10 Video Games That Were Vindicated By History
2. Street Fighter III
Street Fighter II is considered one of the greatest fighting games of all time and set the gold standard for the genre. Though the game received a prequel through the Street Fighter Alpha games, fans were eagerly waiting for the next true evolution of the series.
This would come in the form of Street Fighter III: New Generation, but it was not the hit gamers wanted or expected. For one, Capcom introduced new features such as the Super Arts system and the Parry, a feature that required precise timing. These mechanics deepened the competitive gameplay but at the expense of accessibility.
Most notoriously, Street Fighter III abandoned most of the beloved World Warriors save for Ryu and Ken. Gone were icons like Chun Li, Guile, and M. Bison and instead, we were left with newbies like Alex, Oro and Gill.
It also didn't help that arcades were not doing well at the time which meant that the title was less successful than its predecessor.
The game was saved, in time, by its updates with Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike being considered a series high. Opinions were also softened by the competitive EVO scene, which showed how deep and tactical these mechanics always were in the hands of experts.