So, one of the arcade boards I managed to get my grubby hands on was Street Fighter Zero 3 (Japanese), thanks to my then-international connection Mike Jones. Unfortunately, the game somehow suicided itself despite having a changed battery, so I was off to reprogramming the chips and fixing the game. Thinking about it, I wondered which version of the game I should resurrect it to Alpha 3, or Zero 3.
Debating to myself, I figured I’d write the first five things that come to mind to help guide my decision.
Alpha 3: USA, USA, USA! Good ol’ RED WHITE AND BLUE! WE GOT OSAMA! WE INVENTED THE BIG MAC! WHAT RECESSION?
or…
Zero 3: uh… bukkake? Sushi is good. Anime is whatever. And who the fuck came up with Bukkake anyways? I wonder what happens when you Google “bukkake”. (WARNING: DO NOT GOOGLE BUKKAKE unless you want to see some AWESOME shit.) See, I even hyperlinked it for you. I’m fucking nice.
Needless to say, it was a waste of time to discuss with myself, so I consulted a so-called expert.
Roommate: yo
Roommate: for alpha 3/zero 3, what’s the preferred version? Aren’t they different
John Choi: doesn’t matter
John Choi: there is minor difference but nothing major
Roommate: what’s the difference
Roommate: i know alpha 2 and zero 2 are hella different (alpha 2 = zero 2 alpha)
John Choi: boxer’s alpha counter is better in alpha
John Choi: you can teleport through opponent easier on one side
Roommate: oh, i thought there was like an actual system difference
John Choi: Lism is slightly different
John Choi: no
John Choi: zero 2 and alpha 2 isn’t that different either in system
John Choi: alpha has e. ryu
John Choi: that is main thing
John Choi: like japan ST and US ST
John Choi: are slightly different
John Choi: but none of the versions were so different that players prefer one over another
Well, there you have it. I guess they’re not that different at all – just some minor differences. Why do I believe him? Well, with 90% of the shit he says, I typically don’t believe it, but according to Kurropi.com, placed top 5 in like over 10 tournaments, winning most of them. Cocky bastard.
BONUS ROUND: John also added some interesting information about CVS2 in our conversation.
John Choi: cvs2 also
John Choi: jpn cvs2 you can charge super meter after round ends
John Choi: US version you can’t
Roommate: oh wtf
Roommate: that’s crazy
John Choi: so after you ko a char
John Choi: you see peeps doing like low strong 3 times
John Choi: u can’t do special moves
Roommate: ohhh
John Choi: during ko sequence
John Choi: so u do like 3 low strongs
John Choi: best thing u can do
Roommate: hahahahahah
John Choi: and u get like
John Choi: a sliver of meter
Roommate: it helps
John Choi: if u watch evo dvds
John Choi: u see peeps do it all the time
John Choi: anywayz
John Choi: all the SFs
John Choi: very slight difference
John Choi: from jpn to US
….
Roommate: did you watch gravity [c-c-c-c-c-c-c-combo breaker!!!!! that’s what you call a gdlk subject change]
John Choi: no
So there you have it. Not too much is different in each international version, or at least people didn’t give enough of a shit to care back then. Also if you punch the air randomly in the japanese version of cvs2 after a round is over, you can get a pube-hair’s worth of meter extra.
Video at the top: SFA3- (B5 DVD) Chikyuu (Sodom) vs John Choi (Sakura) – uploaded by TSDCS
