Sentences written about this title, gathered by type from the Japanese and English Wikipedia articles (as of 2026-8-30).
The ports to home consoles also let people play as much as they liked at home, which fed the boom further; the Super Famicom version in particular sold about 2,880,000 copies in Japan and 6,300,000 worldwide.
It also took 1st place for Best Income and 1st place among the year's hit games in the 6th Gamest Grand Prix (1992).
Sales were about 2,880,000 copies in Japan (5th place) and 6,300,000 worldwide.
In 1-player play the message showing that another player can join was "PUSH START" in the arcade version and became "PRESS START" (this is shared by the later ports, such as the Super Famicom and Mega Drive versions).
It took 3rd place for the Grand Prix in the 7th Gamest Grand Prix (1993) run in the magazine Gamest, as well as 3rd for Best Fighting Game, 3rd for Best Graphics, 7th for Best Presentation, 3rd for Best VGM and 13th among the year's hit games, and for Best Character Cammy took 5th place, Chun-Li 7th and Ryu 19th.
It also took 7th place for player popularity, 7th among the year's hit games and 6th for Best Income in the 8th Gamest Grand Prix (1994).
In an interview in 2016, Akiman recalled that he had argued for adding 4 characters at the start of development, and that Fei Long and Dee Jay had been a hard birth.
In mid development, connecting and configuring 4 dedicated boards also brought in, at short notice, a Swiss-system tournament for 8 players including the CPU, and specification changes went on even late in the project.
Sales were about 1,290,000 copies in Japan and 2,000,000 worldwide.
Buying the software and 2 pads for a better versus setup came to as much as 15900 yen at retail prices of the time, but one favourable view is that "it had charm enough to be worth every yen".
On 2022-10-27 it is to be included as one of the 60 titles pre-installed on the Mega Drive Mini 2, the reissue console Sega is releasing as a follow-up to the Mega Drive Mini.
It took 4th place for the Grand Prix and a Special Award in the 8th Gamest Grand Prix (1994) run in the magazine Gamest, as well as 4th for Best Fighting Game, 1st for player popularity, 1st among the year's hit games and 1st for Best Income.
It also took 7th place for player popularity, 7th among the year's hit games, 6th for Best Income and 7th among the year's hit games in the 9th Gamest Grand Prix (1995).
From 2014-12-3 it was distributed on Game Archives under the name Street Fighter Alpha 2', but rather than the single game it reproduces the Collection, as a set of 3: Alpha 2', Super Street Fighter II and Super Street Fighter II Turbo.
In 1-player play the message showing that another player can join, previously "PUSH START", was changed to "PRESS START", as in the home ports.
It holds 22 titles in all: the 6 added to the 5 games in the Capcom Generation series released on the PlayStation and Sega Saturn.
As with the PlayStation 2 version, it holds 19 titles in all: 3 new ones added to the 5 games in the Capcom Generation series.
In Japan these were gathered into 1 film, Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist, given a special theatrical showing at Human Trust Cinema Shibuya on 2014-8-2.
According to issue 445 of the arcade trade paper Game Machine (1993-3-15), in Britain, for example, 10,000 Street Fighter II cabinets were then in operation, of which 60% were said to use counterfeit boards.
By 1994, it had been played by an estimated 25 million people in the United States alone.
More than 200,000 arcade cabinets and 15million software units of every version of Street Fighter II have been sold worldwide, earning an estimated in revenue, making it one of the top three highest-grossing video games of all time and the best-selling fighting game until 2019.
More than 6.3 million SNES cartridges of Street Fighter II were sold, making it Capcom's best-selling single software game for the next 20 years, its best-selling game on a single platform, and the highest-selling third-party game on the SNES.
By 1994, Street Fighter II had been played by an estimated 25 million people in the United States alone, across arcades and homes.
Between early 1991 and early 1993, Street Fighter II had captured about 60% of the global coin-op market, including 10,000 units installed in the United Kingdom by mid-1991, with individual machines in the UK estimated to be taking between per week over the next two years.
Capcom sold more than 60,000 arcade machines of the original Street Fighter II, including about 20,000 to 25,000 units in the United States.
It was followed by Street Fighter II′ (Dash or Champion Edition), of which 140,000 arcade units were sold in Japan alone, where it cost ¥160,000 ($1300) for each unit, amounting to ¥22.4 billion ($182 million) revenue generated from hardware sales in Japan (equivalent to $ in ), in addition to about 20,000 to 25,000 units sold in the United States.
