15. Street Fighter EX (1996)

2008’s Street Fighter IV was the first time the mainline series swapped sprites for polygons, but Arika’s Street Fighter EX spin-offs started exploring the third dimension way back in 1996. While they definitely have an off-brand air, the EX games also have a lot to recommend them, and the first chapter got the subseries off to a pleasing start.

That’s less surprising when you consider that Arika was founded by Street Fighter II co-designer Akira Nishitani. His Street Fighter EX combined familiar Street Fighter II characters with a new cast of Arika-made oddballs, like deluded superhero Skullomania, spoiled Arabian princess Pullum Purna, and psychotic ex-military freak Doctrine Dark. The slightly bland Arika designs were an acquired taste, but ultimately brought a lot of new variety to the fisticuffs.

As did the fact that everything was depicted in humble, PlayStation-era 3D. While the Street Fighter EX games looked goofy at times—their 3D prowess was a step below Tekken’s—today I think the chunky polygons and especially the colorful 2D backgrounds of the first two entries look pretty gorgeous on the intended CRT-type display. And the soundtrack! It was impeccable, up there with the best in the entire series

Despite the polygonal presentation, EX’s action mostly stuck to a 2D plane. One big change was the ability to cancel special moves into supers, which instantly led to a lot of interesting combo possibilities. Fittingly, the PlayStation version, Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha, was the first fighting game with a combo trials mode. Everyone got a guard-break blow too, which consumed meter.

Street Fighter EX was a spin-off done right. It’s now somewhat obsoleted by its more expansive sequels, but still fun to mess with, and a good start to Arika’s 3D subseries. — Alexandra Hall

Revisions:
Street Fighter EX (1996)
Street Fighter EX Plus (1997)
Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha (1997)