"Your body assumed its true form when I tore it apart with my fists!"

It's kind of amazing how well this game holds up. Even today, I was able to easily find those eager enough to play the game at my novice, beginner level. The fact that a game from 1999 has a fanbase THAT passionate is telling.
This game just does everything so well. Amazing character roster, both in how interesting they are and how well they're balanced. Say what you want about characters like Chun, Yun, Ken, etc, you can seriously do well with basically any character that isn't like Twelve or Sean if you sink enough time into them. The presentation is immaculate as well: stunning spritework, expressive animations (look at Hugo's animations I love them so much), and fantastic music direction to top it all off. The vibes this game give off are seriously unmatched for the genre.
Gameplay wise, Third Strike is, of course, a hell of a time. The parry system is a perfect form of skill expression. A majority of the cast are really well designed too, from even the most basic of shotos, to the most complex with characters like Urien and Oro, to the silliest of soldiers like Necro and Q. Third Strike's player expression is seriously something to be praised. This is probably the most fun I've had in the lab. Every character has their fair share of tech that's just really fun to practice, and absolutely gratifying to apply.
But I'm sure you've heard almost everything I've had to say already. Look, Fightcade is free and pretty painless to set up. Go play Third Strike. It's a good game.
Too bad I suck at it. Back to the lab again, I suppose.