Capcom's peak of 2D versus, sublime in precision and depth. Parry, fluidity, cult cast and sublime animation: everything is at the top. An eternal masterpiece of the genre.
Your verdict
Category
Fighting2 players12+
Description
Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li and rivals clash in this third Street Fighter III episode considered the finest fighting game. Published by Capcom, released in the United States in October 2000. Ultra-precise 2D fighting game with parry system, Super Arts and characters with the most fluid Dreamcast animations. American version.
Street Fighter III - 3rd Strike review
MAX
Art direction
★★★★★
"Iconic"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
1/5
Story
★★★★★
"Anecdotal"
Animation reaches a peak here: every fighter moves with an organic fluidity, drawn frame by frame with a goldsmith's patience. Living backdrops and charismatic characters compose one of the finest fighting games ever made. This virtuosity of line remains, years later, a lesson in art in motion.
Jazz, hip-hop and breakbeats signed by Hideki Okugawa give the bouts a wild class, a world away from martial fanfares. The legendary "Jazzy NYC '99" and its cousins stick to the millimetric tempo of the parries. This stylish freshness, unique in the genre, remains inseparable from the game's cult aura.
Gameplay
"Masterful"
Everything orbits the parry: deflecting an attack with a simple forward tap demands nerves of steel and rewards perfect reading. This mechanic turns the slightest exchange into a summit of mental tension. With sublime animation and chiselled fundamentals, many see it as the pinnacle of 2D fighting, and the experience has lost none of its splendour.
Fun
"From the very first minutes"
Addictiveness
"Obsessive"
Learning to parry within a quarter-second turns defense into a weapon and makes every round a tense dialogue you want to replay to do better. Mastering the characters comes slowly, but every bit of progress is felt and rewards the effort. Demanding and long overlooked, this peak of 2D keeps a depth that still captivates versus enthusiasts.
The NTSC release of Street Fighter III 3rd Strike is the US version of Capcom's game in a modest print. Very high collector value: an absolute reference in the 2D fighting subculture and Dreamcast port quality never reproduced identically before very late HD reissues.
Better with friends
A jewel of 2D fighting whose split-second parry elevates the duel to an art, rewarding perfect daring and reads. The competition reaches peaks of tension: a single well-felt parry can flip a whole round and make onlookers leap. Demanding for beginners but bottomlessly deep, it captivates for good those who dive into it two-player.
Is Street Fighter III - 3rd Strike still worth playing in 2026?
A peak of Capcom 2D versus, Street Fighter III 3rd Strike pushes the parry system to an unrivalled level. Reading the opponent becomes an art, every match turning into a mental duel of insane intensity. The animation stands as an unmatched peak of the medium, and Hideki Okugawa's hip hop soundtrack made history. Still played in tournament today, the title remains one of the absolute references of the genre and keeps all its strategic depth twenty five years later for any fighting game devotee.
