At the risk of sounding ridiculous, I swear that I did legitimately believe the moment I laid eyes on Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike: Fight for the Future (at the Redondo Fun Factory (RIP) in Southern California) in 2016 that if there were ever a game to convert me into a bona fide frame-counting, arcade stick-wielding, competitive freak-show, it would be the one. I knew it again, more powerfully in 2018 when it appeared before me at the Chinatown Fair Family Fun Center in New York, though neither time could I exactly articulate my belief beyond being enamored with its stunningly beautiful 2D character animation. Three years later, the prophesied freak-show has at last begun to emerge.
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike: Fight for the Future is tactile, fast, heavy, tactical, dense, and intensely mechanically immersive. For the dedicated player, the depth of its fighting system sparks learning moments and microscopic improvements with every round fought. Win or lose, the growth is palpable, and is better earned here than in just about any game I can think of. Pick any of its masterfully rendered characters (Makoto), and feel as the pattern of their personality (and unique directional inputs) burns its way into your strategic rhythm. Learn the ins and outs of your opponents and their chosen avatars, slip headfirst into some accidental parries, then land one on purpose. It's a canvas for legends, delivered in an audiovisual package that remains nigh unmatched.
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike: Fight for the Future is tactile, fast, heavy, tactical, dense, and intensely mechanically immersive. For the dedicated player, the depth of its fighting system sparks learning moments and microscopic improvements with every round fought. Win or lose, the growth is palpable, and is better earned here than in just about any game I can think of. Pick any of its masterfully rendered characters (Makoto), and feel as the pattern of their personality (and unique directional inputs) burns its way into your strategic rhythm. Learn the ins and outs of your opponents and their chosen avatars, slip headfirst into some accidental parries, then land one on purpose. It's a canvas for legends, delivered in an audiovisual package that remains nigh unmatched.