Hadn't played it in about 3, 4 years. Man, I remember how excited I was the day some guy off GameTZ.com agreed to sell his CIB copy for $43 on April 4, 2001 (the fact that I remember that off the top of my head is so sad, lol)... and how when it arrived I couldn't believe what an arcade-like experience it was. I remember fighting Chun-Li on her beautiful stage (the one where all the old timers are doing synchronized tai-chi or some shit in the background) on an early Saturday morning, thinking to myself,
"Where the hell is the coin slot?!"
Picking it up again was like ole times. The graphics are still as pretty as they ever were. The 4 Meg RAM does wonders. Although I still prefer Alpha 2 in terms of sheer gameplay, Zero 3's -ism's and juggles added a funky element to the game, not to mention the clusterfuck of characters (all the old neglected "World Warriors" and "New Challengers" plus brand-new fighters) made it a true must-own for any SF diehard. It was like Capcom took all their old characters, added in new ones, popped it all in a blender and said
"MOTHERFUCKING HERE."
It's not perfect, but it's definitely in my top 3 SF games list. Don't forget the awesome 2-on-1 Dramatic Mode either. I was able to beat Blanka/Dan, Honda/Sodom, Birdie/Bison, Cody/Guy, but Dhalsim/Rose owned me hard.
Still an impressive port after all these years. Made me glad I never sold my Saturn. Every once in a while, during a slow weekend, you rediscover a gem like this and you remember why you bought it in the first place. A good feeling for sure