I just realized I ran the part about playing Alpha 2 on more modern platforms right up against the Alpha 2 Gold comments, making it sound like I was saying Alpha 2 Gold was in all those versions. I meant that Alpha 2 in general were available in the modern editions, not Alpha 2 Gold specifically.
Yeah that's fine man. Your work is always appreciated, a small detail like this doesn't affect your quality. But indeed I can confirm this. I got the Anthology collection for PS2, the Japanese version, and none of them are the special editions/updates, sadly. At least emulating them is easy, even on the console itself, but the Saturn version is just so much better. To this day I wish I had one.
I was just old enough at the time to remember the Street Fighter II craze of the early-mid 90s. I had a fun enough time casually playing Championship Edition & Super Street Fighter II on the Genesis but Street Fighter Alpha 2 was the first game of the series that I truly loved playing. I loved the vibrant anime art style, super moves & fun new characters like Sakura, Dan, & Guy from the Final Fight series which I had played for Sega CD. I remember getting quite invested in the story driven "rival battle" pseudo cutscenes for each character as well. One of my favorite Sega Saturn titles & definitely the Street Fighter game I most fondly remember playing as a kid.
I get what you mean. I was born in 91 and I originally did play Street Fighter II, but when alpha hit the scene that was my go to series for the franchise. The only thing that kinda bummed me out was how Ryu had the white bandanna which was obviously for story reasons, but I was so used to his red one.
Yeah, I was born that year, but in 94-98, I was way bigger on Street Fighter 2 and 3, and X-Men Vs. Street Fighter/MvC, but tried Alpha in the mid 2000s, which got me back into the scene as a whole for Street Fighter 4 and later.
I feel so privileged for this to be part of my childhood. These were my "golden years".😭 This gem was a S-tier fighting game for the Saturn. The music was banging. The stages immersed you into the fight. The art/sprite work was perfection.👍 Marvel Super Hero's, X-Men:COTA, DarkStakers 3, and SFA:3.. These games really showed what a 2-D beast the Saturn was. Even my friends, that had Playstation's, where impressed. I really wish they would bring back the SF Alpha series.😞
I love this game. It was such a big part of my childhood. The backgrounds, the characters, the gameplay and the music made it one heck of an experience. I used to play the alpha games with my brothers and even though I used to be bad at the games, I enjoyed them so much. The music and visuals inspired me so much.
My favorite Street Fighter game. Had the most memories with this playing the PS1 and SNES versions with my friends back in high school. Even though I started with SF1 and got into it with SF2 this was the one I spent the most time on. Still sad that the 30th Anniversary doesn’t have online for SFA2 or even have SFA2G available.
I got this treasure as a early Christmas gift to myself in dec of 96 for the saturn. I found out that if u hold specific buttons at the end of each battle u can do certain win poses of your choice.
Alpha 2 was perfection. Best stock controller for fighting games + best port + S tier game. I loved Alpha 3, MVC2, 3rd Strike, and Super Turbo too, but something about making a friend who had a Saturn with alpha 2 made that summer special.
The best street fighter game made and I bought it on the Saturn. It was by luck I got it. Story time I’ll never forget, my father’s bass player couldn’t make the show, so at the last minute he had no choice but to use his 14 year old son, (me). The ultimatum I gave them was a trip to the store for a game. We traveled from DC to North Carolina, that morning after the show, I went to Walmart for the game.. (I sucked at picking games back then) but when I saw the cover of alpha 2, I knew I had to buy it, never regretted it.
My buddy and I used to play this on his Saturn every day. He had a stick so we took turns using it as the winner of each match. It was mind blowing at the time how great it looked and played, that's when we had a revelation that home ports were rapidly approaching arcade quality.
SF Alpha 2 was always a cool game. People who had this on Saturn, PS1, or Snes back then, were really blessed. I play the snes version these days too. Nice review.👍😄
I love this game and I played the hell out of this back in 1997. This was the best arcade conversion of the game at the time. My only nitpick is that there is no option for the arcade soundtrack, only the arranged versions. I preferred the arranged anyway so it’s not big deal. Also, the packaging is sheer artistry. The instruction booklet is in full color with beautiful artwork and sprites from the game. Zangief and Gen are missing frames of animation, but they’re restored during same player matches.
I have a confession to make: My first time playing "Street Fighter Alpha 2" was on the SNES, mainly because I wasn't a fan of the Sega Saturn or Sony PlayStation as a kid, primarily due to both consoles focusing only on 3D games at the time, especially when the Nintendo 64 had been released at around that time, though I did eventually get myself a used Sega Saturn in 2008 with a small collection of games to play on it.
Definitely one of the best Street Fighter Alpha versions ever made. I could never get into the 3rd Alpha game so this version is my favorite on in the series. It's awesome to see how good the Saturn converted this title. The magic of being able to play arcade quality fighters on a home console has been lost. I think that's what I love most about your videos. You have a way of recapturing that magic as you talk about these arcade ports. It's like a time machine back to a better time in gaming when we didn't take graphics and animation like this for granted.
I loved this game so much. I didn't have a Psx so i would visit a friend of mine with a cassette tape in hand and record our play. We would play this for HOURS!!!! every weekend for months. Then when back home, i would enjoy the videos. Alpha 2 was life back in 96. Thx for these video dude. your work is very much appreciated. Keep it up.
