Street Fighter Alpha 2 (Europe 960229)

Street Fighter Alpha 2 delivers intense head-to-head fighting action for two players, running on Capcom’s CPS-II hardware. This 1996 release builds upon the foundations of earlier Street Fighter games, allowing players to select from a diverse roster of characters including Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, and others – though character names differ in this export version with figures like Vega appearing as M. Bison and Gouki known as Akuma. Matches unfold across a variety of stages, each linked to a country rather than a specific location found in the original Japanese release. The gameplay emphasizes dynamic movement and customizable fighting styles through an "Alpha" system that allows for unique character combinations and approaches. Players execute punches, kicks, throws, and special moves to deplete their opponent's health bar, striving to be the first to knock them down. The game was initially released in Europe in February 1996, followed by a US release the following month. Street Fighter Alpha 2 has since been ported to various platforms including Sega Saturn, Sony PlayStation, and Nintendo SNES consoles, as well as PC. A revision of the Blue Board hardware marked this European release with a build date of February 29th, 1996.