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43-406: The return of most of the "puzzle fighters" on the roster includes characters from Street Fighter Alpha 2 and Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge , Ibuki from Street Fighter III , and Tessa from Red Earth . It also features many character cameos from various Capcom games scattered in the background of the stages. In addition to the standard fighting, there are various gems (similar to

86-462: A chargeable move that cannot be blocked and upon impact drops gems in the opponent's possession for added humor. More gems will be dropped depending on how much the Special attack is charged. Holding Down, Forward or no direction at all when using the Special button will cause a specific gem color to drop from the enemy. Holding Back along with the Special button allows for a defense that is specific against

129-455: A few editorial sections like "The Way Games Ought To Be" (originally written every month by game designer Chris Crawford ) that would attempt to provide constructive criticism on standard practices in the video game industry . The magazine's construction and design was decidedly simple and clean, its back cover having no advertising on it initially, a departure from most other gaming magazines. The first several years of Next Generation had

172-420: A kick button and another with a punch button. The single-player mode, much like the original Street Fighter Alpha 2 , consists of eight matches against computer-controlled opponents, including a fixed final opponent whose identity depends on the player's selected character. Each character also has a secret "rival" whom they can face during the course of the single-player mode. After meeting certain requirements,

215-564: A level assigned to it, which determines how many "Mighty Combo" gauges it will need. Players can also perform Mega Crushes (which costs one stock of the Mighty Combo gauge and emptys the Gem gauges) that can also be done in midair, in which all of the collected gems shoot out of their character and damage the enemy, as well as Counter Crushes, where the character rolls across the screen while attacking. Each character has animated stock icons (or lives) on

258-490: A year. The brand was resurrected in 2005 by Future Publishing USA as an industry-led website, Next-Gen.biz. It carried much the same articles and editorial as the print magazine, and reprinted many articles from Edge , the UK-based sister magazine to Next-Gen. In July 2008, Next-Gen.biz was rebranded as Edge-Online.com. Next Generation ' s content did not focus on screenshots , walkthroughs , and cheat codes . Instead

301-519: Is a 1996 fighting game originally released for the CPS II arcade hardware by Capcom . The game is a remake of the previous year's Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams and features a number of improvements, such as new attacks, stages, endings, and gameplay features. It was ported to the PlayStation , Sega Saturn and Super Nintendo home consoles globally in 1996, and later a Windows port. It

344-522: Is a fine new addition for true hard-core gameplayers." In the Japanese arcade magazine Gamest , Street Fighter Zero 2 was voted Best Game of 1996 in the Tenth Annual Grand Prize . Zero 2 was also No. 1 in the category of "Best Fighting Game", No. 9 in "Best Graphics", No. 6 in "Best Direction", and No. 4 in "Best VGM (Video Game Music)". Dan Hibiki and Sakura Kasugano were depicted on

387-527: Is wearing her outfit from the Street Fighter II series, similarly to the "classic-style" version of her), Sagat, and M. Bison, all of whom were characters from Street Fighter II: Champion Edition . Custom Combos are now executed by pressing a punch and kick button of the same strength simultaneously and now require half ( 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 level) of the Super Combo gauge filled to perform them. Some of

430-406: Is wearing her outfit from the Street Fighter II series. According to Capcom senior planner Shinji Mikami , "When we were trying to get the balance of Alpha 2 right we only concentrated on Alpha 2. That's the one that's important. We don't really have to get the actual same damage as Alpha. In Alpha 2 some new characters were introduced, so in order to maintain the game balance we had to increase

473-519: The Street Fighter II series and do not have access to the Super Combo gauge. These three characters were selected by Capcom USA. Capcom also released an updated version of Zero 2 titled Street Fighter Zero 2 Alpha in Japan, Asia, and South America, which features all the additional characters from Alpha 2 , as well as other changes to the game. In addition to Zangief and Dhalsim, Zero 2 Alpha also features EX versions of Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li (where she

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516-586: The Alpha roster, Alpha 2 includes Dhalsim and Zangief , both from Street Fighter II , Gen , an assassin from the original Street Fighter , Rolento , a member of the Mad Gear gang who originally appeared in Final Fight , and newcomer Sakura , a Japanese schoolgirl who takes up street fighting after witnessing one of Ryu 's battles. The game also features a "classic-style" alternative version of Chun-Li where she

