Lurker > LeonhartFour

42. Street Fighter III: Third Strike


Street Fighter III and I share a checkered past of sorts. I remember learning that there would be a SFIII, and I was hyped as could be for it. Yeah, they were only bringing back Ryu and Ken, but that was okay. They were my characters of choice anyway. Plus, I was sure I’d get used to the new guys, too. Then my local arcade in the mall actually got a SF3 machine, and I played the game a bunch. I was never able to beat Gill, but I still had a lot of fun.

But then disaster struck. My local arcade closed down (and was replaced by a store that sold model trains, of all things), and my access to Street Fighter III was cut off. I was forced to wait and see if Capcom would release the game onto a console I owned, but alas, fate was not so kind (I had a similar problem with Super Street Fighter II Turbo, LOL 3DO). For some reason, Capcom thought it would be a great idea to make Street Fighter III and the first follow up, Double Impact, Dreamcast exclusives (and as such, I’ve never actually played Double Impact).

But then it happened. Capcom released a Street Fighter collection for PS2, which contained Third Strike. I was reintroduced to the world of Street Fighter III, and I loved it. I beat Gill with every character just to make up for the fact that I never did in the arcade. But as a whole, I love SF3’s mechanics. Everything just feels smooth and fast. Parrying is really fun, especially if you can get good at it (and I was at one point because I played it so much, but I’m not so good at it anymore). The game has some fun Super Arts, too. The game itself is beautiful, with some of the best-looking sprites I’ve seen. For the most part, the characters are fun to use. I usually shuffle between Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Akuma, Ibuki, Urien, and Dudley. As I mentioned in my Ken writeup, he’s probably my favorite because he can just get so crazy and you can be all kinds of aggressive with him. I always like going on the offensive when I play fighting games, so Ken’s good for that in Third Strike.

I was pretty excited when Third Strike Online came out, but I haven’t played it in a while. When it first came out, I played a bunch with KP, GodOfGaming, and Angelo. I even beat GOG’s Alex in one match! You may wonder why I’m making a point of mentioning this, but it’s because he was (at one point, I dunno if he still is) the #1 ranked Alex on PSN! So I feel decently accomplished for having won a match against him, especially considering he whooped me pretty bad in every other match we played!

Bonus Question: What is your favorite Street Fighter game?

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Arriving at Zanarkand
Yuna's Speech at Mt. Gagazet

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I'm assuming you mean "Rikku," not "Yuna."

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does your mom know you like to punch girls in the bobs

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I need an example.

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Almost done.

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"I couldn't stand a day without a past or future. I need to live each moment to keep fighting here and now."

Geometry sucks.

That is all.

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From: Lopen | #401
Man I can just imagine Zidane cutting himself (any coincidence he uses two knives) and writing poetry, then Garnet knocks on the door and Zidane is like "oh I'd better be cheery-- hey Garnet I just cut accidentally hurt myself sharpening my twin daggers can I get a cure spell?" And Garnet is like "ohh that goofy Zidane" and cures him, knowing nothing of the brooding within.

After Zidane's speech about the garnet stone right before Dagger cuts her hair, I can imagine him writing bad poetry in his room.

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"But you have been given freedom. Freedom to be...outside."
"I am lightning...the rain transformed."

Well, really, neither character is emo.

But Zidane has a big scene where the focal point is him being emo-ish, and Squall...doesn't.

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"But you have been given freedom. Freedom to be...outside."
"I am lightning...the rain transformed."

From: KamikazePotato | #396
Man, only Lopen would call Zidane more emo than Squall (sorry Leon).

Hint: He's right.

Because Squall isn't.

I will fight you over this point.

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Revolver Ocelot.

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That's the power of love!

Or teamwork.

Or friendship.

Whatever.

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"So cold. I am always by your side."
"There ain't no gettin' off of this train we on!"

I'll take it.

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It's not even Zidane's mopiest moment in Disc 3!

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Abes vs. Duggles
Tidus is a Dream


UNSAVED (15)
(--STORYLINE MOMENTS--)
Learning the Jecht Shot
*Match against the Goers
*“Sin is Jecht”
*Operation Mi’ihen aftermath
*Yuna oversleeps
*Tidus reunites with Rikku
*Seymour proposes to Yuna
*Jyscal’s Sphere/Battle with Seymour
*Guado attack Home
*Calm Lands
*Arriving at Zanarkand
*Defeating the Aeons
*Yu Yevon battle
(--GENERAL MOMENTS--)
*Obtaining Yojimbo
Obtaining Anima

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"Stay with me until the end. Please."
"Not until the end. Always."

1

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"I couldn't stand a day without a past or future. I need to live each moment to keep fighting here and now."

