Street Fighter EX3
Surprisingly enough, this game definitely beats out Ridge Racer
 V for the top spot on the Japanese game launch list. Street 
Fighter EX3 was the most fun we’ve had on a console in a while,
 much more than RRV or Eternal Ring. For those of us who were
 more familiar with the Street Fighter series, the familiar 
character lineup was definitely a plus, although the rest of us
 warmed up to them quickly too.

It was quite obvious that the developers put a lot of time into 
the moves and graphics of this game. Not only do they bring back
 a lot of the older moves, but there are some new ones thrown
 into the mix to make things just that much more interesting.The combos
 aren’t too
 hard to figure out once you have played it
 for a few hours. The graphics are really nice, and everything is 
just right, all the way down to the facial expressions. The 
backdrops are also very cool and very detailed, a significant 
improvement over DC’s Soul Calibur.

The game is generally centered around a tag-team type of 
gameplay, much like Tekken Tag Tournament. In 
the 1-player game, you start out in a 1 vs. 3 battle, and each 
time you win you have the option to add one of the losers to 
your team. Eventually you can get up to a 4-player team, which
 will help you beat the end-of-game boss. The game can get sort
 of repetitive, though, since you have to play through four or
 five similar fights every time you want to get a secret player.
 The secret players can be unlocked by defeating the game (on 
any difficulty level) with a different character each time.

The game also includes some sort of character-editing or
 equipment-buying section, although we had trouble deciphering 
the Japanese here. We didn’t try it out, and it doesn’t seem to 
be a very important part of the game, but it will definitely be
 there in the American release, so keep your eyes open.

Fortunately, the multiplayer makes up for the monotony of the
 single player games. The fun-o-meter was at a dangerously high
 level while we were playing this game, making it a great one 
for parties and such. Since you can play the multiplayer 
literally forever (unless your friend beats you every time, at 
which point you use the controller and CD as instruments of 
torture), this game is very long-lasting. Although the new 
Tekken and Dead or Alive games will be hitting the shelves in 
just over a week, this game should still have some appeal thanks
 to its lowered price and really fun gameplay.