THE IMPACT OF 3rd STRIKE STREET FIGHTEr III

THEY SAY THIRD TIME'S A CHARM, ALTHOUGH STREET FIGHTER III DIDN'T IGNITE FIGHTING GAMES IN THE SAME WAY AS ITS PREDECESSOR UNTIL 3RD STRIKE. MEMBERS OF THE FIGHTING GAME COMMUNITY TELL US HOW THIS COMEBACK CEMENTED ITS PLACE IN THE HISTORY OF 2D FIGHTERS

- ALAN WEN

When Capcom released Street Fighter II in the arcades in the early Nineties, it revolutionised the fighting game genre forever. By the end of that decade however, the gaming landscape was looking very different. Arcades were on the decline as technological leaps in hardware meant you could essentially have arcade-quality experiences at home. 3D graphics also gave rise to 3D fighters like Virtua Fighter, Tekken and Soulcalibur (a trend Capcom admittedly also tried to capitalise on with spin-off Street Fighter EX with less success). Taking this into account, Street Fighter III, another sprites-based fighter didn’t feel like the evolution of the series that many hoped for when it made its arcade debut in 1997. So how did its third iteration beat the odds becoming fondly remembered as one of the greatest 2D fighters of that generation?