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Street Fighter III
European arcade flyer
Developer(s)Capcom
Publisher(s)Arcade
Capcom
Dreamcast
Producer(s)Tomoshi Sadamoto
Designer(s)Yasuhiro Seto
Tomonori Ohmura
Obata Shinichiro
Programmer(s)Kazuhito Nakai
Tate
Yas
Artist(s)Ball Boy
Q
Yu-suke
D Kurita
Composer(s)Hideki Okugawa
Yuki Iwai
SeriesStreet Fighter
Platform(s)Arcade, Dreamcast
ReleaseArcade
  • JP: February 1997
  • EU: February 4, 1997
  • NA: March 1997[1]
Dreamcast
  • JP: December 16, 1999
  • NA: June 19, 2000
  • EU: September 15, 2000
Genre(s)Fighting
Mode(s)Up to 2 players simultaneously
Arcade systemCP System III

Street Fighter III: New Generation (ストリートファイターⅢ NEW GENERATION) is a fighting video game in Capcom's Street Fighter series, originally released as coin-operated arcade game in Template:Vgy. The game's name as it appears on the cabinet is Three: A New Generation of Street Fighters.[1][3] Street Fighter III was produced for the CD-ROM-based CP System III hardware,[4] which allowed for more elaborate 2D graphics than the CPS II-based Street Fighter Alpha games (the previous incarnation of the Street Fighter series), while revamping many of the play mechanics. The game, which was designed as a direct sequel to Street Fighter II, initially discarded every previous character except for Ryu and Ken (hence the "New Generation" subtitle), introducing an all-new roster led by Alex. Likewise, a new antagonist named Gill took over M. Bison's role from the previous games as the new boss character.

Street Fighter III was followed by two updates: Street Fighter III 2nd Impact in Template:Vgy and Street Fighter III 3rd Strike in Template:Vgy. A single home version of the game was released for the Dreamcast in a two-in-one compilation titled Street Fighter III: Double Impact, which also included 2nd Impact.

Gameplay

Like its predecessors, Street Fighter III is a one-on-one fighting game, in which two fighters use a variety of attacks and special moves to knock out their opponent. The gameplay of the original Street Fighter III has several new abilities and features introduced. Players can now dash or retreat like in the Darkstalkers series,[5] as well as perform high jumps and do a quick standing after falling from an attack. The game also introduced "leap attacks", which are small jumping attacks used against crouching opponents. As well, the player cannot block in the air like in the Street Fighter Alpha series.[6]

The main new feature is the ability to "parry" an opponent's attack. Parrying (blocking in the Japanese version) is the ability to deflect an incoming attack without receiving damage. At the exact moment an opponent's attack is about to hit his or her character, the player can move the controller toward or down to Parry the attack without receiving damage, leaving the opponent vulnerable for a counterattack. Additionally, this allows the player to defend against Special Moves and even Super Arts without sustaining the normal minor damage that blocking normally would incur. However, parrying requires precise timing.[6]

The other new feature introduced in Street Fighter III is Super Arts. A Super Art in Street Fighter III is a powerful special move similar to a Super Combo in Super Turbo and the Alpha games.[6] After selecting a character, the player will be prompted to select from one of three character-specific Super Arts to use in battle.[6] Like the Super Combo gauge in previous games, the player has a Super Art gauge which will fill up as the player performs regular and special moves against an opponent. The player can only perform a Super Art once the gauge is filled.[6] Depending on the Super Art chosen by the player, the length of the Super Art gauge will vary, as well as the amount of filled Super Art gauges the player can stock up. The players can now cancel a special move into a Super Art, a technique borrowed from Street Fighter EX.

Among the elaborated sprites include multiple hit stun sprites, including a new "turned-around state," in which a character is turned around (his or her back faces the opponent) after being hit. Only certain attacks can put characters in a turned-around state, and grabs and throws can now be comboed, as it typically takes longer for an attacked character to recover from this new type of hit stun.