In Japan, 1 million copies of the Super Famicom version were sold in June 1992 within the first two weeks of its release, at a retail price of (equivalent to $ then, or $ in ).
In the United States, 750,000 units of the SNES version were sold between July 15 and September 30, 1992, with a retail price of .
Worldwide, four million Street Fighter II cartridges had been sold by September 1992, units by the end of 1992, and over by 1993.
By 1993, units of all home software versions had been sold, and units for Nintendo and Sega consoles by March 1994.
In total, more than 14 million copies were sold for the SNES and Mega Drive/Genesis consoles.
Street Fighter II was the best-selling fighting game with 15.5million units sold across all versions and platforms, until it was surpassed by Super Smash Bros.
In May 1991, Julian Rignall of Computer and Video Games gave it ratings of 94% for graphics, 93% for sound, 95% for playability, and 92% for lastability, with a 93% score overall.
In the June 1991 issue of Sinclair User, John Cook gave the arcade game an "addict factor" of 84%.
Game Rankings aggregated the SNES reviews since 1992 with a reported ranking of 81.57% indicating an overall positive reception.
For example, the name of Guile's fallen friend (who later debuted as a playable fighter in Street Fighter Alpha) was changed from Nash to Charlie, since a staff member from Capcom USA said that Nash is not a natural sounding English name.
Isao Abe, a Capcom newcomer, handled a few additional tracks ("Versus Screen", "Sagat's Theme", and "Here Comes A New Challenger") for Street Fighter II and became the main composer on the subsequent versions.
Capcom introduced Street Fighter II as its "greatest video game ever".
Capcom USA sales representative Jeff Walker predicted it would "become the kit of 1991", and RePlay magazine said it showed there was "plenty of life" left in the struggling arcade business.
It was similarly successful in Australia, where it was performing strongly after 16 months on the market, with Leisure Line magazine noting in 1992 that not "since the days of Space Invaders (1978) has a game had such longevity".
In January 1994, Capcom referred to Street Fighter II as "the most successful video game series of the decade" while promoting Super Street Fighter II.
According to the March 1995 issue of GameFan, the game had earned "billions of dollars in profit".
RePlay noted in January 1993 that Street Fighter II had "single-handedly re-ignited the worldwide black market in counterfeit PCBs and speed-up kits".
The February 1992 issue of Gamest in Japan said that, due to low stock, the console versions were selling for much higher at ¥15,000 (equivalent to about at the time, or $ in ).
In March 1991, RePlay said that "the graphics and sounds are tops" while praising the "solid" gameplay, and it was considered the top game at the American Coin Machine Exposition (ACME) that month.
He criticized the original Street Fighter for being a "run-of-the-mill beat 'em up with little in the way of thrills and spills" but praised the sequel for being "absolutely packed with new ideas" and special moves.
He noted the "six buttons combining with 8 joystick directions to provide more moves than I've ever seen in a beat 'em up" and praised the "massive, beautifully drawn and animated sprites, tons of speech and the most exciting, action-packed head-to-head conflict yet seen in an arcade game," concluding that it is "one of the best fighting games yet seen in the arcades" and a "brilliant" coin-op.
In the June 1991 issue of Sinclair User, John Cook gave the arcade game an "addict factor" of 84%.
He praised the gameplay and the "excellent" animation and sound effects, but criticized the controls, stating players "might find the control system a bit daunting at first [with] a joystick plus six (count 'em!) fire buttons [but] it's not that bad really".
Computer and Video Games later referred to Street Fighter II as the "game of the millennium" in 1992.
In Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM), its panel of four reviewers gave it scores of 10, 9, 10, and 9, adding up to 38 out of 40, and their "Game of the Month" award.
Nintendo Power scored it 16.2 out of 20, stating that the "hottest arcade game around has been faithfully reproduced for this Super NES conversion" and that it "is just like having the arcade game at home!".
Computer Gaming World in April 1994 said that "Street Fighter II now enters the PC ring rather late and with a touch of weak wrist".
The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly, while remarking that the Game Boy control is difficult, the game speed "lethargically slow", and it is a very old game, agreed it to be an excellent conversion by Game Boy standards.
The Axe Grinder of GamePro agreed, praising the graphics and Game Boy survival mode, but criticizing the slow controls and concluding that "The real problem here is that the game's just plain old."
Guinness World Records awarded Street Fighter II the world records of "First Fighting Game to Use Combos", "Most Cloned Fighting Game", and "Biggest-Selling Coin-Operated Fighting Game" in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008.
