[5/12/24]

Happy 25th, 3rd Strike.

It only took 5 years since the last Street Fighter II revision for there to finally be a worthy successor to the name. The first version of Street Fighter III, New Generation, was incredibly jank and felt off at all times. The second version, Second Impact, had some changes, but the game still failed to live up to the name. The two versions are incredibly underdocumented, and it's because this one here blows them out of the water. For one, we get returning veteran Chun-Li (who happens to be one of the best characters in the game) alongside four other new characters: Makoto, Remy, Twelve and Q. SFIII's definitely got the most unique roster to this day and it's so sad that most of these guys haven't seen the light of day since '99.

In terms of balance changes, the parry sees itself finally being useful! In New Generation and Second Impact, the parry was designed as another defensive option, which makes it SUCK because you tap forward instead of back to block. A little bit of frame data adjustments in 3rd Strike and it's now a tool used for offense with the ability to whip out an attack much faster than if you were to block it. The rest is history.

Aesthetically, it's the other side of the 90s coin that Street Fighter Alpha 3 and the previous two versions of Street Fighter III showed off. The "street" in Street Fighter is at its most apparent here, even after Street Fighter 6 thanks to the drum & bass soundtrack and grittier stages (we can thank memory limitations for the latter).

I love this game. It's a sign of devs trying their best to salvage a terrible game, shunned at first because it was a follow-up to that, and then it took the most iconic moment in competitive gaming history for people to look at it and go "wait, this is actually fire." It's cemented itself as one of the all-time greats and it deserves every bit of that title.

GG, well played. You just need to work on your combos, movement, blocking, neutral, aggression, punishes, conversions, border escaping, aerial control, air combos, resets, DPs, reversals, deck, flowchart, electric wind god fist, footsies, option selects, frame traps, fuzzy guard, pressure, air tech, ground tech, anti-air, cancels, auto-pilot, backdash, roman cancels, block strings, BnBs, meter, chicken block, chip damage, corner carry, counters, skill issue, execution, frame data, friendship, gimmicks, throws, knockdowns, high profiles, low profiles, hit stun, IADs, juggles, korean backdash, mash, meaties, mind games, mixups, okizeme, crossups, poke, projectiles, mentality, reaction, knowledge, family, respect, safe jumps, salt, sandbagging, set play, shimmy, side steps, spirit orb management, homework, stamina, tech traps, trades, whiff punish, yomi and zoning.