Known as Street Fighter Zero 2 in Japan. Street Fighter Alpha 2 introduced Custom Combos, Alpha Counters, and advanced CPS2 graphics and sound, becoming a balanced and competitive arcade favorite.
Street Fighter Alpha 2, released in arcades in 1996 as Street Fighter Zero 2 in Japan, ran on Capcom’s CPS2 hardware, featuring a 16 MHz Motorola 68000 CPU and 8 MHz Zilog Z80 sound processor with QSound stereo audio. The system supported 384×224 resolution, up to 900 sprites on screen, and 4096 colors from a palette of 16 million, enabling detailed, fluid character animations and vibrant stages. The game introduced the Custom Combo system, allowing extended combos via the Super Combo gauge, along with two Alpha Counters per character for defensive strategies, while retaining air blocking and fall breaking. Its arcade release was praised for technical polish, balanced gameplay, and strategic depth, making it a competitive favorite in arcades worldwide.
