Street Fighter Alpha 2 (0)

First release date

1996-02-27

Platform

Super Nintendo Entertainment System PlayStation Saturn Arcade Wii Shop PlayStation Network (PS3) PC PlayStation Network (PSP) Wii U New Nintendo 3DS

Developer

Capcom

Publisher

Capcom Virgin Interactive Entertainment, Inc.

Theme

Street Fighter Street Fighter Alpha

Franchise

Street Fighter Street Fighter Alpha

Aliases

Street Fighter Zero 2 SFZ2 SFA2

Overview

Street Fighter Alpha 2 (known in some countries as Street Fighter Zero 2) is a 2D fighting game developed and released by for using the hardware on March 6, 1996.

The second installment of the series and the sequel to (and remake of) , Street Fighter Alpha 2 features five new playable characters ( and from , from , from , and newcomer schoolgirl ), new backgrounds for all returning characters, and updated gameplay mechanics (including the introduction of the "Custom Combo" system, which allows players to use their to make lengthy timed ).

Sometime in August of 1996, Capcom released an update to the game in Japan only, titled Street Fighter Zero 2 Alpha, that includes hidden character variations of some characters resembling their appearances, an updated Custom Combo system requiring a different combination and less super meter to perform, new moves for some characters, and hidden game modes including . This version was further revised in the compilation (for the on November 30, 1997 and on December 16, 1997) as Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold (Street Fighter Zero 2' in Japan and Street Fighter Alpha 2' in Europe), adding in her appearance as a hidden playable character.

The original game was ported to the and on September 30, 1996, featuring an arranged soundtrack and the game's hidden boss () as a hidden playable character. It was also ported to the on November 1996 (as one of the two games to use the S-DD1 microchip enhancement for sprite data, causing some loading times) and the on November 1998. The game was later re-released (alongside a revised Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold) for the in the compilation on June 13, 2006. The PlayStation version was later digitally re-released for the and (both via ) on June 4, 2009, while the SNES version was digitally re-released for the (on December 7, 2009) and Virtual Console (on May 22, 2014).

Gameplay

Street Fighter Alpha 2 retains most of the features in like the three level super combo gauge, alpha counters and air-blocking. The main new feature in Street Fighter Alpha 2 is the custom combo system which replaces chain combos from the previous game. When the custom combo guage is at level 1 or above the player can activate a custom combo by by pressing two punch buttons following a kick. Custom combos grant the player a limited amount of time to chain almost any attacks together into a combo. The time limit is dependent on how much power was in the super meter when the combo was initiated.

Characters

The game's roster includes 18 playable fighters, five of which are new additions. Only one of these new additions () is a brand new character. Three of the returning fighters were originally hidden in the original , no longer requiring a cheat code to use.

In most versions of the game (the only exception being the original "Zero 2" Japanese version), fighters returning from the series (except for ) have hidden variations resembling their movesets from . These versions of and were included in all versions starting with "Alpha 2", while these versions of , , , , and were only included in "Zero 2 Alpha" and "Alpha 2 Gold". Ryu, Chun-Li, and Akuma also have hidden variations of some sort.

New Characters

(from )
(from )
(from , has a hidden SSF2T variation)
(from Street Fighter II, has a hidden SSF2T variation)
(from , based on her appearance, added in "Alpha 2 Gold" and only playable with cheat code)

Returning Characters

(along with a hidden SSF2T variation, he has a hidden "Evil" variation in "Alpha 2", "Zero 2 Alpha", and "Alpha 2 Gold", in which he has some of Akuma's moveset)
(has a hidden SSF2T variation)
(has a hidden SSF2T variation)
(along with a hidden SSF2T variation, she has a hidden "classic outfit" variation in all versions, in which she wears her Street Fighter II outfit)
(known as Vega in the Japanese versions, has a hidden SSF2T variation)
(has a hidden powerful "Shin" variation, fought by reaching the last fight without losing a round, getting three perfects, and getting five super/custom finishes, only playable in some console versions)