I want to get into this game so bad, but it seems like every single combo involves timing that is not humanly possible.
There is no frame data, tutorial, or even an accurate moves list in the game. Why?
Do you HAVE to have a lag-less TV to even have a chance at playing this game?
Are the complicated inputs easier on a fightstick? I can only use a 360 controller.
I refuse to believe i am as bad as this game makes me look. Im convinced that im doing something wrong.
Whats going on?
Welcome to old school fighters.
Believe it or not, fighting games in the old days before SF4 didn’t present you with so many conveniences like they do now. Capcom still doesn’t provide that much in frame data anyway. A lot of KI players take things like the training mode and the frame data and hitboxes for granted, since they are so freely provided. These weren’t considered standard and really much of SF3’s lifespan was spent appealing to a hardcore fanbase, so it’s not the most beginner friendly iteration of the series.
The biggest thing you will notice is that the cancel windows for special moves is MUCH more difficult. Most modern fighters, SF4 being the biggest culprit, have a much more lenient window for cancelling into special moves, which lead to the invention of some pretty powerful option selects. The upside, cancelling into a hadoken was much more reliable, even to beginners.
Older generation fighters often don’t have huge cancel windows, and thus require much better timing and most players often got into the habit of always buffering off their normals, so if the move used is a good hit confirm, you can just finish the buffer motion with a button press and get a special to do damage. If your normal was blocked and you buffered the motion of the special, but noticed off the confirm you didn’t get the hit, then by pressing no button, the special doesn’t come out. It gives the impression that some players are psychic to a degree, but most after a while just became flat out good at reading opponents, and reacting accordingly.
There’s also the matter of execution. SF4 is also infamous for having shortcut inputs, and KI has them to an extent too. These inputs allow for a more forgiving execution of your motion inputs, and instead of doing a full quarter circle or DP motion, you could do these shortcut inputs and have the same result, which made it easy to mash a Shoryuken in SF4 on wakeup.
These lenient shortcut inputs DON’T exist in SF3, and you will need to hit your input much more quickly and precisely for your intended move. As such, people usually adopt a fight stick tactic to play the game as it delivers a precision level of inputs you normally can’t match on a controller. 3D fighters don’t typically suffer this problem, and some use the dual analog sticks you see on most controllers now, so fight sticks don’t work too well for things like Soul Calibur. Also, 3D fighters typically aren’t execution heavy like 2D fighters.
SF3 also had the parry mechanic, but with a MUCH tighter window than any KI character with a parry/counter. It also carried a pretty strict penalty for failure, as incorrectly anticipating a move with a bad parry either got you hit for a combo opportunity or at least taking damage from whatever super or projectile you were trying to parry. Sometimes, it’s good idea to not parry at all, as trying to parry a move often was a distraction for an incoming attack, and you’re parry rhythm would be disrupted by the additional attack.
So, yeah, the game comes from a different era where tutorials, frame data, and the modernized tools we take for granted today weren’t too abundant then. It’s focused on a higher skill level, where you’ll have to improve your execution and timing. As far as a lagless TV, you should always focus on reducing your lag as much as possible, but no matter how good you get it, there’s almost always going to be around 5 or so frames of lag. But you don’t need some super expensive TV to eliminate all lag to become super good at the game. If your TV does have a game mode setting, I would recommend switching to that. 120 Hz TVs will really mess with your experience A LOT, as you’ve got your input source at 60 FPS, and your TV will try to double this image rate and render each frame doubly (at HD definition no less) to try and simulate this smooth motion image. Most video games tend to look horrible under this setting when they aren’t natively calibrated to run at that high a refresh rate.
In short, a tougher fighting game from a much tougher era. If you are having fun with it though, I would also recommend you play Capcom vs SNK 2, that game is just so GOOD! They played it at EVO for years, well past its initial phase. It had almost as long a run as the original Smash games seem to have right now.
Whiffed normals (mediums and heavies) build meter in SF3. That’s why if you go back and watch old footage, you see a lot of people build meter off the footsie game, hard knockdowns, and long range whiffed normals. Also, taunts buffed characters in some small way if you managed to play out the full taunt animation successfully.
Are you trying to play the original? Because theirs is an online edition with all of that but I’m not sure about frame data. The one on the 360 and ps3
The online edition doesn’t have frame data either. It does have an individual character trials mode and some challenges, like recreating the Daigo Evo moment #37, but that’s about it. They don’t allow you to see hitboxes or frame data. Netcode is good though.
By the way guys, in case you didn’t know it, the fine folks of Iron Galaxy also did the port of SF3 online edition for the 360 and PS3. So not only did they do KI but they also ported this really good fighting game years ago.
Trying beating Gill on hard or above difficulty! phpphhhh! Its insane just trying to get to him much less beat him.
The version I played on PSnow had the command list, tutorial, combo trials, it even had the Daigo parry trial.
I wish someday they put this in backwards compatibility.
