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[MrAngryFace]

Which is the best overall?

Alpha 2 rocked in terms of all around presentation for one. Awesome stages (Gen) and great music (Sakura's Stage is my Fav) and this is where Ken REALLY started to break away from Ryu in terms of a moveset I thought. The whole game just felt so polished. SFA3 had MORE, but I dont think it was better. Music was worse, and the game felt so showboaty.

SF3 is gods gift to 2D fighters on a technical level, but was it over-animated? Were the stages and music all they could be. The music seemed forgettable, and the cast didnt get really nice till Third Strike. Some of the levels were fantastic, but then again some were poo-ish.

 

[DarkGiygas]

3s OST = leet.

 

[Biff Hardbody]

3s is so much more fun to me. I never was keen on the characters until recently, now I think aside from a few duds its rock solid. Gameplay wise, its untouched in 2-D fighters IMO.

 

[BeOnEdge]

sfA2. specifically the home versions with arranged music.

 

[DarkGiygas]

3s is so much more fun to me. I never was keen on the characters until recently, now I think aside from a few duds its rock solid. Gameplay wise, its untouched in 2-D fighters IMO.

Uh, there's only ONE dud in it, dudLEY.

ZING.

 

[rastex]

Parrying automatically makes 3S > * sorry.

 

[ourumov]

Alpha 2 by miles.

It's the most polished Street Fighter game so far.



1. Awesome stages that show great talent and imagination (and graphics). Is there any thing better than fighring with a Harrier in the background ? Or in the secret Sagat stage !!! Not to mention the ultra cool Akuma's cave.


2. Awesome music, not repetitive and with memorable tunes. Who doesn't remember Sakura, Birdie or Goukis themes ??


3. Awesome system, the perfect mixture of tech and combo. The introduction of the custom combo is perhaps the greatest addition ever. Street Fighter Zero 2 is just the best of each Zero 3 ISM. Introduction of the Alpha counter, being easy to perform (Alpha Counter > Parry).

4. Awesome characters. Sure Alpha 3 has more of them but were they necessary ? Outside Cody I don't need all of them. Street Fighter 2 was SF2, and Alpha series were Alpha series. No need to see the old crew again.


It's a pity there isn't a super-hyper-mega-ultra-faithful port on the consoles. The SS one was awesome but it had the music changed (music from SFZ2 in SFCollection) and I didn't like it.
Everyone will vote Third Strike because it's the fashionable game and "it rocks so much that it would be a sin to not vote it..." but true 2D fighting games know that Alpha 2 is still the best Street Fighter game to date.

 

[evil ways]

Even though SF3 has more gameplay options and additions, I like Alpha 2 more, because of the roster, and stages.

 

[EdLuva]

3s for the animation & music

 

[Fatghost]

Very tough call. Third Strike because parrying is more fun and more technical than alpha counters, but the two are very close.

Third Strike is miles better than Alpha 3 though. And Alpha 2 is miles better than New Generation and 2nd Impact.

 

[Neo_ZX]

IMO 3S characters just seemed so generic. They had some good ideas but guys like Remy, Oro, and the Russian zombie thing feel uninspired. Dudley? A sophisticated Balrog. Thanks for Elena though!

Although SFA3 is my fav, SFA2 will always hold a special place in me just because it was the game that got me excited to play every round. I rented that game for SNES, borrowed my friend's PSX to play it as often as I could. Very balanced, had pretty much everything.

SFA series > SF3!!!

 

[Ryu]

I started playing Street Fighter with the first SF2 game World Warrior and had a lot of fun, but I really became interested when CE came out and since have been hooked. Alpha 2 was and still is my favorite street fighter game of all time though. The custom combo system in that game and the great (IE: not faulty) Q sound was very vibrant and menacing on your senses. The punch landings and the awesome music on Gen's stage was just bliss.

Street Fighter 3 was and always will be an awesome technical fighting achievement, but the problem is that there is an obvious downgrade in the overall game presentation from NG to TS and that's really dissapointing even though the gameplay was tweaked masterfully and the new characters really did add extra spice to the overall roster. I just feel the game lacks that special vibrance contained in Alpha 2. Not to say TS is bad, quite the contrary, but for the first time ever, the polish of the game went from decent to poor. It must have taken a lot of effort to achieve that...

