History YMMV / StreetFighterAlpha

* ContestedSequel: The ISM System singlehandedly creates the massive split of opinion between ''Alpha 2'' and ''Alpha 3''. On one hand, it effectively means every single roster member has three versions between something more like ''Street Fighter II'', the standard ''Alpha'' mechanics, and the option for a sheer amount of crazy custom ISM combos that are probably some of the most extensive player expression and freedom in the ''franchise'' at the cost of being DifficultButAwesome. On the other hand, V-ISM is so [[GameBreaker game-breakingly exploitable]] and the ISM System in general is so incredibly complex, daunting and hard to get a full grasp of that casual players were turned away, and competitive players tend to [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome stick to X-or-A-ISMs.]] In many ways, this made ''Alpha 2'' more consistent a title to play, and more competitively viable thanks to the lack of certain infinite combo techs as well. Those who got an understanding of ''Alpha 3'' will swear up and down the boulevard that it's probably one of if not ''the'' best game in the franchise by comparison.

* FranchiseOriginalSin: Many people criticize the early versions of ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'' as attempting to axe out the vast majority of the ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'' cast in an attempt to focus on a new generation of characters, with the only exceptions being series mainstays like Ryu and Ken. This actually started with ''Alpha'', as it took until the home releases of ''Alpha 3'' to make Guile a SecretCharacter and complete the entire ''II'' roster. The big difference is that ''Alpha'' didn't attempt [[PassingTheTorch a new protagonist]] like later entries did, combined with very few actually new characters; ''Street Fighter III'''s controversial attempt to shift towards almost entirely new characters was a large part of the game becoming a temporary FranchiseKiller, why the revision sequels would bring back the popular veterans Akuma and Chun-Li, and why every successive game afterwards would ''always'' have the core eight characters of ''II'' at the minimum.

* FranchiseOriginalSin: Many people criticize the early versions of ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'' as attempting to axe out the vast majority of the ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'' cast in an attempt to focus on a new generation of characters, with the only exceptions being series mainstays like Ryu and Ken. This actually started with ''Alpha'', as it took until the home releases of ''Alpha 3'' to make Guile a SecretCharacter and complete the entire ''II'' roster. The big difference is that ''Alpha'' didn't attempt [[PassingTheTorch a new protagonist]] like later entries did, combined with very few actually new characters; ''Street Fighter III'''s controversial attempt to shift towards almost entirely new characters was a large part of the game becoming a temporary FranchiseKiller, why the revision sequels would add more (though not all) veterans, and why every successive game afterwards would ''always'' have the core eight characters of ''II'' at the minimum.

** The GBA port of ''Alpha 3 Upper'' is similarly impressive for what it manages to do, cramming the ''entire roster'' and almost all of the stages. But having to deal with what amounts to a four-button control scheme is rough, the endings had to take an obvious hit by all being replaced with a single ending of Bison being defeated, various animations were chopped up and especially background animations being simplified, and the game audio took a ''massive'' hit with all the music being butchered by the GBA's lack of a proper sound chip and countless character voice clips gone or compromised. Were it not for the sheer number of hits taken to even get it to work, this would almost be a PolishedPort and certainly more comprehensive than the SNES port above, but ExecutiveMeddling resulted in a [=32MB=] cartridge and having to shove Eagle, Yun and Maki into the game from ''VideoGame/CapcomVsSNK2MarkOfTheMillennium'', which resulted in such severe compromises and a necessary development delay -- which ended up being a CreatorKiller despite critical acclaim when Capcom cut all royalties due to said delay.

** The GBA port of ''Alpha 3 Upper'' is similarly impressive for what it manages to do, cramming the ''entire roster'' and almost all of the stages. But having to deal with what amounts to a four-button control scheme is rough, the endings had to take an obvious hit by all being replaced with a single ending of Bison being defeated, various animations were chopped up and especially background animations being simplified, and the game audio took a ''massive'' hit with all the music being butchered by the GBA's lack of a proper sound chip and countless character voice clips gone or compromised. Were it not for the sheer number of hits taken to even get it to work, this would almost be a PolishedPort and certainly more comprehensive than the SNES port above, but ExecutiveMeddling resulted in a [=32MB=] cartridge and having to shove Eagle, Yun and Maki into the game from ''VideoGame/CapcomVsSNK2MarkOfTheMillennium'', which resulted in such severe compromises.

