Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection

Genre: Compilation / Fighting Game

Players: 1-2 Competitive (Local), 2-8 Competitive Tournament (Local Wireless), 2-4 Competitive Tournament (Online), Online Leaderboards

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Review:

(Note: This Game is included in the Compilation Capcom Fighting Bundle, alongside Capcom Fighting Collection)

Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection is a compilation of twelve… hm… okay, it’s hard to be sure what counts as a separate game here. We have the original Street Fighter, five different versions of Street Fighter II, three different versions of Street Fighter Alpha, and three different versions of Street Fighter III, so depending on how you count, there are anywhere from four to twelve games in this collection, all released originally in arcades from 1987 to 1999, with all games subsequently ported to multiple platforms over the years before being released together in this collection on multiple platforms including the Nintendo Switch in 2018.

Here is what I thought of each game in this collection:

Game	Genre	# of Players	Grade	tl;dr
Street Fighter	Fighting Game	1-2 Competitive (Local)	D-	There’s a reason most people focus on the second game in this series when talking about its roots – the first game is garbage. Terrible, unresponsive and laggy controls, choppy animations, overall ugly visuals, indecipherable muffled voice samples, and the only characters available to play are Ryu and Ken, making this a game that’s not worth bothering with except as a fascinating historical relic.
Street Fighter II: The World Warrior	Fighting Game	1-2 Competitive (Local)	B	By today’s standards, the original version of Street Fighter II is a bit slow-paced, and the inability to choose the same character in two-player face-offs is frustrating, but despite these limitations, the classic and balanced design of this game shines through – there’s a reason this is a game that every game in the genre would be based on for many years to come.
Street Fighter II: Champion Edition	Fighting Game	1-2 Competitive (Local)	B+	Championship Edition adds the ability to play the four “boss” characters from the first version of Street Fighter II, along with the ability to select the same character in multiplayer, but not much else. Still, this was an improved version of one of the formative games of the genre, and it’s still top-notch even by today’s standards.
Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting	Fighting Game	1-2 Competitive (Local), 2-8 Competitive Tournament (Local Wireless), 2-8 Competitive Tournament (Online), Online Leaderboards	B+	Once again, Capcom adds marginal improvements to the previous versions of the game – a faster speed, new moves, updated visuals for characters and stages, and some rebalancing mark this release. It’s still better than its predecessor, but not by much.
Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers	Fighting Game	1-2 Competitive (Local)	A-	This was another marginal upgrade to the foundation of Street Fighter II, but a bigger leap than what we’ve seen in prior releases, with the addition of four completely new characters, updated visuals and sound, and more rebalancing, although it lacks the prior game’s speed. I know I’m gonna’ sound like a broken record, but this is a game that’s better than its predecessor, and although it’s still not a huge leap, it’s definitely at least a decent-size jump.
Super Street Fighter II Turbo	Fighting Game	1-2 Competitive (Local), 2-8 Competitive Tournament (Local Wireless), 2-8 Competitive Tournament (Online), Online Leaderboards	A	One more final marginal improvement to Street Fighter II before this classic fighter is put to bed, this time adding back Hyper Fighting’s faster speed, as well as super moves, and secret unlockable character Akuma. This would stand as the definitive version of Street Fighter II until the release of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix 14 years later. As such, this is one of the best versions (but not the best version) of one of the defining games of the genre.
Street Fighter Alpha: Warrior’s Dreams	Fighting Game	1-2 Competitive (Local)	B	Featuring a mostly new roster of ten characters (plus a few secret characters), an entirely new art style, expanded super meters, air blocking, and reworked move sets, Street Fighter Alpha is the first actual full-fledged sequel to Street Fighter II… and it’s technically not a sequel at all, but a prequel. Still, this game goes farther than before to evolve the series’ formula, although the character lineup is nowhere near as iconic or approachable as this game’s predecessor.
Street Fighter Alpha 2	Fighting Game	1-2 Competitive (Local)	B+	While this game retains the same basic gameplay as the first Alpha game, it nearly doubles the size of the roster (again, a few returning characters, but mostly new faces, including fan favorite Sakura), and adds a new custom combo system. While I still strongly prefer Street Fighter II’s roster, I cannot deny that this is a bigger marginal leap than Street Fighter II ever got, and a solid overall fighting game.
Street Fighter Alpha 3	Fighting Game	1-2 Competitive (Local), 2-8 Competitive Tournament (Local Wireless), 2-8 Competitive Tournament (Online), Online Leaderboards	A-	The final game in the Alpha trilogy includes another huge addition of new and old characters (seeing most of Street Fighter II’s roster returning) and adding a new “play style” system that gives players some flexibility in deciding how to use their super meter. It’s a pity this isn’t the improved Max or Upper versions of the game, meaning this isn’t quite the definitive Street Fighter Alpha experience, but it’s still a damn good one.
Street Fighter III: New Generation	Fighting Game	1-2 Competitive (Local)	B+	Street Fighter III once again changes up the series’ classic formula, introducing a roster of 10 completely new characters (save for series staples Ryu and Ken), removing many of the additions the Alpha games made, and adding in dash moves and parry moves, as well as selectable super moves called Super Arts. While I’m of mixed opinions on whether the gameplay is an improvement over Street Fighter II or Alpha, one thing that’s indisputable is that this game has absolutely gorgeous smooth as butter animation that makes it a joy to watch even today. Overall, a solid game, but not one that feels like a huge step forward for the series.
Street Fighter III: Second Impact – Giant Attack	Fighting Game	1-2 Competitive (Local)	B+	This marginal update to Street Fighter III adds a few new characters and makes a few new additions to the gameplay, but this isn’t much of a leap over its predecessor.
Street Fighter III: Third Strike – Fight For the Future	Fighting Game	1-2 Competitive (Local), 2-8 Competitive Tournament (Local Wireless), 2-8 Competitive Tournament (Online), Online Leaderboards	B+	This is another fairly minimal update that adds five characters (including returning favorite Chun Li), a new guard parry move, and a branching path and “judgment” system in the game’s campaign. Not bad, but nothing revolutionary.

