Street Fighter III: Third Strike Review

By Simon Parkin Published 23 August, 2011

Knock you out.

Version tested: Xbox 360

It's all a matter of timing. When Capcom pushed Third Strike into arcades in 1999, every member of its development team believed that this was the final, flawless evolution of Street Fighter.

It was, as the name suggests, the third iteration of Street Fighter III. Many disgruntled consumers consider Capcom's tradition of releasing three revisions to each of its prizefighters little more than a money-grabbing exercise. Perhaps, for the shareholders, this is true. But for the design team on the frontline it's a stepladder towards perfection, each iteration amplifying the successes of the preceding game and diminishing its shortfalls. And they know that three strikes and you're out. Better make sure the final swing counts.

It's all a matter of timing. While Third Strike was a game that refined all that had gone before, thanks to the state of the 2D fighting genre at the turn of the millennium, few were really paying attention. The previous decade had seen Capcom flood the market with Street Fighter-themed product in attempt after attempt to, at best, recapture Street Fighter II's heyday, or at worst, work the series' icons like wizened salesmen. By 1999 ennui had set in, not only amongst the general gaming public, but also within the core fighting fan base. Indeed, following Third Strike's release, it would be nearly a decade before we saw another mainline entry to the series.

So while Third Strike's development team believed they had perfected the 2D fighter with this game, what should have landed as a sucker-punch provided just a glancing blow. Critics awarded the game lacklustre praise. Sales of the subsequent Dreamcast release were modest.

Nevertheless, it was a blow with repercussions. Each year more and more players registered their interest to compete at Third Strike at fighting game tournaments around the globe. There was something at the heart of this game that was building a community and then sustaining it. While the game looked like orthodox Street Fighter - albeit with a more diverse cast - some twist in the DNA set it apart in competitive play. But what?

1

When playing online, the game displays whether you are playing with open or closed NAT as well as displaying your ping rate.

It's all a matter of timing. Street Fighter III's evolutionary change to the Street Fighter template is disarmingly simple. Press forward on the joystick at the exact moment of any opponent's hit and your character will bat it away with the back of their hand. The parry is different to a block in that, when blocking, your character sustains chip damage. By contrast, there is no penalty to a successful parry.

The temptation must have been there for to include moves which could not be parried. But the team stuck to the vision. Every attack from every character, including the multi hit 'Super Arts', can be parried by a player with expert timing. It is theoretically possible to parry every single hit in a game of Third Strike. The designers hard-coded invincibility into the game, albeit only for somebody with the reaction times of a god. Somebody like Daigo Umehara.

Despite its simplicity, the parry mechanic needed a defining Rocky-esque moment to show the world what it really meant to the fighting game genre. Japan's Umehara provided just that in the Evolution 2004 loser's bracket final, where he executed a full parry of Chun Li's Houyokusen Super Art, batting away 14 consecutive parry strikes, followed up by a Super Art of his own to take the round. The crowd went wild. Google bought YouTube. Third Strike suddenly made sense to the world.

2

The car-smashing interstitial minigame is joined by another interlude in which you must parry basketballs thrown at your character.

But there's a reason more people watched the internet clip of Daigo's super parry than bought copies of Third Strike across its three console releases combined. For all the wonder of the parry, it's a move that requires astonishing reaction times, well beyond the physical means of most players. So Third Strike became a spectator sport, something for mortals to gawp at.

But it's all a matter of timing. And with the success of Street Fighter IV and the clutch of other fighting titles tethered to its rocketing bandwagon, the fighting game is back in fashion, with a swollen audience full of wannabe contenders. So what better time to re-introduce Third Strike to the world in a bid to land the punch that, in 1999, failed to make much of an impact.

There's no denying that this is a reverent port from Iron Galaxy. The developer may not have redrawn the sprites and background in high definition as per Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD, but on almost every other count, the digitally distributed version of the game delivers. Two half-decent visual filters smooth out the sprites for those with HD televisions, while a remixed soundtrack from Simon Viklund provides a boisterous backing to the all new GGPO-built online lobbies (for up to eight players, with spectator modes). Meanwhile, a host of unlockable digital artwork and a huge array of training tools and challenge modes round out what is a substantial package.