** The GBA port of ''Alpha 3 Upper'' is similarly impressive for what it manages to do, cramming the ''entire roster'' and almost all of the stages. But having to deal with what amounts to a four-button control scheme is rough, the endings had to take an obvious hit by all being replaced with a single ending of Bison being defeated, various animations were chopped up and especially background animations being simplified, and the game audio took a ''massive'' hit with all the music being butchered by the GBA's lack of a proper sound chip and countless character voice clips gone or compromised. Were it not for the sheer number of hits taken to even get it to work, this would almost be a PolishedPort and certainly more comprehensive than the SNES port above, but ExecutiveMeddling resulted in a [=32MB=] cartridge and having to shove Eagle, Yun and Maki into the game from ''VideoGame/CapcomVsSNK'', which resulted in such severe compromises.

** The GBA port of ''Alpha 3 Upper'' is similarly impressive for what it manages to do, cramming the ''entire roster'' and almost all of the stages. But having to deal with what amounts to a four-button control scheme is rough, the endings had to take an obvious hit by all being replaced with a single ending of Bison being defeated, various animations were chopped up and especially background animations being simplified, and the game audio took a ''massive'' hit with all the music being butchered by the GBA's lack of a proper sound chip and countless character voice clips gone or compromised. A miracle piece of software given the compromises needed for an incredibly small 32 megabyte cartridge space they had to work with, and arguably a better port by far than the SNES version of its predecessor, but it's enough to make it a "decent" appetizer for the real deal rather than the full course meal of the other home ports.

** The GBA port of ''Alpha 3 Upper'' is similarly impressive for what it manages to do, cramming the ''entire roster'', every stage, move, and even character-specific victory quotes. But having to deal with what amounts to a four-button control scheme is rough, the endings had to take an obvious hit by all being replaced with a single ending of Bison being defeated, various animations were chopped up and especially background animations being simplified, and the game audio took a ''massive'' hit with all the music being butchered by the GBA's lack of a proper sound chip and countless character voice clips gone or compromised. A miracle piece of software given the compromises needed for a relatively small cartridge space they had to work with, and arguably a better port by far than the SNES version of its predecessor, but it's enough to make it a "decent" appetizer for the real deal rather than the full course meal of the other home ports.

** The GBA port of ''Alpha 3 Upper'' is similarly impressive for what it manages to do, cramming the ''entire roster'', every stage, move, and even character-specific victory quotes. But having to deal with what amounts to a four-button control scheme is rough, the endings had to take an obvious hit by all being replaced with a single ending of Bison being defeated, various animations were chopped up and especially background animations being simplified, and the game audio took a ''massive'' hit with all the music being butchered by the GBA's lack of a proper sound chip and countless character voice clips gone or compromised. A miracle piece of software given the compromises needed for a relatively small cartridge space they had to work with, but it's enough to make it a "decent" appetizer for the real deal rather than the full course meal of the other home ports.

** The GBA port of ''Alpha 3 Upper'' is similarly impressive for what it manages to do, cramming the ''entire roster'', every stage, move, and even character-specific victory quotes. But having to deal with what amounts to a four-button control scheme is rough, the endings had to take an obvious hit by all being replaced with a single ending of Bison being defeated, and the game audio took a ''massive'' hit with all the music being butchered by the GBA's lack of a proper sound chip and countless character voice clips gone or compromised. A miracle piece of software given the compromises needed for a relatively small cartridge space they had to work with, but it's enough to make it a "decent" appetizer for the real deal rather than the full course meal of the other home ports.

* PortingDisaster: The SNES version of ''Alpha 2'' is a textbook case of a port that's impressive insomuch as it exists at all, but simply ends up not being worth it. The graphics retain an impressive amount of detail compared to the arcade original, but the controls are unresponsive, there's LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading, the frame-rate can tank badly when certain special moves are used, and the sound quality is poor, with most of the soundtrack getting a bland remix, and half of the sound effects being missing. There does exist a patch that can fix the loading issues and replace the soundtrack with the arcade version's, however, which can make the port ''far'' more tolerable and easier to appreciate.