Characters

Development

Capcom announced that Street Fighter III was in development during a March 27, 1996 meeting in Tokyo.[7] They later stated that development took over two years.[1]

The game was first unveiled at the September 1996 Japan Amusement Machine and Marketing Association show, in the form of a few minutes of footage incorporated into Capcom's PR demo tape.[8] In an interview shortly before this show, Capcom senior planner Shinji Mikami stated that it would be impossible to convert Street Fighter III to any of the home consoles then on the market.[9] This prompted rumors that it would be ported to the then-upcoming Panasonic M2.[10]

As this and the next two Street Fighter III games run on the CPS III engine, more elaborate 2D sprites were created. Each character is made up from approximately 700–1200 individually drawn frames of animation,[6][11] with the game running at 60 frames per second.

General producer Noritaka Funamizu explained the controversial decision to keep the series in 2D: "We feel that 3D is not really suitable for the head-to-head fighting ... and, to be frank, Capcom doesn't really have the techniques to display high quality graphics in 3D."[12]

Release

In 1999, Capcom released Street Fighter III: Double Impact (Street Fighter III: W Impact in Japan) for the Dreamcast, a compilation containing the original game and 2nd Impact. The compilation features an Arcade, Versus, Training and Option Mode for both games, as well as a "Parry Attack Mode" in 2nd Impact, where the player gets to test their parrying skills in the game's bonus round. This compilation also allows players to use Gill (in both games) and Shin Akuma (in 2nd Impact only), who were exclusively computer-controlled characters in the arcade version.

The soundtrack to the first game in the series was released on CD by First Smile Entertainment in 1997, while the 3rd Strike original soundtrack was released by Mars Colony Music in 2000 with an arranged version afterward. The soundtrack to 3rd Strike features three songs and announcer tracks by Canadian rapper Infinite. The themes for the games are predominantly drum and bass, with some jazz, hip-hop, and techno elements. While Yuki Iwai worked on the soundtracks for New Generation and 2nd Impact, Hideki Okugawa worked on all three games.

New Generation was re-released in 2018 as part of the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

Reception

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2013)

Next Generation reviewed the arcade version of the game, rating it four stars out of five, and stated that "The great mystery is why Capcom called this SFIII instead of leaving that honor for a more powerful and revolutionary 3D title. Gameplay in the SF series reached the ceiling of 2D possibilities a while ago, and as good as this game admittedly is, besides the stunning graphics there's little to distinguish it from the 11 games before."[13]

Famitsu magazine scored Street Fighter III: Double Impact, the Dreamcast version of the game, 31 out of 40.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c Webb, Marcus (May 1997). "Street Fighter 3 Arrives". Next Generation. No. 29. Imagine Media. p. 28. The game had its U.S. debut at a mid-March tradeshow.
  2. ^ Computer and Video Games, October 1996, page 10
  3. ^ Street Fighter III at the Killer List of Videogames
  4. ^ Webb, Marcus (November 1996). "Street Fighter 3 in December". Next Generation. No. 23. Imagine Media. p. 22.
  5. ^ "Finally Street Fighter 3!". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 16. Emap International Limited. February 1997. pp. 6–7.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Rewriting the Street Fighter Legend". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 92. Ziff Davis. March 1997. pp. 64–76.
  7. ^ Webb, Marcus (August 1996). "Capcom's Plan". Next Generation. No. 20. Imagine Media. p. 18.
  8. ^ Levy, Stuart; Semrad, Ed; Sushi-X (November 1996). "JAMMA: Capcom Finally Unveils Street Fighter III!!!". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 88. Ziff Davis. pp. 162–9.
  9. ^ "The Capcom Interview". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 12. Emap International Limited. October 1996. p. 19.
  10. ^ "Gaming Gossip". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 89. Ziff Davis. December 1996. p. 34.
  11. ^ "Capcom USA Interested in Return to Games with 2D Art". Crunchyroll. 2012-01-05. Retrieved 2013-12-21.
  12. ^ "2D or Not 2D? Capcom Answers with SFIII". Next Generation. No. 26. Imagine Media. February 1997. p. 23.
  13. ^ "Finals". Next Generation. No. 31. Imagine Media. July 1997. p. 173.
  14. ^ ドリームキャスト - ストリートファイターIII ダブルインパクト. Weekly Famitsu. No.915 Pt.2. Pg.50. 30 June 2006.
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