Fighting games sit awkwardly with the current fad for RPG-ification, as all of the 'levelling' is done in the player's muscle memory rather than in the avatar. But Iron Galaxy's ingenious solution to providing long-term investment goals for players is to reward pretty much every input a player makes.

So, in the widescreen gutter next to the 4:3 play area, there's a machine-gun volley of stat read-outs, recording, for example, how many fireballs you've let fly from your palms (583 at time of writing), how many rounds you've won with a special move, and even how many opponents you defeated with a taunt from Dudley. Each stat recorded has set thresholds which, when passed, earn you currency which can be used to unlock new music, artwork and backgrounds. It's a clever system that inspires repeat play in a way that's rarely seen in fighting games.

Smart too are the Trials and Challenges on offer here. Each character has their own Street Fighter IV-style series of trials but, be warned, these scale in difficulty far more quickly than in the game's softer descendant. Meanwhile, the parry challenges aim to teach you basic timing for batting away everything from a simple fireball to a convoluted 12-hit special. This is perhaps the one disappointing area of the game. With no 'preview' of the timing of how to parry some of the more demanding moves, you must resort to trial and error in creating your own Daigo moments. All but the most skilled or dedicated players will be forced to move on.

3

Daigo revealed to Eurogamer in a rare interview that he was not playing much Third Strike at the time that he entered Evolution 2004. Utter bastard.

These add-ons and trinkets are most welcome, but unnecessary. Third Strike remains a staggering achievement. It's faster than Street Fighter IV and, thanks to the Guard Crush system (which disallows blocking after a certain number of consecutive hits), is a less defensive game. It's also far more exacting over inputs. It's important to remember that this is a game from the time before Capcom introduced leniency into its input schemes. (Nowadays if you throw a rogue 'up' into a two-quarter-circle forward move you'll still output the special move, but in Third Strike you do it right or you don't do it at all.) As such, this is a game to test and refine your execution, and you'll be a better player for it at the end of it, even if you have a few more grey hairs and blisters.

The roster is far from orthodox. Ryu, Ken, Chun Li and Akuma may be friendly faces (while Ibuki, Makoto and Dudley are now familiar to Street Fighter IV players) but the rest of the cast, from Ken's apprentice Sean, a Brazilian Shotokan-style fighter with a mean overhead kick, to Necro, a lithe Russian experiment-gone-wrong, sit somewhat awkwardly with the canon. Likewise, if you thought SFIV's arch villain Seth was cheap, wait till you meet Gill, Third Strike's final boss who can resurrect after KO. But it's a colourful set of characters nonetheless who match variety with keen balance.

4

The option to record footage and upload direct to YouTube is very welcome.

The truth is that Third Strike is an elitist's game in the truest sense of the phrase. History has shown that, through its demands on player execution, this is a game that shrunk the audience of active Street Fighter players. But few would argue that it's anything but the pinnacle of 2D competitive Street Fighter design.

In some ways, this port has been made for the more casual player. The true Third Strike aficionado will already be playing over GGPO emulation or on an original CPSIII board. So this is for everyone else, especially those players who have learned the ropes on Street Fighter IV and want to see what the grizzled fighter nursing a Scotch in the corner of the gym used to play.

Scrub that. What they still play. Few video games have been competitively relevant for as long as Third Strike. And this tight, assured release will only increase its longevity. It's all a matter of timing, you see.

9 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Simon.

About Simon Parkin

Simon Parkin is an author and journalist on video games. A core contributor to Eurogamer since 2005, he is also a critic and columnist on games for The Guardian.

Read more articles from Simon by visiting the Simon Parkin archive page.

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Comments (80) Latest comment 9 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • BillMurray #1 9 months ago

    404 :(

  • BillMurray #2 9 months ago

    Ahh, all is good now.

  • Gearskin #3 9 months ago

    I still have the Xbox Anniversary Edition floating around somewhere but, obviously, I must now buy this.

  • menage #4 9 months ago

    With the amount of fighters already in my collection which I suck at, I hardly need to most technical fighter of them all:)

  • madmaardigan #5 9 months ago

    Like Virtua Fighter, Starcraft or Eve online, it's fascinating to watch. But I have no desire to learn this game.

    I could learn Chinese, or become a competent Jazz player with less investment.
    Edited by madmaardigan at 23/08/11 @ 08:33

  • Slipstream #6 9 months ago

    I bought my points in preparation for this last week.
    I'm eager to use Dudley just to hear "Guttertrash" again!