** The Sega Saturn versions of the first ''Alpha'' and ''[[NoExportForYou Zero 3]]'' are just plain obscenely good at what they try to do. The former is only different with the color palette compared to the arcade, and otherwise was just about a perfect port with all the animations and gameplay unchanged. The latter required the Expanded 4MB RAM cartridge, but the trade off was the best home console version of the game ever released, even featuring unique content that couldn't be equaled up to until the Playstation Portable's ''Alpha 3 MAX'' release, which itself was an excellent port above and beyond the rest.

** ''[[CompilationRerelease Alpha Anthology]]'' for the [=PS2=] not only contains arcade-accurate ports, but also the aforementioned ''Alpha 2 Gold'' and the option for CPS-1 or CPS-2 soundtracks for the first ''Alpha'', as well as ''VideoGame/SuperGemFighter'', and the ''Alpha 3 Upper'' release that has additional console-only characters added. It even completes Cammy's early inclusion in ''Gold'' with story and an ending. While it lacks things like World Tour mode, it makes up for it with curious couch-competitive content galore via the unlockable ''Hyper Street Fighter Alpha''; much like ''Hyper Street Fighter II'', it lets you play as every version of every ''Alpha'' character around, all the [=ISMs=], and plenty of extra customizable options like recreating ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'' parries or the like. While it lacks its own arcade mode, this makes it '''the''' definitive collection of ''Alpha'' titles if you're itching for arcade content perfected.

** ''[[CompilationRerelease Alpha Anthology]]'' for the PS2 not only contains arcade-accurate ports, but also the aforementioned ''Alpha 2 Gold'' and the option for CPS-1 or CPS-2 soundtracks for the first ''Alpha'', as well as ''VideoGame/SuperGemFighter'', and the ''Alpha 3 Upper'' release that has additional console-only characters added. It even completes Cammy's early inclusion in ''Gold'' with story and an ending. While it lacks things like World Tour mode, it makes up for it with curious couch-competitive content galore via the unlockable ''Hyper Street Fighter Alpha''; much like ''Hyper Street Fighter II'', it lets you play as every version of every ''Alpha'' character around, all the [=ISMs=], and plenty of extra customizable options like recreating ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'' parries or the like. While it lacks its own arcade mode, this makes it '''the''' definitive collection of ''Alpha'' titles if you're itching for arcade content perfected.

* PolishedPort: The Sega Saturn versions of the first ''Alpha'' and ''[[NoExportForYou Zero 3]]'' are just plain obscenely good at what they try to do. The former is only different with the color palette compared to the arcade, and otherwise was just about a perfect port with all the animations and gameplay unchanged. The latter required the Expanded 4MB RAM cartridge, but the trade off was the best home console version of the game ever released, even featuring unique content that couldn't be equaled up to until the Playstation Portable's ''Alpha 3 MAX'' release, which itself was an excellent port above and beyond the rest.

* PortingDisaster: The SNES version of ''Alpha 2'' is a textbook case of a port that's impressive insomuch as it exists at all, but simply ends up not being worth it. The graphics retain an impressive amount of detail compared to the arcade original, but the controls are unresponsive, there's LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading, the frame-rate can tank badly when certain special moves are used, and the sound quality is poor, with most of the soundtrack getting a bland remix, and half of the sound effects being missing.

* UncannyValley: It may be the style, but some of the artwork done for the series can come across as pretty strange. Take a look at Dan and Zangief in [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/street_fighter_alpha_2.png this promotional art]] for ''Alpha 2'' for an example of this.

