"Street Fighter 3 finally comes home, and it brought its younger brother!"

Street Fighter, er...3?! The series finally got past 2 and alpha? Of course it did, a little over 2 years ago (way back in the 90s). With the entering of the new series, Capcom decided to throw away the old CPS-2 hardware and step up to CPS-3. The new arcade board adds enough extra RAM to take the character animation to insane levels. One look at Elena's standing animation and you'll see what I'm talking about. Character art has also changed to a more "serious" look for some of the characters. Ryu, it seems, has aged considerably since SF2 and SFA. Not only did they change the art/graphics drastically, the gameplay has evolved as well. Out with the Alpha counters, multiple supers to choose from in each round and air blocking. New to the game is the ability to parry attacks. The DC version includes the original Street Fighter 3 and the second game in the series, 2nd Impact, all in one package. 2nd Impact didn't add much to the game besides 3 new characters, "enhanced" special moves, taunts and the separation of the 2 Chinese brothers, Yun and Yang. So Street Fighter 3 makes the tired Street Fighter series feel new, but does it improve it? In my opinion, it does in some ways. How does all this translate to the Dreamcast?

Graphically, I can tell no difference between the DC and arcade version. Some people have claimed that the characters are different sizes in the DC version; I honestly can't tell if they are (I don't have the luxury of owning a CPS-3 arcade board for side-by-side comparison). It looks as if all of the animation made it intact. The only possible exception might be Hugo's twisting animation (I didn't get to play 2nd Impact all that much). I say this because when Ibuki does her Kazekiri (neck snap), Hugo doesn't twist in the air like every other character. Regardless if that animation is missing or not, the animation is awesome. Some of the backgrounds aren't very animated and look pretty bland (*cough* Urien's stage *cough*), but some are just so damn cool. Between rounds some backgrounds will dramatically change like in Elena's stage. The first round starts out on an unstable old bridge, after an opponent is knocked out the bridge falls down in front of a waterfall and you continue fighting. Changing backgrounds, an insane amount of animation and no loading times...good stuff.

If you have an arcade stick or the ASCII Pad FT (my personal preference), then you're in for a treat. If you played it in the arcades, you'll feel right at home with the DC version. Only problem would be if you just have the standard DC pads I really don't see how you'll get that much enjoyment out of this game. The gameplay is kept pretty simple in SF3. The only thing that makes the game complex, and somewhat a more defensive game, is the new ability to parry. By pressing forward or down at the instant you would normally be hit by an incoming attack, you deflect the attack and have a chance to counter your opponent. This is the only way to block in the air. If you practice enough supers can be defeated with ease just by learning the specific timing for each one. Super cancels from Street Fighter EX made their way into SF3 too. That makes for some pretty insane looking combos. It's nice that if you do end up catching someone with a super cancel it won't take off as much energy as if you did the super to them without the extra hits. That kinda balances the game a bit since it is pretty difficult to hit someone with a super without canceling.

The area Street Fighter always excels in is the sound. Voice samples, sound effects, and music are all top-notch and crystal clear. Kudos to the composer of the music in the game (especially 2nd Impact), cause this is some of the best music in a video game. Jazzy tunes mixed with a tad of drum and bass, no complaints here.

Overall the game is a solid package. My one gripe with this package is that why the first two SF3s? Why not 3rd Strike? And why put so many extras in Street Fighter Alpha 3 and nothing extra in W Impact except for a parrying mode (cool, but it's no World Tour Mode). SF3 is the natural progression of the series. Animation and gameplay take it to the next level, if not making it a rewarding game for defensive players. From how animation intense this game is we now know that the DC is a 2D beast. Ports of Guilty Gear 2, SF3: 3rd Strike, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, and (crossing my fingers on this one) Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves should all be perfect if and when they come to the Dreamcast.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/09/00, Updated 01/09/00