Sometimes games can hide references to other media, but directly taking elements from other art pieces is much less common. Despite this, a connection has been found between the classicStreet Fighter 3: Third Strikeand, surprisingly, aBatmanseries that aired more than 30 years before the game’s development.
Street Fighter 3: Third Strikeis a direct follow-up toStreet Fighter2, though theStreet Fighter Alphaspinoff games released in between 2 and 3 iterated upon the gameplay and visuals.Street Fighter 3’s presence on CD-ROM-centric hardware allowed for higher detail in graphics and sound.
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As submitted to the Fairly Frequent Fighting Game Facts account, whenever the Super Meter is filled in the game a two-word voice clip plays, stating, “let’s go.” As shown in the video clip, the voice is a slightly pitched-down version of a line from the 1966BatmanTV series, cut out of the phrase “To the Batmobile, let’s go.” Presumably, it was cut down both because it would make more sense, and including a moredirect reference to the iconic Batmobilewould be a legal nightmare.
Interestingly, the reference may have been completely unintentional; the sample comes from a “sample disc,” a disc that contains various audio samples for use in commercial projects. The iconic sample can even be heard in other games likeR-Type Leo,Sonic Shuffle,andRhythm Thief.Sample CDs were incredibly popularamong development studios in the mid-to-late 1990s, and their influence lasted long into the following decades as game soundtracks continued to evolve.
WhileBatmanhimself has never appeared in aStreet Fightergame, he has starred in numerous licensed video games and even made an appearance inMortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe, so his presence as a fighting game character undeniably exists. However, whileStreet Fighterlends its characters to crossovers often and aMortal Kombatcrossover has been discussed,Street Fightercrossovers within its own series are something of a rarity.
Even if an official crossover betweenStreet FighterandBatmanwill probably never happen, the sampling inStreet Fighter 3remains an interesting case for games of the era. Arcade cabinets that could play audio samples had already existed for years at the game’s release, but the upfront use of theBatmansample has givenStreet Fighter 3its own legacy as attentive players notice the connection. The larger budgets and more powerful hardware available to themodernStreet Fightergamesmay have brought improvements, but it can be difficult to top the impact of the classics.
Street Fighter 3: Third Strikeis available on Arcade and Dreamcast.