559-406: The Alpha 2 soundtrack. In Japan, Game Machine listed Street Fighter Zero 2 on their May 1, 1996 issue as being the most-successful arcade game of the month, outperforming titles such as Virtua Fighter 2 . Street Fighter Zero 2 went on to be the highest-grossing arcade game of 1996 in Japan. Game Machine also listed Street Fighter Zero 2 Alpha on their October 1, 1996 issue as being

602-614: The 3D fighting games then on the market. The Saturn version tied with the PlayStation version of Tomb Raider for Electronic Gaming Monthly ' s "Game of the Month". Though EGM never reviewed the PlayStation version of Alpha 2 , in an overview of fighting games released in 1996 Sushi-X commented, "Both the Saturn and PlayStation versions are great, but the Saturn version has a few advantages", citing frames of animation that were missing from

645-474: The PlayStation version and the Saturn-exclusive illustrations mode. The following year EGM named the Saturn version the 36th best console video game of all time, saying they chose the Saturn version specifically due to its superior graphics. The Saturn port was also a commercial success, selling over 400,000 units in Japan. The Super NES version was much less well-received, with reviews commenting that

688-739: The Punch button for a total of four hits. Flash Combos are usually just for fun, and will cause a character to change into various costumes during the sequence (except for Ryu, who uses accessories for two of his Flash/Costume Combos), and perform a powerful, and humorous attack in the end - this final hit is usually the hardest in the sequence to connect with. These costumes range from uniforms (such as traffic cops or schoolgirls), to swimsuits, and even cosplays of other Capcom characters. For example, Chun-Li may turn into her version of Jill from Resident Evil , while Felicia may turn into her version of Mega Man , or other Darkstalkers characters not playable in

731-607: The Super Combo gauge is on Lv. 1 or above, the player can initiate a Custom Combo pressing two punch buttons and a kick or one punch button and two kicks. The player can then perform any series of basic and special moves to create a Custom Combo until the Timer Gauge at the bottom of the screen runs out. The characters Guy and Gen can still perform Chain Combos, but only to a limited extent. Additionally, each character now has two Alpha Counters instead of just one: one that can be performed with

774-492: The UK's Edge magazine. Next Generation ran from January 1995 until January 2002. It was published by Jonathan Simpson-Bint and edited by Neil West. Other editors included Chris Charla, Tom Russo, and Blake Fischer. Next Generation initially covered the 32-bit consoles including 3DO , Atari Jaguar , and the then-still unreleased Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn . Unlike competitors GamePro and Electronic Gaming Monthly ,

817-586: The characters except Gen and Dan also have roles in the Canadian-American cartoon Street Fighter: The Animated Series . Street Fighter Alpha 2 was released under the title Street Fighter Zero 2 in Japan, Asia, and South America. The North American and European versions of Alpha 2 feature three additional characters who were not in the Zero 2 version: Evil Ryu and alternative versions of Dhalsim and Zangief known as EX versions, where they use their movesets from

860-421: The characters have gained new moves such as Ryu's Shakunetsu Hadouken and Dhalsim's Yoga Tempest. Zero 2 Alpha also features a survival mode, as well as a 2-on-1 Dramatic Battle mode similar to the hidden "Ryu and Ken vs. Bison mode" in the original Alpha . In this version, Evil Ryu has different dialogue exchanges and a different ending from his regular counterpart. The game also features an arranged version of

903-509: The content was more focused on game development from an artistic perspective. Interviews with people in the video game industry often featured questions about gaming in general rather than about the details of the latest game or game system they were working on. Next Generation was first published prior to the North American launch of the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation , and much of

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946-541: The cover of this issue, who were placed No. 1 and No. 3 respectively on the Top 50 Characters of 1996, with Ryu at No. 13, Zangief at No. 18 (sharing the spot with Mature from The King of Fighters '96 ), Guy at No. 26, Chun-Li at No. 32, Akuma at No. 37 (sharing the spot with two other characters), Rolento at No. 45 (sharing the spot with the Elf from Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara ) and Ken at No. 49 (sharing