* ''YMMV/StreetFighterAlpha''

Index:
* ''YMMV/StreetFighter''

* ''YMMV/StreetFighterTheMovie''

* ''YMMV/StreetFighterIITheAnimatedMovie''

** [[SNKBoss Final Bison]]'s Final Psycho Crusher from ''Alpha 3''. It does ridiculous amounts of damage whether you block it or not and [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/4/4b/Final_Psycho_Crusher_Hitbox.png has a hitbox]] ''spanning nearly the entire vertical length of the screen''. (It's also completely invincible, lacking the regular Psycho Crusher's hurtboxes.) The only way to avoid it is to use a high-priority move (i.e. {{Shoryuken}}), WallJump, or, if you're Akuma/Evil Ryu, Ashura Senku it out of there. The first two require critical timing and ''a lot'' of luck. On top of that, Bison's boss-exclusive Shadaloo-ism allows him to build meter incredibly fast, meaning he can abuse it multiple times per round [[AIRoulette if he's feeling nasty]]. Making matters worse is the fact that if you lose to Bison, that's it. You don't get a chance to continue and try again; it just goes straight to the [[DownerEnding bad ending]]. It's even worse at the end of the World Tour in the Dreamcast and PSP versions where you fight ''two of him '''with infinite Super Gauge''''', meaning you're bound to take many defeats to the sheer prospect of two Final Bison spamming their Final Psycho Crusher ''ad nauseam'' at you. Fortunately, his A.I. can be read like an open book as you're given cues to when the CPU will throw that attack at you so you can try and react accordingly.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: ''Alpha 2'' developed a large [[TournamentPlay competitive following]] in the United States, especially on the West Coast. This is in contrast to its native Japan where it wasn't received as well, especially compared to its sequel, ''Alpha 3''. It came to the point where it's generally accepted that the U.S. would hands down beat Japan if they ever competed in the game, a reverse of what usually happens.

** Karin. For a girl who had only appeared in ''one'' canonical game and two other games (''VideoGame/CapcomFightingEvolution'' and ''VideoGame/NamcoXCapcom'', where she's paired with Sakura no less) prior to ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIV'', she has a surprisingly large fan following, which naturally led to Karin being one of the most fan requested characters for ''SFIV'' (alongside Rainbow Mika, [[VideoGame/StreetFighterIII Elena]], and Rolento). This eventually reached the point where, in an [[http://www.eventhubs.com/news/2013/mar/29/results-capcoms-street-fighter-favorite-characters-popularity-poll/ official poll]] by Capcom, she was rated the #1 most popular character in Japan, even more popular than Ryu himself. Her popularity was likely a factor in her return in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV''.

** [[SNKBoss Final Bison]]'s Final Psycho Crusher from ''Alpha 3''. It does ridiculous amounts of damage regardless of if you block it or not and [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/4/4b/Final_Psycho_Crusher_Hitbox.png has a hitbox]] ''spanning nearly the entire vertical length of the screen''. (It's also completely invincible, lacking the regular Psycho Crusher's hurtboxes.) The only way to avoid it is to use a high-priority move (i.e. {{Shoryuken}}), WallJump, or, if you're Akuma/Evil Ryu, Ashura Senku it out of there. The first two require critical timing and ''a lot'' of luck. On top of that, Bison's boss-exclusive Shadaloo-ism allows him to build meter incredibly fast, meaning he can abuse it multiple times per round [[AIRoulette if he's feeling nasty]]. Making matters worse is the fact that if you lose to Bison, that's it. You don't get a chance to continue and try again; it just goes straight to the [[DownerEnding bad ending]]. It's even worse at the end of the World Tour in the Dreamcast and PSP versions where you fight ''two of him '''with infinite Super Gauge''''', meaning you're bound to take many defeats to the sheer prospect of two Final Bison spamming their Final Psycho Crusher ''ad nauseam'' at you. Fortunately, his A.I. can be read like an open book as you're given cues to when the CPU will throw that attack at you so you can try and react accordingly.

* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: ''Alpha'' wasn't the first ''Street Fighter'' game on the Capcom Play System II, or CPS-2 for short, as that honor goes to ''Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers''. However, it was the first game of the series made for scratch on the hardware, and the smoother character animations, bright anime style, and higher background detail came together for a tour de force of how far Capcom had come at the time, holding the bar alongside games like ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}'' and the early ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' entries. It would take three more years to truly up the ante with the CPS-3 and ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'' to a legendary degree. It's also commendable that in Japan, you could get the first ''Zero'' game for the [=CPS=] Changer, a short-lived home system version of the CPS-1 board as a failed competitor to the ''UsefulNotes/NeoGeo''. While some animation frames were missing and both the music and sounds were lower quality, this backported version was otherwise a PolishedPort that had ''everything'' on inferior hardware.

