Street Fighter III: Double Impact delivers a two-pronged assault on Dreamcast…
The legendary Street Fighter series returns to Dreamcast in May 2000, with Virgin Interactive launching the latest and greatest instalment of the Capcom series for the powerful Sega console.
Street Fighter III: Double Impact offers two wildly different versions of Capcom's incredible fighting title as both Street Fighter III: New Generation and Street Fighter III: Second Impact are crammed on to one Dreamcast CD. This pairing of fighting giants marks yet another huge advance for the Street Fighter series, which in over ten years has sold over 25 million copies across the world.
Making full use of the impressive power afforded by the Dreamcast, Double Impact takes the opportunity to create new additions to Street Fighter lore and reinvent some familiar faces. Street Fighter: New Generation, as the name suggests, marks a new era in the ten-year-old franchise. With only Ken and Ryu returning, New Generation offers nine new World Warriors. Each is equipped with an individual fighting skill designed to maximise the series' sublime control system and each adds new scenarios to the established Street Fighter mythology. Newcomer Sean, for example, is a student of Ken's school of fighting, while New Yorker Alex has a similar background to Ryu and competes to avenge his defeated instructor.
Street Fighter: Second Impact, on the other hand, reunites the entire cast of Street Fighter III - albeit with three new heroes. Hugo and Urien take a Street Fighter bow, while Akuma - previously a hidden character in past games - is now available as a starting character for the first time.
While both games vary massively in terms of characters, both boast remarkable new additions to the Street Fighter legacy. It is a testament to Capcom's unrivalled mastery of the fighting game that, after ten years, the Street Fighter series can still surprise and enthral. Double Impact continues the trend, with a new parry mode to deflect attacks, while pressing two kick or punch buttons simultaneously can double the effect of a successful move.
By far the most innovative addition, however, is the all-new Super Art system. Players can choose from one of three Super Art attacks for each character before the bout gets underway. These replace and enhance the 'Super Combo' system of past Street Fighter games and slot seamlessly in with both New generation and Second Impact's flawless action scenes.
Street Fighter III: Double Impact represents a new benchmark for Dreamcast software. It comprises two arcade-quality fighting games for the price of one, both of which deliver uncompromising fighting action and slick graphics that showcase the power of Sega's 128bit Dreamcast.
Street Fighter: Double Impact will be released for Dreamcast in May