989-597: The damage for the normal hits. In addition, this time for Alpha 2 we wanted to focus on the importance of the normal hits and not just the specials." Street Fighter Alpha 2 was first unveiled at the February 1996 AOU show in Tokyo . Both Manga Entertainment / A.P.P.P. and Group TAC developed OVA adaptations based on the game, titled Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation (2000) and Street Fighter Alpha: Generations (2005), which were both co-produced by Kaoru Mfaume . All of

1032-492: The early content was in anticipation of those consoles. Apart from the regular columns , the magazine did not use bylines . The editors explained that they felt the magazine's entire staff should share the credit or responsibility for each article and review, even those written by individuals. The review ranking system was based on a number of stars (1 through 5) that ranked games based on their merits overall compared to what games were already out there. Next Generation had

1075-468: The fighting game." and that the game "really delivers". PS Extreme gave it a score of 80%, stating that the game "should be real popular with those who enjoy fighting games, but aren't interested in memorizing long lists of moves and combos". In 2011, Complex ranked it as the 42nd best fighting game of all time. A pachinko game released by SANKYO , Fever Street Fighter II , which was released five years after Gem Fighter in Japan only, re-uses most of

1118-437: The game had loading times before the fights and graphics that were not as good as on the other ports, concluding, "Nonetheless, the gameplay was still on point, and the bells and whistles were pretty amazing for an SNES game. We loved it." Next Generation (magazine) Next Generation was a US video game magazine that was published by Imagine Media (now Future US ). It was affiliated to and shared content with

1161-769: The game. The commands are also very easy compared to the Street Fighter series, thanks to the Special button. By doing a motion (for example: qcf or hcf) and pressing the Special Button, this will make a fighter perform their Mighty Combo. The PlayStation and Sega Saturn versions of the game add in the Character Edit and Running Battle modes. In the WonderSwan port, due to the monochrome screen, Gems are distinguished by shape rather than color. There are also no items and no in-game dialogue. This port adds in "Point Battle", where

1204-489: The ice orb, while Ryu starts with the lightning orb). There are also treasure chests, and item carriers, which both contain items, and food that restores the player's health. There are two bars and three sub-bars in the interface . The two main bars are the life bar and the super bar, the first indicates the character ' s remaining health and the second their ability to perform "Mighty Combos". The Mighty Combo gauge itself can be filled up to 9 stocks. Each Mighty Combo has

1247-490: The interface. Throughout the battle, the stock icon emotions for a character will change from happy, to sad, to surprised (only happens if a character is K.O.ed, or has lost a round via time over). All fighters normally start with three stock icons at the beginning of a match. The three sub-bars at the bottom corners of the screen are the Gem gauges, which displays the level of three of the character ' s special moves. Each character has at least three special moves, as shown in

1290-542: The magazine was directed towards a different readership by focusing on the industry itself rather than individual games. The magazine was first published by GP Publications up until May 1995 when the publisher rebranded as Imagine Media . In September 1999, Next Generation was redesigned, and its cover name shortened NextGen . A year later, in September 2000, the magazine's width was increased from its standard 8 inches to 9 inches. This wider format lasted less than

1333-442: The ninth most-successful arcade game of the month. Next Generation reviewed the PlayStation version of the game, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "The game itself is distracting fun for two players (although utterly mindless as a single-player game) and again, amusing. Solid stuff, but only for the true cognoscenti." PSM Magazine gave the game a score of 3.1 / 2, describing it as "A unique and humorous approach to

Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix - Misplaced Pages Continue

1376-548: The ones seen in Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo ) that the player can collect during matches to power up their character (based on Red Earth ), as well as elemental orbs which can be thrown to the opponent in a variety of angles (visually based on elemental hits in Darkstalkers ), which may affect the opponent (turn into stone, freeze, etc.). Each character starts each match with one of these (Tessa always starts with

1419-656: The results are evaluated by points, and "Card Fighter", in which fights using cards of normal and special moves are included. In the Street Fighter Alpha Anthology version of the game, there is a hidden mode, called Random Survival, which has a system similar to Running Battle, where the player has to fight against all 12 characters with two health gauges, and a hidden battle mode, in which characters can be randomly selected from preset characters and played endlessly. In Japan, Game Machine listed Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix on their November 15, 1997 issue as being

