Given the lack of interest in Street Fighter III: New Generation when it first hit the US arcades most fans won't see the point of selecting it from the opening menu when you have the highly improved Second Impact directly next to it. Well, you have to admit that if it were not for New Generation, Second Impact would not be the terrific title it is. Capcom always learns from their mistakes and has never been a slouch when it comes to releasing their older titles for the love of their fans and Double Impact is no different. Besides, it is interesting to go back to the original and look in amazement at how much work went into improving the series. Going from the poorly animated wavy blue super move animation in New Generation to the fast paced star field super move background in Second Impact really shows how a little change can go a long way. Menu interfaces changed, power bars are more stylish, voices were re-sampled, and best of all, gameplay was highly improved. Second Impact's appeal increases even more with the addition of new playable characters like Hugo from Final Fight and everybody's favorite bad boy, Akuma. There are, however, a few things I liked better in the original such as Dudley's rainy stage over his current sunny street littered with British punks. Looks like we'll just have to take the good with the bad.

Art and animation wise, Street Fighter III is tops over all previous efforts. It's not an overly flashy title like Capcom's Vs. series, instead it flaunts it animation quality with style. From Elena's dance-like fighting stance, to the wind from Ryu's hado-ken that smoothly blows his ghi back, you can see the love Capcom has instilled in their flagship series. Since there are only two returning characters from the previous releases, Ryu and Ken, a lot of effort was put into the creation of original character art. For instance, there is the very gangly, and very electric, cyber-punk Necro, who was obviously a DNA experiment gone strangely awry. Or there is the stylish schoolgirl Ninja Ibuki who pulls off looking deadly and sexy at the same time. Street Fighter III's unique art and animation help to make it one of the top fighting titles to date.

For those of you who play Street Fighter Alpha 2, Second Impact will seem incredibly similar minus the flashy custom combos and a considerable amount of speed. And when I mention Alpha 2 I am referring to the fact that both are games of skill were Street Fighter smarts are a must. Most of the fighters do not play like the traditional cast members of the series with the exception of the Shotokans (Ken, Ryu, etc.), who unfortunately have a serious advantage compared to the rest of the cast. Which forces you to learn the ins and outs of each character in order to survive. Another addition to the play style is the Parry system. To parry an attack one must press the D-pad towards your opponent at the same time as their attack, allowing you to stall them for a split second while you show them what the floor looks like. In Street Fighter III, not learning the parry system can be a huge mistake. It can prove a bit tricky at first but once mastered allows you to get a serious edge over even the most annoying of challengers.

With the new version of Street Fighter perfection on the streets, Capcom and fighter fans alike can't miss out on such a good thing. Super tight gameplay combined with fun characters and an over abundance of smooth, hand drawn animation all leads to the solid Double Impact. While I do think it has come time for Capcom to put their cash cow out to pasture, they have still opened the doors to a grand new fight and scrubs need not apply!