not really graphics.
A new “updated” version of A3 with characters added from SF4/SF3 using the same graphics as Xrd, with a properly balanced Vsm mode WOULD be the shit and everyone would play it because it has Karin. Don’t even front.
Better yet make that shit CVS3 and add in my dude Galford up in this ish.
Id quit all other fighting games for CVS3
CvS3 would probably be mediocre or worse like SF4. People forget CvS2 was pretty damn balanced cause roll cancels, which was a accidental glitch. If anything Capcom needs to port the Arcade or Dreamcast version to new consoles.
As for Alpha 2, customs are easy to get used to and you can option select alpha counters with supers and dragon punches in they abuse it. They biggest cons about A2 are:
Chun Li - 50-55% lvl 1 custom, great alpha counters, great supers, godly fireball, great specials, has a uppercut, every button ground or air is like third strike Chun b+fp. Very frustrating to fight against and she can not be crossed up when crouching by 99% of the cast in neutral. Even Rose’s godly alpha counter doesn’t work on Chun Li correctly.
Rolento’s lvl 3 cc - Time pressing j.lk from a scouter jump net you 100% damage.
Rose’s Alpha counter - Can not be option selected, you have to commit to a punish which leaves you vulnerable if she doesn’t AC. She get’s free combos after it, and three standard combos after 3 alpha counter builds 1 bar.
Valle CC- You can’t block post cc activation if you were not blocking already, this sets up activate, low hit, in footsies. You get used to it eventually though and it gets baited hard a lot of times, but initially it’s really gay.
Those are the biggest things that come to mind. Some characters have 100% combos but are not practical such as Gen. The best characters make good use of CC and super with great pokes.
God I love me some A2 chun
I played both, Alpha 3 only intrigues me for some of its character but I prefer Alpha 2 mechanics and meta.
Just my preference, but I prefer A3 over A2. I love the fast rushdown, pressure-heavy matches that make my blood pressure rise. And trying to learn V-ism combos and actually managing to pull them off in a real match is sooo satisfying. The whole flow of the match is just exciting and on edge. A2 is a little too slow and defensive for me to take seriously. A2 is definitely fun (hell all of the alpha games are fun), but I prefer A3 for competitive play.
Plus, its the only game that has my favorite character lol.
I prefer Alpha 3 for its bigger variety in terms of cast and game modes(world tour particularly). I also like its presentation and look better. As for the gameplay, I have not played either competitively, but I guess I find 3 more fun and more fast paced. The 3-isms system has some flaws, though. And, as someone had stated already, Capcom vs. SNK 2 did those better.
I probably should also note that I didn’t play the Alpha series until earlier this year. So maybe 1 and 2 showing their age more graphically wise unconsciously influences my preference? 3 just looks and feels edgier and more unique whilst Alpha 1 and 2 still feel a tad like Street Fighter 2 for me. Not to mention the jump from 2 to 3 was bigger than the jump from 1 to 2.
As for the OSTs… I like some of the remixed ones in 1 and 2(Chun-Li and Ken, per example), but others were a step-down from their SF2 versions imo(Sagat and M. Bison). That being said, I don’t really like some of the Alpha 3 songs and find its OST to be quite hit and miss and overall not as good as Alpha 1 and 2. However, it had great themes such as Dan’s, Cody’s, Rose’s, Akuma’s and Cammy’s. The character select theme, the training mode and the world tour map also had some kick ass music.
A2 has good rushdown too. A3 is played very defensively also once you opponent has 50% V-ism.
Eh… very defensively is a bit overboard considering the fact that 50% barely gives you enough invin. to attack through a move. 50% isnt much of a scare to me or my opponents to be playing defensively. Even with V-ism stocked, matches are still tense because you have to remind yourself not to jump or you’ll get juggled on. So when trying to find openings and get in a few hits to make your opponent crack, footsies play a pretty important role because both players dont want to waste their Vism needlessly.
From the matches I’ve seen, I say A2 looks too defensive for my tastes, but since no one goes in the a2 room on fightcade, I cant really experience it lol.
You can always go on the A2 facebook, plenty of guys there. I am on all the time, but I’m deployed so no Fightcade for me til August-ish time frame.
To the op, play them both a bit…find out which you like more. Then train in that game.