As a collector of sorts, trying to obtain every item in a collection is a personal goal of mine. Whether it may be a certain Pop Vinyl collection, movies or games, even figurines, but when it comes down to a video game that I have played through, and been a fan of, since its initial insurrection, it takes priority over anything else. And so, Capcom deliver their love letter to Street Fighter fans, a celebration of the highly acclaimed and long-running franchise’s 30th anniversary. Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection is exactly that, a collection of 12 games in the main series all in one place and strewn together by a unique and lovingly crafted interface that blends them all together.
The 12 games included are the entries that created the Street Fighter hype and successfully carried it on to become one of the most beloved fighting game series of our time. The first ever Street Fighter arcade game, released back in the late 1980s, introduced us to a unique fighting system: one-on-one fighting with specific, albeit hard to figure out, button combinations to unleash special moves. Fans back then discovered them by pure luck as no guides existed. It was to become a huge part of video game history as it gave Capcom something to work on. And so, Street Fighter II came, which not only added more to the one-on-one fighting system but made it more complex and exciting. It also introduced us to Chun-Li, the first ever female character in a fighting game. Facts such as these are able to be read for each of the 12 titles found within the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, and each one is interesting and also eye-opening.
So, what other games are here? Well, although we have 12 games here, there are only 5 varieties of Street Fighter games. Street Fighter II, Street Fighter II Turbo and Street Fighter II: Champion Edition are all one in the same with very slight differences. Champion Edition gave us the opportunity to play as the 4 bosses from the first Street Fighter II, namely Vega, Sagat, Balrog and M.Bison. It also allowed us to play against the same character in a different colour, then Street Fighter II Turbo just added the option to speed the action up. This goes for the other games in the collection. The 3 Street Fighter Alpha games are here, as well as Super Street Fighter II and Super Street Fighter II Turbo, then Street Fighter III, 2nd Impact and Third Strike are here, which fans will recognise being the same game, except each one gave us more characters. Although it is fantastic to have all of these games in one place, I just didn’t see the point in having earlier entries in each series. Maybe put them all together somehow to consolidate them into a single game, such as selecting Street Fighter Alpha, but instead of it being labelled Street Fighter Alpha 3 (the latest in the series), just call it Street Fighter Alpha and add any unique features from earlier entries into it.
Every game here is in its arcade incarnation, meaning other game modes in each game aren’t present, such as Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX’s World Tour mode. You basically choose to play online or offline, then what game you want which launches you straight into the character select screen, but in arcade modes, we still do see the introduction cutscenes and endings, however. Also included in each game’s information are hints and tips. The arcade varieties of Street Fighter games each held their own tricks and secrets, and they are all explained in detail here, complete with instructions on how to unleash them. Tips such as the awesome Dramatic Mode in Street Fighter Alpha, which allows players to play as a duo against a tougher computer opponent, how to play as Akuma in the early games and other cool little tricks that I never knew existed.
Aside from the games on offer here, the most spectacular feature is the museum of the history of the entire franchise. Here you can view every game’s concept art, character designs, listen to the iconic background music (Guile’s and Ken’s are the most famous), view each character’s special animation moves, even read up on how Street Fighter came to be. Did you know Capcom’s Final Fight beat-em-up was going to be a Street Fighter game? No, me neither.
From a collector and Street Fighter fan’s point of view, the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection is a definitive must-own. It has every game in its history of its 2-dimensional eras, a huge museum filled to the brim with information and cool exhibits of each game all in one place. However, non-Street Fighter fans and casual gamers will not be impressed by the fact that the 12 games are just basically 5 major entries with their earlier entries included, and there’s nothing to do within them except online and local multiplayer fights and single-player arcade modes.
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, Switch, PC
Release Date: 29th May 2018
For more information on Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, click HERE
