Without Capcom’s Street Fighter 2, fighting games as a whole wouldn’t be the same as they are today. They might not even have caught on as a genre, and certainly wouldn’t have led to tournaments like Evo being big televised events worthy of developer announcements and big cash prizes.
Capcom just didn’t know when to quit their cash cow, however. They made four more official arcade updates within three years of the original’s release, as well as multiple ports on the SNES, Genesis, Playstation, Sega Saturn, and more. There are so many that it can be difficult to tell every version of Street Fighter 2 apart, let alone decide which of them is the best one.
10 Rainbow Edition and other Pirate Games
Obviously, these are going to be at the bottom of the totem pole. They’re rubbishy editions of the real deal either made for 8-bit machines or ROM-hacked to oblivion. The Rainbow Edition is infamous for a reason though. Named after its rainbow-pattern logo, the game messed up the characters’ moves to ridiculous degrees.
Ryu’s Hurricane Kick travels across the screen at lightning speed. Guile can throw multiple Sonic Booms in a row and in mid-air. Plus, players can automatically change their characters mid-match by hitting the Start button. It also cranks up the game’s speed, which Capcom kept in mind when they made their next SF2 port.
9 Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo Revival
This entry may be low, but that doesn't mean it's not respectable. Turbo Revival is no mere port. It’s a remake designed specifically for the Game Boy Advance. The music was remixed, and many of the stages were changed to ones from other games, like Ryu moving from his SF2 castle to his Third Strike one.
Akuma can also be selected, complete with Raging Demon super. The game also features new, moody artwork that’s still quite impressive today. Still, it’s not quite the same as regular Super Turbo. Commands were simplified for the GBA’s limited buttons, and it has curious additions like Air Combos and Alpha 3-style juggles
8 Street Fighter 2: The World Warrior
The original Street Fighter 2 was a revolution in 1991, but not so much 30+ years later. The character artwork and animations are rather awkward compared to its updates (poor Eliza in Ken’s ending). Players can't have mirror matches either and it was fairly buggy too, with glitches like ‘Guile’s Handcuffs’ becoming legendary over the years.
Plus, only 8 of its 12 characters are playable. The four bosses Balrog, Vega, Sagat, and M.Bison are CPU only. It is possible to play as them via hacking, but they're prone to bugging out or crashing the game entirely. If only there was another version of SF2 that had them available by default.
7 Street Fighter 2: Championship Edition
If older fans don’t remember Orange-Dress Chun Li or Derpy Ryu & Ken, chances are they played Championship Edition. It has better artwork and more refined animations and makes the four bosses playable. Now, players can finally figure out what to do with Balrog or Bison without hacking the game.
It also made mirror matches possible by introducing different colors for characters. So, players can all choose their favorites without having arguments. Still, it might’ve annoyed SNES owners who got the World Warrior port only to miss out on CE’s upgrades. Luckily, they received another port to make up for that.
6 Super Street Fighter 2: The New Challengers
Capcom decided to show off their new CPS2 arcade board by making this entry. The tech would become the basis for more famous fighting games, like the entirety of the Street Fighter Alpha series, the Darkstalkers games, and the Marvel games up to the first Marvel Vs Capcom. Still, Super Street Fighter 2 was a bit of a disappointment upon its 1993 release.
Sure, it had newly remixed music, new stages to go with the redrawn classics, and four new characters, including fan favorite Cammy. However, after Hyper Fighting sped up the action, SSF2 brought the speed back down to CE levels. Capcom just wasn't sure if speed was the way to go, making it an option in future ports and games before keeping the action fast.
5 Street Fighter 2 Turbo: Hyper Fighting
After Rainbow Edition introduced speed, Capcom followed suit with Hyper Fighting. The game was much faster than CE, playing at a pace more familiar to modern fighting game players. It also offered even more costume colors for characters and added new moves. Chun Li got her Kikōken fireball for the first time, and Ryu & Ken could do their Hurricane Kicks in midair.
The game was ported to the SNES and Genesis as SF2 Turbo and SF2: Special Champion Edition, though they’d soon be succeeded by ports of Super SF2. If the fatigue over its different releases hadn’t set in earlier, these home versions would’ve certainly done so. Capcom would have two more in them too, including one so nice it was remade twice.
4 Ultra Street Fighter 2: The Final Challengers
Made to celebrate the Street Fighter series’ 30th anniversary, Ultra SF2 was a Nintendo Switch exclusive; at least for now, anyway. It is essentially another port of Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo with a few adjustments. Players can switch between the classic graphics or HD Remix’s new sprites and widescreen aspect ratio.
The roster received two new additions as well: Evil Ryu and Violent Ken, stretching the definition of "new character." The game also features a 2-on-1 Dramatic Mode, and a first-person mode called ‘Way of the Hadō’ that doesn't really work. It's a more attractive deal now than on launch. Back then it cost $40, which was quite excessive.
3 Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo: HD Remix
Especially when its predecessor had been out on the PS3 and Xbox 360 since 2008. It only offered the redrawn graphics, didn’t have the extra modes, and cost just $14.99 on launch. Knowing that, it’s no wonder Ultra SF2 annoyed people. Was ‘Way of the Hadō’ worth the extra $25? Not that HD Remix was warmly received on release either.
The new sprites exposed the original Super Turbo’s limited animation, and the new artwork looked worse than Turbo Revival’s moody shadow pieces. At least the music was nice, even if it was all taken from the Overclocked Remix website. Super Turbo HD is a fine enough game, and better than most. It just should've been its own thing instead of being an HD paint job on sprites from 1994.
2 Hyper Street Fighter 2: The Anniversary Edition
Made for the franchise’s 15th anniversary, Hyper Street Fighter 2 isn’t just another Super Turbo port. In a quirky move, it gave players the chance to test every version of every character against each other. They had tested the waters with it before, with Alpha 3 using X-Ism to replicate Super Turbo, and a Classic Mode to replicate CE’s balance.
On paper, the faster Super Turbo characters would wipe the floor with the World Warrior cast. However, the World Warrior characters dealt more damage with each attack. Each version has their own quirks and unique moves. It made for a fascinating game and one that’s now available on modern machines through the Capcom Fighting Collection.
1 Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo
When it comes to Super Turbo, accept no substitutes. Sure, the CPU is very hard even on the lowest difficulty setting, it’s in 4:3, and the debuting super boss Akuma is really broken to fight against (and really finicky to select). Yet it’s still more pleasing to play in its original 1994 form, and easier on the eyes too. Even if it was just Super SF2 with speed, a secret boss, and the new Super Combo mechanic.
Once the meter filled, characters could pull off one big, high-damage move. It took what the Art of Fighting series introduced and refined it into something more balanced and enjoyable to pull off. Despite the HD coat of paint or Ultra SF2’s additions, they couldn’t improve on what Super Turbo already offered. Capcom took the hint at the time and moved on to Street Fighter Alpha in 1995. Still, they can't quite let the series go.