This era of downloadable gaming has been great for fans of retro releases, as classics have been reborn with new features like online play and achievements. Unfortunately, one of the problems with porting classic games is just how damn ugly they look when blown up to an HD screen. Since the graphics were never designed to work for a widescreen, HD display, retro games are often forced into small, 4:3 windows to keep their visual integrity intact.
"Street Fighter III 3rd Strike," which is coming for XBLA and PSN later this year, has the same problem, as you can see in the above screenshot. When stretched into a widescreen aspect ratio, the game becomes somewhat of a pixelated mess. The only way to avoid this would be to completely redraw the graphics in HD (something that Capcom already did with "Street Fighter 2 HD Remix.") But maybe there's another way.
This screenshot is from the exact same game. In fact, it's from the same match. The difference is that we've activated the Smooth filter, which does a remarkable job of, well, smoothing things out. Lines that were jaggy are suddenly crisp and it doesn't seem to hinder the animation at all.
There are more filter options than just Smooth. Here's Crisp, with the addition of optional scan lines for more of an arcade machine look:
By the way, all of these screenshots were taken with my iPhone camera, so there's somewhat of a drop in quality here, but you can still see the significant difference with each of the filters.
Purists will likely scoff at all of these options, and will probably play the game in the original's 4:3 aspect ratio, with no filter turned on, but for those who appreciate being able to play a retro game without having their eyes bleed, it's a great addition. According to Capcom's Seth Killian, the filters were designed by hand for each character individually, instead of being a simple graphic overlay, which explains why they look so good.
The filters are just one of the many improvements Capcom is bringing with this downloadable re-release of "Street Fighter III." Online play, in-game challenges, and a currency system for unlockables help round out the project. The game doesn't have a firm release date at present, beyond that it'll come out in 2011, but based on the amount they're cramming in, it's definitely one to watch.