Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike

The third and final iteration of Street Fighter III, including a wealth of gameplay and design revisions while introducing several new combatants.

PlayStation 2

PlayStation Network (PS3)

Overview

Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike - Fight for the Future is a 2D fighting game developed and released by Capcom for arcades (using their CP System III hardware) on May 12, 1999.

The third and final iteration of Street Fighter III, 3rd Strike revamps the game's graphical style and soundtrack (the latter of which is heavily influenced by drum-and-bass, hip-hop, and house music, with contributions by the Canadian rapper Infinite) while adding five new fighters (including the return of Chun-Li), reworking the voice acting for several returning fighters, adding a grading system (the "Judgement System"), and reworking the commands for several abilities (including a new "Guard Parry" maneuver).

The game takes place after the events of Gill's World Warrior Tournament (depicted in both Street Fighter III: New Generation and Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact), continuing the stories of several martial artists around the world. New to the series are Makoto (a Japanese karate practitioner seeking to restore her dojo), Remy (a French street fighter bearing a grudge against martial arts in general), and Twelve (a shape-shifting supersoldier hunting down its prototype), while Chun-Li returns to rescue an orphan from Gill's organization.

Along with numerous console ports throughout the years (some of which add online multiplayer capability), the original version was later digitally re-released for arcades in November 6, 2014 via the NESiCAxLive platform for the PC-based Taito Type X² system. Released exclusively in Japan, this system allowed players to keep track of their Versus Mode stats via lC cards and included online leaderboards.

Ports

Since its original arcade release, the game received numerous console ports:

It was first ported to the Dreamcast in Japan (on June 29, 2000), in North America (on October 4, 2000), and in Europe (sometime in 2000). Along with several modes and customizable game settings, it features an updated soundtrack (with a new remixed theme for the third round of each match).

It was later ported to the PlayStation 2 exclusively in Japan on July 19, 2004, which was bundled in North America with Hyper Street Fighter II: The Anniversary Edition (and the 1994 animated film Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie) in both Korea (on July 22, 2004) and North America (on August 31, 2004) as part of Street Fighter Anniversary Collection. The bundle was later ported to the Xbox in Japan (on October 28, 2004), Europe (on October 29, 2004), and North America (on February 22, 2005), adding online multiplayer support via Xbox Live.

It received a digitally-released port by Iron Galaxy for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on August 23, 2011. Titled Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike - Online Edition, this version features online multiplayer (using the GGPO netcode system) with an online lobby system (with lobbies for up to eight players). It also includes the option to save/watch replays, optional visual filters, bonus gameplay options, in-depth training modes, bonus unlockable content, and an optional remixed soundtrack by Simon Viklund.

It was later included in the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection compilation (with online multiplayer support) on May 29, 2018.

Gameplay

Much of the gameplay is the same as in Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact. However, there are some new and updated gameplay mechanics:

Some abilities have new commands, including Throws/Escapes (now done by pressing both Light buttons, or LP+LK) and Leap Attacks (now done pressing both Medium buttons, or MP+MK). Parries while jumping forward are now done by tapping forward, rather than by tapping downward.

Throws are now performed as dedicated "throw attempts" (similar to that from Street Fighter Alpha 3). As these can be done at any range or ability, they can "whiff" into a punishable "failed grab" animation. In addition, players can cancel certain forward-momentum attacks into throw attempts for better range (a technique informally called "kara canceling").

Along with the traditional Parry, the game includes a new Guard Parry technique ("Guard Block" in the Japanese version) that is performed by parrying during a blockstun. Known informally as a "red parry" due to the red flash, it allows players to punish multi-hit combos (such as most Super Arts) without needing to parry the entire combo.

At the end of the match, players are now graded on their performance based on four criteria: offense, defense, tech, and "ex points". It is unclear how these points are graded and if these are used to determine the winner in a "Judgment".

In addition, the main single-player mode now has players choosing between two opponents to fight for the first eight stages, with the ninth stage being the "rival battle" and the tenth stage being the final boss fight. The "Parry the Ball" bonus stage returns (which gets harder based on how the player has been graded throughout the mode) and is accompanied with the new "Crush the Car" bonus stage (which is similar to that from the original Street Fighter II).

Characters

New Additions

Makoto - A young Rindoukan Karate practitioner from Japan seeking to bring glory to her late father's dojo.

Remy - A Savate practitioner from France who holds a grudge against all martial artists after his father abandoned his family to pursue the path of a warrior.

Twelve - A shapeshifting android and the ultimate result of Gill's secret "G-Project". A mass-produced weapon, the original Twelve is sent to locate and retrieve Necro.

Chun-Li - Returning from previous Street Fighter games. A former Interpol agent from China who teaches kung fu to orphans, only to seek the whereabouts of a young orphan kidnapped by Urien.

Q - A very mysterious individual sighted in crime scene photographs all over the world. Although he is in the main roster, he is only fought against as a hidden sub-boss.

Returning Characters

Alex - A professional wrestler from the U.S.A. who, after avenging the defeat of his mentor, travels to seek worthy opponents. He is seen as the game's main protagonist.

Sean - An amateur martial artist from Brazil who became a student of his idol Ken.

Dudley - A gentleman boxer from England who, after winning back his father's antique car, begins his training for a contest held by the Royal Family.

Yun - A hot-headed kung fu expert from Hong Kong and the elder twin brother of Yang.

Yang - A calm-and-collected kung fu expert from Hong Kong and the younger twin brother of Yun.

Necro - A mutant cyborg from Russia who, along with his companion Effie, is on the run from the Secret Society.

Oro - A mysterious hermit who is still seeking a successor to his mystic fighting style.

Ibuki - A ninja-in-training from Japan who seeks to graduate her village's ninja school in order to become a normal university student.

Elena - A tribal princess from Kenya who studies abroad in various countries, using street fighting to seek new friends.

Ryu - A wandering martial artist from Japan who continues seeking strong opponents and fierce battles.

Ken - An experienced martial artist from the U.S.A. who is training to win the U.S. Championship for the third consecutive time.

Hugo - A professional wrestler from Germany who seeks to start his own wrestling promotion (the HWA, or "Huge Wrestling Army").

Urien - Gill's younger brother and right-hand man, who continues seeking to usurp his brother's leadership of the Secret Society.

Akuma (Gouki in the Japanese version) - A mysterious martial artist who continues to develop his incredible power. He is no longer a hidden boss and is playable from the start, though he no longer has a "Shin" variant.

Gill - Leader of the Secret Society and the mysterious benefactor of the last World Warrior Tournament, seeking to rework the world into his own utopia. He is the game's final boss and is only playable in console versions with a cheat code.

Soundtrack

Two soundtracks of Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike have been released. The first version was based on the original music from the arcade builds of 3rd Strike while the successor was an arranged version from the console releases. The soundtracks were composed by Hideki Okugawa with contributions by Canadian hip-hop rapper Infinite.