Along with the return of the iconic Shotokan fighters, Ryu & Ken, a brand new cast of fighters make a name for themselves in Street Fighter III: New Generation, boasting distinguishable appearances and incredibly fluid fighting styles. Most of the newcomers cleverly "take the place" of several veteran Street Fighters. For example: Alex in place of Zangief as the grappler, Dudley taking the center ring from Balrog as the pugilist, and Yun/Yang as a homage to SF1's Lee (and Gen) as the Kung-fu stylists. While the roster is small, the impact of each fighter's hard-hitting moveset and charisma make a huge statement.
  

All of the new characters have a nice balance of priority & special moves and also pack 3 different "Super Arts" which are selectable before the match begins... and man do those Super Arts HURT when they connect! Thanks to SFIII's amazingly polished animation and deep sound effects, classic Street Fighter moves seem to "sting" like never before when they connect, and Super Arts are off the "ouch factor" charts completely. Also notable is the manner in which fighters fall and crash onto the ground, which is undeniably satisfying. (For the record, that's how you get a score of "10" for Ouch Factor here on TFG!)
   

  
Street Fighter III's most notable new gameplay feature is the Parry system, which allows players effectively counter the opponent's moves - if they have perfect timing (performed by pressing forward at the same time of the opponent's attack). This gameplay mechanic was a very innovative step for 2D fighting games at the time, and was implemented especially well in Street Fighter III. Now, there's actually a proper defense against jumping into a Shoryuken, or standing up into a chip-damage-ready Hadoken (if you've got the skills and timing, that is). The new parry system was great for the time, but it still had some kinks to be worked out. Parrying was greatly improved in the sequel, 2nd Impact... and of course, mastered later on in the iconic third and final iteration of the series, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike.
 
 

  
Visually, New Generation vibrantly stands out above all other 2D fighters that came before it, easily showing off the smoothest 2D animation ever seen in a fighting game (or video game) to date. Characters seem to move effortlessly across the screen whether they're walking, dashing, or attacking... and look nothing short of spectacular as they battle it out towards a K.O. For the record, many of the fighters' offensive and defensive techniques are loosely based in authentic martial arts, which are represented spot on. The "balance" and human-like movement of each fighter can be appreciated by real world martial artists (and is something that other fighting games fail to pull off with such finesse).
 

Finally, the characters of SFIII are simply overflowing with personality thanks to the superb voice acting. SFIII presents some of the best voice acting of the series and sounds more natural than past installments. On top of that, the background-specific music is incredibly moody, catchy, and perfectly suits the beautiful hand-drawn environments like poetry in motion. Character select illustrations drawn by the legendary Akiman and victory / K.O. artwork by Kinu Nishimura work together to create an unmatched 2D fighting game presentation. The sequel, SFIII: 2nd Impact, kept the same gorgeous visual style of New Generation and updated a few of the original backgrounds. However, the presentation was completely revamped for SFIII: 3rd Strike.
  

Page Updated: January 18th, 2024 Developer(s): Capcom Publisher(s): Capcom Designer(s): Tomoshi Sadamoto      Producer Hidetoshi Ishizawa       Planner Akiman                               Character Designer Kinu Nishimura              Character Designer Obata Shinichiro            Planner Yasuhiro Seto Tomonori Ohmura Halachie du Harais Artwork by: Akiman, Kinu Nishimura, Bengus, Daigo Ikeno, Shoei Platform(s): Arcade Dreamcast   as SF3: Double Impact Release Date(s): Feb. 4th, 1997        Arcade Oct. 30th, 1997     Dreamcast Characters:  Ryu, Ken Masters, Alex, Ibuki, Dudley, Necro, Sean Matsuda, Oro, Elena, Yun, Yang, Gill Featured Video: Related Games: Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact, SFIII: 3rd Strike, SFIII: 3rd Strike Online Edition, Street Fighter, Street Fighter 2, SF2 Champion Edition, SF2 Turbo, Super SF2, Super SF2 Turbo, Super SF2 Turbo: Revival, Super SF2T HD Remix, Ultra SF2, Street Fighter 4, Super SF4, SSF4: 3D Edition, SSF4: Arcade Edition, Ultra SF4, Street Fighter V, SFV: AE, SFV: CE, Street Fighter 6, Street Fighter Alpha, Street Fighter Alpha 2, Street Fighter Alpha 3, SFA3 Upper, SFA3 Max, SFA Anthology, SF Anniversary Collection, Street Fighter EX, SFEX2, SFEX3, SF: The Movie, Pocket Fighter, Mortal Kombat 4, Samurai Shodown 64, KOF '97, Real Bout Fatal Fury Special, Garou: MOTW, Marvel Super Heroes Vs. Street Fighter, Darkstalkers 3, Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom    Gameplay Engine  9.0 / 10 Story / Theme  8.5 / 10 Overall Graphics  9.5 / 10 Animation  10 / 10 Music / Sound Effects  10 / 10 Innovation  9.0 / 10 Art Direction  10 / 10 Customization  8.0 / 10 Options / Extras  8.0 / 10 Intro / Presentation  8.5 / 10 Replayability / Fun  8.5 / 10 "Ouch" Factor  10 / 10 Characters  8.5 / 10 BOTTOM LINE  9.2 / 10  Review based on Arcade version       Final Words: Street Fighter III is one of the most beautiful 2D fighters ever made. While not as "fast" as other 2D fighters out by 1997, SFIII: New Generation was also among the best animated and "most solid" traditional 2D fighting game experiences one could have. In a time period when some classic 2D fighting games were starting to feel old and tired, and many other fighting games were going the "3D" route (and were gaining momentum), New Generation proudly demonstrated that the best days of 2D are ahead of us. The trued-and-true gameplay that made the series so iconic in the past was brought back to life with New Generation... and expanded upon beautifully. I'm sure many fans cried a few tears when classic characters like Dhalsim, E. Honda & Chun-Li were missing in action; but the new character roster definitely stands on its own, even though it's considerably small. Personally, I think SFIII's original roster is cleverly diverse & interesting, and it only got better in the sequels. Capcom's new take on the classic series was greatly appreciated by the fans looking for something "new" out of Street Fighter.  Like I said earlier in the review, the music and sound effects of Street Fighter III: New Generation are among the fighting genre's ALL TIME BEST. If you haven't listened to the SFIII: New Generation / 2nd Impact "Voice Collection," along with the original soundtrack, you're missing out. After you give it a listen, you'll realize SFIII's sound is far superior to many titles out there, old and new. Just compare Dudley's voice from SSF4 to SF3, or Alex's voice from TVC to SF3... the voice actors from those games simply can't hold a candle to SF3's.  Street Fighter III is one of the most beautiful and well thought-out 2D fighting games to date, and was succeeded by two amazing sequels. Even though vanilla was surpassed by its sequels, I still enjoy playing the original from time to time. ~TFG Webmaster | @Fighters_Gen    Click here for all Promotional Artwork! Click here for all Backgrounds! Click here for more Character Artwork! Click here for all Concept Sketches! FOLLOW    ON:                             TFG NEWS CHARACTERS GAMES