What if Sega preferred Eternal Champions?/Street Fighter III: New Generation

Street Fighter III - New Generation is a 2.5D fighting game originally released as an arcade game for the Sony ZN hardware in 1997. it was the first Street Fighter game to have 3D graphics while many of the recurring gameplay features were revamped. The game, which was designed as a direct sequel to the Street Fighter II series, initially discarded all the original characters, with the exception of Ryu and Ken, with an all-new character roster led by Alex (hence the "New Generation" subtitle). 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 an updated version released during the same year titled Street Fighter III 2nd Impact - Giant Attack, which introduced a few new features and characters. A third version, titled Street Fighter III 3rd Strike - Fight for the Future, was released for the arcades in 1999.

Gameplay
In many ways, the gameplay of the original Street Fighter III is based on Super Street Fighter II Turbo, but the linear plane in which characters fight often changes along a 3D battleground and with several new abilities and features introduced. Players can now dash or retreat like in the Darkstalkers series, perform high jumps and do a quick standing after falling from an attack. The game also introduced "leap attacks", which are small jumping attacks used against crouching opponents. However, the player cannot block in the air like in the Street Fighter Alpha series.

The main new feature introduced in Street Fighter III is the inclusion of Super Arts. A Super Art in Street Fighter III is a powerful special move similar to a Super Combo in Super Turbo and the Alpha games. After selecting a character, the player will be prompted to select from one of three character-specific Super Arts to use in battle. Like the Super Combo gauge in the previous game, the player has a Super Art gauge which will fill out as the player performs regular and special moves against an opponent. The player can only perform a Super Art once the gauge is filled. Depending on the Super Art chosen by the player, the length of the Super Art gauge will vary, as well as the amount of filled Super Art gauges the player can stock up.

The other new feature is the ability to "parry" an opponent's attack. Parrying, or "blocking" which is the term used in the Japanese version, is the ability to evade an incoming attack without receiving damage. At the exact moment an opponent's attack is about to hit their character, the player can move the lever forward or down to step aside without receiving damage, leaving the opponent vulnerable for a counterattack. Additionally, this also allows the player to defend against special moves and even Super Arts without sustaining damage or filling up the stun gauge, which is what happens when a player blocks a special move with the regular defensive stance. However, parrying an attack requires precise timing.