    Ahh yes and thank GOD shortcuts were not put in, simply the bane of Street Fighter Fighter IV for me.
    Edited by Slipstream at 23/08/11 @ 08:37

  • muscleblade #7 9 months ago

    I cant wait!

  • jablonski #8 9 months ago

    Great review Mr Parkin!
    Glad someone finally explained why people in that video get so excited. I've seen it many times, but didn't realise each block was an individual response.

  • apoc_reg #9 9 months ago

    too many games.....

  • DDevil #10 9 months ago

    I have this on the Xbox and Dreamcast already, along with Second Impact as well... I shall be buying this too for I am weak.

  • berelain #11 9 months ago

    Absolutely the finest Street Fighter game in existence, bar none, and arguably the finest fighter in existence (though my money goes to VF5 for that).

    And the resolution might be low, but the animation is wonderful. Must buy.

  • Cadence #12 9 months ago

    Great review. How much is this going to be?

  • khaz #13 9 months ago

    Still the best Street Fighter game to date.

  • StolenGlory #14 9 months ago

    "Great review. How much is this going to be?"

    1200 MSP. PSN folks who preordered it, get the final boss as a playable character.

  • kobashi #15 9 months ago

    most played Dreamcast game!

    Greatest fighting game ever! See you online people.. :)

  • J0rdan_KZ #16 9 months ago

    Third Strike y'all, it's Street Fighter III.

  • Kanselier #17 9 months ago

    Pre-ordered. Don't fully understand why, at my age my reflexes are gone :(

  • taurus82 #18 9 months ago

    How does Eurogamer decide on which version of a multiplatform title gets previewed/reviewed?

  • S2K #19 9 months ago

    'It's faster than Street Fighter IV and, thanks to the Guard Crush system (which disallows blocking after a certain number of consecutive hits), is a less defensive game'

    The game doesn't have a guard crush, Street Fighter Alpha 3 does. That red meter below the health bar is the stun meter. They vary in size depending on character. So I suggest anyone who plays with Akuma better not get hit once at the hands of a good player.

    Saying that, if you are coming from SF4, you will need to start fresh. The game still has shortcuts to a degree, but it's less lenient. This game will ensure you get rid of all your bad habits as well. No more jab jab combos. No more FADC as a 'get out of jail free' card. Predictable play will get you killed very quickly. Against good players, prepare to get your asses handed to you. But persevere, and you will find that the game has no limits. I'll be looking forward to playing you lot online.

  • Shinetop #20 9 months ago

    When playing online, the game displays whether you are playing with open or closed NAT as well as displaying your ping rate.

    Oh...

  • kinky_mong #21 9 months ago

    When is Super Ultra Street Fighter III: Thirty-third Strike And A Third HD Climax out? Three months time?

  • Ryze #22 9 months ago

    INSTABUY.

    @madmaardigan

    I also have no desire to learn to become AN EXPERT. However, I'm an old skool SFII Hyper/Turbo player, so I still play (in that style) for fun.

    I'll learn how to parry effectively eventually.

    Capcom and the rest of the game industry really should learn from SFIII, and work towards making online gaming into an event based, online spectator sport.

    There's no reason at all why we shouldn't have high profile Regional and Worldwide tournaments taking place, where we can watch the whole thing via video in *gasp* PlayStation Home, or by paying a few credits in the Zune store.

    The game itself should offer the facility to promote and offer viewing of high profile tournament games both LIVE for a fee, or for free at a later date.

    If this doesn't begin to happen soon, and if these facilities are ignored in the next gen of consoles, then they're missing out terribly.

    For example, I haven't bought Bayonetta yet, as it takes me AGES to play thorough 'hack n slash' type games, and I already had God of War and Ninja Gaiden to play through at the time. If there were decent spectator modes, where I could watch the best players in the world play through sections of the game in full quality, rather than via a messy streaming video, then I could pick up the game at any point, and still get value from my purchase.

    Often I just don't have 10-20 hours to sink into a massive game, and just want a more passive experience. The hardcore can play every night, and I'll play occasionally, and watch my mates or the best players around for the rest of the time.

    It sure beats watching Big Brother / Coronation Street crap.

