Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike is Peak Arcade Design | Why It Endures

Video Description

Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike is Peak Arcade Design | Why It Endures. We will never see another fighting game like 3rd Strike. I love the Street Fighter series, but as time has gone on I've come to realize that I am especially fond of the Arcade Era games Street Fighter II, Street Fighter Alpha (Zero), and Street Fighter 3. In this video I explore what sets the arcade era of Street Fighter apart from its modern iteration of Street Fighter 4, 5, and now 6, and how the switch to the modern live service model of fighting game design is a much more radical shift than I think the FGC seems to realize. Capcom could not make a game like 3rd Strike today under the live service model, even if they decided to go all in on the parry mechanic there are still so many specific choices that 3rd Strike makes -- like limited cast size and open ended character balance, that simply would not be compatible under the current e-sports model of design. What makes 3rd Strike an unusual exception in the fighting game landscape is just how much it defies the current expectations of what a "balanced" fighting game looks like and how much it has managed to endure despite having no e-sports style developer backing or even a quality accessible port. Fightcade is awesome (I'm a fan) but it is also extremely unusual that a game relying on emulation for its player base has managed to not only hold onto that player base, but also grow. The only other equivalent that I can think of is Super Smash Bros Melee (there are a lot of interesting parallels between the two actually). The Classic King of Fighters games like 98 and 2002 are also popular, but they have the robust Ultimate Match ports. Speaking of ports, 3rd Strike fans are gonna want to hurry and pickup the Xbox 360 version of Street Fighter III: Online Edition before the store closes at the end of this month. It isn't perfectly accurate but it has really strong training and trial modes that will be helpful to new players. I won't give away this entire video in my description, but I will say that it is not a coincidence that 3rd Strike has managed to endure all these years because if you go back and read interviews with the devs (as well as study the design of the game) it is clear that 3rd Strike is the perfect example of a game that is specifically designed to last over time and endure for its hardcore audience in a way very few of its peers have managed to. Right now you can play Street Fighter III on PS4/PS5, Xbox One, PC (Steam), and Nintendo Switch via the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, which is solid but bare bones, but the primary way to find matches is definitely on Fightcade though I think Capcom could massively help the game by making a true definitive robust port of the game like KOF Ultimate Match. T-SHIRT DRIVE ORDER LINK: https://forms.gle/j3h9JGkSc9acHbNM9 Awesome thumbnail created by @boghogSTG Cool intro animation: @verygoodfreelancer Patreon https://www.patreon.com/electricunderground [$2 tier = Monthly Game Review Vote, Name in Credits, Exclusive Monthly Podcast] [$5 tier = Double Monthly Game Review Vote, By Name Shout-out, Name in Credits, Exclusive Monthly Podcast] Website: https://theelectricundergr.wixsite.com/the-electric-undergr Electric Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/ElectricUnderground/ STG Revision 2020 Discord (Shmup Community Discord): https://discord.gg/snRueeH 00:00 3rd Strike is the Antithesis of Modern Game Design 02:52 3rd Strike is a COMPANION GAME to Street Fighter 2 08:15 Modern Fighting Games EAT Each Other 10:45 3rd Strike's MOVEMENT and THROWS are Amazing 14:55 3rd Strike's Parry Deeply Extends the Neutral Game (Which I Love) 17:55 3rd Strike's "Yomi Layers" are Free Jazz 19:33 The Parry is NATURALLY BALANCED (No Meters) 23:39 Quick Break, T-SHIRT Merch Drive is Now (Support the Channel) 24:05 3rd Strike's Limited Cast is a Strength 27:00 The Value of Low Tier Characters 30:00 The Depth of System Mechanics OUTWEIGHS Character Tiers 31:00 The RIGHT CHARACTERS are Top Tier 33:53 The Game Balance Withstands UNBLOCKABLES (Wild) 35:38 Well-Made Games Will Find Meta-Balance Over Time 37:30 Arcade Design Endures Over Time (Built to Last) 40:21 3rd Strike at EVO 2024! Be Sure to Watch My Recap Stream #streetfighter, #3rdstrike, #fightinggames