I'm not going to spend a long time explaining all the little nuances about what separates Street Fighter III from II, or Alpha, or any of the other Capcom fighting series. I will say that more so than any of the others (except for perhaps SFII), skill plays a very important role in the game. There aren't dial-a-combos, there isn't any air-blocking, and you only get one kind of desperation move (or Super Art, if you will) to use at a time. What you do get is the parry system, which will take quite a while for almost any fighting game fan to master; the EX move system from Darkstalkers, which expands each characters' special move roster; and the 'personal action' system, whose roots lie in the taunt but are greatly expanded into a new facet of fighting strategy. As for characters, there is only a bare minimum of returning faces (Ryu, Ken, Gouki/Akuma, and Chun Li). The rest of the line-up are fighters who are a pretty creative mix of character 'types' you've seen in the pas!!!t. Rounding out the package is a frighteningly huge amount of character animation, drawn in a much more 'realistic' style than Capcom's usual offerings; the new art style works well towards establishing SFIII as a more 'mature' game, while at the same time setting new standards in sprite animation and detail. However, the point here is not to point out what's so nice about Street Fighter III in general, but what exactly 3rd Strike has to offer that the first two incarnations (known collectively as Double Impact) don't.

The first thing that makes SFIII: 3rd Strike a keeper really doesn't have anything to do with the game itself, but rather with its conversion to the Dreamcast. Granted, it's not a port on the level of, say, Soul Calibur or Street Fighter Alpha 3, but it's acceptably solid and to-the-point. There's no missing animation. The load times are minimal, and indeed almost non-existent. The control is responsive and tight. As for extras, one gets the ability to record, save and replay matches; a parry training mode that is more expansive and practical than the 'replay the bonus stage' of Double Impact; the ability to set how easy or difficult (and even the ability to) parry high, low, or in the air; and for Japanese gamers, there's the same network battle mode that is offered in Marvel vs. Capcom 2, which should allow people to dial up a dedicated server and find opponents based on their own skill level. Sadly though, there's no art gallery, or world tour mode, or wealth of hidde!!!n mini-games. This is a disappointment, but the game itself is solid enough that hardcore fighting fans won't notice their absence.

So what's so solid about the game? First is a properly expanded character roster. In 3rd Strike, the list of playable characters has been expanded over Double Impact's by five, which brings the total number of playable characters to twenty. Within this twenty, there are only two real sets of 'clones' (the aforementioned Shotokan characters, and the hidden last boss Gill and his rebellious underling Urien), so what you end up with is an acceptably wide amount of variety. To help keep the returning people fresh, they've been graciously provided with new punches and kicks, revamped or new special moves, completely new voice samples and most importantly, revised character balance. These new features go quite a long way to helping the old keep up with the new, and as a result, even those who slogged their way through previous incarnations of SFIII are in for a couple of pleasant surprises.

Probably the biggest reason to pass up Double Impact for 3rd Strike though is the game's incredibly slick presentation. It's not so easy to notice when you play 3rd Strike by itself, but to older fans it's obvious that Capcom finally spruced up the little things that help elevate this game from good to great. The character select screen has been completely retooled into something both utilitarian and pleasing to the eye. The backgrounds have also been completely redone, to varying degrees of success; at best, they're quite impressive, and at worst, they're no blander than past attempts. The background music has been re-written, with an impressive amount of effort; each stage theme has several variations, and while none of them will probably get stuck in your head, they set their intended moods very effectively. Even trivial things like the special effects for the Super Art have been changed, and like the new character voices, it's a small touch that goes a very long way t!!!owards making an attractive, complete package worth buying.

So, when it comes time to open your wallet, what exactly are you getting into with Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike? In a nutshell, you're getting a by-the-numbers port of a very beautiful, very well-constructed fighter. I'll be honest; the fact that Capcom has made gamers wait through two previous arcade versions AND a Dreamcast port of said versions is justification enough for anyone to ignore this game. But to those who buy into my hypothesis that Capcom goodness comes at 3, get your mitts on this one. You won't regret it.