In 2005, Electronic Gaming Monthly ranked it the ninth most important game since they began publication in 1989, stating no game "did more to prop up arcades" in the 1990s and it was the first killer app for the SNES.
This started with Hi-C's "Swing'n" (1993) and DJ Qbert's "Track 10" (1994) which sampled Street Fighter II, and the Street Fighter film soundtrack (1994) which is the first major film soundtrack to consist almost entirely of hip hop music.
Grime MCs such as Dizzee Rascal were sampling Street Fighter II in 2002, and Street Fighter II has been sampled "by almost every grime MC".
The character was also changed a great deal from the previous game: in that one he had an unruly, boisterous air, but as development went on he turned into a "stoic wandering fighter".
It was first sold outside Japan, and later sold in Japanese bookshops under the SOFBOX brand, which handled older PC software.
Released outside Japan by U.S. Gold.
When these were ported to home consoles, some had further new elements added or had their titles changed.
In 1994 U.S. Gold released it outside Japan.
It is a port of the North American version, so the title reads "Turbo", but the contents match Super Street Fighter II Turbo.
Distributed outside Japan as Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix from 2008-11-26.
Outside Japan it was also sold as "Street Fighter Collection".
Outside Japan it was sold as "Street Fighter Collection 2".
Outside Japan it was also sold as Hyper Street Fighter II: The Anniversary Edition.
In 1-player play the message showing that another player can join, previously "PUSH START", was changed to "PRESS START", as in the home ports.
Outside Japan it was sold as "Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection".
Outside Japan it was released as Capcom Classics Collection for the PlayStation 2 and also as an Xbox title.
Outside Japan a Vol.2 was also released, containing Super Street Fighter II Turbo (the Western version of Super Street Fighter II X).
Street Fighter II was released for the Super Famicom on June 10, 1992, in Japan, followed by a North American release for the SNES in August and a European release in December.
The North American SNES version was re-released in November 2017 as a limited edition item to celebrate the anniversary of the Street Fighter series.
Meanwhile the first Street Fighter had become popular in America, and when its local subsidiary asked for a sequel Capcom set Nishitani and the others to make it, which ended up as Final Fight, something else entirely, so they switched to developing the versus element of the first Street Fighter instead.
More than 200,000 arcade cabinets and 15million software units of every version of Street Fighter II have been sold worldwide, earning an estimated in revenue, making it one of the top three highest-grossing video games of all time and the best-selling fighting game until 2019.
More than 6.3 million SNES cartridges of Street Fighter II were sold, making it Capcom's best-selling single software game for the next 20 years, its best-selling game on a single platform, and the highest-selling third-party game on the SNES.
By 1992, it had turned around the convenience store segment of the coin-op industry and become the best-selling arcade game in ten years.
In the United Kingdom, Street Fighter II replaced Super Mario World as the bundled game for the SNES, and the SNES and Amiga versions made it the second best-selling home video game of 1992, below Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Mega Drive.
The SNES version of Street Fighter II was Capcom's best-selling single game until 2013, when it was surpassed by Resident Evil 5.
The Amiga version was successful in the United Kingdom, where it became the best-selling home computer software of 1992, though only being available for the last 16 days of the year.
Street Fighter II was the best-selling fighting game with 15.5million units sold across all versions and platforms, until it was surpassed by Super Smash Bros.
He criticized the original Street Fighter for being a "run-of-the-mill beat 'em up with little in the way of thrills and spills" but praised the sequel for being "absolutely packed with new ideas" and special moves.
He noted the "six buttons combining with 8 joystick directions to provide more moves than I've ever seen in a beat 'em up" and praised the "massive, beautifully drawn and animated sprites, tons of speech and the most exciting, action-packed head-to-head conflict yet seen in an arcade game," concluding that it is "one of the best fighting games yet seen in the arcades" and a "brilliant" coin-op.
He praised the gameplay and the "excellent" animation and sound effects, but criticized the controls, stating players "might find the control system a bit daunting at first [with] a joystick plus six (count 'em!) fire buttons [but] it's not that bad really".
Jeff Davy of Your Commodore praised the game for its large sprites, character animation, varied opponents, character moves, and two-player mode.
The Axe Grinder of GamePro agreed, praising the graphics and Game Boy survival mode, but criticizing the slow controls and concluding that "The real problem here is that the game's just plain old."
