"And on the seventh day, God created Third Strike"

Fully aware of the problem-magnet this tagline truly is, I’ll choose the way of the honest man and tell you right from the beginning that this is one of my favorite games. Countless hours spent on 2d fighter may have left me with bleeding thumbs, but haven’t clouded my judgment however. The latest installment in the Street Fighter series is pretty damn good, but not perfect.

The most striking aspect of this third episode of the Street Fighter III series is that it’s a man’s game: it’s so complex and technical that it would be foolish to recommend it to casual gamers or non-fighter adepts. When you decide to put your coin on this cabinet, leave your feelings at home, and prepare to dominate or be dominated in true darwinist fashion.

What separates the strong from the weak in Third Strike is somewhat hard to define, but it seems to be a combination of quick reflexes, intense knowledge, acute intelligence and fantastic will. Contrary to most fighters out there, this game clearly puts the emphasis on mind games and creativity. Yes indeed, there are no invincible patterns or disgustingly damaging combos here: it’s fighting in its purest form.

Nineteen characters from all around the world fighting for silly reasons: you know the deal. Since nearly the whole gaming community knows Street Fighter II, I feel obliged to mention the fact that only Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li and Akuma are returning this time around. The rest of the cast is relatively new because it was taken from the previous III game, apart from Remy the French Guile clone, Makoto the Japanese tomboy, Twelve the strange morphing creature, and Q the mysterious Inspector Gadget impersonator. Despite the appearances –some designs are controversial- they are all excellent additions to the cast and, added to a batch of new supers and special moves, finally make the III series feel complete and varied.

Never in history has a fighter been as balanced as this one. This was made possible by an intelligent toning down of some characters (namely Akuma, Sean and Ibuki) and the improvement of the parry system. Yes indeed, not only can you now tap forward to parry upcoming attacks as in the previous games, but you can also use a technique called red parry which is simply going from a blocking stance into a parrying stance. Another important change has to do with throws: you have to press two buttons to perform them in this game, that is to say that accidental throws are now a thing of the past. In other words, button mashing will take you NOWHERE in Third Strike and that's a good thing, because mashing is for the weak.

Also new to the series is the possibility to choose your opponent in single player. An -almost- coherent grade system gives the player more incentive to play, but as expected, Third Strike only reaches its full potential when played against humans.

That’s precisely when the game starts becoming really interesting, mainly thanks to the aforementioned parry system. Not being able to guess your opponent’s next move or using predictable strategies will only result in immediate waste in any competitive environment: only mentally strong players can take this challenge, while others reject and insult the cabinet, preferring a more classic game in which they don’t have to practice as much to only reach a decent skill level.

Third Strike is a very deep game. Yes indeed, it takes months, if not years to fully master it, possibly because your defense is as important as your offense this time. Fighter enthusiasts will be in heaven when they begin to understand the mechanics of the game, opening a whole new world of strategies that never gets old. Three years after the release of the game, new tactics are still being discovered. Stop hesitating and join the fun!

Moreover, the game has few gameplay flaws --making it a solid fighter. First, Chun-Li’s Houyokusen Super Art is probably too damaging and easy to connect, substantially contributing to making her the best character in the game. Besides, Urien and Oro both have unblockable Super setups that were only fixed on the Dreamcast version (actually, a revised version of the board was produced on a limited scale but it never saw the light of the day outside of Japan). A glitch created the kara-throws, which are performed by canceling a normal move with a throw, giving it more range. Although these are certainly not gamebreaking, they are important in high-level play and definitely are worthy of attention.

The visuals will surely catch your attention, if they haven’t already done so. Third Strike is a beautiful 2d game. The level of detail on the characters and backgrounds is simply jaw-dropping, even though the game is not in high resolution (think Guilty Gear X). The animation is probably still the best to this day, which an incredible number of frames per second, creating an almost cartoon-like picture: watch Chun-Li and die… The nice choice of colors adds a peculiar touch to the original backgrounds, although they were much more animated in the previous installment.

Capcom totally changed the mood of the Street Fighter games with Third Strike: the overall presentation looks very dynamic and stylish, with great art displayed between the fights. This is a huge improvement over Double Impact, but the decision of scratching the win screens present in the second episode makes virtually no sense.

Fast paced music and furious voices add to that peculiar ambiance that makes Third Strike such an outstanding fighting game. An interesting mix of rap and electronic music plays during the fights, providing them with a rarely matched intensity. Apart from a few tunes, the soundtrack is grand, and it’s worth noting that for the first time Capcom came close to producing tunes that rival the original Street Fighter II’s music. The voices are top-notch, as usual: there’s no doubt that the adepts of the shoryuken won’t be disappointed with Makoto’s incessant yelling and Q’s grunts.

Many people are wondering how long it will take Capcom to make a fourth and last episode of Street Fighter nowadays. But after playing Third Strike, I can’t help thinking that perhaps this should remain the final act of the mythical series. This title has it all, but is still unjustly ignored by the masses, probably because of its unappealing complexity. But this is truly a great game, a gift to a dying genre, as 2d fighters don’t get much better than this. If you haven’t already done so, give Third Strike a try: it’s not just another rehash.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/11/01, Updated 02/02/03