    :)
    Edited by Ryze at 23/08/11 @ 10:04

  • rottingyoda #23 9 months ago

    @kinky_mung

    I hear kinky_mung hyper cunt extreme is an unfunny twat who is as about as witty as a slice of toast

    All the hype is true

  • BBIAJ #24 9 months ago

    @taurus82:

    Depends on what format the publisher provides EG with.

  • Ryze #25 9 months ago

    @Gearskin


    I picked up the Xbox version of Anniversary edition a while back - probably early 2007. EDIT: I REALLY LIKE THIS GAME, BTW...

    I remember still having the same impression of SFIII, until I really started playing it with one of my SF arcade playing friends.

    My original impressions back in 1998-9 when I saw the first screenshots were:

    - Who are all of those characters?
    - Where's Blanka?
    - The graphics don't look great
    - I'm busy playing Virtual Fighter and Sega Rally
    - I'm busy playing Quake and Quake II
    etc...

    Then, when I saw (and heard) the game, I thought:

    - What the fuck is this muffled sounding rap crap
    - The graphics look really low-res. Haven't we moved on a generation from this crap?
    - The graphics look smooth, but not especially well drawn. In comparison to other games of the era, they don't look great
    - I can't play this crap - it feels weird!

    So - as the game had no obvious grab factor or wow factor, it was ignored, even by someone like me who tended to buy EVERYTHING Streetfighter in the 90s.

    TBH, they messed up. They could have made a revamped Dreamcast / PS2 version, that ran in 640x480 and included the rest of the SFII characters as an option. Maybe this would have helped. Also, some training videos on these new GD-ROMS and DVD's would have helped people to 'get' what it was all about.

    I guess that the mainstream audience had moved on to Tekken and Virtua Fighter though, To compete with them, they would have had to up the res and the 'wow' factor of their game.

    No Blanka was the ultimate deal breaker for me.

    I would even like to see Blanka in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, tbh.
    Edited by Ryze at 23/08/11 @ 17:34

  • Badassbab #26 9 months ago

    Barely played this when it first game out but yet I shall be parting ways with hard earned cash to download this on day one.

  • Bullet_Tunnel #27 9 months ago

    Everytime i see that tourney vid on youtube- when diego ( i think) parrys every hit chun-li's super, then supers for the win- it makes the hairs on my neck and arms stand up, and a manly tear form in one eye.

  • sagat #28 9 months ago

    As long as it doesnt loop the same 10 seconds of the rap while you wait for an online match Im sold!That was brutal in the AE version

  • Futaba #29 9 months ago

    I'm looking forward to being destroyed on this game later, having never played it before. If I decide to use my SF4 arcade stick which arrived yesterday I think people will be queuing up to play me for free wins.

  • S2K #30 9 months ago

    @FluffyTucker

    Ping rate was used on HD Remix, and is a staple feature of GGPO. Let's just say that if your opponent's ping is less than 80ms, then the game should be smooth.

    Oh, and to people thinking that the Daigo parry was the best thing on earth, maybe to the casual eye yes, but it really isn't TBH. The super was baited out. I can't be bothered going into specifics though. The fact that he did the parry and the punish under pressure was the most impressive thing about it. There are much better moments from other players which goes unnoticed.

    EDIT: Haaa, getting neg repped. Seems like I have to justify myself.
    Take a look at this: [link url=http://youtu.be/OYQ_tufi9eo?t=4m49s
    ]http://youtu.be/OYQ_tufi9eo?t=4m49s
    [/link]

    Ryan Hart VS Justin Wong. Same thing happens to him AGAIN, as Justin thought he would chip him out. The second round (6mins 11secs in), Ryan does Kara-Palms on Justin. That is one of THE hardest things to do execution wise in this game. So many great moments goes unnoticed because of that one EVO moment. Best thing was, that was done in Battle of Destiny in the UK, and I watched that live. Good times.
    Edited by S2K at 23/08/11 @ 11:20

  • ToAks #31 9 months ago

    so its a 10/10 on PS3 then right?

    PS3 atually has a d-pad..

    other than that, is it as laggy as HD Remix was/is , Online is crucial and well would have been nice with some developer team details and the online code.

  • anomagnus #32 9 months ago

    Seth. He still gives me nightmares

  • Sonic_D #33 9 months ago

    Tried and failed ot buy this on the DC, so only really played it in the arcade with my mates. Never really got deep enough with it though. Having said that I am not sure about buying this game as I have invested way too much time in to fighters these last two years and I'm still shite.

