Finally, after a lengthy wait, Capcom’s super brawler, Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition, is finally with us. We’ve been waiting for this update for many months now and are delighted with the end results. Get past the horrible smoothing options (why can’t company’s do HD properly?) and you’ll discover that Third Strike is still an amazing fighter. The parry system remains one of the best examples of risk and reward, the roster of characters is full of variety, while the animation throughout is simply glorious.
Fast and furious as a fighter, it has been enhanced by some genuinely solid online bonuses that range from letting you upload fights to Youtube, to playing in 8-player lobbies, and participating in 8-player tournaments. The ranking matches aren’t working as well as we’d like, but that’s bound to be fixed sooner rather than later. If you love fighting games you need to own Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition. It’s that simple. Download it for XBLA at a cost of 1200 points or buy it from PSN for £11.99