Street Fighter Anniversary (Xbox)

street fighter three is however very good, and if like me you don't want to spend twenty quid on the dreamcast version it's worth the cost of the game alone. this game also does not suffer from being frustratingly difficult either, as capcom presumably realised this was irritating in street fighter anniversary edition. add to this the anime classic street fighter the animated movie (not the duff alpha movie or the positively dire film with kylie) and you have a good package.

overall a the film and SF3 are good, but they might as well not have bothered with SF2 for the amount of use most fans might get. i think i'll dig out the SNES and remind myself how enjoyable street fighter 2 used to be.

Hyper Street Fighter 2 is a compilation of all prior versions of the Street Fighter 2 series, blending all 17 characters from "World Warrior" to "Super Turbo" and enabling fighters from different instalments to do battle. The two player game is as balanced and enjoyable as it ever was, but computer opponents have become tough and frustrating, even at lower skill levels. Still, a must have classic.

Street Fighter 3 : Third Strike has all of the balance and playability of Street Fighter 2, with vastly more depth and scope for skill. It adds parrying, dashing, cancelling, EX special moves and vastly improved super attacks to the mix. Every character has a particular niche and style of play that exploit their unique attacks to devastatingly effect. The graphics are colourful and distinctive. Animation in particular is outstanding - each of the 20 characters move with finesse and fluidity. Sadly, while the sound effects are great, they're overshadowed by the terrible music. There are no music volume controls and therefor no way to disable the repetitive, tinny din, witout sacrificing sound effects. Forunately, this is more an issue in the training mode than at other times. This game alone is worth the price tag.

Here's to hoping Capcom release a Street Fighter Alpha compilation too!

That said, this compilation includes Hyper Street Fighter II (a compilation of Street Fighter II, Champion Edition, Hyper Fighting, Super Street Fighter II, and Super Street Fighter II: Turbo) together with Street Fighter III: Third Strike.

How many Street Fighter II versions will you play? There is little difference between the versions and if youre like me, youre gonna end up playing the latest of the pack anyway.

So.... Capcom could have saved DVD space here and could include the Alpha series in the mix or even a Street Fighter EX version.

Of all the Street Fighter series, Alpha was my favorite, it had great animation framerate, the best graphics in any SF, fighting was great and had a lot of fighters and cool landscapes to fight in, this compilation is somewhat a letdown to me.

Street Fighter III: Third Strike is one of the best in terms of gameplay, but its not as strong and appealing as SF2 or Alpha series, the reason? The new fighters lack personality, many look like X-Men bizarre beings, full of impossible moves and strange transformations.

Sometimes when playing with my faithful Ken or Ryo duo, i feel like im playing a strange X-Men spacial game, fighting creatures from another world.... that somewhat ruins the athmosphere for me. Alpha had new fighters but also included the classic ones and both had style, coolness and originality. Also, if youre not into Hip-Hop music, youre gonna hate the soundtrack in SF3.

One of the major inclusions is the Street Fighter anime movie, a great manga flick imo.

All in all, if you dont have any SF game for your console, get this..... if you already have SF2 or SF3... avoid, cause besides the movie, its just another incomplete release from Capcom that leaves us wanting more.

If Capcom wants to close a chapter in history, this wasnt the best way to do it. The trick would be to put SF2, Alpha, SF3 and SFEX3 in the same box together with the movie, perhaps one day a complete and worthy release comes out.