SF 30th Anniversary Collection: Thoughts & Speculation
My excitement level for the SF30AC release is enormous but I must temper those expectations with a reality check. I’ve already written about these concerns, but I wanted to take the time to give an in-depth look at what these “arcade perfect” releases might contain. I truly believe this is one of Capcom’s greatest chances here. This could be a collection to remember forever, but a few missteps could leave us with a very empty feeling.
To start, we should look at the late ’90s. After a long wait of high expectations, Playstation and Saturn owners were treated to the first Street Fighter Collection, a disappointing two-disc compilation which was lacking the initial three releases of SFII. Of course, they would be issued later, with a few perks, as Street Fighter Collection 2. These were mostly bare-bones releases that left a bad taste in the mouth of fans even though the latter set the stage for Hyper Street Fighter II and HSF Zero.
We can fast-forward to 2006 when Capcom put out Street Fighter Zero: Fighters’ Generation. Unlike the former collection, this was utterly packed with modes, features and perks. Its sound test featured virtually every SF song ever. There were training modes in all games and dynamic battle was also present. It also featured Pocket Fighter! But the most impressive and most important part of this collection was the ability to play alternate versions with dip-switch access. The base roster of games (Zero, Z2, Z2A and Z3) exceeded the American and European versions by including a few items. It came with the American version of Alpha 2 (which had Evil Ryu) and the arcade version of Zero 2 Alpha (in addition to Z2’/A2G). It may be minor, but that attention to completion and to detail is just wonderful. Dip switches helped change every portion of each game. It changed the number of Vega’s Psycho Shots, it changed voices, dizzy effects, animations…Very infrequently are more options worse than fewer.
And that’s not even getting to Hyper Street Fighter Zero, a holy shit package that is fun, over-the-top and utterly broken. But that’s not a bad thing. I’m not even going to speculate about a MUGEN-inspired SF mishmash that simply will never happen in this collection.
And this leads us to SF30AC. The game promises arcade versions of twelve games, online support for four of them.
It also features:
- Interactive Timeline – Could be cool for a visit or two.
- Concept Art – I love art galleries.
- Music Archive – How complete will this be? Can we change the soundtracks in each game?
- Sprite Viewers – This could be really cool.
- Background Wallpapers – There appears to be a ton of these.
- Save States – Good for short sessions.
But the announcement doesn’t say anything about:
- Training Mode – This is a must, this collection needs this!!!
- Dramatic Battle – This was in all the Zero games.
- Achievements & Trophies – Will these be like SFIII:3SOE and MVC:O?
- Alternate Versions – Read more below.
I don’t particularly need dramatic mode, but the idea is that merely having arcade and online modes will feel a bit empty. I’m not expecting SFZ3UU Mode Mania or anything, just hoping for more than two basic modes.
More importantly, training is a necessity and easily implemented. All of these games have had a training option in a home conversion in the past.
Most importantly is finding that one tr00 arcade version to play as. Some of these are going to be very simple choices. However, for others, like Zero 3, it’s not an easy choice. For this title, we know we won’t be getting the bonus characters found in the GBA or PSP port. That’s fine. But will we see the original arcade release with 25 base fighters? Or are we looking at the Naomi version of SFZ3 Upper which, with its 33 fighters, many feel is less “pure”. There’s no real right answer here, but I would be disappointed if it were the former. Certainly Capcom has to choose one to represent the online mode, but one must hope that both would be available for offline play, much like they were in SFZFG.
And to me, this is the biggest question about the upcoming compendium of fighters. Which versions will we get? So, for completion purposes, I wanted to look at which is which, assuming we don’t get a true compendium like Fighters’ Generation was.
Street Fighter
Only one version really exists for this game, outside of its prototype. This has been included in other collections over the past few years, on a bevy of platforms. I expect very little out of this one but its inclusion is nice.
Street Fighter II: The World Warrior – 22nd May, 1991
Initial boards were issues in February with its final release in May. The 910522 ROM is certain to be used. I believe this fixed some of the early glitches (particularly with Guile). Either way, it’s classic and performing some of Guile’s heavy combos are incredibly impressive!
Street Fighter II’: Champion Edition – 3rd August, 1992
Nine months on, the first CE board was issued and later saw two revisions. The first cabinets were shipped in March, an updated ROM was seen in May and a final version came out in August. These fixed various bugs.
Street Fighter II’ Turbo: Hyper Fighting – 9th December, 1992
Due to the sheer number of bootleg ROMs, SFIIT came out merely months after CE’s final update. There were no revisions to this release. I don’t know how authentic the Xbox 360 version was, but this won’t be the first time Hyper Fighting will be online.
