Street Fighter Third Strike PS3 HELP !

Hey guy's I rarely play fighting games because I suck at them, I did have fun back in the day with Tekken, SF2, Soul Caliber etc; but nonetheless my proficiency at fighting games isn't the strongest tool in my box.

So here I am giving the genre another try because honestly the depth fascinates me, so I decided to purchase Street Fighter Third Strike PS3 and......boy...I like it...but good lord this game was clearly made for "hard pipin mofoz' . It's an extremely challenging and daunting game for a rookie like me. I really want to master the games mechanic's but I'm having a hard time understanding and executing the combos/parrying on a standard PS3 controller.

Keep in mind I don't own an arcade stick, as I can't afford one as of right now so I'm stuck with a DS3 controller, but I don't think the game does a good job explaining it's more complex mechanics/ characters move set to a noobie like me whose stuck on a standard controller, and I can't blame it because it's designed for the pro's.

So are there any decent game guide's you can recommend or better yet can anyone here explain the mechanics on a DS3, as a rookie the game just seems almost unplayable on a standard controller, It's only recently I learned that this is quite possibly the most complex fighting game ever made, so perhaps I made a poor choice with this ? any help would be appreciated.

@ico92: I wouldn't call it the most complex fighting game, I mean it has its oddities and an absolutely massive skill-ceiling, but its basic mechanics are fairly straightforward to learn and most combos aren't difficult (usually just a hit cancelled into a special or super, 3rd Strike isn't combo-heavy).

I'd start off with this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouNAvaUgISE I think Ep. 5 has the good stuff, but that series is worth watching to get you in the third strike mood. Then get some character goodness from Renic: he has character tutorials for a lot of the cast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9kJHU1xlrk&list=UUZOFLZI5g7riHqGooYuGIUw The SRK wiki has some great all-around info: http://wiki.shoryuken.com/Street_Fighter_3:_3rd_Strike

Don't be put off by the parry mechanic and as you're learning I wouldn't spend much time with the parry trials or trials in general. it's important to understand your normals and their usage, your specials/supers and their usage, and general mindgames unique to 3rd strike. At its basic level, a parry is another guess/mind-game on wakeup (and neutral, and air, but you dont have to worry about all that when you're just beginning) that you will see explained in the Gootecks vid series and can be utilized in such a way as you learn the rest of the game.

The main things you may have trouble with if you were never really a serious player in fighters is doing the special move motions with a d-pad. It'll take some practice, especially the super motions (and keep in mind with supers, that you can often buffer an attack in there, e.g. qcf, d+LP, down-forward, forward, to cancel a cr.LP into a QCFx2 Super.. you'll get the hang of that eventually). If you have trouble with quarter-circle, half-circle, SRK motions, you can always play a charge character in the game as well which I find easier to get started with.

Good luck.

Boy, Do I love Third Strike. Such a great game but definitely a hardcore one at that. Believe me, I suck at fighting games too but I get by. Which character are you maining? Maybe it could help us give you tips. In regards to combos, you really dont need high end combos to do well in this game. 3 hit combos, short combos into super, and a good throw game will get the job done. Next you should learn your character normal attacks and understand when to use them, and where to place them. Some normals are good for the opponents wakeup because it stiff them. Others have good reach or deceptive reach so it great for poking you opponent a bit. Other are great for stopping jump ins, so learn those normals!

As for parrying, dont stress it too much. Only the pros learn how to parry entire supers and crazy combos. I would say that you should learn how to parry fireballs so you are not stuck blocking all the time. Also learn how to guess a normal punch and parry it. What I mean is, if you see your opponent has a habit of throwing a punch or kick out, and you feel it coming, be prepared to do a quick parry and just grab them or anything to punish them.

On a final note, execution is very strict in this game so take some time to practice it. Otherwise, it all comes down to which character you are maining. Let us know so we can give some advice.

@MyopicCanadian: Thank you so much for the input, this is just what i'm looking for, I also wanted to ask are there any other fighters you could recommend to a rookie like me btw ?

@sagejonathan: Hey thanks allot man, I mainly play as Dudley as I enjoy his fighting style. would you say it's easer to play the game with a fighting stick because I'm considering just buying one at this point.

@ico92: Hey, I mostly learned how to play with Super SF2 Turbo and it's my current main game... I think it's great for beginners. You can play a lot of older fighters on GGPO using your PC. You may also be interested in Persona 4 Ultimax or whatever it's called, coming out in a month. It's an airdasher that's a lot easier for beginners to get into while maintaining core 2D fighter concepts.