Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection (for PC) Review
Film aficionados rely on The Criterion Collection to take vital classic and contemporary movies and present them in thoughtful, information-filled packages for modern audiences.
Until very recently, the 40-year old video game industry lacked its own Criterion Collection, letting important pop culture contributions slip into oblivion due to incompatible hardware and software formats, expired licenses, and plain neglect.
Thankfully, Digital Eclipse has taken up the games preservation task, blessing gamers with titles that celebrate classic titles via accurate emulation and a bounty of production-related extras and modern touches.
The company's first foray into the fighting game genre is Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection.
The $39.99 compilation is a historical document in video game form that includes the mainline 2D arcade titles and a wealth of production-related materials.
It's a marvelous collection, one that shows why Street Fighter is one of the most important and beloved video game series.
Enter the Dragon (Punch)
You won't find Street Fighter: The Movie, the Street Fighter EX titles, or X-Men vs.
Street Fighter (likely due to licensing reasons), but you will find all the core arcade releases.
The lineup includes Street Fighter (1987), Street Fighter II (1991), Street Fighter II: Champion Edition (1992), Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting (1992), Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers (1993) Super Street Fighter II Turbo (1994), Street Fighter Alpha (1995), Street Fighter Alpha 2 (1996), Street Fighter III: New Generation (1997), Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact Giant Attack (1997), Street Fighter Alpha 3 (1998), and Street Fighter III 3rd Strike: Fight For The Future (1999).
Cynics will likely scoff and dismiss the 12 games as multiple iterations of just three series, but that's a short-sighted take.
The five Street Fighter II games may seem excessive, but they highlight the changes that balanced characters, expanded the roster, and added gameplay elements that would become series (and genre) standards that remain in effect to this day.
For example, Street Fighter II: Champion Edition added mirror matches and player-controlled bosses, while Super Street Fighter II Turbo added juggling and Super Combos.
These forward progressions exist throughout the Street Fighter Alpha and Street III, too, making you appreciate the huge gameplay, graphics, and technology leaps between the lowly O.G.
Street Fighter and the visually stunning 3rd Strike.
You'll also appreciate the more forgiving special move inputs that appear in the collection's later games, as the early ones require very precise motions to fire off Hadokens and Flash Kicks.
Mostly as You Remember
Capcom states that the collection's games are arcade-perfect replications, and in my time with the games, I certainly found that to be the case.
From the score's dusty drum samples to combo timing, the 12 titles feel just as I remember them.
In fact, I had more than a few nostalgic, warm fuzzy moments while playing the Street Fighter II games.
The titles transported me back to very specific times and places, with specific people.
If you were a part of the arcade scene—all but dead now—at the time of the games' original releases, you'll take a trip down memory lane, too.
Digital Eclipse could've easily crafted a bare-bones collection, but the developer added several extras to sweeten the package.
The original arcade games lacked online multiplayer combat, but that functionality has been added to four titles: Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Street Fighter Alpha 3, and Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike.
I understand the reasoning to focus on just these titles—they still boast passionate and competitive player bases, after all.
Still, the idea of taking janky-ass original Street Fighter online amuses me in a way that few things do.
Plus, there are Street Fighter III adherents who prefer, say, 2nd Impact to 3rd Strike.
They, too, should be allowed to catch these hands via the internet.
Unlike the original games, the titles in the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection let you save anywhere which is a tremendous addition.
It's a feature that comes in extremely handy when you face off against Gil for the twentieth time in a night and want to take a break to expunge the salt from your system without losing your progress.
Unfortunately, the multiplayer mode has a couple of quirks.
The games don't display post-match win quotes after an opponent take a loss, which dampens the arcade-like experience a bit.
Furthermore, you can't switch stages in multiplayer action unless you exit the mode, reenter, and pick another.
A History of Violence
Much like Disney Afternoon Collection and Mega Man Legacy Collection, two other recent Digital Eclipse joints, Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection is fat with supplemental material.
Frank Cifaldi, Head of Restoration at Digital Eclipse and a noted video game historian who champions the much-needed games preservation cause, has put his fingerprints all over this collection.
The Museum section has production documents that explain the origins of Street Fighter, Street Fighter II, Street Fighter III, and the Street Fighter Alpha series.
The character designs and gameplay notes offer unique insights into the creative process, and some are items that I've never seen before in previous Street Fighter collections or art books.
In fact, there are numerous documents showcasing canned characters, stages, and gameplay features.
There are also in-depth character bios that showcase fighters' martial arts style, physical stats, and the games in which they've appeared.
If you're into video game history, Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection will serve you well.
Each game has an animation viewer that lets you check out, say, Ryu's Shoryuken in frame-by-frame fashion.
This delightful feature proves especially useful when viewing the mind-boggling detailed Street Fighter III sprites that remain video game design marvels to this day.
On the audio side, Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection boasts jukeboxes for each game that let you listen to music and sound effects.
