- Pixel-perfect port of an Arcade
classic
- Smooth online netcode and replay uploading
- Multi-tiered challenges encourage even further replayability
- Could use a few more extras,
modes
- Could also be more user-friendly, particularly with parry
challenges
- Gil is the cheapest Street Fighter boss of all time
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Street
Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition
Score:9.0 / 10
You could argue that the original release
of Street Fighter III was both ahead, and behind, of its time. When
Capcom finally decided to give their premiere fighting franchise a
proper sequel instead of bolting an extra adjective or two unto the
title, it was around the time that Arcade machines began their downward
slope in relevancy in the US. However, the game eventually found renewed
interest from the fighting community with the rise of fighting game
tournaments. When EVO met YouTube, it became a match made in heaven, and
the demand began to grow for Capcom to put out Street Fighter III
online.
Their wish has finally been granted with the Online Edition of Street
Fighter III: Third Strike. Simply put, this is a download release of the
Arcade original, now featuring the ability to take on fellow opponents
online. But Capcom isn’t just
putting out a quickly emulated port; the
company has promised that this digital release of Third Strike features
the most flawless port of an Arcade game ever attempted. A rather bold
claim, considering the number of dedicated (and often obsessive) fans
who could easily spot the most miniscule of missing frames or lag that
is often expected from Arcade re-releases.
While I myself am not
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one of these people, I will gamble and
confirm that Capcom has made good on their promise; never before has
Street Fighter III played as smoothly in a console as it does in this
version. The game has zero load times, glitches, slowdown, or anything
other than an incredibly fast and smooth experience. It would take some
sort of half-man half-microscope to spot any visual differences between
the formats, but for anyone who has ever played an Arcade machine (back
during the ‘90s, when they were still popular), your hands will tell you
that this version is indeed perfect.
But how does the game itself hold up? While it’s unfair to call SFIII
the black sheep of the series (that honor goes to Street Fighter: The
Movie: The Game, as well as the original unnumbered Street Fighter,
which most tend to delude themselves into thinking SFII was the first
ever Street Fighter), but it has been divisive among players for its
gusty decision in replacing nearly all of the World Warriors from the
previous game; only Ryu and Ken remained as returning veterans, until
later editions included Akuma and Chun-Li due to public demand. The
remainder of the cast is all new, and make up the most wildly varied
roster in the fighting franchise’s history.
While characters like the ninja Ibuki, karate master Makoto and British
boxer Dudley fit in well enough in the SF universe (and eventually made
their way into Street Fighter IV, along with twins Yun and Yang), there
are also a good number of oddballs like the stretchy electric cyborg
Necro, the one-armed bird-like Oro, and underwear-sporting Urien. None
of these characters play anything like the original cast, which became a
bit of a turnoff for longtime fans, but put enough practice into each of
them and they can turn out to be just as lethal in battle as their
predecessors.
Indeed, SFIII requires a bit of a learning curve; don’t expect to jump
in straight from SFIV and recreate the same techniques that might have
put you ahead of that scrubby Flowchart Ken player online (and if you
are that type of player…you should have your online privileges revoked.
forever.); Third Strike adheres to its own rules about the proper timing
to link combos together, and what kind of moves have priority over
others. But the hardest technique to master is the Parry system. With a
single directional tap, players can parry incoming attacks and specials,
receiving zero damage and recovering far faster than they would by
blocking. It takes a special kind of hardcore to be able to parry
effectively, and while it’s not an essential requirement, even the most
basic understanding of parrying can quickly turn the tide in your favor.
It’s unfortunate, then, that the parry challenges featured in the game’s
Trial mode doesn’t actually teach newcomers on when to parry an incoming
attack. Instead, the game offers several levels of challenge where
players must parry a specific attack or special and says “good luck”,
resulting in hours of failed attempts until they develop the superhuman
instincts necessary to time every single hit. Then there’s the final
parry challenge, which gives you the daunting task of recreating a
certain well-known moment seen on YouTube…
One thing that fighting fans can definitely agree on is how great SFIII
looks. While it may be disappointing that the sprites have not been
redrawn like the previous HD Remix of SSFIIT, they still hold up
exceptionally well; featuring some of the best hand-drawn 2D art ever
seen, the amount of detail and fluidity in each character’s animations
is as impressive now as it was back then, if not more so when put
head-to-head with current fighters (including SFIV’s polygons). Little
animation touches like how Ryu’s gi blows back with every Hadoken, or
how Ken’s hair flaps with his Shoryuken, or even Hugo’s psychotic eyes
whiten during his charges make every kick, punch, and projectile come
alive with brutal beauty.
As far as extras go, you have the usual unlockable concept art (as well
as fan-art, much which should be familiar to anyone with a DeviantArt
account) as well as remixed music (which can be activated in-game to
replace the original stage tunes), but the real bonus is what you use to
unlock these features; taking a cue from Call of Duty and Halo, this
version of Third Strike features a progressive challenge system, where
players are presented with a list of feats to pull off during every
match. These challenges range from performing a certain move X number of
times, or winning matches Y times in a row, to earning a perfect Arcade
run without losing once. Fulfill the requirements of a certain challenge
(throw 25 projectiles, for example) and you’ll unlock the next level of
that challenge (throw 50 projectiles, then a hundred, etc), and earn
points to be used to purchase the extra artwork and music. While it will
only take a few hours to unlock everything, the real fun comes from the
incentive to fill out these challenges, continuing a slow-moving trend
of non-Achievement recognition that should encourage every seasoned
fighter to keep on playing, even with characters they normally wouldn’t
use. Online multiplayer also contains its own challenge tiers, offering
further replayability.
Speaking of online, Third Strike takes advantage of GGPO, the preferred
system for creating nearly lag-free online matches, as well as the
ability to upload replays on YouTube, for all the wannabe Daigos in the
making. Both of these features alone put Third Strike’s multiplayer a
cut above modern releases like Marvel vs Capcom 3, and with the usual
inclusions of spectator mode and tournament play, there’s no doubt this
will bring in as many people as SFIV.
While a few missing extras and features might keep Third Strike: Online
Edition from being the ultimate edition of Street Fighter III, the
amount of care put into the core game as well as its online multiplayer
easily elevates this release as the definitive version. The fighting
game community is truly privileged to have another great button-masher
to ruin controllers with, and the number of players are only destined to
expand with this release.