As a Q/Hugo main, I loved this game. Still my favourite SF game, by far
Play twelve, hes the most broken character in the history of fighting games. Better than guil
Good S**t. You went hard AF on the explanation. Thats how u answer sombody. The only thing u forgot was a mic drop at the end. Haha
Ah, I remember the old days, where the game told you absolutely nothing and people had to figure everything out themselves…
In my own defense…
The game was designed to be in an arcade cabinet, right? So it assumes you are playing on a lag-less TV with a fightstick.
Im not using either.
You can play 3rd Strike with a controller, it’s okay. The timing is a lot stricter for stuff than most modern fighters, though, and you have to be able to do QCF x 2 motions to survive in that game.
I’ll play people in 3rd Strike if they want. I have 3s: Online Edition on 360. You can also download and play on something called Fightcade on PC if that makes it easier. 3rd Strike was the first SF game I took seriously back in the mid 2000s.
Wanted to point this out as being pretty false. There are tons of parry option selects in the game where you can buffer a risk-free parry into your offense, confirm the parry into super if you’re right, or else just continue with your block string. Yeah, if you try to parry a super and miss, you’ll get hit, but you can parry at the same time as trying to throw, for instance… parry someone who wakes up with a button (which is a terrible idea in 3s for this reason), or throw them a frame later. You can randomly attempt down-parries in footsies to catch low pokes without being penalized in any way for being wrong. Stuff like that.
I only really considered the bad parry thing from more or less trying to do something like parry a full super or shinku hadoken with poor timing. Something you can get an example of if you try to do the EVO moment #37 challenge over and over and you don’t carry good timing.
Quite literally the only scenario my mind went to, but it seemed like such a prevalent situation, I thought it more or less encompassed a large number of situations. No intent to mislead anybody, just trying to provide a good guideline. I’ve also tried to parry a fireball successfully and been baited for a jump in, throwing off my rhythm and landing me in hot water.
SF3 is very easy, way easier than KI and that I can tell you for a fact. I have played SF3 since the 90’s and I can say with confidence its a very easy game you don’t have to worry about combo breakers like you do in KI. In KI its a lot more difficult to spend months learning how each combo pattern is and how to break it.
The problem is all the cry babies who cried they could not play SF3, they cry about it being too hard even though it just takes a little practice.
I could imagine how they would cry if they had to face PikachuAkuma
SF3 is the true Gold Standard of Fighting Games but modern day cry babies cried about parry
What are you even talking about?
There is clear evidence that the number 1 complaint about SF3 on xbox 360 was that the game was too hard even though the reality is that KI is a harder game and more technical than SF3.
SF3 does everything right, it does not try to do too much neither does it do too little it has the perfect balance which is why its considered the gold standard. That along with SSF2
PS just because someone else has a different opinion than you does not mean you can start kicking and screaming and crying “hateful” learn to accept that not everyone is going to share the same opinion like you do. This seems to be the problem with society today.
KI.
You mean the game with Combo assist, a full tutorial, complete moves list with frame data, and a buffer on everything? The game where you can form a 100% damage combo without ever needing to use manual timing? The game where Parries stay active for like 3x the frames that SF3s parries does?
^ yes KI is more difficult, I can tell you this as a 16 year SF3 player infact I still do play it on fightcade to this day. I played it since the 90’s and I learned it where I had to spend all my money on coins for the arcade everytime I lost.
SF3 combos are not difficult it is very easy, it comes natural even if there is no combo assist. Atleast in SF3 you don’t have to worry about counter breaker, combo breaker etc. Its more straight forward and natural.
The catch is you need to spend some time playing it and you will see for yourself. Back in the days fighting games weren’t as technical as it is today we didn’t have the technology as we do today just look at how hard Combos are in MKX for example.
KI may have Auto Combo but thats one of the very reasons its so hard no chance of the other guy messing up when he is giving you a 80% damage RAAM combo. Trust me on this SF3 is easier because its nowhere near as technical as KI
Internet has made life easy, there is no reason anyone could complain they can’t learn to play SF3, you no longer have to spend excess amount of money buying coins everytime you lose today you can play a million times for free over the internet.
What you probably need is a SF3 guide like this
Also if you are using a controller thats a BIG NO NO.
KI is superior on a controller due to combo assist, same goes for MKX which is really strange but yes KI and MKX are very bad on fightsticks specifically MKX and this is because MKX requires a button to block and only uses 4 buttons to attack.
SF on the other hand comes naturally via a fightstick because of its mechanics. Offcourse you need to know how to use a fightstick as there is a learning curve.
There are lots and lots of extremely difficult 3rd Strike combos.
I dunno what characters you play or what combos you do, but to do the actual high level stuff is often very difficult.
You know what…
I understand.
I understand why you make the threads you do, and i understand why you are saying that SF3 is easier.
I dont agree with most of what you said, but i can tell that you just SEE THING DIFFERENTLY because of your background.
I think i have a better idea of who you are now, and it is not the type of person who fits in well with KI players, but i understand where you are coming from.
I’ll leave you alone.