A dedicated Capcom modder has completed a long-awaited, much-requested project to restore several missing stages to one of the finest fighting games ever released, Street Fighter III: Third Strike - Fight for the Future (3S).

Launched in arcades in 1999 and ported to Dreamcast in 2000, 3S was the third and final iteration of Capcom's superb Street Fighter III series, preceded by Street Fighter III: New Generation (1997) and Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact (1997).

3S is considered the best and most finely tuned iteration of the three titles, with excellent balance, an improved parry system, a creative roster, and the addition of five new characters, including series mainstay Chun-Li and the frankly disturbing Q. Unfortunately, all of these great new updates came at a cost, and several stages from NG and 2I were removed to free up onboard memory.

Despite fan pleas, these stages, which run into double figures (including their variants), have never been reimplemented in any iteration of 3S - even latter-day releases such as Street Fighter: 30th Anniversary Collection or the PS3/Xbox 360 release Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition.

Fortunately, modder "DrewDos" has been hard at work, engineering the code from Capcom's complex, CD-ROM-based CPS-3 arcade system and recompiling it into Third Strike's infrastructure. Curiously, DrewDos notes that they have been able to squeeze all of the cut content into 3S' original ROM with the aid of a "7th SIMM. 3S boards natively have six SIMMs, though CPS-3 allows for seven, suggesting that they have expanded the original motherboard to fit.

Work is still ongoing - there are still bugs to squash and creases to be ironed out - but DrewDos notes that almost all stages are now implemented and the project is moving along nicely.

For the dedicated Third Striker, there might be a momentary brain break in seeing characters such as Makoto wandering around Akuma's cave entrance, or seeing Q enjoy the stars above Elena's nature reserve - but this recompiling of NG, 2I, and 3S' gorgeous environments finally checks off what has been a decades-long loose end for many in the 3S community.

Today, 3S is recognised as one of the greatest fighters ever made, a mainstay of the competitive scene three decades on from its original release. DrewDos's talent and dedication to celebrating the SFIII series is hugely appreciated. And while original, untouched arcade hardware will forever remain the way to go for competitive World Warriors, an unofficial "definitive edition" of Third Strike would make for an awesome home version, as well as a fitting tribute to one of the best to ever put on the gloves.

We await your return... warrior.