** Charlie, who has the terrible luck of dying in his ending ''[[TheyKilledKennyAgain in every single game]]''. Only his ''Alpha 3'' ending [[HeroicSacrifice has any semblance of hope and dignity to it]], but that's of little consolation. Twisted further in ''V'', where it's revealed that [[spoiler:it was his ''Alpha 2'' ending that was actually canon, with Charlie's betrayal by fellow Air Force members (implied to be Shadaloo moles), death, and subsequent revival having turned him into a much darker and far more jaded character, compounded by the fact that he's LivingOnBorrowedTime and later ends up dying for good in a different HeroicSacrifice]].

* PolishedPort: The Sega Saturn versions of the first ''Alpha'' and ''[[NoExportForYou Zero 3]]'' are just plain obscenely good at what they try to do. The former is only different with the color palette compared to the arcade, and otherwise was just about a perfect port with all the animations and gameplay unchanged. The latter required the Expanded 4MB RAM cartridge, but the trade off was the best home console version of the game ever released, even featuring unique content that couldn't be equaled up to until the PlayStation Portable's ''Alpha 3 MAX'' release, which itself was an excellent port above and beyond the rest.

* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: ''Alpha'' wasn't the first ''Street Fighter'' game on the Capcom Play System II, or CPS-2 for short, as that honor goes to ''Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers''. However, it was the first game of the series made for scratch on the hardware, and the smoother character animations, bright anime style, and higher background detail came together for a tour de force of how far Capcom had come at the time, holding the bar alongside games like ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}'' and the early ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' entries. It would take three more years to truly up the ante with the CPS-3 and ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'' to a legendary degree.
** It's also commendable that in Japan you could get the first ''Zero'' game for the [=CPS=] Changer, a short-lived home system version of the CPS-1 board as a failed competitor to the ''UsefulNotes/NeoGeo''. While some animation frames were missing and both the music and sounds were lower quality, this backported version was otherwise a PolishedPort that had ''everything'' on inferior hardware.

* AmericansHateTingle: Ingrid is very popular in Japan, but has a significant hatedom in the Western fandom.
* BaseBreakingCharacter: [[VideoGame/CapcomFightingEvolution Ingrid]]. Those who like her think she's cute and a decent fighter atop of that. Those who dislike her would rather pretend that her appearance in ''Alpha 3 MAX'' didn't happen. The fact that she's a crossover character from a universally hated game along with her DeusExMachina storyline in ''Alpha 3 MAX'' didn't help matters at all. Then came [[WordOfGod the official confirmation]] that Ingrid was the reason the ''VideoGame/StreetFighterXTekken'' conflict happened in the first place, as she created [[ArtifactOfDoom Pandora]]. Given both [[CriticalDissonance the fanbase's reaction to that game]] and the box's nature of giving prizes that either [[DudeWheresMyReward are extremely underwhelming]] or [[JackassGenie outright screw the winners over]], this revelation didn't do much to help her case. On the other hand, closer looks at the discarded concepts for ''Capcom Fighting All-Stars'' and [[UnexpectedCharacter an unexpected appearance from Ingrid]] in ''VideoGame/ProjectXZone 2'' seem to have improved her image a bit, the former because [[FanPreferredCutContent the original concept is vastly preferred to the final product]] (with Ingrid's plot importance and various quirks being designed from the ground up for ''All-Stars'' as opposed to being shoehorned into [[CapcomSequelStagnation a revision of a game released eight years prior]]) and the latter because her inclusion came with a lot of SelfDeprecation (though ''[=PXZ2=]'' had its own issue in Ingrid being the only [[AssistCharacter Solo Unit]] representing ''Street Fighter'', {{replac|ementScrappy}}ing the ''very'' popular [[VideoGame/StreetFighterIV Juri]]).