The Worst
5. Street Fighter EX3
Street Fighter’s first true foray into 3D was with the EX series of games. Boasting 3D graphics, unique 3rd party characters from development studio Arika, an incredibly flashy combo system and more; the entry proved to be just a bit too ambitious for its own liking. Many of these features feel tacked on or half baked, such as the character progression systems or the various minigames littering the title. These cheapen the more fun aspects of the game, such as the new characters, and make this title a bloated mess.
4. Street Fighter
The first Street Fighter title is one that is forgotten to many. With good reason, too. This clunky, overly-difficult, execution-heavy title is a shadow of what it would eventually become. With only Ken and Ryu being playable in 2 player vs. mode, single player focuses on Ryu’s story to be the World Warrior. The games colorful cast of characters is a ruthless gauntlet of incredibly difficult opponents who took more than their fair share of arcade quarters. Street Fighter 2: The World Warrior may have been clunky in its own right, but what came before it was simply lackluster.
3. Street Fighter V
Street Fighter V was controversial even before its official release. Beta problems developed into a bare-bones release for the game, offering a paltry amount of content and an unplayable online mode. It would take a while for the game to smooth itself out, and even longer for the game to add features such as an Arcade mode to flesh out the minimalist offline experience. Today, the game is improved as far as gameplay but the inclusion of other controversial elements such as in-game ads make this game a disappointing entry for all but the most hardcore players.
2. Street Fighter 3: The New Generation
After the Street Fighter Alpha series set a groundbreaking new aesthetic and direction, the franchise seemed content with releasing spin-offs and cross over titles. To some, Alpha had taken over the mainline series and a “Street Fighter 3” wasn’t in the cards. When it happened, however, it was met with confusion and ire. The ability to select only 1 super move at the start of the match, the removal of streamlined air blocking, and only Ken and Ryu remaining as choices for long-time fans, it was definitely a let down. Discarding previous innovations, characters and gameplay elements, it would take a long time and two very strong revisions before Street Fighter 3 found its place in the diverse catalog of the franchise.
1 Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game
When the Street Fighter movie starring Jean Claude Van Dame was announced, it was inevitable that the film would warrant a tie in video game. What we got was a bizarre, digitized Van Dame and cast in an arcade spin-off. Even though it boasted it a large cast of characters, the muddy backgrounds, stiff animations, and overall poor quality of the title makes it the black sheep of the franchise. It was a bizarre Street Fighter game that looked more like a Mortal Kombat game, but without any of the fun of a Mortal Kombat game. It was like seeing a person with a “NY” Baseball cap that is not a Yankees or Mets hat but…some weird…alternate universe team. It was a strange, soulless cash-grab rather than a fleshed-out game worthy of the Street Fighter name.