  • Br0ken_Engli5h #34 9 months ago

    @ToAks
    By that logic does the score go up to 11/10 with an arcade stick, then? ;)



  • Bullet_Tunnel #35 9 months ago

    @s2k, thats the reason i like it, its tactical, under pressure, and he had definatley baited it in, adds to the skill of it all- he trusted himself to lay out a plan and it was risky but paid off- and to us lesser mortals who dont really care about the finer points of what he did, the spectacle makes up for that by being fxxxxn cool to watch. but sadly, fighting games these days are sort of ruined by arrogant know it alls, who spend more time learning "plinking" and other binary minded tactics, then looking down their noses on comment boards, than...
    1.Having a proper job
    2.Having sex
    3.being liked as a person
    4.Exposure to daylight.
    My youngest brother is amazing at streetfighter,handsome lad and definately torney standard, and he is an agrophobic, arrogant, know it all,ocd victim, who has only recenly lost his big V, and he is 23.
    lol negged, sorry bro, didnt know you would read this.
    Edited by Bullet_Tunnel at 23/08/11 @ 12:30

  • S2K #36 9 months ago

    @Daddybrown73

    I never said anything about it not being impressive. There was strategy behind it all. And I quote 'The fact that he did the parry and the punish under pressure was the most impressive thing about it' end quote. If you want, I can tell you what exactly happens in that video, if you want me to get technical. It's all mind games. Oh, and parrying chun-li's super is not hard. Getting the first parry in IS hard.

    Edit: OK, I get the impression that i'm chatting utter nonsense then. Just because I play this game religiously, and thinks who knows it all, doesn't mean that I don't have a life. Seriously. I will say no more then. Forget what I even say. I'll do my talking online AND offline.
    Edited by S2K at 23/08/11 @ 11:42

  • Slipstream #37 9 months ago

    Select and make your first pick,
    Ten
    Nine
    Eight
    Seven
    Six
    Choose and pick the best one,
    Five
    Four
    Three
    Two
    One

    Had to be done, sorry.

  • sonicyoda #38 9 months ago

    I'd like to order some chicken nuggets please. With a Coke to drink or something. And some waffle fries-CROSS COUNTER

  • elrasho #39 9 months ago

    Is this gonna be 1200 MS Points?

  • S2K #40 9 months ago

    @Daddybrown

    Sorry mate...I did get a tad heated there. lol! My sarcasm levels are very low right now it seems!! I really hope everyone enjoys the game anyway like I have done over the last couple of years. I'll be on both PSN and xbox live anyway...really looking forward to the challenges.

  • Slipstream #41 9 months ago

    More a KOF man myself anyhoo.

    +1 for that my friend =)

  • Ironic_War_Criminal #42 9 months ago

    Once more people are falling into the "OMG HIDDEN GEM EVO MOMENT #37" trap where the hype outweighs the game and the completely accurate critic scores at the time (Done by a lot of well regarded critics heavily into fighting games) that placed it around the 6/7 out of 10 mark get whitewashed because we are now contractually obliged to swoon over the game.

    SF3 was almost ruined by parrying. Now this comment normally invites a bunch of "boo hoo shut up you don't understand how DEEP this is" replies, but it's people trying to defend probably one of the worst mechanics in a fighting game. Parrying as a mechanic is far too safe. It neuters characters like Remy, Ryu and Necro into nothingness and completely kills zoning as a play style as any fireball you throw at distance is going to get parried out by any competent player and very few characters have tools to compensate like Ibuki's vortex. Your only options are to turtle or rushdown and you just gravitate to the top 5 (Ken, Yun, Chun-Li, Urien, Makoto) since they are the only characters to actually have the tools to keep the pressure on. You could learn Q, Alex or Dudley, but what's the point when the top is just too good for the rest (And even then, Makoto and Urien are risky since Urien depends a lot on setting up Aegis frame traps and Makoto is pretty much a 50/50 Guess and win character since one karakusa means death in the right hands. If people think Dark Phoenix is bad in Marvel 3, they have never met a good Makoto player). Granted, it's a hard one to balance. P-Groove is trash in CvS2 since there was more recovery frames and if you want to be an asshole, you learned K-Groove since that had Garou MOTW's Just Defend system on it where a perfectly timed block got you health. But 3S's interpretation is far too safe and it almost kills the game into a war of attrition over who can parry better.

