How Much Have I Played Before Posting Comments Below and Giving A Score?:
I played a few SF3 sessions years ago on this disc. I've played through up to Gill a few times, but the bugger always wipes the floor with me. Still enjoyed the game though. I've played much less SF2 from this disc, but have a lot of experience playing other versions of SF2 throughout my life from Arcade, to SNES, to PC to X360 HD remix. I did watch a fair bit of the movie on the disc but it was after a long day at work and I was drinking beer, so it actually put me to sleep. Played both SF2 and SF3 games again just before writing up comments and coming up with my score.
I played a few SF3 sessions years ago on this disc. I've played through up to Gill a few times, but the bugger always wipes the floor with me. Still enjoyed the game though. I've played much less SF2 from this disc, but have a lot of experience playing other versions of SF2 throughout my life from Arcade, to SNES, to PC to X360 HD remix. I did watch a fair bit of the movie on the disc but it was after a long day at work and I was drinking beer, so it actually put me to sleep. Played both SF2 and SF3 games again just before writing up comments and coming up with my score.
My Comments:
This disc comes with two separate games, and one full length movie on it. The main star of the show is definitely Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. This was the last and best version in the SF3 series. Also on the disc is a massive mashup version of Street Fighter 2 named Hyper Street Fighter 2 Anniversary Edition. This version takes every version (normal, champion, turbo, super, super turbo) of every character ever released in SF2 and lets you mix and match them. Therefore you could, if you wish, take a "normal" version of Guile without any flashy super meters, but with high base damage output, and match him against a super turbo version of Chun Li where she has additional special and super moves, but is balanced by lowered raw damage output. Not all characters are available in all versions, with the old stalwarts like Ryu, Guile, etc having all versions available, and more recent editions like T.Hawk or Akuma only having one or two versions available as they were introduced to the series later.
If you get this disc, you're probably buying it mostly for Street Fighter III: Third Strike. The sprites in SF3 are big, smooth and beautiful. Backgrounds are nice too, though much less detail than the characters...but that's good because it makes the characters really stand out. There are some really original characters in SF3 that haven't made it into any other game of the series (like Oro, Twelve and Necro). Controls are responsive in SF3, being noticeably better than they are in SF2 on the same disc. The AI can be fairly punishing, particularly when you get to Gill who is the final boss. Back in it's day, Gill was quite a novelty and a technical achievement. he has two distinct sides to his body. The left side of his body is blue and all attacks from his left limbs will have ice effects. His right side is red and all attacks from his right side have fire effects. Unlike Sagat's eyepatch in other SF games, which inexplicably changes eyes when the sprite changes directions, Gill's colours stay true on his body regardless of which direction he's facing. So his left side will always be blue and his right side will always be red. Makes him pretty cool, (even if he is possibly the cheapest boss in all of SF history with his automatic resurrection super!!).
Hyper Street Fighter 2 Anniversary Edition is definitely a less refined experience than SF3, and it's one that you're less likely to dabble in outside of nostalgia binges. The graphics are obviously inferior to those found in SF3, being blockier and less smoothly animated. The controls in SF2 are also noticeably less responsive than they are in SF3, and the AI difficulty in SF2 is stiffer. The damage output in SF2 is also pretty crazy and it's not uncommon to lose 50% of your health bar after receiving only a couple of bad hits. Still, it's nice to have this game on the disc. The ability to make dream matches between all the various iterations of all the characters ever to appear in SF2's history is quite cool, even if it is more of a novelty than anything else.
Overall, this is a great fighter to own on the original Xbox. I'm giving it 8.0 for Street Fighter III: Third Strike, and then another 1.0 for the addition of Hyper Street Fighter 2 and the full-length movie.
This disc comes with two separate games, and one full length movie on it. The main star of the show is definitely Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. This was the last and best version in the SF3 series. Also on the disc is a massive mashup version of Street Fighter 2 named Hyper Street Fighter 2 Anniversary Edition. This version takes every version (normal, champion, turbo, super, super turbo) of every character ever released in SF2 and lets you mix and match them. Therefore you could, if you wish, take a "normal" version of Guile without any flashy super meters, but with high base damage output, and match him against a super turbo version of Chun Li where she has additional special and super moves, but is balanced by lowered raw damage output. Not all characters are available in all versions, with the old stalwarts like Ryu, Guile, etc having all versions available, and more recent editions like T.Hawk or Akuma only having one or two versions available as they were introduced to the series later.
If you get this disc, you're probably buying it mostly for Street Fighter III: Third Strike. The sprites in SF3 are big, smooth and beautiful. Backgrounds are nice too, though much less detail than the characters...but that's good because it makes the characters really stand out. There are some really original characters in SF3 that haven't made it into any other game of the series (like Oro, Twelve and Necro). Controls are responsive in SF3, being noticeably better than they are in SF2 on the same disc. The AI can be fairly punishing, particularly when you get to Gill who is the final boss. Back in it's day, Gill was quite a novelty and a technical achievement. he has two distinct sides to his body. The left side of his body is blue and all attacks from his left limbs will have ice effects. His right side is red and all attacks from his right side have fire effects. Unlike Sagat's eyepatch in other SF games, which inexplicably changes eyes when the sprite changes directions, Gill's colours stay true on his body regardless of which direction he's facing. So his left side will always be blue and his right side will always be red. Makes him pretty cool, (even if he is possibly the cheapest boss in all of SF history with his automatic resurrection super!!).
Hyper Street Fighter 2 Anniversary Edition is definitely a less refined experience than SF3, and it's one that you're less likely to dabble in outside of nostalgia binges. The graphics are obviously inferior to those found in SF3, being blockier and less smoothly animated. The controls in SF2 are also noticeably less responsive than they are in SF3, and the AI difficulty in SF2 is stiffer. The damage output in SF2 is also pretty crazy and it's not uncommon to lose 50% of your health bar after receiving only a couple of bad hits. Still, it's nice to have this game on the disc. The ability to make dream matches between all the various iterations of all the characters ever to appear in SF2's history is quite cool, even if it is more of a novelty than anything else.
Overall, this is a great fighter to own on the original Xbox. I'm giving it 8.0 for Street Fighter III: Third Strike, and then another 1.0 for the addition of Hyper Street Fighter 2 and the full-length movie.
How Much Has Nostalgia Clouded My Judgment:
I've played a lot of Street Fighter 2 in my life. The opening scene in the opening video of Hyper Street Fighter 2 game brings back a lot of nostalgia from the arcade days. But ultimately this title is all about Street Fighter 3, and that's a game I never played in my life until playing it on this disc.
I've played a lot of Street Fighter 2 in my life. The opening scene in the opening video of Hyper Street Fighter 2 game brings back a lot of nostalgia from the arcade days. But ultimately this title is all about Street Fighter 3, and that's a game I never played in my life until playing it on this disc.
My Score (out of 10):
9.0
9.0
Will I Play This Game Again?:
Yes, although I'll probably only play Street Fighter 3, and even then I won't play it as often as other fighters I own.
Yes, although I'll probably only play Street Fighter 3, and even then I won't play it as often as other fighters I own.