Best version of Street Fighter Alpha 3

[Class316]

Street Fighter Alpha 3 is regarding by many to be one of the best fighting games. Which would you consider the best version of it? 
CPS2 arcade version may be the most authentic but has the least amount of characters compared to other versions. 

The home ports have more characters than the arcade. Of those the Saturn version is considered by many to be the best port of the CPS2 release. Even better than the Dreamcast version believe it or not. Nicer colors and slightly more frames of animation (it was actually released AFTER the dreamcast version). SFA3 Upper on arcade is basically the dreamcast version on arcade. Only major drawback of the Saturn version is it's Japanese only. 

The only other home port that is worth mentioning is SFA3 Max for PSP. It is in English and it has MORE characters than any other version. But due to the fact that it's designed for a small screen, this makes the Saturn one more visually appealing on a big screen. 

Before anyone mentions the PS2 collection, It is basically emulation. So SFA3 there is basically the emulated CPS2 version (meaning least amount of characters), and SFA3 Upper is basically the emulated Naomi arcade version (and therefore has the faults of that one and less characters than the PSP version).
Here are screenshots of both the Saturn and PSP versions.

 

[Tanooki]

What no love for GBA?

[Class316]

2 hours ago, Tanooki said:

What no love for GBA?

meh.

[NinjaWarrior]

Go for the Saturn Version

[+Cafeman]

Saturn version w/4Meg RAM cart and saturn controller > DC version which is also very nice. 

 

I've been playing it on PS4 Capcom SF 30th collection though and its awesome. 

[Class316]

On 4/15/2021 at 8:14 PM, NinjaWarrior said:

Go for the Saturn Version

 

That's the one I play. It's a good balance. Closer to CPS2 than PSP, and more characters than the CPS2. 

 

On a side note, SF3 Third Strike is actually pretty damn good. The 2D animation of SF3 on CPS3 is so incredible and fluid, actually better than most anything since. What really prevented SF3 from becoming popular is the lack of characters everyone knew and loved. I play the CPS3 version on Final Burn Neo. Best version of that game. I'd go so far to say that SFA3 for Saturn and SF3 Third Strike for CPS3 are the best fighting games that exist. 

 

On 4/15/2021 at 10:05 PM, Cafeman said:

Saturn version w/4Meg RAM cart and saturn controller > DC version which is also very nice. 

 

I've been playing it on PS4 Capcom SF 30th collection though and its awesome. 

 

I play the Saturn version on Mednafe Multi System Emu and my PS3 controller. 

 

While that SF 30th is great, it doesn't beat the versions that can be had for free via emulation. 

Edited May 25, 2021 by Class316

[Bloodreign]

Sorry to bump this topic, but saw the OP mention that the Anthology version of Alpha 3 Upper on here is the Naomi version. I've heard different, I have heard it is basically built off of the CPSII version of Alpha 3 with the extra characters and stages added in. Someone mentioned about it being a CPSII version on Shmups forum ages ago, but can no longer find the post, or remember what topic it is buried in over there.

 

The best port might be the Saturn version, but the best overall is the PS2 Anthology as it has cleaner sound than the Saturn port, and is pretty much an emulated CPS II version for the PS2. No it doesn't have World Tour, or Reverse Dramatic Battle, but when you just want the arcade version at your fingertips, and you have a few friends who play the game, you go with the PS2 version. Not only do you get Alpha 3/3 Upper, but you get the rest of the Alpha series, Pocket Fighter, and an exclusive Hyper Alpha game on 1 disc, can't beat that.

Edited September 21, 2022 by Bloodreign