Princeton

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Cornell

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Guado Attack Home
Match against the Goers

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Sub-Zero.

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"Why must we always choose between certain death and probable death?"
"I'm in an epic battle to the death, FIGURE IT OUT YOURSELF!"

Reese.

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"I can set you free, mate."
"My freedom was forfeit long ago!"

I also have this FFVII poster that came with the Versus Guide!



And this OoT poster that came with the OoT Versus Guide!



I also found this image randomly doing an image search trying to find that Versus Guide poster!



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"Why must we always choose between certain death and probable death?"
"I'm in an epic battle to the death, FIGURE IT OUT YOURSELF!"

I don't think it's from the strategy guide because I have it, too, and I don't remember that poster!

But I do have the poster that came with the FFVIII one!



That one.

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http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/2369/mythbattlers.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/Sensui22/1248835958206.png

Oh, by the way, I love the picture I used for this writeup. That was my desktop background for about a year after I beat FFIX back in the day.

Also, just a little question regarding FFIX I'm not totally sure about (STILL SPOILERS TERRITORY SO TURN AWAY NOW):

Okay, when Zidane goes to talk to Garland in Pandemonium, they have that big discussion about how Zidane was supposed to be his Angel of Death, and how Kuja was only supposed to be a placeholder until Zidane grew into maturity. So the idea is that Kuja is mortal but Zidane is immortal, right? But then Zidane rejects Garland's offer, and Garland says he has to make Zidane into a regular Genome because of it, as much as he hates to do it. So is Zidane still immortal after all that or not? I'm not really sure.

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Activision

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"Hold on a minute! That testimony stinks!"
"Witness! You can't just say 'Hello' and expect us to get anywhere! I want you to testify!"

Yuna Oversleeps
Tidus Reunites with Rikku

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"So cold. I am always by your side."
"There ain't no gettin' off of this train we on!"

Strikeout to walk ratio

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"Stay with me until the end. Please."
"Not until the end. Always."

From: transcience | #009
I've learned not to take Ayuyu topic titles seriously

even quotes aren't safe from his cluelessness!

Well, someone had to take up the mantle with Albion MIA.

Although I'm not sure Ayuyu does it intentionally like Albion did.

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"Stay with me until the end. Please."
"Not until the end. Always."

Campfire scene is already safe.

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Captain Jack Sparrow.

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42. Zidane Tribal (Final Fantasy IX)
Quote: “I just wanna protect the people I’m with. Doesn’t matter if I can or not. It’s what I believe in.”


Anyone who knows me knows that I love Final Fantasy, and I love Final Fantasy leads. Zidane, of course, is no exception. Granted, like with most things FFIX on Board 8, Zidane is a bit overloved here, but he’s still pretty great, as evidenced by the fact that he’s on this list. Regardless, the point of these writeups is to talk about why I like the guy so much, but I had to throw that in there before we got started.

I suppose the main thing that I like about Zidane is his dedication to everyone around him, like in the quote above. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to help people in need, whether they want it or not, like helping Amarant at Ipsen’s Castle or going back into the Iifa Tree in the ending to help Kuja. “You don’t need a reason to help people,” as his famous tagline goes (although he never actually says that in the game, much like almost everyone else with their taglines). He shows an open and honest concern for the problems of his friends, which is a stark contrast to what we saw in Cloud and Squall. He’s not afraid to show he really cares, which is cool.

Anyway, despite being a nice change of pace from the brooding leads of the previous two main series installments, perhaps my favorite Zidane moment is the “You’re Not Alone!” scene, mostly because it’s a role reversal from what we’re used to seeing from him, so it really stands out (Plus, the music is awesome, of course). We’ve been used to seeing Zidane reaching out to help others, even if they may not have wanted it, but now we see his friends sticking by him and bringing him through it, even as he tries to spurn them. Dagger sums it up best at the very end: “You’ve always protected us. But you still don’t understand that we looked out for you, too! We watched your back while you watched ours. And we believed in you the same way you believed in us! Just like you protected us…We want to protect you.” It’s just a really touching scene, I think.

Another Zidane moment I really like is him rescuing Dagger and Eiko in Alexandria at the beginning of Disc 3. I just love it as he swoops in at the last moment just when it seems like all hope is lost. That was probably his most “heroic” moment, so I really like it. I also really like the ending, where he leaves everyone behind to try to help Kuja, and the party expresses their gratitude to him for all he’s done for them. It was nice to see that he made a meaningful impact in their lives, which kind of reflects my own desire to make a difference in people’s lives, so that’s probably why it appeals to me so much. I also like the mad dash to get to Kuja and the Matrix-like moment where everything freezes and the two of them just kind of stare at each other for a minute. Then the end where he reunites with Dagger after everyone thinks he’s been dead for a year (although did anyone here really not realize the guy in the cloak was Zidane, not Marcus?) and the whole “Bring my beloved Dagger to me!” line. It was kind of nice for them both to finally admit how they feel about each other instead of acting like middle school kids trying to act like they don't actually like each other like they had for most of the game. Anyway, yeah, Zidane’s cool.

