Street Fighter 3 was the first real attempt that Capcom made as a sequel for Street Fighter 2. The game was designed and built on the new CPS-3 board (the previous SF2 games were on CPS-2). CPS-3 allowed for greater animation and bigger characters all moving in a much higher resolution.

Street Fighter 3 was the bold attempt at a brand new story, Alex was the main character this time around. Street Fighter 3 annoyed many people as it didn't continue the story from the previous games. Where was M.Bison? Did Akuma really destroy him in the last Street Fighter tournament?

Street Fighter 3 did not do as well as Capcom had hoped, the combination of new characters and existing characters losing moves and being weakened put a lot of people off and Capcom found itself competing with its own Alpha series.

Street Fighter 3 2nd Impact Giant Attack, appeared in the arcades, with new characters Hugo (from final fight) and Urien (Gill's brother). this update was excellent and the two new characters successfully finished off the Street Fighter 3 story. Street Fighter 3 third strike was the final sequel, which itself is not a tournament game, but instead a game that ties the all the SF3 games together. This final instalment is widely regarded as the best.