    Granted, the feature set is excellent in this game, but it's a game that doesn't quite deserve it. As a historical piece or a proof of concept for such features, it's excellent but a better game could do more, especially something like Vampire Savior or Alpha 2 Gold, especially with Capcom's plans for to introduce integrated online streaming. But I guess something as flawed as 3S needs it's moment in the sun sometime. Hopefully players will see it for the flaws it and learn from them rather than seeing it as the trumped up masterpiece some quarters like to refer to it as.
    Edited by Ironic_War_Criminal at 23/08/11 @ 12:55

  • layleeloo #43 9 months ago

    What a shock, a SF game getting such a rating. Yawwwnn

  • Rack #44 9 months ago

    I'd heard a lot of work was done on this so it's surprising to see so little mentioned in the review, though looking up it seems this is pretty much a basic port job with only limited improvements. A balance pass akin to SF2HD:R would have made this essential in my book but if it's still just Chun vs Yun I'll have to pass.

  • CHAZBIGPOTATO #45 9 months ago

    I am officially shit at SF games.

    Having said that I've never played with an arcade stick because I cannot justify the purchase to "her indoors".

  • addugg #46 9 months ago

    Remy!

  • kinky_mong #47 9 months ago

    @rotting_yoda: U MAD?


    CWY MOAR!!!

  • SlackMaster #48 9 months ago

    Was any of this not playable offline business clarified and sorted or can you not play this game if not connected to XBL or PSN?

  • ilmaestro #49 9 months ago

    A nicely written review, and kind of cool that you linked to the Daigo full parry video, but some weird statements:

    1) "By 1999 ennui had set in, not only amongst the general gaming public, but also within the core fighting fan base."

    3s was played by the hardcore FG players.

    2) Constant mention of parries being reaction based - they are far more about reads, or option selects, than reactions. You literally *can't* parry Chun's SAII on reaction, for instance, so the main example that you used disproves the statement.

    3) 3s has a Guard Crush system? What?

  • StolenGlory #50 9 months ago

    "I am officially shit at SF games.

    Having said that I've never played with an arcade stick because I cannot justify the purchase to "her indoors".

    Why do you have to justify it? She shouldn't be able to see your gaming room from the kitchen...

  • layleeloo #51 9 months ago

    "No, one of the greatest fighting games getting deserved respect."

    Which of the 8 million iterations of the game do you mean exactly, considering MANY were far from decent as even the biggest SF fanboys acknowledge ?

  • S2K #52 9 months ago

    @layleeloo
    Stop acting like a complete twat. Multiple fighting game franchises go through the same thing, so your bitching about iterations is invalid. Blazblue, Guilty Gear, Tekken, VF, and many more...they have all had multiple revisions.

  • rottingyoda #53 9 months ago

    @kinky_mong

    The same joke said repeatedly gets old very quick. Capcom having been adding superlatives to their titles for 20 years now. No need to point it out again and again and again and agian and agin (see what I mean?)

  • norsende #54 9 months ago

    @S2K

    That video you provided was infinite times less exciting than the legendary EVO moment, so of course you get neg repped. Plus you sound all elitist about the EVO moment like it was nothing special and you could do it in a tournament setting all the time, that might be it too.

    But it's the same for any sports too, like football: special goals tend to get remembered when they are scored by special players on special occasions, and later if someone scores a way better and technically superior goal on a less special occasion, it doesn't get noticed.

  • S2K #55 9 months ago

    @norsende
    What ever suits your opinion sir. It may have been less exciting to you, but I was there in person at the time, and even though the video don't project the same level of hype, it still had the same feeling. You just had to be there, like they all say. Oh, and yes, I will say that I sounded elitest, but I don't particularly care. All I want is for everyone to see that the EVO moment was not just having the skill to do it under pressure, but there were a LOT of mind games behind it. Everyone has their views, but i'm done with that matter.

    And to quote AGAIN, I did say to do that moment under pressure was the best thing about the whole thing. I never said or given the impression about me being egotistical to the matter. The vid has its place, but the game has evolved since then. It's ok though...it's all opinions.