 

[kevm3]

Alpha 2 was my favorite street fighter ever and still is. Never cared for Alpha 3 when they started altering Ken... Street Fighter 3 was pretty good, but it just didn't seem as together as Alpha 2.

 

[MrAngryFace]

I think the biggest ken altering was thanks to the versus series more than SFA3.

 

[SaitoH]

Street fighter 3 - Third Strike reigns supreme.

^w^

 

[Great Wasabi Man]

hmmm....

I wasn't really into SF3 till recently when I got it on ps2 cause when it hit the arcades the scene was beyond dead ....so my judegment MAY be a bit off

SF3:

+ Animation
+ The characters look and feel like they have wieght to them.
+ The layout of Single player game...choosing who you can fight next.

SFA2:

++ "Alpha Counter" miss it so...
+ The cartoony look
+ Familiar Roster
+ the attempt at a story with character specific bosses.

 

[jett]

3rd Strike owns the shit out of SFA2.

 

[Ferrio]

3rd Strike owns the shit out of SFA2.

Ya I'll agree.

 

[MoxManiac]

Watch that 3s parry video in the other thread and the answer becomes clear.

 

[belgurdo]

3rd Strike owns the shit out of SFA2.

'

 

[Biff Hardbody]

3rd Strike owns the shit out of SFA2.

Alpha 2 is awesome, but this man is correct. 3rd Strike is just that fucking good. I didn't like it (or any of the third strike games) at first, but the more I play it the harder it is for me to go back to other 2-D fighters.

And Dudley being generic? Man, call him whatever you like...but he's one of the best characters in the street fighter cast. Awesome style, much more flowing then 'Rog ever was. He's cool as hell too.

 

[MetatronM]

3rd Strike owns the shit out of SFA2.

Absolutely.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

Alpha 2 is awesome, but this man is correct. 3rd Strike is just that fucking good. I didn't like it (or any of the third strike games) at first, but the more I play it the harder it is for me to go back to other 2-D fighters.

And Dudley being generic? Man, call him whatever you like...but he's one of the best characters in the street fighter cast. Awesome style, much more flowing then 'Rog ever was. He's cool as hell too.

Same here, I hated Third Strike at first. It felt so limited, but damn does that game open up after you get used to it.

 

[ourumov]

We need Lyte Edge in this thread !!!! More SFA2 love needed !!!

 

[Dilbert]

SFA2 is my favorite fighting game of all-time. The custom combo system, coupled with Alpha Counters, made it an incredibly rich game. The home versions also contained the best hidden character of all time: Shin Akuma. It was always fun sneaking in that code against unknowing friends for versus matches...

 

[Lyte Edge]

We need Lyte Edge in this thread !!!! More SFA2 love needed !!!

It's a tough call for me, actually. These days, I'd rather play SF3, but I have put far more time into SFA2 and in their primes, would probably still have to take SFA2 over SF3. SFA2 got everything right the first time around; the additions made to the home versions and in Street Fighter Zero 2 Alpha were just the icing on the cake. I also have to show much love for SFA3, which I think is the better game than SFA2 overall; the huge roster and ISM system makes for so many things you can do.

Meanwhile, it took SF3 several tries to get to level it's viewed at now. New Generation was fun for me but clearly needed work AND had some stupid changes made to it. Second Impact was definitely better, but still needed more characters, and 3rd Strike continued to improve the game and gave it a good-sized roster filled with interesting characters from a game play perspective, but had some bizarre character designs.

It's not to say that Street Fighter never had weird characters (Blanka!), but 3s just makes everything even weirder. From the design perspective, I much prefer the Alpha series' cast over the SF3 series' cast, but I really like the designs for Alex, Yun/Yang, Dudley, Elena, and Ibuki, (Ryu, Ken, Akuma, Chun-Li, and Hugo don't count here, as they are not new characters to Capcom games), Necro is cool for a freak character, and Sean is something new for a "Shoto," but Q, 12, Oro, Gill, and Urien (who I like to use, but again, this is all about design) need design overhauls. Makoto is sort of in the middle for me; she's just a rip-off of Akane Tendo from Ranma 1/2, and from a design standpoint, a girl in a gi is nothing really original. Remy is also in the middle; I like the look but find the character very boring. I do think that overall, the 3s character additions feel "rushed" compared to the rest of the SF games' cast additions.

