this actually makes me want to make music and get into some emo teen clothes culture, this game is peak 2000s and i love it for that. looking at this reminds me of the time i watched sonic and kirby ocs with beat’s voice beat the fuck out eachother, actually fuck it. it seemed like every cool mf like YTPers and flash animators had a cool oc that were based off a intellectual property. damn i miss thoses times. This game uses ALL of the ds’s features thru the use of pins which is pretty wacky and fun and the storyline is great where this teen has to learn to work with people. the writing is so chilll man, it doesn’t take itself too seriously and it bleeds into the menu and it feels like it’s talking to you which I love. Also the music is JAMMIN! Playing this game with headphones is a experience a bit like minecraft but a bit cooler, I love walking around hearing underground play. Play this game and ill automatically be your homie.

[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.