These tracks aren't just the stuff you'll hear during the fight, but also the audio you hear during ending sequences, attract modes, and credits, too.
The Street Fighter II, Street Fighter Alpha, and Street Fighter III audio effects areclassic sounds forever associated with Capcom's CPS arcade system boards.
Low Specs, Big Fun
It doesn't take much PC horsepower to run Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection.
The game's Steam page states that you need a PC with at least a 3GHz Intel i3 CPU, Intel HD 4400 GPU, 4GB of RAM, and the Windows 7 operating system.
In other words, even computers with a bit of dust on them should boot the collection with ease.
The collection's resolution default to your PC's GPU is capable of displaying.
For example, if you have a 4K compatible GPU and monitor, the collection's UI, Museum assets, and other items display at that resolution.
The original games, however, are not displayed in 4K.
These are games that are more than 20 years old, people!
Local bouts, in single and multiplayer matches, run without a hitch.
Although I've read stories of laggy online play (particularly when playing the Nintendo Switch ($299.00 at Amazon) version), my experience over a FiOS line has quite different.
I've enjoyed several hiccup-free fights in Casual and Ranked modes.
The collection doesn't let you tweak the resolution, but you can explore the other visual options to customize the experience.
You can apply cool CRT monitor-like filters or apply/remove decorative borders around the default 4:3 ratio playfield.
There are additional options that let you alter the playfield if the 4:3 setting isn't to your liking: Full (which zooms in closer to the action) and Wide (which stretches the visuals into a widescreen format).
I prefer to play in the default 4:3 view, with the TV filter applied, which adds light scanlines for a retro look.
An Incredible Package
Street Fighter is the rare video game franchise—like Madden, Super Mario, and Tetris—that even non-gamers know from its sheer cultural impact.
Street Fighter, particularly its second installment, made fighters a viable genre, inspired dozens of successful and hacky clones, and takes over ESPN2 during the Evolution Championship Series Grand Finals.
The Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection explores how the franchise came to be, via the games themselves and robust documentation.
Digital Eclipse's obvious love for the video game medium shines brightly in all their releases, and this stellar collection in particular proves that video games can be so much more than mere products.
Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection (for PC)
Pros
Contains all the mainline, sprite-based Street Fighter games.
Robust production documents.
Strong online multiplayer play.
Cool animation viewer and music jukebox.
Lets you save at any time.
Old-school filters.
View More
The Bottom Line
An interactive archival look into the groundbreaking Street Fighter series, this collection of a dozen titles is a must-have purchase for genre fans and gaming historians alike.
Film aficionados rely on The Criterion Collection to take vital classic and contemporary movies and present them in thoughtful, information-filled packages for modern audiences.
Until very recently, the 40-year old video game industry lacked its own Criterion Collection, letting important pop culture contributions slip into oblivion due to incompatible hardware and software formats, expired licenses, and plain neglect.
Thankfully, Digital Eclipse has taken up the games preservation task, blessing gamers with titles that celebrate classic titles via accurate emulation and a bounty of production-related extras and modern touches.
The company's first foray into the fighting game genre is Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection.
The $39.99 compilation is a historical document in video game form that includes the mainline 2D arcade titles and a wealth of production-related materials.
It's a marvelous collection, one that shows why Street Fighter is one of the most important and beloved video game series.
Enter the Dragon (Punch)
You won't find Street Fighter: The Movie, the Street Fighter EX titles, or X-Men vs.
Street Fighter (likely due to licensing reasons), but you will find all the core arcade releases.
The lineup includes Street Fighter (1987), Street Fighter II (1991), Street Fighter II: Champion Edition (1992), Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting (1992), Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers (1993) Super Street Fighter II Turbo (1994), Street Fighter Alpha (1995), Street Fighter Alpha 2 (1996), Street Fighter III: New Generation (1997), Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact Giant Attack (1997), Street Fighter Alpha 3 (1998), and Street Fighter III 3rd Strike: Fight For The Future (1999).
Cynics will likely scoff and dismiss the 12 games as multiple iterations of just three series, but that's a short-sighted take.
The five Street Fighter II games may seem excessive, but they highlight the changes that balanced characters, expanded the roster, and added gameplay elements that would become series (and genre) standards that remain in effect to this day.
For example, Street Fighter II: Champion Edition added mirror matches and player-controlled bosses, while Super Street Fighter II Turbo added juggling and Super Combos.
These forward progressions exist throughout the Street Fighter Alpha and Street III, too, making you appreciate the huge gameplay, graphics, and technology leaps between the lowly O.G.
Street Fighter and the visually stunning 3rd Strike.
You'll also appreciate the more forgiving special move inputs that appear in the collection's later games, as the early ones require very precise motions to fire off Hadokens and Flash Kicks.
Mostly as You Remember
Capcom states that the collection's games are arcade-perfect replications, and in my time with the games, I certainly found that to be the case.
From the score's dusty drum samples to combo timing, the 12 titles feel just as I remember them.
