Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection
- May 29, 2018
- Capcom
If you’re a fan of fighting games, chances are you’re a fan of at least one of the many iterations of Street Fighter.
The "Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection" consists of 12 classic Street Fighter games, including online-enabled versions of Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Street Fighter Alpha 3, and Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. The collection also features an extensive museum mode with concept art, merchandise, and behind-the-scenes materials, providing players with a deep dive into the history of the iconic franchise. Online leaderboards are included for players to compete against others worldwide.
Reviews
- Great collection of classic Street Fighter games, including all mainline titles from the original to Third Strike.
- The museum mode offers a wealth of historical information and concept art, enhancing the nostalgic experience.
- Training modes for select games provide a helpful way for players to practice and improve their skills.
- Online play is largely dead, with very few players available for matches, making it difficult to find opponents.
- The AI difficulty in some games, particularly Super Turbo, is excessively high and can feel unfair, detracting from the enjoyment.
- Lack of features such as customizable controls for multiple punches/kicks and limited online functionality for only four games.
- music128 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 81 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The music in the collection is a mixed bag, with some praising the iconic soundtracks of the Street Fighter series while others criticize the audio quality, particularly for titles like Third Strike, which is noted to sound worse than on emulators. Users express disappointment over the lack of options to customize audio settings, such as volume control and the absence of arranged soundtracks, which detracts from the overall experience. Despite these shortcomings, the inclusion of a music player and a museum mode featuring soundtracks and character bios is appreciated, though many feel it doesn't fully meet fan expectations for a definitive collection.
“Awesome games, and the Street Fighter 3 games have some of the best soundtracks of any game ever.”
“Pair that with some great graphics, some extremely memorable music - and you have a classic video game for the ages, that kids from the 90s spent way too much money in the arcades playing.”
“Finally, there is the jukebox containing all the music from all twelve games, as well as a character guide, teaching you the history of these characters and showing you some of their iconic moves in the sprite viewer.”
“The music is god awful and there is no way to turn it off.”
“For instance, the in-game music player volume is rather soft and seems to have not gone through proper user testing - you can't have a song playing without it switching while you browse the list.”
“However, there is no updated audio quality especially the music for SF3: Third Strike bums me out and there's no resolution setting.”
- graphics101 mentions
- 26 % positive mentions
- 70 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The graphics in this collection receive mixed reviews, with some praising the nostalgic pixel art and updated visuals for modern consoles, while others criticize the performance issues, such as black screens on older integrated graphics and lack of graphical options. Many users appreciate the accompanying artwork and historical content, but some feel the overall graphical quality is subpar compared to other recent releases. Overall, the graphics evoke a sense of nostalgia but may not meet the expectations of players seeking a polished experience.
“Pair that with some great graphics, some extremely memorable music - and you have a classic video game for the ages, that kids from the 90s spent way too much money in the arcades playing.”
“- The graphics and sound have been updated to look and sound great on modern consoles, while still retaining the classic feel of the original games.”
“The graphics are beautiful for the era of time for each game, the gameplay is tight and responsive and still a ton of fun even if not playing online against others.”
“Wow, the graphics are bad -- feels like an SNES emulation -- not worth it.”
“Running the game on integrated graphics gives a black screen on all games, making them unplayable.”
“The sad truth is Ultra SF2 on the Switch was a far more polished product than this; it gave you region options, HD graphics, and audio options. This 'collection' gives you the bare minimum and thinks that throwing some artwork at you will make all the game's sins be forgiven.”
- gameplay59 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 54 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The gameplay experience is mixed, with some players enjoying the variety of modes and classic mechanics, while others criticize issues like lag in online play and unclear hitboxes. While titles like Street Fighter II and III are praised for their engaging gameplay and character variety, concerns about the quality of ports and the absence of certain features, such as online play for Alpha 2, have been noted. Overall, the collection offers nostalgic gameplay but requires improvements in online functionality and game mechanics.
“The collection features a variety of gameplay modes, including online play, local multiplayer, and a training mode to help you improve your skills.”
“Beautiful sprite work, engaging gameplay, and a challenge to self-improvement.”
“In all, a nice tidy package full of the tight gameplay we all remember and finally the chance to play 3rd Strike online legit.”
“But online is another story; if you don't have a good connection, your game will lag a lot during gameplay, and if you played ranked matches, you would just lose because of lag.”
“As you play through it, you'll notice that it's quite clunky and the hitboxes/gameplay mechanics are quite unclear.”
“I can't believe Capcom and Digital Eclipse could mangle it so badly with massive control/online lag and stuttering sound and gameplay.”
- optimization42 mentions
- 24 % positive mentions
- 38 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players praising its solid performance and customizable controls, while others report significant issues such as stuttering, frame drops, and poor sound quality, particularly on the PC port. The introduction of problematic DRM has further exacerbated performance issues, leading to a recommendation to stick with console versions for a smoother experience. Overall, while some users have had no issues, many express disappointment in the game's optimization, especially for online play.
“Everything works great and it’s a solid collection in terms of performance and presentation.”
“It's a great street fighter collection, with near fully customizable controls, a great training mode, and good overall performance.”
“The games themselves all run smoothly, online and offline.”
“They are retroactively adding a terrible DRM that tanks performance to older games to prevent modding.”
