Story time. Being introduced to street fighter alpha 2 in my younger years as a child brought fond memories and brought me to the Street Fighter franchise. Since then I’ve played, in order, Street Fighter alpha 2, street fighter II collection for PlayStation, street fighter alpha III on arcade, Street Fighter IV on Steam, the anniversary collection for the Xbox One, and Street Fighter 6. Out of all the games, I’ll make a review of Street Fighter Alpha, which was on the Anniversary collection, but since there’s some issues with controls and minor changes, I’ll go ahead and be on Mame and get the full arcade experience, close to it at least. 

This is Street Fighter Alpha for Arcade 

Story : 6

The events of the game is set after the first Street Fighter game back in 1987 and before the events of Street Fighter II in 1991. There’s no plot or focus on the game as each fighter has their own story and events to unfold throughout the arcade mode. Not much to say. 

It’s a 6 out of 10 

Sound : 8 

The sound of the music is pretty good. Has a little muffled feel but mostly unnoticeable. The sound effects is great and the soundtrack has been redone for a few characters that return from the original Street Fighter II cast. The attract mode has that OOMPH that’ll attract players to see what the game is about. Every character has their own voice and grunts (some fighting games in general reuse same voices for different characters just pointing out). Honestly there’s nothing wrong with the sound, nothing too memorable but yeah. 

A good 8 out of 10

Graphics : 9

The graphics resemble more or a anime style feel. It’s a huge takeaway from the more realistic visuals Street Fighter II offered and it’s a nice change. Character models look younger too since it’s before the Street Fighter II series. The stages look beautiful and are lovely as usual which is a given from Capcom. Animation looks pretty good, nothing tanky nor bad when moving characters, though you do feel a bit of slow pace whether from normal speed or turbo for most characters. The attract screen is quite colorful and has that high energetic feel to where you want to put your quarters in and just start playing. For a game made in 1995 it’s pretty good on the graphics department 

A 9 out of 10 

Addictive : 8 

The game is pretty fun to play. Not much to say on this as it’s a usual fighting game with characters honing their skills with different play styles of each fighter. The slow gameplay can put off a few people but to me I think it helps with the animation and inputs so people can enjoy the quality the game has to offer and put more quarters in for either the gameplay or graphics. Like true Capcom fashion, what makes this game have replayability is fighting against friends and other people to see who’s the best. More so this is more on the casual side of gaming and less competitive but fun to say the least. 

It’s a good 8 out of 10. 

Difficulty : 8

The game isn’t no slouch. The first fight to the final fight, it won’t hold your hand one bit. You will have easier match ups against other opponents depending on your play style and character you used. The first two fights aren’t that bad but you’ll have to at least know some techniques and skill. After that it’s all about how to counter since they’ll block most matches and only attack when they see an opening. Bit cheap but manageable. 

What makes the game a tad unfair is that it’s not that well balanced. Some characters are slower than others, while others are very quick to attack or have high damage. Using one character I realized how quick he was to where playing other characters felt a little too sluggish for me (more on later). 

The final fight is usually the second hardest of all the fights and it’s a bit of a quarter muncher if you keep failing to win. Yes I said second hardest, as there is a secret fight (inputs) that makes you fight against the hardest character in the game. More on later. 

The difficulty is a deserving 8 out of 10. 

Depth : 8

The game has a bit to offer for a fighting game. Few returning characters from street fighter II make a presence in this game. Ryu, Ken, Chun Li, Sagat, M. Bison as a hidden fighter and also Akuma make his third appearance as a hidden character from Capcom (Super Street II Turbo and X-men children of the atom). Newcomers from the series range from Final Fight characters Guy and Sodom, Guile’s combat teammate Charlie, and Rose (who uses soul power as her attacks). To round off the cast two Street Fighter I characters make a return with Birdie and Adon. A very well rounded cast with some hidden characters. 

With Akuma and M. Bison previously mentioned as hidden characters, there is one more character in the game that is a spoof of Ryo from SNK Art of Fighting series, Dan. This round of the roster with a good amount of 13 characters, 10 which are available to play immediately. 

Game modes offer the classic arcade which you choose one of the 10 (or 13) characters and fight through 8 opponents to see the ending. Nothing too much but a decent fair time to play in. With that there’s also a secret input for a dramatic two vs one mode where Ryu and Ken fight against M. Bison which is pretty neat in my opinion. Supposed to be based on the anime movie but since I have never seen it, I wouldn’t know. Other inputs can make you face Shin Akuma and Jesus this is the hardest fight you’ll face in the game. His health is high, his attacks are ruthless taking more than half at times, he counters everything and winning one round is a huge victory when you played hours and hours just to beat him. It’s devastating. 

With that the game also refines the super gauge. Introduced in Super Street Fighter II Turbo and enhanced in X-men Children of the atom, the super gauge has a more fixed amount of usage, up to three levels of gauge to use, to create a super attack that can cause some considerable damage. To use the gauge, player has to input a combination of buttons with the following for most…. 1 kick or punch for level 1, 2 kicks or punches simultaneously for level 2, 3 kicks or punches pressed simultaneously for a level 3. Instead of a random amount used up like they did in Children of the Atom, they take away a fixed amount depending on what level of super gauge you used up. A nice way to keep things constant. 

Air blocks make an appearance the game which gives you the ability to block in mid air, a nice addition to the game. Alpha counters also make an appearance which helps the player disrupt a combo and counter at the cost of a super gauge. These two gives a variety of defensive options for you that can help you on the fight. 

Juggling is more prominent in the game and combos are basically a necessity to win matches. Tech throws are also present, which made an appearance from earlier titles, I’m not sure whether on Street Fighter II series or X-Men. Allows you to safely land from a throw with minimal to no damage. 

Overall with these options it gives a variety of ways to hit offensively and defensively in the game which is nice 

Depth is an 8 out of 10. Even though it lacks content from being a fighting game, the new mechanics and refined gameplay makes it a bit more deeper in terms of fighting than in previous titles.


The game was a great introduction to the Alpha series and a decent continuation of the franchise, even though the setting is between Street Fighter 1 and 2. I didn’t expect much from the game but with the gameplay and mechanics it has, I can see how it became popular and reinvigorated the Street Fighter series. Later titles will refine the mechanics and improve on the gameplay and roster, but there’s not much to complain. Overall I highly recommend playing the game, if you don’t mind the more casual feel to it. 

My rating : 9 out of 10

Review rating : 7.8 out of 10.

Excellent review as always. Street Fighter II was the first street fighter game I purchased and played. I did not play this game till years later after Street Fighter II came out. I also found out that it takes place before the second game.

I do agree it is a fun game to play and for me introduced new characters that have made appearances in future Street Fighting games. You are right about the difficulty some of the fights can be brutal.