So aside from the original Street Fighter (which, as I noted, is garbage), every game in this collection is at least good, although a lot of the games here are marginal improvements on Street Fighter II, Street Fighter Alpha, or Street Fighter III, and you’re likely to pick a favorite version of each of those games and stick with it. And most likely, that version is going to be be the last entry in each series, as they tend to have the most updated features, rosters, and balancing.

So that basically means that, for practical purposes, this is a collection of three unique, foundational, top-notch entries in the genre, each with their own appeal. I’m not even close to a tournament-level expert on fighting games, but my assessment is that Street Fighter II is simpler and more straightforward, Street Fighter Alpha is faster-paced and more combo-focused (this is the series that would eventually evolve into the over-the-top Marvel Vs. Capcom series), and Street Fighter III is more technical, with its focus on timing with its parry mechanic.

In all three sets of games you can count on Ryu and Ken and usually Chun Li being present with at least a vaguely similar move set, but beyond that you’ll be learning a mostly different set of characters for each (well, except for Alpha 3, which brings back a lot of familiar faces from Street Fighter II). In the end, if you like Fighting games, you’re almost certain to like something in this collection, but unless you main Ryu, Ken, or Chun Li, you may not like everything here. For me, nothing will ever quite touch the original Street Fighter II… well, not the original Street Fighter II, but… well, a version of it, at least.

Oh, yeah, that brings up one other thing – despite that this collection has multiple versions of most of the games in this collection, it’s not a comprehensive collection. Putting aside all of the console and handheld versions of the game that have been released over the years, the version of Street Fighter Alpha 3 included here is not the improved Max or Upper version of the game, and also the version of Street Fighter II that I would argue is the most definitive version of that game, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, is not here. That’s probably because a version of that iteration of the series is elsewhere on the Nintendo Switch, in the form of the absurdly overpriced Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers… which means those who are looking for the ultimate Street Fighter experience on the Nintendo Switch have a difficult choice to make – they can get multiple versions of every game in the series for $30, or they can get the one best version of what I would argue is still the best game in the series for $40. So… yeah, tough call, right?

I should also mention that some of the games included in this Compilation can also be found in Capcom Arcade Stadium and Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium, available as a part of a bundle or a la carte. Capcom Arcade Stadium includes Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting, and Super Street Fighter II Turbo, and Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium includes Street Fighter, Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors’ Dreams, Street Fighter Alpha 2, and Street Fighter Alpha 3. However, it bears mention that Capcom Arcade Stadium and Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium don’t support online play, while Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection does. In any case, it’s definitely a consideration.

Well, while you’re thinking on that, it bears mention that this collection is more than just the games themselves. These games come with multiple display options, save states, and control options. Also, those looking for bonus materials will find an absolute wealth of it here. This compilation includes hundreds of pieces of production art, promotional art, packaging art, and other content from throughout the series’ history and often with included descriptions and explanations to supplement the art, as well as a full soundtrack for all of the included games, character bios… this package does not skimp on this stuff.

In terms of online play, you might have noticed that only four of the games here include online and local wireless play – Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Street Fighter Alpha 3, and Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. While it may disappoint you to learn that the other games don’t have this feature, it’s probably for the best – making all of the games online capable would have diluted the online lobbies and made it harder to find a match for any specific game. Unfortunately, even with this precaution, I only found a few matches when I went looking for online games (both Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Street Fighter III: Third Strike had zero matches), and of the matches I did find, half of them were plagued with game-breaking lag.

The end result is a package that is kinda’ a mixed bag. On the one hand, in terms of value, Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection is a pretty great all-around package. Depending on how you count, it has anywhere from 4 to 12 games, and pretty much all of them are excellent except for the very first one. These are legends of the genre, and they come with an absolute wealth of supplemental material, and that $30 price tag is pretty fantastic for the wealth of great Fighting games that are on offer here. Unfortunately, this collection is not comprehensive, and lacks possibly the most important game it could have included, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, and the online play is pretty terrible. In the end, I’d say this game is still worth it for fans of the genre, and especially for fans of this series, but it’s a shame that its flaws and omissions keep it from attaining true greatness.

tl;dr – Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection is a collection of four to twelve Fighting games, depending on how you count: Street Fighter, five versions of Street Fighter II, Street Fighter Alpha 1-3, and three versions of Street Fighter III. It’s a sizable collection, and it comes with a sizable number of extras, all for an excellent price of $30. Unfortunately, it’s missing Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max and Upper, as well as Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, and the online play is awful, major flaws that mar this otherwise impeccable collection.

Grade: B+

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