“Drm fails multiple virus checks, impacts the system performance (would explain the sudden issues I've been having of late), and acts as malware.”
“The characters are highly pixelated and it does not seem to be optimized on Windows.”
- story32 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 66 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The story aspect of the game is appreciated for its depth, particularly in titles like Street Fighter Alpha and Street Fighter III, which feature character-driven narratives and arcade modes that expand the overarching plot. While some players lament the absence of a dedicated "story" option in certain games, they still find enjoyment in the character backstories and the evolution of the series' lore. Overall, the narrative elements are seen as a significant part of the gaming experience, especially for long-time fans of the franchise.
“If you're a Street Fighter fan, this is a must-get. If you're a fighting games fan too, but if you're a regular gamer, it's a must-have too; it's a part of gaming history, enough said.”
“Street Fighter Alpha: The Alpha series does have an actual storyline, with Charlie Nash (Guile's friend) being one of the pivotal aspects of the game.”
“It's got a storyline in arcade mode, and it's got new, very volatile characters (such as R. Mika).”
“Try one of the newer games and just watch a summary of the 10 or so minutes of story in these games.”
“Characters: you have the option to read a full story of each character, and if you are an old-school player, you will spot several changes in the story of each character for unknown reasons.”
“Multiplayer (online) is a completely different story though.”
- stability25 mentions
- 16 % positive mentions
- 8 % neutral mentions
- 76 % negative mentions
The stability of the game is mixed, with some users reporting significant bugs and glitches, particularly in training modes and with certain controllers, which can hinder the experience. However, others note that the game runs well on various platforms, with minimal lag and a generally stable online experience, despite some persistent arcade-related issues. Overall, while there are notable glitches, many players appreciate the nostalgic accuracy of the game's original mechanics.
“This game is pretty good, it runs great on my PC and I barely noticed any lags.”
“Runs great on anything”
“This game is pretty good, it runs great on my PC and I barely noticed any lags.”
“The games are buggy and don't work right in training.”
“The audio glitches out, the inputs don't work half the time; I've played inferior emulators that run some of these games better.”
“Glitches with certain controllers may make the experience more cumbersome than it has to be.”
- monetization13 mentions
- 15 % positive mentions
- 8 % neutral mentions
- 77 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game has been criticized as a blatant cash grab, with reviewers noting a lack of effort and value in the collection, especially given its purpose as a 30th-anniversary celebration. While there are no microtransactions, the overall sentiment is that the game feels overpriced and exploitative of nostalgia, leaving players disappointed.
“Really it's just good Street Fighter, good ol' punchin', kickin', stealing all your quarters (thankfully not anymore since there aren't any microtransactions when you lose fights... could you imagine in the future, some person comes out on stage, 'introducing, the future of fighting games, whenever you lose and have to continue, there is now a 25 cent plus tax redemption fee, the future of fighting games, the digital arcade cabinet, coming to a home near you')”
“Microtransactions: none.”
“This was a very obvious cash grab for Capcom, but at least we get to play all the classic Street Fighter titles and use training mode, I guess?”
“Overall, the collection feels very lazy, low effort, overpriced, and devoid of love - essentially a cash grab exploiting nostalgia.”
“For something that was meant to be a celebration of the 30th anniversary, this game comes across as a lazy cash grab.”
- replayability12 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The game collection offers significant replayability, with players reporting over 200 hours of engagement primarily through training and arcade modes. While some older titles may have limited replay value, the inclusion of 12 games for offline play and the ability to remap buttons enhance the overall experience, making it a worthwhile collection for fighting game enthusiasts.
“The game collection has a lot of replay value.”
“I have over 200 hours on the Switch version of this game, and that was primarily the training mode and the arcade mode. These titles have a ton of replay value and are, in my opinion, some of the best fighting games ever made.”
“The games themselves all run flawlessly, as you would expect, with plenty of replay value as there are all 12 titles included for offline arcade play.”
“Let's face it, it's an ancient game with limited replay value.”
“I would've even welcomed the idea that only a select few had matchmaking capabilities, but all of them are playable in lobbies.”
“The games themselves all run flawlessly as you would expect with plenty of replay value as there are all 12 titles included for offline arcade play.”
- humor8 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted by its self-awareness, particularly in the amusing critique of unchanged netcode across titles. Players find the game genuinely funny, with many considering it a nostalgic representation of classic gaming eras, while the museum feature is noted as a standout element for its comedic value.
“It is a very funny game; they are the most representative classics of an entire era.”
“Funny, for me the museum was the best part of the collection.”
“The idea that all of these games are bad because they didn't change the netcode for each game is hilarious.”
- emotional6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its ability to evoke nostalgia and fond memories for players, particularly through its online functionality and familiar character designs. While some refinement is needed, the overall experience is described as heartwarming and wholesome, eliciting strong reactions tied to past gaming experiences.
“7/10 street fighter collection that could use more refining, but is fully functional online and will bring back a lot of heart-warming memories.”
“[b]wholesome!”
Critic Reviews
Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection Review
If you’re a fan of fighting games, chances are you’re a fan of at least one of the many iterations of Street Fighter.
90%Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection (Switch) Review
Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection is a game that doesn’t do any more than it has to but just manages to get by due to each game being so individually solid
70%Go For Broke
Is it even possible for a collection of 12 Street Fighter games to go wrong? Our review.
70%