syltefar.com: Street Fighter

Fun Street Fighter Single-player Games

This is my list of which Street Fighter games are fun and balanced for casual players such as myself in single-player. Since these games are generally very difficult for casual players, in this context 'better' usually means 'easier'.

Highly recommended:
- Street Fighter Alpha 2 - diff 2/8 - 8 rounds
- Street Fighter Alpha 3 - diff 1/8 - less cool than Alpha 2, but has extra characters. Final M. Bison fight is optional.
- Street Fighter 6 (PS5) - Arcade mode CPU normal diff
- Street Fighter: The Movie (PSX) - Street Battle default diff - 12 rounds

Recommended:
- Street Fighter II': SCE (Genesis) - Champion Mode diff 4/8 - 12 rounds - a bit too hard, try easier
- Super Street Fighter II - diff 1/8 - 12 rounds
- Super Street Fighter II (SNES) - diff 4/8
- Street Fighter Alpha - diff 2/8 - Great, but maybe just play SFA2 instead
- Street Fighter Alpha 2 (SNES) - diff 8/8
- Street Fighter EX3 - diff 3/3
- Super Street Fighter IV - Arcade Mode Medium diff
- Street Fighter V (PS4) - Arcade mode diff 2/3
- Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike - diff 1/8 - 10 rounds - seems easier than SF3:NG

The jury's out:
- Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha - diff 3/8 - Seems OK
- Street Fighter EX2 Plus - Arcade mode normal diff - too hard, M. Bison took one hour to beat

Not recommended:
- Street Fighter - Bad game, and very difficult
- Street Fighter II - 8 rounds - Great game, but used 37 continues on diff 4/8, and even diff 1/8 is very hard
- Street Fighter II': Champion Edition - dif 1/8 - Good game, but too difficult
- Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting - Way too difficult
- Super Street Fighter II Turbo - Way too difficult
- Street Fighter III: New Generation - Good game, but unreasonably difficult
- Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact - Good game, but a bit too difficult
- Street Fighter IV - Great, but too hard
- Street Fighter Alpha 3 (PSX) - diff 1/8 - most fights are too easy and final M. Bison fight too hard. M. Bison fight is mandatory

Overview

Here's an overview of the original releases of Street Fighter games:

STREET FIGHTER
1987 Street Fighter

STREET FIGHTER II (CP System)
1991 Street Fighter II: The World Warrior
1992 Street Fighter II: Champion Edition (1992)
     - Boss characters are now playable
     - New playable: Balrog, Vega, Sagat, M. Bison
     - JP: Street Fighter II ' / Street Fighter II Dash
1992 Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting
     - Faster and new moves

SUPER STREET FIGHTER II (CP System II)
1993 Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers
     - Adds 4 new characters
     - New playable: T. Hawk, Fei Long, Dee Jay, Cammy
1994 Super Street Fighter II Turbo
     - Super combo meter, air combos, Akuma appears

STREET FIGHTER ALPHA (CP System II)
1995 Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams
     - New art style and fighting system
     - New playable: Birdie, Adon, Guy, Sodom, Charlie, Rose
     - Secret playable: Dan, M. Bison, Akuma
     - JP: Street Fighter Zero
1996 Street Fighter Alpha 2
     - New playable: Dan, M. Bison, Akuma, Gen, Rolento, Sakura, Dhalsim, Zangief,
     - JP: Street Fighter Zero 2
1996 Street Fighter Alpha 3
     - New playable: R. Mika, Karin, Cody, Juli, Juni,
                     Cammy, E. Honda, Blanka, Balrog, Vega
     - JP: Street Fighter Zero 2
     - PSX version adds Guile, Dee Jay, Fei Long, T. Hawk, Evil Ryu, Shin Akuma

STREET FIGHTER III (CP System III)
1997 Street Fighter III: New Generation
     - New fighting system, parry
     - New playable: Alex, Dudley, Elena, Ibuki, Necro, Oro, Sean, Yun, Yang
     - New opponent: Gill
1997 Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact
     - New playable: Hugo, Urien
     - Secret playable: Akuma
1999 Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
     - New playable: Chun-Li, Makoto, Q, Remy, Twelve

STREET FIGHTER EX

STREET FIGHTER IV
2008 Street Fighter IV (Arcade)
2010 Super Street Fighter IV
2011 Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition
2014 Ultra Street Fighter IV

STREET FIGHTER V
2016 Street Fighter V
2020 Street Fighter V: Champion Edition

STREET FIGHTER 6
2023 Street Fighter 6