  • aplsin #56 9 months ago

    @Ironic_War_Criminal
    I got nothing on your arguments as i've never played SFIII:3S but a 6/7 in 1999 meant it was an above avarage good game while a 6/7 today for some reason means below avarage.. :p

  • oupe #57 9 months ago

    As a non fighting game person I'm utterly baffled by the fact that over 136 versions of SF are released EVERY MONTH.

  • Alipan #58 9 months ago

    Got Super Street Fighter 4 - did quite well and started to fancy myself as a bit of a fighting game pro.

    Since then I have had SSF2-HDremix, Blazblue and MvC3 and got soundly pummelled in all of them.

    In short I dont need another fighting game that Im crap at and especially not one that others have been playing for years and will already have a massive advantage at.

  • FenderMaster #59 9 months ago

    Was Ryze negged for his 3S opinions, or because he's a Blanks user?

    3S to be quite honest, scares me, I find SSFIV quite technical already, with so many combos above my skill level, the thought of an even tougher game is quite scary.

    then again, a SF game with no turtling? where rushdown and skill is rewarded over holding down back and mashing in opponents combos certainly has an appeal.

  • coderkind #60 9 months ago

    I'm hoping playing Third Strike will improve my execution in SSFIV:AE.

    I too hope @Ryze wasn't negged for the Blanka love; Jimmy Blanka rules.

  • Ryze #61 9 months ago

    @FenderMaster

    I was negged because it looks like I was hating on 3S.

    I just re-read it, and TBH it reads that way, even though the intention was to express what the 1st impression of SFIII was, from an 'average' gamer. But hey - I'm 'busy' at work in the daytime.

    SFIII didn't set the world alight at the time of launch, because it had no immediate wow factor, and in fact didn't even look like a 'Street Fighter II' game, with those new characters.

    They made it too easy to ignore and move onto other games instead. I then mentioned the types of things they could have done to draw people into the home conversions of the game, instead of just slapping the Arcade machine onto a GD-ROM.

    It looks like Capcom basically gave up on the genre soon after this, and have only come back to it with 2009's SFIV. If the SSFIITHDR project never got off the ground, then who knows what would(n't) have happened.
    Edited by Ryze at 23/08/11 @ 17:59

  • Ryze #62 9 months ago

    @sonicyoda

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76MNVXkzHSg

  • Lemming81 #63 9 months ago

    I'd love a HD remake of Ninja Turtle Tournament Fighters.

  • FenderMaster #64 9 months ago

    @coderkind

    Jimmy really, really does not rule, horrible character, designed only too annoy players who like to play properly

  • Futaba #65 9 months ago

    Anyone know if it's possible to hide all those stats on the side of the screen?

  • kassmageant #66 9 months ago

    sounds great, too bad i will suck at it : (

    i would prefer street fighter alpha 3, most-played game on my PSX, probably...world tour mode was the biggest fun i ever had with these series : )

  • jonsaan #67 9 months ago

    So yet another SF game with no single player to speak of outside of the utterly tedious challenges gets a high mark?

    I aprreciate these games are mainly about fighting real people but you would think after all this time they could try a little bit harder perhaps?

  • Ryze #68 9 months ago

    ^ Wow - not played Gauntlet in years!!

    I wonder if it's on XBLA? If it is, I've prob had it for years...

    EDIT: CRAP. I've got the trial, but Midway went bump, didn't they? Can't unlock the full game...
    Edited by Ryze at 23/08/11 @ 21:16

  • Zastai #69 9 months ago

    Pity they took the preorder down now on psn...

  • ajaxpliskin #70 9 months ago

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS5peqApgUA

  • Br0ken_Engli5h #71 9 months ago

    Yeah, ermmm, cheers.

    Somebody hasn't read the review and/or comments section first. :D

  • iamtheoneneo #72 9 months ago

    best sf out there by far, still play this on my dc so will be picking this up i think.
    Though technically the crown goes to VF5 for that.

  • Kalak #73 9 months ago

    Ironic_War_Criminal = LowLife...

  • johnick #74 9 months ago

    @Simon Parkin

    The 3rd Strike nerd in me had to address Two things

    1. "The temptation must have been there for to include moves which could not be parried. But the team stuck to the vision."