1462-688: The rival will interrupt one of the player's matches and exchange dialogue with the player's character, and the player character will then fight the rival instead. With Akuma now a regular character, a more powerful version of the character dubbed "Shin Akuma" replaces him as a secret opponent. Unlike Super Turbo and the original Alpha , Shin Akuma challenges the player before the player's final opponent, rather than as an alternate final boss. The game brings back all thirteen characters from Street Fighter Alpha , with M. Bison , Akuma , and Dan now being immediately selectable as playable characters. In addition to

1505-571: The second most-successful arcade game of the month. A reviewer for Next Generation gave the arcade version 3 out of 5 stars, praising the large number of characters, smooth animation, innovative backgrounds, and "wonderful" character design. He deemed the custom combos "an unprecedented, new, and complex innovation in Street Fighter gameplay", though he found some points of their implementation to be odd. He concluded, "Although it's just another 2D fighter for those who aren't paying attention, this

1548-467: The sound quality is exceptionally poor, the animation is choppy, and the overambitious graphics cause the game to play at an agonizingly slow speed, compounded by bouts of slowdown when performing special moves. Shawn Smith and Dan Hsu of Electronic Gaming Monthly deemed it the worst Street Fighter game for the Super NES. Most critics were more forgiving, concluding that despite the port's flaws it

1591-440: The spot with two other characters). The Saturn and PlayStation ports both received praise for their faithfulness to their arcade counterpart, large selection of characters, and replacement of the easily exploited chain combo system from the original Street Fighter Alpha . Some critics, while acknowledging that the 2D fighting game genre was outdated, held Street Fighter Alpha 2 to be equal or even superior to any of

1634-444: The sprites for five of the Street Fighter series characters from this game. Two mobile-only spin-offs based on this game, Solitier Fighter and Poker Fighter were released for cellphones in 2003 in Japan. Also, on Capcom's Japanese mobile phone site "Capcom Party", several cellphone games using the SD characters in the style of this title were distributed . Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix

1677-402: The sub-bars, and each of these corresponds to a color. Some characters have one or two additional Special Moves that aren't affected by sub-bars. Each time an attack connects to an opponent, gems pop out of him or her, and which can then be taken to level up the corresponding special moves for additional effects. There are four buttons: Punch, Kick, Special, and Taunt. The Special button performs

1720-512: The unblockable Special attacks. Other kinds of attacks do no damage when blocked, and unlike most 2D fighting games, this includes special moves and Mighty Combos. Gem Fighter also features "Flash Combos", or "Costume Combos" (inspired by the Plasma Combo system derived from Star Gladiator ), where the player can perform a combo by pressing the Kick or Punch button after striking their opponent with

1763-479: Was a decent buy for gamers who did not own a Saturn or PlayStation. IGN ranked the game 96th on their "Top 100 SNES Games of All Time" saying the game pushed the limits of the SNES and so had to make some compromises, and concluded: "But it's hard to fault the effort, and that's why it deserves this rank and recognition." In 2018, Complex listed the game 71st in their "The Best Super Nintendo Games of All Time" saying

Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix - Misplaced Pages Continue

1806-576: Was followed by Street Fighter Alpha 3 in 1998. Street Fighter Alpha 2 retains most of the new features introduced in the original Street Fighter Alpha , such as the three-level Super Combo gauge, Alpha Counters, Air-Blocking, and Fall Breaking. The main new feature in the game is the inclusion of the Custom Combo system (Original Combo in Japan), which replaces the Chain Combos from the first Alpha . If

1849-469: Was ported to PlayStation 2 as a part of the Street Fighter Alpha -themed compilation title Street Fighter Alpha Anthology in 2006, and also as part of Capcom Fighting Collection to Nintendo Switch , PlayStation 4 , Windows , and Xbox One in 2022. Street Fighter Alpha 2 Street Fighter Alpha 2 , known as Street Fighter Zero 2 in Japan, Asia, South America, and Oceania,

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