Although still entitled SFA3 outside of Japan, it was known as Street Fighter Zero 3 Upper in Japan. Several years later, a version appeared on the Game Boy Advance which included three new characters taken from Capcom vs. This version was later ported back to the arcade in Japan as Street Fighter Zero 3 Upper. SFA3 made a tremendous splash on the newly arrived Sega Dreamcast where it saw a sizeable roster increase. The Saturn's use of an optional 4 Meg RAM cartridge helped its conversion out considerably, but the PlayStation's limited RAM prevented its port from being entirely accurrate. SFA3 was ported somewhat successfully to the Sega Saturn and PlayStation consoles. Upgraded versions of SFA3 have continued to expand on that selection.

In addition to these changes, the character selection has been greatly expanded over SFA2. In addition to these three ISMs, there are three hidden modes of play, Classic, Mazi, and Saikyou, which can be unlocked to provide more alternatives. An X, A, or V next to the move indicates that the move is available in that ISM. So it's important to reference the move lists below to determine which moves a character has access to in a given ISM. Not every move that a character knows is available to that character in every ISM. Only V-ISM style characters can use Variable Combos, and as a trade off, they have no predetermined Super Moves. And the V-ISM style represents the Variable (or Custom) Combo aspect of Alpha introduced in SFA2. The A in A-ISM stands for Alpha, and is the core style used in the previous two Alpha games. X-ISM is a style of play that most closely resembles Super Street Fighter II Turbo (or SSF2 X as it was known in Japan). This, in essence, triples your choices when selecting a character. The ISM chosen determines which rules and abilities the character uses. When a player chooses a character from the SFA3 roster (the largest in the series), he must then also choose an 'ISM', either X, A, or V.

SFA3 retains the anime style and spirit of the Alpha series, but takes the core engine and mixes things up a little bit. It is more of an evolution than the change from SFA1 to SFA2. Street Fighter Alpha 3 is a sequel to Street Fighter Alpha 2 in story and spirit only.

Street fighter alpha 2 wiki