Street Fighter Alpha 2

Street Fighter Alpha 2 was the fully realized version of the first Street Fighter Alpha, which was rushed to the market early. SFA2 continues with the same anime-inspired look of SFA, and introduces five new competitors to the cast. The gameplay stays relatively the same with a few new tweaks to the engine and a brand new feature called Custom Combos, all described below. SFA2 even included a hidden background stage inspired by the Street Fighter II anime.

SFA2 also introduced the concept of alternate characters, known today as EX characters, to the Street Fighter franchise. EX characters are characters that look identical to the original characters but had alternate or reduced move lists. The motivation for choosing them is primarily for an increased challenge and bragging rights. SFA2 also tried to provide more background information for each character by introducing mid-boss fights. If players played well enough and met the requirements, one of the middle fights could be interrupted by a mid-boss, a character who had a special relationship, or information to impart to the player's character. And as with SFA before, each character faced a final boss that was particular to that character's storyline.

SFA2 made successful translations to the Sega Saturn and PlayStation consoles, but it made a surprising translation to the SNES. Using a compression chip to cram more graphics on to the cartridge, SFA2 can decompress the sprites on the fly (although there is a noticeable delay at the beginning of a match when the sound is loaded). A follow up revision to SFA2 was released in the arcades of Japan as Street Fighter Zero 2 Alpha, and for home consoles as Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold in the Street Fighter Collection which featured more styles of gameplay and EX characters.

Secret EX characters
Street Fighter Alpha 2 allowed users to select non-canonical characters that were more "what-ifs" than real competitors in the competition.
 * SF2 outfit Chun-Li: This is merely Chun-Li redrawn in her original Street Fighter II outfit. She is identical to SFA Chun Li in every way, with the single exception of the joystick motion for her Kikouken move, which changes to the charge motion used in SSF2 and SSF2T.
 * CE Dhalsim: In addition to reintroducing Dhalsim to the Alpha series, Capcom also decided to put the Champion Edition version of Dhalsim in the game. This means he only has those moves which he had in SF2CE, no air-blocking, and no super bar! To compensate for the losses, his moves do more damage in this form.
 * CE Zangief: Just like Dhalsim, Zangief is also selectable in his more primitive Champion Edition form. He gets the same bonuses and penalties that Dhalsim does. This is originally introduced in the American arcade version, and was later included in the home versions world wide.
 * Evil Ryu: This version of Ryu is not meant to be considered an actual character in the SFA universe, but rather more of a fictional "what if?" character. And the "what if?" being answered here is what if Ryu's growing power blinded him from his sense of morality and started him on the dark murderous path that Akuma treads. Ryu picks up a lot Akuma style moves including the Shun Goku Satsu (Instant Hell Murder) Super move.
 * Shin Akuma: Only available on home conversions of SFA2, Shin (or true) Akuma is the enhanced version of Akuma that the CPU controls in SSF2T. He is stronger, faster, and can throw two air fireballs from each hand.