Sunday, March 1, 2020

Street Fighter III (Sega Dreamcast, 1999)

Today I'm playing a game that's outright phenomenal. A fantastic, fun time all around.




I don't consider fighters "beaten" unless I play on the default medium difficulty. This one starts at 3 stars so I'll go with that. The music on the menu screens in this game is one of the hippest tunes I've heard in a while:

Reminds me of Persona 3 music. I could seriously listen to this all day.

The intro is great, with sketches of the characters rapidly flashing onscreen.

Most of the characters in this game are new (or from Street Fighter Alpha, I'm not sure). There are a few returnees like Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, and Akuma; most of Street Fighter 2's cast is missing, though. 

I accidentally chose this dude because the timer ran out on the character select. Character select timers need to not exist.

I quickly discovered that this guy has a Flash Kick. These graphics are excellent, with some very colorful backgrounds. I think I like this art style the most of any game in the series, and I'd like to see this get re-released.

 After fights, you get ranked based on performance. I keep getting super-low rankings, but at least they aren't F's...

Dudley (who could totally be played by Idris Elba in a movie) gives me my first loss.

Since I'm having issues defeating Dudley, I decided to play as him. Started over, as well, to see more characters.

At this point I set out solve the mystery of just what the hell Twelve is. MewThree?

He can both turn invisible and extend his arms, in addition to being wildly creepy.

This stage is pretty sweet, a brawl in the rain. Yun and Yang are a pair of twins with attitude, and they both fight like Fei Long.

Good stage theme for these guys, as the excellent music continues to impress.

Now I brawl with the other twin as the first one looks on creepily.

Beating up a car is as in-style as ever. This one has a distinctly pre-rendered look to it and it's a little odd compared to the rest of the game.

Not a fan of Chun-Li's look in this one. She has this "whimsical" look like she's about to start breaking into song.

 Chun-Li's theme is pretty freaking good. I'd say this is my favorite stage theme in the game, and I can only imagine how much I'd be using this soundtrack for everything circa 1999.

 Elena is interesting because she does Capoeira. It's a Brazilian martial art, yet she's a resident of Africa.

I love how Dudley's butler gets dropped in via helicopter after he wins fights. This guy is like a boxer version of Bruce Wayne after fusing with Alfred.

Makoto can't be bothered to get out of the way of Idris' swank pimp-mobile. Luckily it has good brakes and stops just in time.

Necro is another bizarre character. He shambles around and attacks in some unconventional ways. His stage is also odd and looks like a mosque under construction.

 Alex seems to be the new generation version of Guile, much like Dudley is the new generation version of Balrog.

Hugo is also known as Andore from Final Fight, a massive brute who was likely patterned after Andre the Giant.

I AM FINALLY GOOD AT STREET FIGHTER.

...well, Dudley at least. Figured this guy out. He's a powerhouse, and even though he can't kick, his punches are effective and appealing.

This mundane guy in underpants is my next foe. He looks a lot like the final boss, so I wonder if he's a proto version of said final boss. Or a sibling/clone or something.

Oro is so-named because no one can figure out what the hell he is either, so they go "oro?" 

Basketball minigame here where you need to parry incoming basketballs. Merely blocking isn't enough. It's even more fun than beating up a car.

Ken (AKA Ryu USA) is still the hadoken-throwing bastard he has always been. This game finally answers the question of who is the more powerful fighter between Ken and Ryu, since Ryu now has penultimate boss status.

On the flipside, Akuma has been reduced to just another fighter. I figured he'd be the one to be the penultimate boss, since he has always been a huge threat in this universe.

 Akuma's themes are always very menacing, and this one is no exception.

 Second-to-last fight is Ryu. Never thought I'd see him playing the Goro role. He's much more difficult than any of the previous fights, but he's also nothing compared to the fight after this.

It's good to see at least a couple of the old characters return.

After a very tough fight, I get what looks like a double KO...but for some reason I won it. Dudley stylishly puts on his coat and leaves in his Aston-Martin.

The next time I fought Ryu, it went a little better...a little. I love winning fights with super moves.

Gill is the final boss of the game, and I've heard about how difficult he is. Time to find out firsthand. Not only is he gender-ambiguous, he's also split between fire and ice elements (and blue/red).

A bunch of creepy Klansmen druids look on as the final battle begins. I notice he also has a Lana.

I proceed to get completely whooped. Gill is much more difficult than the other guy in underpants.

Look at him posing and trolling the player when he wins. I hate this guy

Finally, I manage to defeat him...only to have him Hulk Up and get all his energy back. ARE YOU SERIOUS, BRO?

Many, many tries later, I got him, and managed to do it in style. Good thing the game has unlimited continues. One of the reasons I struggled to beat Mortal Kombat 2 as a kid was the inexplicable limited continues (think you had four tries).

 Dudley returns to his estate to do some gardening...and forgets to take his boxing gloves off.

This was a blast. It's my favorite game in the Street Fighter series as of right now and I'd totally buy a PS4 remaster of this.

I feel like George W. Bush in college, though.




3 comments:

  1. 3rd Strike got a PS3 release, who knows if it'll get a PS4 one though.

    This game looks and sounds phenomenal.

    Heh, the order of fighters you come across is semi-random, except for the only boss of the game, Gill.

    Yep, nearly every character in the game is new. The original plans were to not even include Ryu and Ken, but that got voted down. Still, even Chun Li didn't make it in until 3rd Strike.

    Great game that took a long time to get the recognition it deserved.

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  2. Street Fighter III
    Whoa, modern Street Fighter! This song is nice and modern, thought this was Graduation-era Kanye for a second.

    Dudley's a boss. A literal boss, I see. I like these new characters! Having the wealthy black man and his white butler is a nice switcheroo.

    The Yun-Yang Twins!

    Having a capoeira fighter is such a great idea. And capoeira was developed in Brazil, but proto-capoeira was brought there from West Africa by slaves.

    Are these druids worshipping this magical boss guy? Appropriately spooky.

    Dudley gardening to recuperate mentally from fighting touches my heart.

    I read this twice and it's really entertaining; thanks for letting me know about the game.

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    Replies
    1. I wonder what happened to the Ying-Yang Twins. I think they got Cell-assimilated by those LMFAO goobers.

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