The player can only perform a Super Art once the gauge is filled. 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. After selecting a character, the player will be prompted to select from one of three character-specific Super Arts to use in battle. A Super Art in Street Fighter III is a powerful special move similar to a Super Combo in Super Turbo and the Alpha games. The main new feature introduced in Street Fighter III is the inclusion of Super Arts. However, the player cannot block in the air like in the Street Fighter Alpha series. The game also introduced "leap attacks", which are small jumping attacks used against crouching opponents. 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 gameplay of the original Street Fighter III is based on Super Street Fighter II Turbo, but with several new abilities and features introduced. In the single-player mode, the player will face seven computer-controlled opponents, including Gill.
The original Street Fighter III features ten unique selectable characters (not counting Yun and Yang separately) and a non-selectable computer-controlled character as the game's final opponent.