Super Street Fighter II – 5th October, 1993
The first SF CPSII board was issued in several regions. Though dated separately, there appears to be only two main versions, one in September and another in October of 1993. We’ll be seeing this version of SSFII.
Super Street Fighter II X – 23rd March, 1994 / 29th May, 1994
The final major SFII entry arrived merely five months after SSFII. The U.S. only received one update to the February 1994 ROM. However, the Dreamcast version in 2000 listed a different date (the second above) and also got an updated revision (00/12/22) which is likely the source of Tien Gouki. That title also shows a ??/??/?? revision which, well, we don’t know much about.
In addition, it’s all but certain we won’t see any changes found in the multitude of other versions of the game, in particular HD Remix and this year’s USFII. Considering its long-revered status, staying true to the final arcade revision is hardly a bad thing and it’ll be the first time the original version will be playable online.
Street Fighter Zero – 27th July, 1995
There were up to four different versions of SFZ though certain territories, like the U.S., only received one. On SFZFG three were selectable, the last being just seven weeks older than the first. Oh, I remember the summer of ’95 well. I thought being able to play as Adon was so cool. It’s going to be nice having this game playable. Outside of the PS1 version being made available on the PSN, SFZFG is the only release in the last 20 years.
Street Fighter Zero 2 – 30th April, 1996
Several revisions exist to this game. The last, which arrived in Brazil, is likely just the 30th April version. Recall that Evil Ryu was playable in the U.S. version and not in the final Japanese revision. Considering the game’s popularity, this may be the game we receive.
Street Fighter Zero 2 Alpha – 5th August, 1996
Z2 may be popular, but this title is the best of all the SF games IMO. It was issued in four different territories on three different dates but all are likely the same version. The date above is the Japanese date.
This game was later modified for the home version of the aforementioned Street Fighter Collection. There it was given the title SF Zero 2′ (JPN), SF Alpha 2′ (EU) and SF Alpha 2 Gold (US). These home versions are not the same as the arcade version, however. The differences are minor, but each is better than the base Z3.
The real question is whether any of these games will be featured at all in the SF30AC. I genuinely feel no collection is complete without them, as they have some functional and substantial tweaks to the game system. This really is the main reason why I am hoping Capcom gives this collection the love that SFZFG received.
Street Fighter Zero 3 – 4th September, 1998? 2001?
A full two years after Zero 2, we got the finale, an over-the-top kitchen-sink version of the Zero series. Several iterations of this title were issued as well, of course, but that’s not truly the concern.
In SFZFG, Z2A was an entirely separate game. However, for this collection, it could be considered an alternate to Z2. If that were the case, it would be awfully nice for the Naomi version of Z3 Upper to be considered an alternate of Z3.
Long story short? Will we see the CPSII version or the Naomi board replicated in this collection? Whatever your preference, I think we can agree having both would be ideal! Unfortunately, the real question is which will be online?
Street Fighter III: New Generation – 4th February, 1997
Heading back in time a little bit, SFIII:NG came out just six months after Z2A. It was a particularly prolific era in Capcom fighting history, with Pocket Fighter, Street Figther EX, the Marvel VS. series, Zero entries and SFIII all being issued within a few years.
I believe there was only one arcade ROM for SFIII:NG and we’ve only ever seen one home port of it, 1999’s SFIII: W Impact. It’s OK that this won’t be online, it’s just gonna be good to have this available.
Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact – Giant Attack – 30th September, 1997
Just half a year after NG, its successor arrived in arcades, again with no ROM upgrades. As Hugo was not complete for the February release, he arrived here in what, nowadays, would simply be a patched update. Taking a note from the Vampire series, EX moves were now available as well as Gouki’s arrival. Again, this only ever saw one home port but I look forward to playing this.
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike – Fight For The Future – 8th June, 1999
More than a year-and-a-half later, we got 3S, what is now considered one of the most highly-regarded SF games ever. At the time, though, SFIII wasn’t particularly loved outside of the hardcore fighting community and 3S added some rather unmemorable characters.
While we saw a release on the DC, PS2, Xbox and later the PS3 and Xbox360 in the form of Online Edition, they all were essentially the arcade version. A Japanese ROM was issued a month before it was in the west and a final revision came in June. This fixed Urien’s unblockable attacks and was the basis for virtually every port moving forward (I believe).
As this will be online, it’s pretty straightforward. I’m hoping this is the ultimate version of 3S.
So, that’s that. There are a lot of questions about what exactly SF30AC will look like and what it’ll contain. Capcom can really make this a collection to remember, much like SFZFG before it. I just hope they give it the care it deserves and don’t cut corners. The $40 price tag makes me a little worried, but I’m trying to remain optimistic. We’ll find out in May!