As someone who has loved Street Fighter since childhood, the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection is an incredible resource for Street Fighter history, offering a look at the first 12 years or so of one of the most iconic fighting game series ever made. By presenting this series chronologically, we get to see the highs and lows of this series, and we're told a story of this franchise's journey, with each game informing the next in integral ways. Not only are these twelve games that everyone should play, but they're also a history lesson of this hugely impactful series at a time when they were truly the king of fighters.

Street Fighter reveals the wild origins of this series, which are clunky and unusual, but with characters that this universe keeps coming back to and reintroduces in later games. Street Fighter II is the star of the show, as we get five different versions of the game, which is remarkable, as we can see just how much they refined what was already a great game over the years. Then, to me, the most underrated segment of Street Fighter history, the Alpha series, which shows Capcom going back to more accessible play, testing things out, introducing new characters, and really leaning into the possibilities of just having fun with this world. And on the other hand, Street Fighter III is a ballsy step for a sequel, basically gutting everything you know about Street Fighter and trying something wholly new, dedicated to the most intense of players. With three different versions of this game, you can also see how this went from a sequel that doesn't quite work, into one of the best fighting games of all time with Third Strike.

This truly is a stunning collection, and I loved playing through fighting game history with this set. My only complaint is that I wish we saw more variations on some of the latter games, particularly the Alpha series, and I wish they were able to throw in some of the more unusual Street Fighter titles of the time (still waiting for a Street Fighter EX collection, or any acknowledgment at all that the Street Fighter The Movie game actually exists), but with 12 titles, it's hard to complain too much. This really is a fantastic set that I imagine myself coming back to over and over again for a few matches, and enjoying just how much these classics still hold up after over 30 years.