If there's one thing I've always loved about SF3 though, it's the music; all three versions have great soundtracks. I like a lot of the songs in New Generation the best, and I disagree that the BGMs aren't as memorable in other games...some of the music is STILL stuck in my head seven years after SF3's release.

SEVEN years. It's time for a new SF. I don't mean "Capcom Vs. Marvelimagedcdarkhorsespawnyheavymetaljojossnk," or Capcom Fighting All-Star Recyclefest, I mean it's time for a new STREET FIGHTER game. I'll even take a new EX at this point.

 

[MoxManiac]

Q rocks, f00.

 

[XS+]

Nothing to add to this thread..

A2 character design > 3rd Strike's
A2 backgrounds > 3rd Strike's
A2 music > 3rd Strike's
A2 gameplay <<<<<<<<<<<<< 3rd Strike's

 

[Lyte Edge]

Q rocks, f00.

I forgot to lump in Q with Makoto under "blatant manga rip-off character designs."

 

[Takuan]

SF3's backdrops weren't very good. I loved 3rd Strike's soundtrack. For some reason, it sounded totally different on Dreamcast. I hope the PS2 version's exactly the same as the arcade.

 

[Lyte Edge]

SF3's backdrops weren't very good. I loved 3rd Strike's soundtrack. For some reason, it sounded totally different on Dreamcast. I hope the PS2 version's exactly the same as the arcade.

SF3's background quality got worse with each update IMO. They kept removing stuff, and 3s is mostly static like SFA3.

The DC SF3 3s had music ADDED, not taken away. Each character had two remixes to go with the original theme that changed each round. You can just use the arcade soundtrack in the PS2 version if you wish to, but WHY?

 

[Sai]

I loved the remixed tracks in the DC port of Third Strike. But strangely enough, there were a lot of people who didn't like 'em at all.

Alpha 2 is what rekindled my interest in Street Fighter. It's what got me back into gaming full force, and what drove me to purchase a Saturn. I had more fun with Alpha 2 back when I was at my "peak" with the game. I think it's a bit more accesible than Third Strike.

... Even with that said, I recognize Third Strike as the better game. Just looking at it from a gameplay perspective. It's a deep 2D fighter, excellent visuals, fluid animation, and very interesting character roster(though some of the designs may be a bit odd).

 

[Takuan]

The DC SF3 3s had music ADDED, not taken away. Each character had two remixes to go with the original theme that changed each round.

That's so odd, because it just never sounded right coming from my Dreamcast. I think it was Yun's stage that I remember having a light drum 'n bass theme which I never, EVER heard from the DC version. Instead it was some weird James Bond-ish thing. Oh well, hopefully I'll be able to revisit it in the PS2 version.

 

[Lyte Edge]

That's so odd, because it just never sounded right coming from my Dreamcast. I think it was Yun's stage that I remember having a light drum 'n bass theme which I never, EVER heard from the DC version. Instead it was some weird James Bond-ish thing. Oh well, hopefully I'll be able to revisit it in the PS2 version.

Like I said, you can pick the arcade only tracks if you want, but they are in the original DC-style BGM selection too.

The James Bond-sounding theme has ALWAYS been in Yun's stage, ever since SF3: New Generation. ^_^;

 

[jett]

SF3's background quality got worse with each update IMO. They kept removing stuff, and 3s is mostly static like SFA3.

The DC SF3 3s had music ADDED, not taken away. Each character had two remixes to go with the original theme that changed each round. You can just use the arcade soundtrack in the PS2 version if you wish to, but WHY?

The "remixes" in the DC version are fucking stupid. In most stages they just break up the original track in 3 parts and re-do the drum beat a little bit. Ooooh what amazing remixes they are indeed~

BTW, the DC version doesn't have the original arcade music.