30 Day Blogging Challenge: Day 10 – Best Gameplay

Best gameplay is something that will vary from person to person. The refinement of Super Mario Bros. 3 could easily be listed as one of, if not the best gameplay any game ever had. Simple complexity from a title such as Tetris would be another example of best gameplay. I try to not be so blatantly obvious in my choices, but to my surprise, my choice for today’s theme is definitely one that I wouldn’t see many gamers, if any, put down as their selection.

But then again, when was the last time you’ve had an obsession with a video game for well over eleven years, spent thousands of dollars on and own several home ports of?

Ah yes, the addiction that never quells. Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, to me at least, is the definition of the most finely tuned gameplay around. The parry system that the SFIII series utilizes reached its peak of performance. In a nutshell, parrying comes about when a player pressed forward at the exact time an attack is about to hit high, down if it’s a low attack, or forward while in the air. Parrying will negate any kind of damage done, as nothing is being blocked nor going through and landing. On top of that, there’s a split second in which the player has the ability to counterattack and change the tide of the battle. It’s definitely not the easiest mechanic to get used to, but there’s a timing shared by a majority of attacks that, once accustomed to, will make the mechanic a bit easier to learn. Outside of one of the final bosses supers and grab attacks, everything can be parried.

This leads to battles that feel almost like a chess match – send out the wrong piece to the wrong square and your opponent has the chance to land a checkmate. Some have complained that this mechanic negates the long range game, making projectiles worthless, which isn’t true. That assumption is brought about by the notion that every single person is a parry master, and can deflect any blow coming towards them at any time. Nearly a dozen years later I w\still have moments where I blank out and forget to perform a follow up parry on a five hit super move being performed on me.

The cast of characters might not be the most ideal, but each stereotype is represented – grappler, charge character, long range limb fighter, overpowered dragon punch masters, and so on. There’s a style that just about anyone can click with, though I wish there were several more characters.

You could either jump over that unblockable fireball (if you have time), parry every hit, or get hit like a scrub. Your choice!

Everything about the game plays with such bliss and gels together better than any other fighter out there. That’s one of the major reasons why I’ve spend thousands on this ovession over the years, from the arcade to multiple home console ports – it just doesn’t get any better than this.