In fact, I had more than a few nostalgic, warm fuzzy moments while playing the Street Fighter II games.
The titles transported me back to very specific times and places, with specific people.
If you were a part of the arcade scene—all but dead now—at the time of the games' original releases, you'll take a trip down memory lane, too.
Digital Eclipse could've easily crafted a bare-bones collection, but the developer added several extras to sweeten the package.
The original arcade games lacked online multiplayer combat, but that functionality has been added to four titles: Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Street Fighter Alpha 3, and Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike.
I understand the reasoning to focus on just these titles—they still boast passionate and competitive player bases, after all.
Still, the idea of taking janky-ass original Street Fighter online amuses me in a way that few things do.
Plus, there are Street Fighter III adherents who prefer, say, 2nd Impact to 3rd Strike.
They, too, should be allowed to catch these hands via the internet.
Unlike the original games, the titles in the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection let you save anywhere which is a tremendous addition.
It's a feature that comes in extremely handy when you face off against Gil for the twentieth time in a night and want to take a break to expunge the salt from your system without losing your progress.
Unfortunately, the multiplayer mode has a couple of quirks.
The games don't display post-match win quotes after an opponent take a loss, which dampens the arcade-like experience a bit.
Furthermore, you can't switch stages in multiplayer action unless you exit the mode, reenter, and pick another.
A History of Violence
Much like Disney Afternoon Collection and Mega Man Legacy Collection, two other recent Digital Eclipse joints, Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection is fat with supplemental material.
Frank Cifaldi, Head of Restoration at Digital Eclipse and a noted video game historian who champions the much-needed games preservation cause, has put his fingerprints all over this collection.
The Museum section has production documents that explain the origins of Street Fighter, Street Fighter II, Street Fighter III, and the Street Fighter Alpha series.
The character designs and gameplay notes offer unique insights into the creative process, and some are items that I've never seen before in previous Street Fighter collections or art books.
In fact, there are numerous documents showcasing canned characters, stages, and gameplay features.
There are also in-depth character bios that showcase fighters' martial arts style, physical stats, and the games in which they've appeared.
If you're into video game history, Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection will serve you well.
Each game has an animation viewer that lets you check out, say, Ryu's Shoryuken in frame-by-frame fashion.
This delightful feature proves especially useful when viewing the mind-boggling detailed Street Fighter III sprites that remain video game design marvels to this day.
On the audio side, Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection boasts jukeboxes for each game that let you listen to music and sound effects.
These tracks aren't just the stuff you'll hear during the fight, but also the audio you hear during ending sequences, attract modes, and credits, too.
The Street Fighter II, Street Fighter Alpha, and Street Fighter III audio effects areclassic sounds forever associated with Capcom's CPS arcade system boards.
Low Specs, Big Fun
It doesn't take much PC horsepower to run Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection.
The game's Steam page states that you need a PC with at least a 3GHz Intel i3 CPU, Intel HD 4400 GPU, 4GB of RAM, and the Windows 7 operating system.
In other words, even computers with a bit of dust on them should boot the collection with ease.
The collection's resolution default to your PC's GPU is capable of displaying.
For example, if you have a 4K compatible GPU and monitor, the collection's UI, Museum assets, and other items display at that resolution.
The original games, however, are not displayed in 4K.
These are games that are more than 20 years old, people!
Local bouts, in single and multiplayer matches, run without a hitch.
Although I've read stories of laggy online play (particularly when playing the Nintendo Switch ($299.00 at Amazon) version), my experience over a FiOS line has quite different.
I've enjoyed several hiccup-free fights in Casual and Ranked modes.
The collection doesn't let you tweak the resolution, but you can explore the other visual options to customize the experience.
You can apply cool CRT monitor-like filters or apply/remove decorative borders around the default 4:3 ratio playfield.
There are additional options that let you alter the playfield if the 4:3 setting isn't to your liking: Full (which zooms in closer to the action) and Wide (which stretches the visuals into a widescreen format).
I prefer to play in the default 4:3 view, with the TV filter applied, which adds light scanlines for a retro look.
An Incredible Package
Street Fighter is the rare video game franchise—like Madden, Super Mario, and Tetris—that even non-gamers know from its sheer cultural impact.
Street Fighter, particularly its second installment, made fighters a viable genre, inspired dozens of successful and hacky clones, and takes over ESPN2 during the Evolution Championship Series Grand Finals.
The Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection explores how the franchise came to be, via the games themselves and robust documentation.
Digital Eclipse's obvious love for the video game medium shines brightly in all their releases, and this stellar collection in particular proves that video games can be so much more than mere products.
Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection (for PC)
Pros
Contains all the mainline, sprite-based Street Fighter games.
Robust production documents.
Strong online multiplayer play.
Cool animation viewer and music jukebox.
Lets you save at any time.
Old-school filters.
View More
The Bottom Line
An interactive archival look into the groundbreaking Street Fighter series, this collection of a dozen titles is a must-have purchase for genre fans and gaming historians alike.
