Well, in that case, I can\'t argue too much because Alpha 2 truly was great.  I spent hours upon hours playing that game.  It\'s what Capcom Vs SNK is most like, except for the addition of that roll which i thought was brilliant.  A poor man\'s parry essentially.
About the parry and your opinion of it liking it to the Alpha counter, I disagree.  Mess up an Alpha counter, you\'ll probably still be blocking whereas if you mess up a parry, you\'re going to eat whatever they just threw at you.  The only downside to an alpha counter is lacking the super meter to do one.  I\'d rather do a damaging super then a single trip, dragon punch, or fireball.