Bonus Question: Who is your favorite Final Fantasy IX character?

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"Stay with me until the end. Please."
"Not until the end. Always."

Biran/Yenke is already safe.

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From: Takfloyd_mkII__ | #013
If you don't see the appeal in catching every Pokémon, or unlocking the final super secret level in Super Mario Galaxy 2, you probably lack some gamer genes.

The appeal of these two things is vastly different.

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http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab48/Leonhart4/Squall.jpg

Zanarkand Ruins
Truth about Auron


UNSAVED (44)
(--STORYLINE MOMENTS--)
*Abes vs. Duggles /Sin attacks Zanarkand
*Washing ashore Besaid
*Meeting the Summoner
*Sin attacks Kilika
Learning the Jecht Shot
Match against the Goers
*Seymour summons Anima
“Sin is Jecht”
Laughing scene
*Seymour approves Operation Mi’ihen
Operation Mi’ihen aftermath
Yuna oversleeps
Tidus reunites with Rikku
Seymour proposes to Yuna
*Visiting the Farplane
*Jecht Sphere(s)
Jyscal’s Sphere/Battle with Seymour
Guado attack Home
*Battle with Evrae
*Crashing the wedding
*Via Purifico
*Calm Lands
*Yuna’s speech on Mt. Gagazet
*Tidus is a dream
*Arriving at Zanarkand
Yuna’s sphere
Campfire scene
*Zanarkand ruins
*Truth about the Final Aeon
*Battle with Yunalesca
*Truth about Auron
Battle with Sin
*Battle with Seymour Omnis
*Braska’s Final Aeon
*Defeating the Aeons
Yu Yevon battle
*Yuna’s speech
(--GENERAL MOMENTS--)
*Aeons
*Blitzball
Maechen
Obtaining Yojimbo
*Omega Ruins
Obtaining Anima
*Overdrives

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Guess who I am!
http://gifsoup.com/webroot/animatedgifs3/1345748_o.gif

From: _stingers_ | #005
when you like something (in this case a video game)
you tend to want to be around that thing more
and when you're around a video game a lot, you tend to do things you havent done before
and if you play that video game enough, sooner or later you're going to do everything

y'know?

No, I don't know.

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Completionists are weird people.

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"Hold on a minute! That testimony stinks!"
"Witness! You can't just say 'Hello' and expect us to get anywhere! I want you to testify!"

Squall Leonhart.

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From: Mega Mana | #379
The Great Circus Mystery starring Mickey and Minnie for SNES.

Oh hey, the Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse was surprisingly good as well!

And yeah, the opening credits of FFXIII are really good.

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From: masterplum | #088
What happened in this topic O_o

Board 8 happened.

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Yeah, Operation Mi'ihen is a great moment. I think this was really the moment that got me convinced I was in for something special with FFX. The game had been pretty good so far, but nothing really monumental had happened yet (I mean, yeah, you have Sin attacking Zanarkand at the beginning and seeing Sin ravage Kilika, which give you an idea of what you're facing, but those weren't built up like this one was and they were over with fairly quickly). It's your first real hint that everything in Spira is not quite as it appears to be, with the Maesters showing their support for this clearly "blasphemous" operation (and Auron seeing right through it, realizing that the Crusaders inevitably being slaughtered would only strengthen support for Yevon).

There's just a great sense of tension and unease throughout the scene (Yuna's line, "I kinda...think we don't belong here" sums it up quite well) as we wait for the operation to be carried out proper. Then we see Sin just completely and effortlessly wipe out all the Crusaders despite their best efforts in a wonderfully done FMV. Then we get the game's first really tough boss fight with Sinspawn Gui, which is really well done, a solid fight.

Shame to see it go out so soon, but FFX has so many great moments that it's hard to avoid knocking out a great moment early here and there.

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Arriving at Zanarkand
Truth about the Final Aeon

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/Sensui22/1248835958206.png

Sin is Jecht
Omega Ruins


UNSAVED (6)
(--STORYLINE MOMENTS--)
*Washing ashore Besaid
*Learning the Jecht Shot
*Operation Mi’ihen
*Yuna oversleeps
*Guado attack Home
*Yu Yevon battle

Let's finish this.

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Jean-Luc Laduc's School of Obnoxious French Painting

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Terry Bogard.

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The United States of America.

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From: KamikazePotato | #374
Also sucks that Nier probably doesn't make this list!

The character or the game?

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