Welcome to the SwitchArcade Roundup for May 30th, where we’re talking the latest Switch news, and have impressions of Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection that just released. Street Fighter is one of those series that I don’t know why I enjoy. I find the concepts focused heavily toward the advanced player, and few games provide such an opportunity for someone who’s even slightly well-versed in the game to stomp on those who don’t know as much about the game’s intricate systems. And those who have an extra layer of knowledge can utterly annihilate anyone below them. Perhaps it’s just the fun of the existing concepts, or the joy that comes with knowing something that your opponent doesn’t, and exploiting that against them. Regardless, I still have a fond place in my heart for the Street Fighter series, and was really looking forward to the 30th Anniversary Collection that’s out now, with 12 games from the series’ heyday.
Now, you’re probably going to want to use a controller with a really good d-pad, instead of the Joy-Con’s weird split-button d-pad. It works fine for doing quarter-circle motions, but Shoryuken motions (forward, down, down-forward) are tougher to do. We need that Hori d-pad attachment soon! There is a $150 Hori arcade stick, the 8Bitdo N30 Arcade Stick for $60, and Mayflash has a few options as well for those who like arcade sticks but don’t want to pay for the full nelson.
The chief downside to the collection is that everything is the arcade edition of the title, meaning that you miss out on a lot of modes and even extra characters that came to console versions of the game. For example, the most complete version of Street Fighter Alpha 3 might be the PSP version, Max, which had characters not seen in the arcade or later revisions. I’m absolutely glad that the originals are here, as they likely play best in their original forms, but it also makes the collection feel a bit like it’ll never be complete. Granted, I could see where it would be tough to compile all those other versions, with concerns about emulation quality, though Digital Eclipse does have experience with emulating a whole bunch of systems. Still, you get to enjoy well-emulated arcade originals here, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Street Fighter is most interesting as a historical relic. It’s incredibly clunky by modern standards. But hey, it’s here.
The Street Fighter 2 games you likely know all about. The godfather of the modern fighting game, which introduced many of the tropes that still dominate fighting games to this day. These games still hold up rather well to this day, too. While perhaps the world didn’t need five different variants of Street Fighter 2 in four years, they’re all here for you to play.
The Street Fighter Alpha series seems a bit under-appreciated, at least before Street Fighter Alpha 3, which is a really good game with a ton of options for players. Each game has its own little quirks, and you can really see the evolution of the games as Capcom saw fit to introduce ever more complicated concepts into the games. Alpha 3 in particular is worth reading up on, because all the different fighting systems have different quirks to them, though it’s also worth experimenting. Thankfully, at least each game includes a list of each character’s special moves so you don’t have to look those up remotely!
Street Fighter 3 is a real gem that, if you’ve never played these games, you really ought to. First off, they’re still gorgeous to this day, with the CPS3 board allowing for Capcom to go nuts on the detailed animations and effects for the characters. Parrying plays an important role, and your selection of super moves plays a role in your strategy. Many of the characters are unique to the series, and introduce one of my favorites from the franchise (behind Blanka, of course), Ibuki. Also, Street Fighter 3: 3rd Impact was responsible for the greatest moment in competitive gaming history. If you’ve never seen the Daigo full parry, you’re in for a treat:
The collection includes save states for each game, so you can more easily go for those secret bosses, or if you want to quit in the middle of an arcade run and try another game. I also like the online arcade mode, where you play through a single player arcade game, but can get the occasional online match, which is a lot better than just sitting around waiting for online matches to pop up. I like that only a few of the games are online-enabled, so as to not divide the potential online community too much. I guess if you really want to play Street Fighter Alpha 2 online, you’re out of luck, but the most recent entries in each ‘series’ are available to play online (SF2 Turbo, SSF2T, SFA3, and SF3:3S)
The archive features are great, as there is a ton of high-resolution concept artwork and images available to peruse. The write-ups on each game are careful to not reference platforms, and there are some versions of the games and related materials that aren’t mentioned (there aren’t any artwork available for Street Fighter: The Movie…which is probably a good thing). However, just the presence of all of this artwork, along with the game soundtracks, including a never-before-seen screenshot of an NES port of Street Fighter, are worth your time to check out. The downside? The download is five gigabytes, so you might want to consider picking this one up physically if you’re trying to preserve SD card space.
Here's something I guarantee you've never seen before. Street Fighter 1…on the NES! This screenshot was buried deep in a Capcom marketing archive, undiscovered for decades. The game was cancelled, and this is the first time that the public has ever seen what it looked like. pic.twitter.com/HTTgPUS7sI
— Frank Cifaldi (@frankcifaldi) May 29, 2018
Otherwise, for Street Fighter fans that want a meaty compilation on the go, this is great. I’ll be sure to take on some matches online on our Twitch channel soon, so keep an eye on Twitter to watch for the announcement of when I get on to wreck fools with Blanka. Unless it turns out that I am the fool who is to be wrecked.
News
New Pokemon games for Switch
If you missed the news last night, here’s what’s happening with Pokemon on the Switch:
- Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu and Pokemon: Let’s Go, Eevee are new RPGs that combine Pokemon Go-style Pokemon catching and traditional Pokemon battles. The games will link up to Pokemon Go. These will release on November 16th.
- There is a new mainline Pokemon game that will arrive in 2019.
- Meanwhile, Pokemon Quest is a new action-RPG that’s free-to-play and out now on Switch, ahead of release on mobile.
Team Sonic Racing Revealed
Well, Sega hasn’t exactly been hiding Team Sonic Racing, but they finally confirmed it officially with the release of a teaser for the game, and a confirmation that it’s coming to Switch. Sumo Digital, who worked on the Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing games, including the sequel, Transformed, which is a personal favorite of some friends of mine, is working on this one.
Mega Man 11 pre-order trailer released
Capcom revealed a new trailer for Mega Man 11, showing that the series is going in a git of a different direction from the NES-imitating Mega Man 9 and Mega Man 10. Instead, there is a 2.5D style in play here, a la Mighty No. 9. Hopefully this winds up way better than that game did. Also, the new Double Gear system might lead to some interesting new actions in the series’ existing formula. The game releases on October 2nd.
Sales ending by tomorrow, buy now or miss out
- Wulverblade ($13.39 from $19.99 until May 31)
- Don’t Die, Mr. Robot DX ($6.02 from $8.99 until May 31)
- Nine Parchments ($11.99 from $19.99 until May 31)
- Slayaway Camp: Butcher’s Cut ($5.09 from $14.99 until May 31)
- Vostok Inc. ($11.99 from $14.99 until May 31)
- Coffin Dodgers ($9.09 from $12.99 until May 31)
- Puzzle Box Maker ($11.99 from $14.99 until May 31)
- Sine Mora EX ($14.99 from $29.99 until May 31)
- This is the Police ($14.99 from $29.99 until May 31)
Keep an eye out every weekday for more SwitchArcade Roundups! We want to hear your feedback on Nintendo Switch coverage on TouchArcade. Comment below or tweet us with your thoughts!
