I’ve played 3rd Strike when I was younger but wasn’t into the in-depth aspects that I know about fighting games since the arrival of SF4. SF4 has introduced me to the fighting game community and I’m just wondering if it’s somewhat pointless to pick up Third Strike and play it seriously this late in the game?
What are some tips you veterans would tell someone crossing over from the more “slow” paced SF4 community into the faster 3S?
Waits for trolls
Whoa no lie literally just saw the trailer for this for the first time after reading your post. I’ll be a wicked scrub because I never even played 3rd strike so don’t feel so bad OP.
We’re all in the same boat here. I started playing a bit on GGPO to ease myself into it. Its crushing to your ego, however, when you play a guy who parries damn near everything you do.
same here OP. played MvC2 and 3s as a kid, sucked at it, and now that MvC3 (which I’m playing atm since I don’t have AE yet) and 3SO are here, I’m gonna play them to death.
uriennnnn
Um…just play a lot really. It’s a game that you can’t just explain on paper. That’s what I like about it. In order to be really good at it you have to know a lot of intangible A+B=C kinda things with spacing and option selects but past that in order to not get parried down on every attack you make and all of that you will have to play the game and know your characters normals and special moves enough so you can know which ones to use to throw off the parry timings of your opponent. People usually get parried down early on because they’re just using the same normal that works all the time at the same exact spacing. Which works in other fighting games but in 3S you have to mix up your spacing with different speeds and usage of normals so they can’t always sit on the same parry at the same spot to blow up your normals. You definitely have to learn to get aggressive with throws especially if your characters has a solid kara or command grab to blow up abuse of parries at closer ranges.
In general though…just play through the inevitable turtorials that will be in the game and do what I did. Which is basically play a lot and watch match videos. That’s basically how I got my Ibuki to be as competitive as it was. Make CD recordings of Japanese Carol videos of people playing Ibuki and watch them after school at the library, then play people on the weekend. LOL. Keep it simple but whatever you do do it a lot basically.
3S is ultimately just another fighting game. I know a lot of 3S players had to go through the pains of transitioning to SF4 during the early stages and breaking old habits, like jumping a lot or “not tapping forward when they see a fireball”. You’ll find yourself with SF4 habits while playing 3S as well, but just keep playing and you’ll see how to fix the ones that don’t work too well in this game. You’ll find better options as you progressively get better, how to deal with matchups as you gain more knowledge about your opponents’ characters and options, stuff like that.
In short, just play, get beat, learn, get better. Play 3rd Strike. It’s a good game. 
I’ve been dealing with some of those pains on GGPO the past few days. I try too much of the typical SF4 Ryu play. Get too dependent on fireballs and c.mk. I’m taking to parrying relatively well, I think. Just need to be a bit gutsy, and take some risks once in a while, it seems.
This is the beginning of the 3S boards blowing up.
On topic. Same as has been said a billion times before. Just play and pay attention. Practice execution when you can so it isn’t an issue. When you get a chance to play people in person who know the game well, don’t waste it.
Thread title sounds like a cool song. Or is it just me?
I’m sure you will be in the same boat as most people. I switched to SFIV when it came out, so I will be rusty too. A little practice is all you need, and 3SO appears to be designed with a stronger focus of improving skill.
Dammit, now I’m trying to make a song out of it xD
pretty sure being a scrub is acceptable. just play the game, have fun.
about picking it up late in the game… what i feel is that 3s is a really robust game that will last a long time, basically, so you shouldn’t feel like you’ve missed the boat and need to do a lot of catch up. given the lasting power that it has, you don’t need to have gotten in at the “right” time, because it will be relevant to a lot of people over a long period of time, so you can get in on it at any time. generally speaking. i mean i guess the same thing could be said for other fighting games, but i dunno, i think 3s is a cut above the rest 
anyway, the more obvious thing is that 3so is a rerelease, so if there were a point in time where there are lots of people who are coming into the game at the same time as you with the same level of skill, now would be one of those times. but like i said, even if you miss THIS opportunity, it’s not a big deal. no one is going to wonder where you were when everyone else was picking up the game.
so yeah just play the game and have fun, and get better if you want.
Third Strike wasn’t my cup o’ tea competitively but I sure love to watch it on high level. I gave it a try for a few months back in 06/07 but I had to stick with Chun to do any good vs. people who had been playing it for years. Now I’m gonna have another chance too, I’m going to relearn this game all over again (till KOFXIII comes out and I realized I have way too many games to play competitively) o_O
I’d say, it’s possible, stay focus, take it as a whole new game (but remember that the universals are always important and absolute, footsies, zoning, pokes, baiting etc.). Take it one step at a time, learn AAs, practice a few parry situations and hit-confirms etc, feel the game little by little. Don’t get mad if you lose too much, I’m a long time player but I can definitely say I can’t handle 3S as much as I would’ve liked. xP
I’ll be absolute garbage, haven’t played since I was very young. Trying to play the PS2 version again to brush up, but I don’t think it’s helping.
Tiiiight I like to play as Ken.
I want to play Q. Is this one of those games where tiers only matter to uber-ninja grandmaster players or am I completely screwed from day one?
yea, I’m in a similar boat as the OP, but I aint worried about it much…i been just geting to the point where I’m smart enough to be decent against higher competition in AE, but back when Third Strike was out, I was but a masher.
so I’m looking forward ot taking my new appreciation for 2D fighters over to 3sOE. I’ve watch tons of match vids from back in the day, and i’m just gonna pick a new character, and start over from scratch…no one I’m familar with from 4, or someone I used to use in 3s the first time…new game, new experience…get smart and level up.
@Crashd I wanna play Q too, and I could give a damn if he’s low tier. I’ve seen Kuroda win with him enough…thats all i need…i know its hard as shit, but I dont think it’ll matter online that much…if you play smart, you can win, thats how I’ve always felt.
Only way you’ll be a scrub is if you give in and quit because the game is “unbalanced” or “hard to learn” or what not. Being new =! being a scrub.
I’ve been playing 3S for a few years, but I’ve only gained a lot of competitive knowledge within the past year or so. I really need to work on my execution though; I just got my first stick a couple of months ago (playing pad my whole life), and it’s soul-crushing losing matches because your punishment combos don’t always come out the way they used to on pad. Kind of stinks too since my stick (Madcatz TvC with a USB adapter) is useless as far as practicing hit confirms goes since I only own the PS2 version. Hopefully the game’ll get a PC release, not only because GGPO is heavily flawed with 3S, but because I need a good training mode to practice in as well as stuff like combo trials. And of course the built-in GGPO means that I’ll be able to have matches that won’t be hindered by black lines running across the screen and all that jazz. :tup:
3S has always been one of my favorites, along with Alpha 2 and the EX series. I’ve always felt that 3S was the best game aesthetically, as it’s got that nice hip-hop/jazz vibe to it and the animations are top notch. I main Ken here, as I do in every single game with him in it. XD Come to think of it, I don’t think Ken’s ever had a bad game outside of Pocket Fighter…
…depends on who you face on day one. But if it’s against other players that have no idea what they’re doing, then it’s pretty much up in the air. If you’re gonna play Q though, just remember to get those taunts in every round: defense boost for each taunt, once you get three you’ll get highest defense out of the whole cast.