"The mark of my divinity shall scar thy DNA"
Not gonna lie, having some shapeshifting humanoid weapon or some dude in a robot mask looking something straight out of a tokusatsu show or an Icy Hot lookin ass superhuman god cult leader isn't exactly my definition of "street" fighting but i can definitely say that this game puts the "street" in Street Fighter from the moment i first boot up the game and hearing that beautiful opening theme song and hearing the announcer's voice and man this game just oozes personality and it's like the game embraces street culture in a way that feels authentic and fresh from the soundtracks and everything and this type of urban/hiphop feel of the game continues in Street Fighter 6 which was my first exposure to the soundtrack of a Street Fighter game.
And then there's the overall style and presentation of the game. The character designs, backgrounds all have this distinct street-like feel to it with characters like Dudley and despite his overall British swag, that man's got some real boxing finesse and then there are the two twins from Hong Kong like Yun and Yang which not gonna lie probably has the most unusually dark and brooding and for some reason almost sounds like the 007 intro at the beginning of the theme song for two wacky teens riding skateboards but whatever.
The animations in this game are just down right smooth and absolutely mesmerizing to look at and definitely holds up still to this day. Sure the game might not have the most realistic graphics like Street Fighter 6 which has this mix of cartoony and realistic look to it but there's a timeless quality to the animation that makes it just as enjoyable to watch now as it was back then like Elena's fluid and meticiously rotoscoped animations or Twelve's almost smooth and silky-like movement (which kinda makes sense considering he can shapeshift).
Now since i'm mostly a Tekken guy, I find the controls to be kind of overwhelming since i'm so used to Tekken's 1234 button layout and not the 6 button layout which made it difficult for me to do it on a keyboard (yes i sometimes play Tekken on a keyboard) and the timing and execution of moves in this game are also different. Tekken’s combos often rely on stringing together a series of moves while this game emphasizes precise inputs and timing for moves like special attacks and supers and the parry system requires precise timing to deflect attacks, which can be tough as shit to nail down if you’re not used to that kind of mechanic and you can probably imagine how my fight with the final boss went.
And then there's the whole motion input thing for special moves like quarter circles, half-circles, etc and these can feel pretty alien because i'm so accustomed to Tekken's simpler directional inputs like seriously trying to consistently do a Shoryuken and then a Hadouken then a Hurricane Kick and finish it off with that one Akuma super where spin kicks his enemy to the air.
But regardless of all that, 3rd Strike is still one of the best and most influential game i've ever played. I was exposed to the existance of this game because of the infamous EVO 2004 moment with the Daigo parry and only like a month ago i think do i get to experience the beauty of this game. Had a hell of a time playing this game and getting my ass kicked online through Fightcade and i'll try to put some more time getting comfy with the controls of this game.
Not gonna lie, having some shapeshifting humanoid weapon or some dude in a robot mask looking something straight out of a tokusatsu show or an Icy Hot lookin ass superhuman god cult leader isn't exactly my definition of "street" fighting but i can definitely say that this game puts the "street" in Street Fighter from the moment i first boot up the game and hearing that beautiful opening theme song and hearing the announcer's voice and man this game just oozes personality and it's like the game embraces street culture in a way that feels authentic and fresh from the soundtracks and everything and this type of urban/hiphop feel of the game continues in Street Fighter 6 which was my first exposure to the soundtrack of a Street Fighter game.
And then there's the overall style and presentation of the game. The character designs, backgrounds all have this distinct street-like feel to it with characters like Dudley and despite his overall British swag, that man's got some real boxing finesse and then there are the two twins from Hong Kong like Yun and Yang which not gonna lie probably has the most unusually dark and brooding and for some reason almost sounds like the 007 intro at the beginning of the theme song for two wacky teens riding skateboards but whatever.
The animations in this game are just down right smooth and absolutely mesmerizing to look at and definitely holds up still to this day. Sure the game might not have the most realistic graphics like Street Fighter 6 which has this mix of cartoony and realistic look to it but there's a timeless quality to the animation that makes it just as enjoyable to watch now as it was back then like Elena's fluid and meticiously rotoscoped animations or Twelve's almost smooth and silky-like movement (which kinda makes sense considering he can shapeshift).
Now since i'm mostly a Tekken guy, I find the controls to be kind of overwhelming since i'm so used to Tekken's 1234 button layout and not the 6 button layout which made it difficult for me to do it on a keyboard (yes i sometimes play Tekken on a keyboard) and the timing and execution of moves in this game are also different. Tekken’s combos often rely on stringing together a series of moves while this game emphasizes precise inputs and timing for moves like special attacks and supers and the parry system requires precise timing to deflect attacks, which can be tough as shit to nail down if you’re not used to that kind of mechanic and you can probably imagine how my fight with the final boss went.
And then there's the whole motion input thing for special moves like quarter circles, half-circles, etc and these can feel pretty alien because i'm so accustomed to Tekken's simpler directional inputs like seriously trying to consistently do a Shoryuken and then a Hadouken then a Hurricane Kick and finish it off with that one Akuma super where spin kicks his enemy to the air.
But regardless of all that, 3rd Strike is still one of the best and most influential game i've ever played. I was exposed to the existance of this game because of the infamous EVO 2004 moment with the Daigo parry and only like a month ago i think do i get to experience the beauty of this game. Had a hell of a time playing this game and getting my ass kicked online through Fightcade and i'll try to put some more time getting comfy with the controls of this game.