Retro|Spective 127R: Street Fighter

[Asura]

SF5 new characters are largely forgettable bar the few brought back from other Capcom games for tie-in with the SF universe.

I mean, I didn't play V - but the only characters that made an impression on me from trailers were Rashid and Laura.

[Cassius_Smoke]

I think I've only played Third Strike. I couldn't really get into it. I'm not sure I really found a character that gelled with me. It's still one of the best looking 2d fighters though (KoF13 being the best).

[Neon Ignition]

I'm not a huge fan of the newer characters from SF4-5 but to me they at least mostly feel like attempts to expand the roster. With SF3 too often the new characters feel like they fell out of a Darkstalkers game or something else unrelated to SF

[Nu-Eclipse]

I mean, I didn't play V - but the only characters that made an impression on me from trailers were Rashid and Laura.

To be fair, Rashid is as boring a Street Fighter character as there's ever been in the franchise, and would anybody care about Laura if she hadn't been introduced as Sean's sister? I mean, Capcom originally tried to put her over as the Blanka replacement (Brazilian, attacks with electricity) and then relented and actually brought Blanka back for SFV - that says it all.

For me, the more interesting characters in SFV are the ones who actually tie into the Capcom universe and have history, like Abigail from Final Fight, Lucia from Final Fight 3, Akira (and Daigo) from Rival Schools, Decapre (originally a NPC mid-boss in SFA3) and Zeku (who people seem to have forgotten originally appeared in Guy's ending in SFA2).

[Asura]

To be fair, Rashid is as boring a Street Fighter character as there's ever been in the franchise, and would anybody care about Laura if she hadn't been introduced as Sean's sister? I mean, Capcom originally tried to put her over as the Blanka replacement (Brazilian, attacks with electricity) and then relented and actually brought Blanka back for SFV - that says it all.

I've never actually played as either of them I just mean that the announcements had an impact.

[Neon Ignition]

I don't mind Laura, she's much more interesting a design and fighter than Sean

[Neon Ignition]

Game 16 - Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact - Giant Attack
Expanding on the original release, this revision added new fighters alongside bonus rounds, new moves and new mechanics. This version was received somewhat positively but even without the usual 3D complaints it suffered by being compared to Alpha 3 which was more feature and roster rich.







Lost on the New Generation or made an Impact?

[Dogg Thang]

It was okay but I didn't feel like it added enough to really separate it from the previous release. Of course we're dealing with a series that, for SF2, put out some iterations that added very little and we were seemingly all okay with that but, here, I just remember feeling - oh, it's the same game only with Hugo and a Gil headswap character.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Gameplay-wise, 2nd Impact did enough to polish what New Generation did as well as set the scene for Third Strike to further refine the formula, but it's safe to say that the push to make Alex the face of the franchise going forward failed considerably.

[Neon Ignition]

I might be well wrong and fair play on Capcom for trying again but I feel the same fate is going to happen with SF6 and Luke

[Neon Ignition]

Game 17 - Street Fighter III: Third Strike - Fight for the Future
A final attempt at making a mark with the third entry, Capcom added five fighters to this version including Chun-Li making her return. As part of a wider, larger overhaul the game was also outfitted with new moves, new endings and stages for all fighters and a revised storyline that followed on from the prior two versions. The game marked the real end of Capcom's 2D fighter age, failing to make much of an impact. But in the years that have followed a revised appreciation of this version has risen and it is now considered to be one of the greatest fighters ever made.









Is Third Strike the franchises finest hour?

[Nu-Eclipse]

I might be well wrong and fair play on Capcom for trying again but I feel the same fate is going to happen with SF6 and Luke

I feel like Capcom have looked at how aggressive they were with pushing Alex and other new characters to the front of the SFIII era and have comparatively toned that approach down since (SFIV still had Ryu & Ken front and centre and SFV was similar), but we shall see.

I actually have some sympathy for Capcom on this. They're in a no-win situation no matter what they do or don't do with the original World Warriors.

[Asura]

Game 17 - Street Fighter III: Third Strike - Fight for the Future
Is Third Strike the franchises finest hour?

I really think it's one of the franchise's highest points. It's just so playable. I know that the meta eventually grew stale at high level but for intermediate play, there's just years of gameplay there; I know, as my housemates and I played it near-daily for literally years in the 00s, interspersed with Capcom Vs. SNK 2, and we still didn't feel as though we were bored of it by the finish.

I actually wasn't sold on the music originally, preferring Second Impact's stuff, but it's grown on me in the years since.

The sprite art for this (all of the SFIII revisions, but this was the apex IMO) is just gorgeous. It's comparably low-res, given, but the sense of motion... The way Ryu's gi blows out when he does a fireball, or just the way the clothes move on Makoto's oversized gi. This game is unadulterated sprite-art porn and a masterclass in how that limited animation style can be explored to its absolute fullest. The characters perform many of the same stilted movements from older games, but in this, every motion has balance, flow, secondary motion, squash/stretch... All the principles of great fluid animation.

The impacts feel heavy. Every hit feels meaty and powerful; I actually think this has influenced what we've seen so far of SF6. That's a combination of visuals and sound.

Honestly I just can find nothing bad to say about it. Talking about it makes me want to play it now.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Is Third Strike the franchises finest hour?

It's in the conversation, that's for sure - and I say that as somebody who didn't play much Third Strike in comparison to New Generation or 2nd Impact.

It's impact on the Street Fighter franchise, the fighting game community and on modern competitive e-sports can't be understated. The legacy still endures today.

[Dogg Thang]

Is Third Strike the franchises finest hour?

I think Third Strike is absolutely superb. I didn't like the background style as much as the previous games but they still look lovely. The game plays brilliantly. It was great to have Chun Li back. I love how the music remixes each round. Everything came together really well. It's fantastic,