    The first hit of Akuma's kongou kokuretsu zan cant be parried, you can block the first hit and red parry the rest, but you cant parry the whole super. Akuma's last combo in his trials ends with a jab reset into KKZ, seeing as you cant block and can only parry in the air, KKZ will always connect on an airborne opponent.

    2. "The true Third Strike aficionado will already be playing over GGPO emulation or on an original CPSIII board."

    Ponder, the guy who wrote the GGPO netcode said it would no longer support 3rd Strike once 3S online came out, he did the same when Hyper Fighting hit XBL.

    Just sayin ;-)
    Edited by johnick at 24/08/11 @ 14:37

  • jonsaan #75 9 months ago

    @DaddyBrown73 work tour mode in Alpha says hi.

  • Ryze #76 9 months ago

    Been playing this for the past half an hour or so...

    It's great - I last played it probably 10 months ago with my copy of Anniversary collection which lives in my bedroom and runs on my other 360.

    I CAN tell why I had those original bad impressions of it at face value back in the day, though. This would have been great if it ORIGINALLY was drawn in 640x480, as the animation's obviously an impressive leap over the older games.

    The gameplay's fantastic, but is sufficiently different to Alpha and II to throw people who are used to those games. Couple that with a roster of characters that STILL feel alien to me (No GUILE? SAGAT?), that it feels like a different game.

    In one sense - that's a massive strength, as this is a especially worthy of a download even by everyone who already owns other SF games. The roster is VERY different to other titles, but with the obvious Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Akuma icons in there.

    I'm pretty proud of how things are going this generation. My games collection is absolutely MARVELLOUS. With GGPO online play too? Amazing.

    *thumbs up*

    /waits for Daytona USA online edition...

  • Remy #77 9 months ago

    @Ironic_War_Criminal makes excellent points.

    I really LOVED this game back in the day (hence my screen-name!) and still enjoy it casually but it's just really not that good, although it very much depends on your taste for fighters. If you enjoy zoning and spacing and a balanced set of varied playstyles from the characters then this one just isn't for you. If rush downs, option selects and hit confirms are all you want, then go nuts of course. This is a very lacking review however: There's no guard crush in SF3, and why is the least balanced Street Fighter of all time being complimented for balance? O_o Also why no mention of the various gaffs I discovered playing this all last night: Ranked match is messed up somehow (@15 mins to get 1 match - and I am on open NAT and play SF2 HDR without any problems all the time - Remy77077 - hi to those that know me ;-) ), there's GGPO sound glitches, NO BLIND SELECT (don't mind for Player match but for Ranked - seriously Capcom? Have you not learnt anything for the last 2-3 years?), and there's a colour select button config bug too.

    My best SF3 'EVO' moment: Entering it for an SVB heat a couple of years ago (I was there for HDR but played this for a laugh) and being asked what character I was going to play when I was entered under the name "Remy" - I just laughed and said "guess?" :-)
    Edited by Remy at 25/08/11 @ 15:29

  • Remy #78 9 months ago

    @addugg ... what? :-)

  • geeza2020 #79 9 months ago

    played the demo last night with a mate for about an hour. Love it. Will buy when I have a bit more moolah after payday. I dont care about any of these things "teh hardcore fighters" might say about it being unbalanced and blah blah blah, I think the characters are great, its a hugely refreshing change to not fight against the same old E.Honda, Zangief, Guile, boring line up. Love the 2d art style, the animations look pretty good, and for a non-pro, non-competitive player I really like the parry system. I can occasionally pull one off, sometimes two in a row, but a lot of the time I should really just block because I really struggle to judge the timing of the parries :) But its just enough to keep you on your toes, especially if you're a casual button masher like me :D

  • TRUTH #80 9 months ago

    Bought it on release date and love it much more then SFIV!...It looks really good in HD widescreen with setting on 'Crisp'... Love the 2D art and animation esp the shadow moves (so much better without all that wizzing around camera as in SFIV). I can't understand people who say it's too complex - you can play just like the usual SF game or if you choose and take time to learn the more deeper technical side of gameplay. I'm no expert and did not struggle to understand the timing or moves - only parrying takes some practice! Once you do understand the moves and timing (it really is not that hard!) this game really becomes much more enjoyable then the simplicity of SFIV button bashing!

    SF 3rd Strike will keep you coming back for more and more as you discover the deeper side of executing, parrying, defending moves. Nothing like a finishing Shadow Move after a great parry - feels so great!