Street Fighter Anniversary Collection (Sony PlayStation 2, 2004)

After playing this game in the arcade many years ago, I decided to buy this game. It included 2 Street Fighter Games and a movie ( Hyper Street Fighter 2 and Street Fighter 3rd Strike as well as Street Fighter 2 animated movie) so I was pleased with the value that I would be getting. I didn't enjoy Street Fighter 3rd Strike as much due to a difficult boss (Gill) and some characters to choose, especially when I set the difficulty to the easiest. It seems that as you progress, the battles get harder which is kind of ridiculous because I expected the battles to remain the same so I can practice some combos and super moves. Some characters are easy to use, while others are just terrible and I mean terrible. For instance, I used Ken and just lost once against the boss and did not lose the matches with Ryu or Ibuki and then I tried Necro, Twelve, and Makoto and kept getting pummeled by him and some other characters. Well, at least I have infinite continues so that's good. Hyper Street Fighter 2 was better because you have the option of choosing what mode you want to use. There were 4 modes if I remember correctly (Super Turbo, Super, Hyper, Normal). The only thing that I didn't see was the music background themes for each of the characters. All I could see was the opening music in the options menu. I am guessing that maybe I would have to beat the game with each character to unlock it. Overall I enjoyed the game, but it does not deserve an excellent rating.

I'll split this review in two parts, seeing that there are two games on this disc.

Hyper Street Fighter II:
This game started it all, without it we would not have the 2D fighter genre, or possibly even the entire fighting genre that we have today. Instead of picking one version of the game and sticking it in the package Capcom decided to create a hybrid of all versions of the game and stick them together, a hardcore SFII fan's dream. Where the problem lies though, is that you almost have to use the most recent version of the game's charicters to survive because that is what the computer will use, however if you are extremely expierienced it could be bragging rights to say that you beat the game with the normal SFII version of one charicter, against the entire roster of the Super SFII Turbo cast. It is really nice to see an ultimate version of SFII put together like this, it's very nostalgic, although it is arguable that instead of pumping all versions of the game into one, that Capcom could have included every version, each of them being playable so the progress can be seen over the years.

Street Fighter III: Third Strike

The inclusion of SF III is a very nice addition to the game. It is, in my own opinion, the absolute greatest fighting game of all time. Everything in the game is almost perfect, even the urbanized soundtrack. I don't understand why this game was slept on, but now at least, everyone who buys the game, will be able to see how amazing the game truly is. That being said, it does not mean that the game doesn't have problems, even if they are minor. I think that Capcom could have put in the previous two versions of Street Fighter III, this is a collection focusing on the history of the Street Fighter series, right? We shouldn't have to rely on finding the Dreamcast version of the past two versions, just to play them. The only other problem (a very minor one), is the resolution of the characters is lower than the Dreamcast or arcade version, so they aren't as good looking. Overall for me, SFIII is the real reason I bought this game.

Summary:
This is an excellent package, even if the past couple of versions of SFIII are not present, or every version of SF II is not included along with the Hyper Version. That is what keeps this disc from being perfect, but overall the collection ends up being, very, very solid, and will most likely get you addicted just like you were in the old days.
Reader's Ratings for Street Fighter Anniversary Collection

Third Strike was one of my favorite Street Fighters if not my favorite one. It is easy to play, yet it doesn't get old. Not only do you get Third Strike, but you get SF2 Super Turbo as a bonus; you can't go wrong with that.

The PS2 version is said to be faster and the PS2 control pad is also better as compared with the Xbox counterpart; although, you could just get an arcade stick if you really are serious. Either way it is a terrific game from the mechanics to the music. For example, the game flows nicely and command are easy to input; and, the music is a different take from the other Street Fighters, but it doesn't mean it is worse, in fact it sounds a lot better in my opinion.

Loading times are speedy and you barely notice any stop time.

The game also has parry training, which is a great feature that allows you to parry attacks that you want.

In the end you will not regret getting this game whether you are a veteran or a brand new player.

Street Fighter has been the staple of fighting games ever since it came out. Its popularity soared when Capcom released Street Fighter II, and its numerous variations. Capcom has continued to generate bigger and better versions, up to Street Fighter's most current incarnation (Street Fighter 3 : Third Strike). Now Capcom has made these games available to you in one awesome package.

If you are more of an old-school type of gamer, you can choose to play the many variations of the characters in Street Fighter II. The game retains its look and feel, while adding a lot of replay value by adding in the different "versions" of every character in the game.

Personally, I love the Street Fighter 3 : Third Strike version that they have in this collection. Unlike the previous releases in other consoles, this version is nearly arcade-perfect, meaning it will be almost exactly as how you would play it in the arcades, minus the tokens. All supers, combos, and timing remain faithful to the arcade version.

Overall, I would highly recommend purchasing this collection. After purchasing this game, all you need is the Street Fighter Anniversary Collection arcade stick, but that's a whole different review.

This PS2 game has two of the best fighting games known to man on one disc. Hyper Street Fighter 2 has so many different options in terms of gameplay and challenge as well as changing the color of the combatant's uniforms. It is very enjoyable.

Street Fighter 3 continues to improve on its predecessor. for example, you can now choose from three super moves, whereas SF2 only had one super move per fighter. It also features a different roster of fighters; save for Ryu, Ken, Akuma, and Chun Li, all the combatants are new. The graphics are hand drawn here compared to the spritework of the previous game.

The reason I purchased this game is because the Street Fighter series has a solid reputation as being one of the best games around and I can definitely vouch for that. I suppose the only flaw would be that SF3 is not forgiving for beginners; it's more for hardcore gamers. For instance, the parrying system is hard to get a grip on.

There are a lot of fighting games on the scene nowadays, but this is the one that started the whole fighting trend. Classic characters, solid gameplay, and an excellent soundtrack make for one great collection. Overall, this is a game that should be in anyone's collection whether you're new or a seasoned pro.