Alpha Counters have existed since Street Fighter Alpha, but SFA3 gave them extra dramatic flair by adding a lightning bolt to their startup animation.
SFA3 A-Guy’s Alpha Counter lightning strikes after he blocks X-Cody’s F+MP, as Haggar and Axl watch from the background. (Axl is an enemy thug found in the first stage of Final Fight.) Incidentally, Final Fight was originally released to arcades in 1989.
SFA3 V-Dhalsim’s Alpha Counter is triggered by Rolento’s HK Stinger as Dhalsim’s LP Yoga Fire triggers V-Rolento’s Alpha Counter.
SFA3 A-Vega’s Alpha Counter swipes through V-Karin’s HK Ressen Ha during VC2.
SFA3 A-M.Bison’s Alpha Counter teleport is triggered by V-Cody’s HP Criminal Upper. There’s a lot of weather in this picture.
SFA3 A-Bison’s lvl3 Psycho Crusher startup avoids A-Dhalsim’s meaty lvl3 Yoga Stream after a c.HK knockdown. M.Bison’s stage features randomized lightning effects in the background.
The top four happen to show the Alpha Counter visual effects in chronological progression. Completely unintentional, but kind of cool how that worked out.