Street Fighter III: New Generation (ストリートファイターⅢ NEW GENERATION) is a fighting video game in Capcom’s Street Fighter series, originally released as coin-operated arcade game in 1997. Street Fighter III was produced for the CD-ROM-based CP System III hardware, which allowed for more elaborate 2D graphics than the CPS II-based Street Fighter Alpha games (the previous incarnation of the Street Fighter series), while revamping many of the play mechanics. The game, which was designed as a direct sequel to Street Fighter II, initially discarded every previous character except for Ryu and Ken (hence the “New Generation” subtitle), introducing an all-new roster led by Alex. Likewise, a new antagonist named Gill took over M. Bison’s role from the previous games as the new boss character.
Street Fighter III was followed by two updates: Street Fighter III 2nd Impact in 1997 and Street Fighter III 3rd Strike in 1999. A single home version of the game was released for the Dreamcast in a two-in-one compilation titled Street Fighter III: Double Impact, which also included 2nd Impact.