The staff praised it for popularizing the one-on-one fighting game genre and noted that its Super NES ports were "near-perfect.
Ryu and Ken were to have been drawn by someone else, but Masae Okano, known as SHOEI, took over early in development.
The character was also changed a great deal from the previous game: in that one he had an unruly, boisterous air, but as development went on he turned into a "stoic wandering fighter".
Nishitani had long been unhappy that many games were arcade ports in name only, so he had no objection to home ports and set out to bring the feel of play closer.
Nishitani, while saying he had never seen that sample ROM, guessed that they had somehow found similar graphic patterns and built an ending with them, then thought better of it and replaced it with a single illustration.
It was first sold outside Japan, and later sold in Japanese bookshops under the SOFBOX brand, which handled older PC software.
When these were ported to home consoles, some had further new elements added or had their titles changed.
In an interview in 2016, Akiman recalled that he had argued for adding 4 characters at the start of development, and that Fei Long and Dee Jay had been a hard birth.
A Windows 95 version was to have been released by gamebank (SoftBank), but was cancelled.
In 1-player play the message showing that another player can join, previously "PUSH START", was changed to "PRESS START", as in the home ports.
While the ending text for the characters was originally translated literally, a few changes were made due to creative differences from Capcom's U.S. marketing staff.
In the United Kingdom, Street Fighter II replaced Super Mario World as the bundled game for the SNES, and the SNES and Amiga versions made it the second best-selling home video game of 1992, below Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Mega Drive.
Released on the first 16Mbit ROM cartridge for the Super Famicom.
This is ultimately the only game in the series on which Shimomura worked, as she left the company for Square two years later.
Street Fighter II: Champion Edition, released in March 1992, rebalances characters' power levels, allows both players in two-player matches to select the same character (distinguished by alternate costume colors) and lets players choose the four previously computer-only boss characters.
It is the first game released on a 16-megabit SNES cartridge.
In Japan, 1 million copies of the Super Famicom version were sold in June 1992 within the first two weeks of its release, at a retail price of (equivalent to $ then, or $ in ).
The Amiga version was successful in the United Kingdom, where it became the best-selling home computer software of 1992, though only being available for the last 16 days of the year.
In 2008, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix broke both the first-day and first-week sales records for a download-only game.
In the February 1994 issue of Gamest, both Street Fighter II Turbo and Super Street Fighter II were nominated for Best Game of 1993, but neither won (the first place was given to Samurai Spirits).
He praised the gameplay and the "excellent" animation and sound effects, but criticized the controls, stating players "might find the control system a bit daunting at first [with] a joystick plus six (count 'em!) fire buttons [but] it's not that bad really".
In 2005, Electronic Gaming Monthly ranked it the ninth most important game since they began publication in 1989, stating no game "did more to prop up arcades" in the 1990s and it was the first killer app for the SNES.
This started with Hi-C's "Swing'n" (1993) and DJ Qbert's "Track 10" (1994) which sampled Street Fighter II, and the Street Fighter film soundtrack (1994) which is the first major film soundtrack to consist almost entirely of hip hop music.
Of these, Capcom brought a lawsuit against Data East over Fighter's History, which was settled in the end.
Electronic Games noted in its October 1992 issue, "Not since the early 1980s has an arcade game received so much attention and all-out fanatical popularity.
According to the March 1995 issue of GameFan, the game had earned "billions of dollars in profit".
The February 1992 issue of Gamest in Japan said that, due to low stock, the console versions were selling for much higher at ¥15,000 (equivalent to about at the time, or $ in ).
Street Fighter II Dash was awarded Best Game of 1992 in the Sixth Annual Grand Prize, as published in the February 1993 issue of Gamest, winning again as Best Action Game.
In the February 1994 issue of Gamest, both Street Fighter II Turbo and Super Street Fighter II were nominated for Best Game of 1993, but neither won (the first place was given to Samurai Spirits).
In the January 30, 1995 issue of Gamest, Super Street Fighter II X (known as Super Turbo internationally) placed fourth place in the award for Best Game of 1994 and Best Fighting Game, but did not rank in any of the other awards.
In the June 1991 issue of Sinclair User, John Cook gave the arcade game an "addict factor" of 84%.
Though officially advertised by US Gold along with the C64 and ZX Spectrum conversions and anticipated in magazines, an Amstrad CPC version was never released.
The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly, while remarking that the Game Boy control is difficult, the game speed "lethargically slow", and it is a very old game, agreed it to be an excellent conversion by Game Boy standards.
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