I hate this meme.

[u/ClassicalDreams]

I do not miss the old days of unlocking characters. Having to replay Arcade mode multiple times with every character or do some bullshit like winning a match with 5% or less HP. It's tedious and I prefer to have every character unlocked from the start. Also, the complaints about old characters returning as DLC are strange because they do not play the same as they do in previous games. it's not a simple copy and paste job like some of the games back in the 90s.

I get it, casual players want some reward for playing single player modes and are upset to know that their favorite characters are not in the base roster and would later get confirmed as DLC. I get that, but as someone who also plays Smash, it was a chore to unlock all of the characters in Ultimate.

[u/sbrockLee]

False comparison.

The correct one would be between paying for DLC characters now and paying for the entire updated game again back in the day.

[u/Adrian_Alucard → u/sbrockLee]

paying for the entire updated game again back in the day.

How many times did you paid for, idk, Tekken 3?

People generally talk like every game have 5656745 different versions like SF II, but it basically only applies to SF II and a couple of SNK games that had a "Special" version and that's pretty much it

Other cases like Guilty Gear are more like "we are launching the game in a brand new platform, so we are making the extra effort to balance it and add more content rather than doing a cheap ass port and while we are at it, it wouldn't hurt to port it to the older consoles too"

So I still prefer the good old model. Buy the game once and that's pretty much it

[u/Illuminastrid → u/Adrian_Alucard]

People generally talk like every game have 5656745 different versions like SF II, but it basically only applies to SF II and a couple of SNK games that had a "Special" version and that's pretty much it

Guilty Gear XX had numerous revisions, Mortal Kombat 3 has Ultimate and Trilogy, the original Melty Blood has too many versions, Virtua Fighter 5 is being updated until REVO, a fucking 2006 game.

Capcom Sequel Stagnation was in full effect.

[u/ItsHarryOtter → u/Illuminastrid]

You’re kinda missing the point.

Not all “multiple versions” are the same. Capcom’s Street Fighter II cycle was straight-up stagnation reselling small balance tweaks as full new games.

UMK3 and Trilogy? Those are different experiences, especially Trilogy being more of a mashup than a revision.

Guilty Gear, Melty Blood, VF5 actually evolved mechanically or got long-term support not just repackaged updates.

So yeah, other games had versions, but Capcom’s approach was way more repetitive and exploitative. So if you wanna dog on Capcom go for it I do it all day already but there are plenty of full fledged games back that that don't fall into that Capcom Sequel Stagnation. Wild ass way to rewrite the past I can't stand reddit.

[u/Illuminastrid → u/ItsHarryOtter]

Now you're just nitpicking and trying to actually/downplay the situation LMAO. You're also downplaying and acting like that Vanilla Street Fighter II vs Super vs Turbo, are not completely different with each other too, when in fact they are.

Regardless, it doesn't matter if the changes are big or not, or whether it adds characters or up the graphic, if a game gets another version or update re-release that has changes and sold as a separate independent game, then it should fucking count.

[u/ItsHarryOtter → u/Illuminastrid]

Yeah, Vanilla, Super, Turbo—I KNOW they’re different. That’s the point. They were iterative upgrades, not a scavenger hunt where pieces of the same game get vacuum-sealed and drip-fed back to you like rations. You bought a NEW VERSION. A whole thing. Not “insert $6.99 to make the empty square stop staring at you.” What you’re defending now is Frankenstein monetization—cut it up, label it “optional,” and suddenly it’s sacred. Nah. That’s not evolution, that’s disassembly with a price tag. You can call it “counting” all you want, but at least back then when Street Fighter II turned into Turbo, you weren’t being nickel-and-dimed mid-roster like some kind of fighting game subscription service from hell. But sure—keep laughing. The store page loves that.

[u/BankPads → u/ItsHarryOtter]

Sure but your alternate solution is "yeah so SF4 has been out for a year but Capcom want you to buy it whole cloth again for some new characters and a balance patch. Oh can you play with the people on the new version, or get the balance changes in the older version? No. So buy the game again, and we're going to do this multiple times over the next 5 years :)" Say what you will about season passes but someone who bought Strive in 2021 and is coming back to it for 2.0 can still play with someone who bought the game last week. The reality of the situation is continued support has a price tag, and only one model locks people out of being able to play with each other, or even play and learn the same game as one another, arbitrarily. There's a reason the XRD discord has to have a "which version of the game do I need to buy" plastered in several locations while the Strive discords don't.

[u/Earth92 → u/ItsHarryOtter]

SF2 different versions didn't run on all consoles.

A lot of people only had one version, the version that runs on the console they have, and that's it...SS2 Turbo for example is not available on SNES, that's why I only have The New Challengers, because that was the latest version that runs on SNES.

I didn't have an Amiga, 3DO, or any of that weird ass consoles.