So weird to play this game in it's very first incarnation. It's a completely different beast, but still quite fun. The cast is certainly missing a lot of iconic character most people associate with 3rd Strike, but at least most of the freaks are accounted for lol. Mechanically speaking this is by far the richest Street Fighter yet, and the CPS3 board allows for some insane visuals. The presence of Hugo's unfinished sprites in the game's data suggests that there was probably more content planned, but it was pushed out instead to a new version in the form of Giant Attack.

For what it is, New Generation is good, just missing something.

I love Elena so much, and I thank Street Fighter III for giving her to us, as a people. Seriously had no idea she was a 6ft tall high school girl, and the fact she only kicks is honestly super interesting. I don't think she's as broken as she is in Ultra Super Street Fighter 4, but she is a testament to what makes SF3 special. The game itself has it's own style to it and while the music is fresh and the stages are dynamic and pretty, I can see how this game would feel like style over substance at first. Aside from parrying, SF3 adds more supers into the mix to give the player plenty of options, but that simply doesn't make up for the lackluster roster. Not to mention, that Gill is pretty much one of the worst final bosses in fighting games around with so many of his attacks just outright shutdown options, his super that heals him all the way, and the random amount of super combos he pulls on you. Gill is like a much tamer Rugal, sure you can actually do combos and supers on him, but he will kick your ass immediately if you slip.

so. it's good. but it's not great. it's difficult to not feel a little disappointed going from Alpha 2 to this game in terms of roster. it's not as drastic as the drop from SSFIIT to Alpha 1, but it's still a drop. i guess first entries in SF games are just doomed to have lean rosters? either way, at least the roster here is good for what it is. i think this game has probably the most unique and unusual (in a good way) designs in the series so far, with standouts being necro and oro. this cast probably has the highest ratio of characters i enjoy playing as, which is a huge positive in its favor.

the backgrounds and animations in this game are pure eye candy, by the by. the SF games have always had animated backgrounds with detail, but this game really steps it up a notch in terms of visual detail and spectacle. stage backgrounds have so much more going on and feel like areas with life to them, and they'll change between rounds to give the feeling of a fight progressing throughout a scenery. the animations are the best in the series thus far as well, and it's a treat to see the detail on animations from characters. they feel so... lovingly crafted.

i feel that going through every SF game we reach a point where i have to talk about the poorly designed final boss fight of arcade mode. here, we have gill. he has obscenely good projectiles, great air mobility, and his specials will freeze you. oh, did i mention that his super is a passive that will automatically revive him to full HP if he dies? shockingly enough, gill didn't frustrate me as much as he probably should've. i guess i'm just sort of tolerant now of bullshit in these games. just used save states to get through him with every character. can only imagine how much more nightmareishly annoying he'd have been without them.

i guess i can't rate this higher because it's just... light on content. i would probably have rated this higher if alpha 2 hadn't been so much better. this just feels like a bit of a downgrade in some ways, unfortunately. i know this isn't the quintessential SFIII experience either way, so i'm not knocking this game down a peg or anything. it's just a good foundation for what came later.

SFIII: New Generation

Tem bastante personalidade, pelo menos isso eu posso dizer.

Os efeitos e hitstop fazem o jogo parecer estranho, parece que os golpes não tem peso, e só foram aperfeiçoar isso no 3rd Strike. Mas tirando isso sem nenhuma reclamação, o jogo é lindo, OST maravilhosa e daqui pra frente só melhora.

8/10