A few decades ago the masses believed video games were a waste of time for lackadaisical youths to pacify themselves while ignoring their responsibilities as both kids and young adults. As more and more people started understanding the benefits of gaming so too did the perception of what a video game is and, most importantly, the benefits gaming can bestow on a person’s life changed.
Hi, my name is James Bullock and I am a gamer who has spent the better part of his existence testing the laws of physics, exploring the vastness of a world ruined, and been a champion inside various arenas courtesy of digitized worlds both driven by reality and created through pure unbelievable ingenuity unlike anything seen by human eyes. And as a gamer I’ve discovered something else video games provide: life lessons. Today I explain how some people, no matter how strong, just don’t like a fair game courtesy of “Street Fighter III”.
Some People Just Don’t Play Fair
The original “Street Fighter” left a lot to be desired, though it did have the foundation for something greater. Four years after the original “Street Fighter” entered arcades, “Street Fighter II: The World Warrior” was released with gamers across the world having the opportunity to stand side-by-side and fight in one-on-one timed rounds utilizing digital avatars like poster boy Ryu, Ryu’s buddy Ken, and a green creature able to produce electricity as an anti-air maneuver. While M. Bison and Akuma from the multiple variations of “The World Warrior” are known throughout the gaming world as the definitive “Street Fighter” bosses, and Seth from “Street Fighter IV” is considered “cheap” thanks to his ability utilize some of the best moves in the game in the second round after playing possum during the player’s first round, no one comes across as a devastating mix of all three aforementioned fighters than final boss of the highly underrated “Street Fighter III”, Gill.
Unlike the player who can only select one “Super Art” (the equivalent of the “Super Combo” ability in the “Street Fighter Alpha” series) for a character before battling, Gill has access to all three of his Super Arts at one time. Gill’s first Super Art, “The Meteor Strike”, acts just like it reads by unleashing a screen-covering meteor shower at the opponent. “The Seraphic Wing” sees Gill radiate sonic waves that covers the screen’s entirety as well.
But no Super Art tops his third ability: “Resurrection”. That’s right, Gill has the ability to resurrect if his health bar is depleted to zero and he has something left in his “Super Meter” (a meter that seems to drain a lot slower for him than it does for the player’s character). Not only does Gill come back life, his health is also fully restored while his previous Super Art attacks are available for use whenever he feels like.
If that’s not enough, Gill’s ability to parry (a gameplay implementation added to the franchise via “III” that made it both revolutionary & critically panned by gamers & journalists respectively) is near 100 percent accurate; deflecting simple punches & kicks with ease. Blocking Gill’s normal attacks still cause massive amounts of damage while producing retaliatory combos unlike anyone else unleashed by AI or a human-controlled adversary.
Plus, the dude fights you in his underwear. How embarrassing is it to lose to someone in their underwear? No matter how hard you train or try there will be times when he find your opponent doesn’t play on the same field of integrity & ethics as you … and there’s nothing you can do about it but languish in the agony of a disgraceful defeat.
Have you learned any major life lessons from playing “Street Fighter III” or any video game for that matter? Leave them in the comments below and, as always, thanks for reading.