Street Fighter EX: The 3rd Dimension

When Street Fighter IV was announced and shown to be using a 3D graphics system, fans balked at the approach it was taking. While Capcom claimed that their intention was to capture fans sense of nostalgia, their memories were of the game being a 2D experience, hence the hassle. But Capcom's ambitions went further than that: they also wanted to bring back the audience that left after Street Fighter II Turbo. Fortunately, the results were good, but the initial fan reaction was understandable given the existence of Street Fighter EX.

Street Fighter EX was the franchise's first foray into 3D. Assumingly, Capcom didn't want to continue developing all of the sub-series in 2D, and decided to enlist the help of Arika to develop a new game using the Playstation's polygon pushing power. A pity about the actual game, though, which is pretty mediocre thanks to the game's loose controls, which make performing techniques and combos more difficult than they should be. Also, I don't think anyone wanted to see their favorite characters make the transition into blocky polygons. Thankfully, it looks better in motion, but that isn't enough to assuage the clunky feel of the game.

EX was also a host to a bunch of new characters, the majority of which were some of the most bizarre the series ever produced. Some of them were pretty normal, like Hokuto and Pullum (both of which I'd personally like to see in other games), but some were downright eye raising, like a dominatrix named Blair Dame, an entertainer in a skeleton suit named Skullomania (who's also memorable in his own right), and a man with a long wire and spikes embedded on his wrists named Doctrine Dark. The characters were mostly pretty interesting, much better than the game they were in.

The first EX title also had some bizarre endings. These were supposedly designed to give Tekken a run for its money with full CG endings only accompanied by music. They all either ranged from boring to embarrassingly awkward. Some of which are so awkward and comical that they qualify as nothing other than cheesy humor today, mainly because they're so out of character for Street Fighter.

To continue with the legacy, Street Fighter EX 2 released for the PSOne a few years after the first game. The good thing is that the graphics were smoothed over for this one, giving the character models a smoother feel. The gameplay? Oh, well it's still as clunky as the first game's. There are also a bunch of new characters, like Blair's sister Sharon, but none of them are as memorable as anyone introduced in the first game. Except for maybe Area, a nerdy-looking girl wearing roller skates and a mechanical arm. Yeah, bizarre. EX 2 is probably the best in the series, though that isn't saying much if the core game is still lacking.

Then came Street Fighter EX 3, which was...well, not really a sequel. This was a launch title for the Playstation 2 back in 2000, so naturally the game looked better than a PSOne game. It also featured a tag mode similar to Tekken Tag Tournament's. Again, the core game was the same, and there were no new characters added. EX 3 instead reuses characters from the previous installments, with a few omissions - one of which is fan-favorite Akuma, interestingly enough.

Street Fighter's first foray into 3D didn't go so well. On the other hand, it's probably good that these games were released, because Capcom could use it was a reference point for Street Fighter IV for what not to do with 3D space. Needless to say, they did it very well. So while Street Fighter EX is a viable historical reference point, it's still an unfortunate blight on Capcom, Arika, and the Street Fighter franchise.