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 5 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 identicle 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 Super Nintendo. Using a compression technique to cram more graphics on to the cartridge, SFA2 is one of the only SNES games to seemingly feature load times whenever the graphics get uncompressed. 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.

Please see the Street Fighter Alpha 2 move list for a list of all the special moves.

Cast and story
Storywise, the events in SFA2 replace those in SFA, but the general idea is the same. The original cast of SFA, including the three secret characters who are now selectable regularly, are all present, and their stories are the same. Five new characters are also selectable.

New selectable characters
Click on the character's names to be taken to their individual move lists.
 * Dhalsim: (Initially from Street Fighter II) A younger Dhalsim appears in SFA2, but seems identical in many respects to his SSF2T iteration. A rare appearance from a street fighter's wife occurs on Dhalsim's stage, as Sally can be seen cheering Dhalsim on from the sidelines.
 * Gen: (Initially from Street Fighter I) Gen is a martial arts master whose power was once right up there with Akuma, Gouken, and possibly even Goutetsu. Older and more feeble now, he continues to challenge all oncomers in the hopes of dying in battle, rather than to age.  Gen practices two distinct forms of Kung Fu and he can switch between them at will.  A great friend of Chun Li's father, Gen trained Chun Li, who she considers a foster father since her own father's death.  Gen is also the grandfather of Yun and Yang from Street Fighter III
 * Rolento: (Initially from Final Fight) Another high ranking gang member in the Mad Gears gang that Sodom belong too, Rolento aspires for civilian peace through military tyranny. However, he is unable to command the loyalty of any but a few special forces companions.  But for now, his mission is strictly revenge on Guy for the events that took place in the first Final Fight.
 * Sakura: (Original character) Although Sakura was originally intended to be another character that poked fun of the SNK NeoGeo franchises the way that Dan did, Sakura became a popular and respected character in her own right. After seeing Ryu fight in a battle one day, Sakura's only ambition has been to find Ryu and beg him to train her, even if it means dragging her schoolmate all around the world to find him.
 * Zangief: (Initially from Street Fighter II) A little younger and a lot more brash than his SSF2T version, Alpha Zangief still has yet to prove himself to the world, and more importantly to his homeland, as the worlds greatest wrestling fighter. Big on showmanship and full of confidence, Zangief is about to let the world know of his greatness.

Secret EX characters

 * 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 primative 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 and 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 treds.  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.

Rolling and Countering
Street Fighter Alpha 2 changes the aspects of both of these new combat options. In SFA2, when you perform an escape roll by rolling the joystick from backwards to down and pressing a punch button when you are knocked to the ground by an opponent's attack, the punch button used determines the distance traveled forward by the roll. Using the light punch button keeps you stationary. Those attacks which cause you to roll automatically, will make you roll backwards.

Just as in SFA, if you have at least one level of super meter stored, you can perform a counter attack known as an Alpha Counter. Unlike in SFA, every character can now perform an Alpha Counter with the punch and kick buttons so there is no need to know which character uses which button to counter. However, in general, punch buttons are used to counter high attacks and kick buttons are used to counter low attacks. While this is not a hard and fast rule for every character, using the wrong counter can cause your character to whiff and become vulnerable to attack again.

Custom Combos
Finally, SFA2 introduces the Custom Combo. Custom Combos are initiated by pressing any combination of two punch buttons with one kick button, or one punch button with two kick buttons. Any combination will work, and they can be initiated in the air as well. When initiated, your character will increase in speed tremendously, rapidly approach your opponent, and be able to perform multiple moves in rapid succession with no pause between them. You will know that it worked when you see your character followed by a blue trail of shadows.

Custom Combos require that your super meter be at least one and a half levels of power full. When the Custom Combo starts, the meter acts like a timer, draining away and indicating how much longer the character will remain in this state. Any more power beyond one and a half levels simply serves as bonus time. A player can be knocked out of a Custom Combo by getting hit in the middle of it. Making effective use of Custom Combos takes pleanty of practice and can produce more devistating effects than a level three super move.