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- Disappointing Last Level: The fight against Sagat is downright frustrating, as Sagat can do absurd damage and can defeat the player in three hits or less. Blocking doesn't help, and it's all set to the world's most ear-piercing final boss music. Because the whole scarring thing was a product of its better-known sequel, the only result of beating Sagat is a generic ending where a beat-up Sagat declares you the "strongest street fighter in the world" and then the credits roll.
- Ensemble Dark Horse:
- Retsu. Despite appearing only in the original game, he's much more loved by the fanbase, and he has been used prominently in several related media. He even makes a comeback as an NPC you can fight against in Street Fighter 6, some 36 years after his initial debut.
- Geki is pretty popular despite only appearing in the original game. This is mostly due to his perceived ties to other characters in the series.
- Eagle. He was one of the earliest gay characters who surprisingly received a positive portrayal at the time. Being a homage to Freddie Mercury helps too. Fans hope to see him playable again as his last playable appearances were Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium and the handheld versions of Street Fighter Alpha 3.
- Fanon: The game doesn't spawn much on its own, but being the cornerstone of the series, many fan theories have spawned regarding how characters who only popped up here are connected to the events and characters of the later games.
- Funny Moments: Failing to break any bricks in the brick-breaking bonus level
causes Ryu or Ken to grab their hand and spout a comical sounding "OH NO!" as the observing crowd boos. - Game-Breaker: Get acquainted with the command for the Shoryuken, and you'll curb stomp every opponent the game throws at you. It deals three hits, but each hit also takes off an entire third of the enemy's health. It's also unblockable, meaning that pulling the technique off in the enemy's face is an instant win.note
- Hilarious in Hindsight: Beating any opponent besides the other player character or Sagat results in the line, "What strength! But don't forget there are many guys like you all over the world." Years later, the popularity of Ryu and Ken would give rise to the Shotoclone fighting game character archetype, and they would become the most-picked characters in the Street Fighter series competitive scene, meaning there are now indeed guys like Ryu, Ken, and the player all over the world.
- Narm: The fact that Ryu and Ken immediately drop to the floor like rocks, especially from something like a weak jab, upon being defeated without any dramatic slow-mo is unintentionally hilarious unless you're playing the arcade version, which means inserting more money into the machine.
- Narm Charm: The hilariously bad voice acting. All by one man.
- Nightmare Fuel: When it isn't unintentionally hilarious, the heavily digitized voice acting can be somewhat creepy, especially the Evil Laugh at the end of the quote that plays when you lose to any of the opponents. And then a Continue screen with a ticking time bomb appears, pressuring the player to put more money in the machine. However, if taken at face value, the player character is about to be blown to bits for failing to win a martial arts fight.
- Older Than They Think:
- An obscure one, but many who play as Ryu in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U don't know about the alternate, pressure-sensitive SFI cabinets, and think that his gimmick of being able to switch between light/heavy attacks by holding the button for different lengths originated there.
- Remember Gen's most famous phrase? It didn't originate in Street Fighter Alpha 2, it originated in this game.
- Once Original, Now Common: It was a revolutionary game for its time, introducing many gameplay mechanics that would become mainstays of not just the Street Fighter series but the fighting game genre as a whole such as hidden special attacks and the six-button control scheme. However, it was overshadowed by its sequel, which did everything this game did except much better, and to modern audiences the game can be clunky and feature-barren.
- Salvaged Gameplay Mechanic: In response to complaints about the pressure-sensitive buttons, Capcom released an alternate version of the game that replaces those buttons with the now-traditional layout of six digital buttons. This six-button control scheme has been the standard for the series ever since.
- Scrappy Mechanic: The pressure-sensitive buttons on the original cabinets. Players can wear themselves out or injure themselves trying to use stronger attacks frequently, and cab owners find them a pain in the ass to maintain. No wonder the alternative 6-button layout became the standard instead.
- So Okay, It's Average: Not the worst fighting game by a long shot, but even if you ignore its Surprisingly Improved Sequel Street Fighter II and you use the six-button layout instead of the infamous pressure-sensitive buttons, it doesn't really do a whole lot to stand out from its contemporaries.
- That One Attack: Sagat's Tiger Shot is grossly overpowered in this game, with a single hit taking away two-thirds of your health. And he has a habit of throwing one at you the moment the fight starts.
- That One Boss: Sagat. Not only does he have an extremely high chance of blocking your attacks, but his stupidly powerful special moves will instantly knock you out if you have any less than two-thirds of your health remaining.
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