Review: Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition
Fighting games always reach different groups of gamers who either play for fun or play to win. While the pro gaming community may want a fighting game that offers balanced damage scaling, responsive control inputs, and a balanced roster, the casual gamer may overlook some of these things for a game that offers smooth online matches and a good amount of replayability.
Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition is a revamped version of the game that hit arcade cabinets back in the late 90s. The game is a direct port of the arcade version, meaning tournament players will be getting their preferred version that comes with some unblockable attacks and different damage calculations. With 20 characters for you to choose from, a solid game engine, and a great presentation, Third Strike Online Edition is a classic 2D fighting game that offers something for everyone.
Back when it first came out, Street Fighter III’s parry system was what set it apart from other fighters. Instead of blocking before taking a hit, you can press forward to parry an attack, which protects you from taking damage and lets you attack right away. Parrying also lets you avoid taking chip damage and allows you to set up a quick chain of attacks. Timing is key when parrying, and mastering it will help you take on the big boys that play these games for a living.
Once you master these techniques and are ready for some competition, you can drive to your nearest tournament to test your skills, or you can hop online for a seamless GGPO-enabled experience that is truly impressive. When I went online, ninety-percent of my matches felt like I was playing with someone next to me with no noticeable lag. As with all online games, however, you will encounter lag from time to time, and when that happens, the game will skip some frames and slow down your matches.
The game offers your generic online modes such as ranked and player matches, but it also features convenient tournament and replay modes that make showing off to your friends all the more easy. You can make lobbies for up to eight players, and after your matches, you can choose to save replays that you can then upload to Youtube with a tap of a button. For anyone out there that has made a combo video in the past or struggled to record and upload their best matches online, this is a godsend.
Street Fighter III fans will also be happy to know that a wide majority of the game has been tailored specifically for the tournament community. The game includes a few different display settings that let you recreate the true feel of an arcade cabinet complete with scan lines. You can now easily change your button layouts anytime you want, including during a match. There is also a huge selection of DIP switches to play with that let you add or remove techniques such as aerial blocks, chip damage, and even parries. While I liked that the game has a new random select feature, if you accidentally choose someone you don’t want, you can undo your selection.
One of my favorite parts in the game is its Challenges that ranks your in-game achievements and reward you with vault points that unlock a plethora of art, remixed themes, and character movies. Each Challenge has different requirements that increase in experience points the more you perform them, such as using projectiles, successfully parrying, or finishing a match with EX attacks or Super Arts available to each character. The game features a nice blend of new and old artwork and music themes that give it a fresh feel but still preserve its classic roots.
Capcom has given one of their older fighting titles a makeover that it is sure to please both savvy tournament goers and players new to the series. The game is as technically impressive as it is robust, and expect to see some DLC in the near future. Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition has plenty of offline modes and unlockables to keep you busy, but the meat of the game is in its multiplayer mode that features one of the best online experiences in a game I’ve seen.
Score given: 9/10
Published August 2011 | VGRevolution.com
Giancarlo Saldana is a freelance writer and Gaming News Editor for Blast Magazine.