Street Fighter Alpha 3 (2025)

Street Fighter Alpha 3 was released in arcades on June 29, 1998^[1] as the third and final game in the Alpha series. The game was released after Street Fighter III had already launched, and it took some cues from that game.^[2] The game would later be re-released on the Playstation, the Dreamcast, the Sega Saturn (only in Japan), the Playstation 2 in the Street Fighter Alpha Anthology, the Gameboy Advance as Street Fighter Alpha 3 Upper, and the PSP as Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX.

The game featured a significant overhaul of the game mechanics,^[3] and introduced ten new characters. It is considered one of the most feature-rich and well-polished games Capcom has ever produced.^[4][5] It was a fairly popular entry,^[6] but competitive players found its new mechanics overall less engaging than Alpha 2.^[7][8]

The Alpha series is unusual in that most competitive players preferred—and thus stuck with—Alpha 2,^[7][8] and whenever tournaments feature a Street Fighter Alpha game in a side tournament it's usually Alpha 2. There have been a number of Alpha 3 tournaments over the years, but it has lagged significantly behind its predecessor.

The game is still played online via web servives such as Fightcade, but not to the same extent as Alpha 2.

Game information[edit]

Street Fighter Alpha 3 was released more than two years after Alpha 2. It featured a significant overhaul of the game mechanics, introduced ten new characters, and is largely considered to be one of the most feature-rich and polished fighting games Capcom has ever released.

Story wise, Alpha 3 is largely considered non-canon;^[9] later games (including already-existing properties) would reference the events of Alpha 2 over Alpha 3, but some character developments remain.^[10]

Gameplay[edit]

Alpha 3 introduces three different playing styles or "-isms" that players pick after character selection. X-ism is the simplest, granting the player a single bar of meter and a single (but powerful) super combo. This ism also enlarges your guard meter, allows some simplified special moves, and increases damage dealt and taken. However, you can not air block or use Alpha Counters. A-ism is the standard play, and is similar to the previous Alpha games. You are given a meter with 3 sections and the more parts you spend on a super, the stronger it will be. Players have access to multiple supers. The final ism, V-ism, forgoes supers entirely and instead gives the player an activatable "Custom Combo" mode. When activated, the meter begins to drain and custom combos can be performed that are otherwise impossible and can deal tons of damage if the player knows what they are doing. However, if the player is hit even once during this mode, the mode will end. In addition, this mode lowers your standard attack damage.^[3] High level play uses almost exclusively V-ism with A-ism used rarely.

Many features return from past Alpha games, such as air-blocking and quick getups. Alpha Counters return, now with a simplified command: Forward + P + K. New features include the guard bar, which drains whenever a player blocks. If their guard meter drains completely, they will be stunned and their bar will be crippled for the rest of the match. This bar rewards offensive play and prevents turtling.

The game also takes a few cues from the already released Street Fighter III, such as changing the throw command to P + K and allowing quick getups aside from the roll previously seen in the series.

Characters[edit]

Arcade
Adon	Chun-Li	Juli	Rose
Akuma	Cody	Juni	Ryu
Balrog	Dan	Karin	Sagat
Birdie	Dhalsim	Ken	Sakura
Blanka	E. Honda	M. Bison	Sodom
Cammy	Gen	R. Mika	Vega
Charlie	Guy	Rolento	Zangief

PS1/Dreamcast/Saturn1
Dee Jay
Evil Ryu
Fei Long
Guile
T. Hawk

Gameboy Advance
Eagle
Maki
Yun

PSP
Ingrid

See Also

FAQs zum hydraulischen Abgleich mit Grundfos Alpha3

¹ Guile and Evil Ryu are unlockables in the Playstation version but are default characters in the Dreamcast and Saturn versions.

Tournaments[edit]

Click here for the full list of Alpha 3 tournaments.

Most Recent[edit]

Most Notable[edit]

External links[edit]

• Street Fighter, official website
• SF 30th Anniversary Collection, classic game pack by Capcom
• Street Fighter Alpha: An oral history, interviews with the developers, Polygon
• Street Fighter Alpha series, series overview, Fandom.com
• Fightcade, online matchmaking application for retro games

References[edit]