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[IbizaPocholo]

Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike is Peak Arcade Design | Why It Endures. We will never see another fighting game like 3rd Strike. I love the Street Fighter series, but as time has gone on I've come to realize that I am especially fond of the Arcade Era games Street Fighter II, Street Fighter Alpha (Zero), and Street Fighter 3. In this video I explore what sets the arcade era of Street Fighter apart from its modern iteration of Street Fighter 4, 5, and now 6, and how the switch to the modern live service model of fighting game design is a much more radical shift than I think the FGC seems to realize. Capcom could not make a game like 3rd Strike today under the live service model, even if they decided to go all in on the parry mechanic there are still so many specific choices that 3rd Strike makes -- like limited cast size and open ended character balance, that simply would not be compatible under the current e-sports model of design.

What makes 3rd Strike an unusual exception in the fighting game landscape is just how much it defies the current expectations of what a "balanced" fighting game looks like and how much it has managed to endure despite having no e-sports style developer backing or even a quality accessible port. Fightcade is awesome (I'm a fan) but it is also extremely unusual that a game relying on emulation for its player base has managed to not only hold onto that player base, but also grow. The only other equivalent that I can think of is Super Smash Bros Melee (there are a lot of interesting parallels between the two actually). The Classic King of Fighters games like 98 and 2002 are also popular, but they have the robust Ultimate Match ports.

Speaking of ports, 3rd Strike fans are gonna want to hurry and pickup the Xbox 360 version of Street Fighter III: Online Edition before the store closes at the end of this month. It isn't perfectly accurate but it has really strong training and trial modes that will be helpful to new players.

I won't give away this entire video in my description, but I will say that it is not a coincidence that 3rd Strike has managed to endure all these years because if you go back and read interviews with the devs (as well as study the design of the game) it is clear that 3rd Strike is the perfect example of a game that is specifically designed to last over time and endure for its hardcore audience in a way very few of its peers have managed to. Right now you can play Street Fighter III on PS4/PS5, Xbox One, PC (Steam), and Nintendo Switch via the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, which is solid but bare bones, but the primary way to find matches is definitely on Fightcade though I think Capcom could massively help the game by making a true definitive robust port of the game like KOF Ultimate Match.

 

[NeverYouMind]

It is hipster junk. Nobody cared about it until EVO went mainstream and everyone started shouting EVO Moment 37 from the rooftops. Technically, previous Second Impact revision is better in both balance and having native widescreen. The whole Street Fighter III series really screwed up on balancing parries in the gameplay system as well.

P.S. Smash Bros. isn't a fighting game.

 

[Bring Back Scalebound]

 

[poodaddy]

Although I find the guy annoying, (as a rule, I automatically can't stand people who refer to anything as "hot right now"), he definitely gets what makes Third Strike the best fighting game of all time.

 

[Crayon]

Not huge fan of 3s myself but I saw this video and he makes great points.

I just discovered this channel recently and I love it even though his taste is way different that mine.

 

[Joelenheimer]

It is hipster junk. Nobody cared about it until EVO went mainstream and everyone started shouting EVO Moment 37 from the rooftops. Technically, previous Second Impact revision is better in both balance and having native widescreen. The whole Street Fighter III series really screwed up on balancing parries in the gameplay system as well.

P.S. Smash Bros. isn't a fighting game.

sooo you're bad at 3rd strike i take it. lol
and people are still calling smash a fighting game? even with it's creator sakurai consistently explaining that it's not? get over it smash fans

 

[NeverYouMind]

sooo you're bad at 3rd strike i take it. lol
and people are still calling smash a fighting game? even with it's creator sakurai consistently explaining that it's not? get over it smash fans

I am not great at it as I play Second Impact more.

 

[Joelenheimer]

I am not great at it as I play Second Impact more.

crazy! but i'm not against it. the only things i see 2nd doing better are stages, stage transitions, title cards for the winner/loser, and music. lmao, it sounds like a lot but imo and for a lot of others (hard majority) 3rd strike kills the previous 2 in gameplay. hands down.
2nd had infinites too which was pretty bs, lol.
watching people one shot fuckers with ibuki in 2nd is always a blast! haha

 

[NeverYouMind]

crazy! but i'm not against it. the only things i see 2nd doing better are stages, stage transitions, title cards for the winner/loser, and music. lmao, it sounds like a lot but imo and for a lot of others (hard majority) 3rd strike kills the previous 2 in gameplay. hands down.
2nd had infinites too which was pretty bs, lol.
watching people one shot fuckers with ibuki in 2nd is always a blast! haha

Most infinites like Ibuki's don't work in widescreen.

Bottom line is I prefer playing many characters like Sean, Alex, and Hugo in Second Impact because they can hang with the best of them.