Street Fighter Anniversary Collection

Written by Ryan Genno  on June 02, 2005

Review: Hit me with your best shot!

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It took a while but the Xbox version of the acclaimed Street Fighter Anniversary Collection is finally here. If you don't know what the fuss is all about Capcom has two of their popular old fashion 2 dimensional Street Fighter games (Hyper Street Fighter II and Street Fighter III: Third Strike) in one package to celebrate the 15-year birthday of the series. PlayStation 2 owners have already gotten a chance to play Street Fighter AC in 2004, but now Xbox players not only get their chance to play these legends but they can also fight online too.

The original Street Fighter game was first released way back in 1987 and it was a solid one on one fighting game where characters Ryu or Ken could fight tough guys from around the world. A few years later Capcom would release a huge sequel with better arcade technology, and it was that game that became the real moneymaker. Not only were the graphics and sounds vastly improved, but you could now pick from one of eight unique combatants - each with their own fighting styles. If you couldn't beat a friend with someone like Ryu, then you could just switch with a quicker guy like Blanka to change up your game plan - plus who can forget a character like Chun-Li? She was both a tough woman in a male dominated tournament, and a damn hot looking character with a sexy outfit. The game had interesting fighters, it was easy to control, and it had tons of depth to keep everyone playing.

Street Fighter II became so big that Capcom would release no less then four arcade upgrades to balance the game play, make the bosses playable, add new characters and there were more moves included too. The new Hyper Street Fighter II is a fun collection of all these games specially made for this Anniversary Collection. It is now possible to fight a Ryu from the original SF2 with a Ryu from Super Street Fighter II Turbo.
The second game in this set is none other than Street Fighter III: Third Strike, a semi-popular arcade game that was only translated on the Sega Dreamcast console. The funny thing about Street Fighter III when it first hit the arcades is gamers were so sick of playing the same old 2D fighting that the response to the game was kind of underwhelming. Although the game had beautiful animation, and some of the new characters like the one-armed Oro and the Capoeira expert Elena were a breath of fresh air, the game still only had 10 fighters - and why in heck was there only one boss! Since gamers waited forever for part 3 to get here, the anticipation couldn't match what the final game turned out to be.

Street Fighter III: Third Strike was the third and final edition of the SFIII series and the game now has a huge cast of 19 fighters (including the returning Chun-Li). The game also graded you on your performance, giving the game more depth then the average title. The game was so good and complex, some gaming magazines have even gone as far as naming Third Strike one of the best 2D fighters ever made.

OK, maybe if you are a diehard Street Fighter nut you already played these games to death, but have they played them online before? Both SFII and SFIII here can be played online by anyone with an Xbox Live account and a fast connection. You can invite friends, make custom matches, and you can even talk smack with the Xbox communicator. There is little to no lag and the games are universal, so it's not too hard to find someone who wants to fight.

Unfortunately, Capcom is throwing one lame anniversary party because there sure isn't much of a history lesson here. In other games like Midway Arcade Treasures 2 (a collection of 19 games that just happened to feature two big-time Street Fighter rivals - Mortal Kombat II and 3) there were tons of exclusive DVD extras like cabinet art, information, and developer movies. I don't understand why the same features weren't included in this title as well?

I also have another question for Capcom. Where the hell is Street Fighter One? I know it isn't the best fighting game with its clunky graphics and muffled sounds; still you can't have a true anniversary collection without the original game that started it all! I would gladly give up that mediocre Street Fighter II anime movie just for more Street Fighter related games.

The graphics remind unchanged and Street Fighter II's visuals were certainly fantastic in the day, but that was way back in 1991. The background art is nice and colourful, but they are also very static and the many on-lookers only have a few animations so they don't appear believable. Street Fighter III is a much different story however. The characters are all amazingly detailed and the animation looks like something I would see in a Disney movie.

The graphics aren't the only great thing about SFIII. The game opens up with its own rap theme and the rest of the background and sound effects are all top-notch. Hyper Street Fighter II is no pushover in the sound department either. That game alone has three different remixes for the background music and the newer tracks even hold up compared to other more current Xbox titles. It isn't perfect though because guys like Guile (the military bad boy) still have that annoying ring announcer's voice, but overall I was very impressed with the sounds in SFAC.