Street Fighter EX

Street Fighter EX is a 3D head-to-head fighting game originally released as a coin-operated arcade game for the Sony ZN hardware in . It is a spin-off of the Street Fighter series co-produced by Capcom with Arika and was the first game in the series to feature 3D graphics. It was followed by an enhanced arcade version titled Street Fighter EX Plus, as well as a PlayStation-exclusive home version titled Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha, both released in .

Gameplay

The Street Fighter EX fighting system uses fighting systems of the Street Fighter II and Street Fighter Alpha series. In many ways, EX still plays like a 2D fighting game, using special moves and super combos familiar or similar to the previous games in the series. Like in Alpha and Darkstalkers, the super combo gauge, used to do Super Combos, was divided into three levels. The game introduces various new features to enhance the player's combat choices.

Aside from throwing the opponent or wearing away their life by using special moves to drain it, another way to fight blocking is the "Guard Break". The Guard Break is a move that, if it connects with the blocking opponent, breaks the block and makes the opponent dizzy. The Guard Break can be used at any time with one level of the super combo gauge. In EX3, The Guard Break is changed into the Surprise Blow, which still stuns enemies on contact and doesn’t need a level of the super combo gauge to work. However, unlike the previous Guard Break move, the move is unguardable and stuns only if it's used on a crouching opponent.

A Special Move can be done after a Regular Move or another Special Move, this is called a "Canceling". In the process of doing a Super Combo, another Super Combo can be performed. This is called a "Super Canceling" and can be done with Super Combos. A Momentary Combo can activate a Super Combo in the middle of another Super Combo, by just pressing the punch or kick button.

Characters

Default characters

• Ryu (voiced by Takashi Ishizuka)
• Ken (v.b. Tetsuya Iwanaga)
• Chun-Li (v.b. Yuko Miyamura)
• Zangief (v.b. Wataru Takagi)
• Guile (v.b. Tessho Genda)
• Hokuto (v.b. Yuri Amano)
• D. Dark (v.b. Wataru Takagi)
• Pullum (v.b. Chika Sakamoto)
• C. Jack (v.b. Banjo Ginga)
• Skullomania (v.b. Issei Futamata)

Hidden characters

• Akuma (Gouki in Japan, v.b. Tomomichi Nishimura)
• Blair (v.b. Hikari Tachibana)
• Allen (v.b. Osamu Hosoi)
• Kairi (v.b. Kaneto Shiozawa)
• Darun (v.b. Takashi Nagasako)

Bosses

• Garuda (v.b. Osamu Hosoi)
• Bison (Vega in Japan, v.b. Tomomichi Nishimura)

Versions

Street Fighter EX Plus

A few months after the original version of Street Fighter EX was distributed to the arcades, an upgraded version titled Street Fighter EX Plus was released to the arcades on March . In this version, all the hidden time-released characters are available by default, as well as Garuda and Bison, who were exclusively computer-controlled characters in the original game. This version also adds four new hidden characters, Evil Ryu from Street Fighter Alpha 2, an alternate version of Hokuto named "Bloody Hokuto" and two cyborgs named Cycloid Beta and Cycloid Gamma.

Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha

A PlayStation version of the game, titled Street Fighter EX Plus α was released on July 1997. All the characters from the arcade version of EX Plus are featured, along with two characters exclusive to this version: Dhalsim from Street Fighter II and Sakura from Street Fighter Alpha 2.

The PlayStation version also includes several game modes in addition to the standard Arcade mode: a dedicated two-player "Versus" mode, a "Team Battle" mode, a "Survival" mode, a "Practice" mode, "Time Attack" and a "Watch" mode where the player gets to witness a match between two computer controlled characters. The PlayStation version also includes CG animated endings for all the characters.

Regional differences

The Japanese versions of the games contains text-only epilogues which are displayed on-screen after the player defeats Bison in the single-player mode. The PlayStation version features new epilogues (different from the ones featured in the arcade versions) in addition to the FMV endings.

Sequels

A sequel to Street Fighter EX was released for the arcades titled Street Fighter EX2. It was also followed by an upgraded version titled Street Fighter EX2 Plus, which was released for the arcades and ported to the PlayStation. A third console game in the series, Street Fighter EX3, was released exclusively for the PlayStation 2.

External links

• Shoryuken.com (the online center of competitive Street Fighter)
• Arika - the developers of the Street Fighter EX series.