That part at the end about the systems becoming more and more powerful and 2D games from this era aging far better than the 3D ones sticks with me. Frankly, if I were to go back in time and become a higher up at Sega, I’d tell them it’s more than OK to stick with what you know. Not to discount 3D altogether, obviously, as many important and influential games did come about from this, but I also think even something as simple as an original 2D Sonic game on day one would’ve gone a long way towards helping the Saturn be successful.
I totally agree. Yes, a proper 2D sonic game would have drawn some criticism as feeling "old fashioned" in a time of 3D, but with updated graphics, special effects, and other ways to show off the Saturn's 2D, I think it ultimately could have been well received critically and helped to sell the system. And the Saturn could have been a success even if it was still second to the PS1, like in Japan. A Sonic title early on definitely would have helped. It would have been nice if they just recognized that the Saturn could really shine against the PS1 with 2D, especially due to RAM expansion which was not even an option on PS1. By the time X-Men vs. Street Fighter came out, bernie stolar had already begun, stupidly, killing the Saturn. And the PS1 version of that game was terrible in comparison.
A 2D Sonic on the Saturn was a dream of mine, but it never came to pass. And the closest we've gotten since then is Sonic Mania...over 2 decades later. Maybe in another quarter of a century, Sega will again decide to make a classic 2D Sonic that people have been clamoring for. But by that time, the Sonic Mania team will be retired. (Forget "Sonic Team". 👎) Oh, well. If Sega is known for anything, it is for destroying their own franchises through a lack of care, and letting things go to waste...
SF2 still looks great today, PS1 games look awful. Fantasia still looks beautiful today, Toy Story 1 looks quite basic now. 2D art is timeless. The ones keeping it alive are arcsys. Look at Dragonball Fighterz, they make 3D games that look just like 2D and it's fantastic.
practicing at home and at friends house on the japanese saturn version really helped when i would go to the arcade on the weekend on day off from work, we would play it at home on 5rounds to offset the loading time ;)
I was in Japan when this was released and did not hesitate to buy. I've put so many hours into this game it's not funny... still play it today... it's a classic.
in my local arcade place there was a saturn that was wired to an arcade bench where i lived back in the 90's.They had 2 sega saturn, one for the racing and adventure games with a pad and the one with the arcade bench was just to the fighters. alpha 2 was my favorite alpha game
9:29 Interesting observation & to be honest I think the more streamlined combat is also part of why I enjoyed Alpha 2 more than the various Street Fighter II iterations where I couldn't string together combos to save my life.
This was definitely my favourite Saturn game back in the day. Despite all the other ways to play SFA2 nowadays I still set up the Saturn occasionally to play this version. My biggest hope is that Capcom return to this art style for SF in the future. Imagine this in something similar to ArcSys's 2.5D engine!
Yes I agree. The SF4 5 n 6 art style and presentation is a meh af. Capcom needs to outsource a new SF Alpha or Darkstalkers game to Arcsystem works. They've even done it before, when Capcom hired them to make the Sengoku Basara X fighting game for them
I love SNES port of Alpha 2 because it seems so ridiculous that they managed to get on there even with the extra chip. Always wondered why they didn't port the smaller Alpha 1 or even a port of Super Street Fighter II Turbo.
The reason Capcom choose to port Street Fighter Alpha 2 for Super NES was the reason they can't port Street Fighter Alpha 1. The reason, the S-DD1 chip was not available at the time Alpha 1 came out and even if it was it was very expensive to get. Capcom had to make sure Alpha 1 sell before they could afford it, true to that when SFA1 sell and SFA2 came out the S-DD1 chip got cheaper and Capcom got more money to afford it to make the Super NES port of SFA2. Also the reason why Super Street Fighter II Turbo was not on Super NES was because the home versions of Super Street Fighter II was the whole reason Super Turbo exist in the first place. When Capcom port Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers to Super NES and Sega Genesis, they added back the Turbo speeds and more modes, this anger the arcade players and complaints were made to Capcom. Capcom answered that by releasing a more faster version of Super Street Fighter II in the arcade called Super Street Fighter II Turbo, they even manage to add a hidden character and super moves in there for good measure. Super NES and Genesis didn't get a port of Super Turbo because in theory both games are essentially Super Turbo just without Akuma and the super moves.
I remember I was upset with Capcom for the SNES version, because I felt like they could've ported it to N64. I didn't know till much later that the N64 had a poor 2D cache, so it wouldn't look good anyway.
My MODE just came in the mail on Friday despite me already having 2/3 of a complete library...gotta minimize the wear and tear! I'm looking for one mega pack to torrent for it but couldn't find one so downloading everything 1 thing at a time from a redump. Taking a LONG time.
Street Fighter Alpha 2 was a great port for the Sega Saturn. To this day whenever I face M. Bison (Vega) I put my best foot forward to beat him mercilessly. I especially enjoyed the music on the art section.
Another excellent video! Man I can’t beliece watching this channel when it was slightly sub 10k subscribers. You have come a long way! I know it may not be intentional, but this channel helped me through some tough times. I’m in a happy place in life now, and honestly little things like this, you will not expect can help others. My first console was a Sega, and this channel really rocks!
I had just got into High School when the SF2 craze hit. So many quarters went into those arcade machines. And then the SNES version came out in the summer and playing it was ALL I could think about lol. Ahhh memories. Alpha 2 was the last one I really put a lot of time into, on the PS1 of course. No one owned a Saturn ;)
I owned one , but Saturn games were not on sale or available by 99' thankfully I had a friend that lend me the game. I was so lucky to play it back then.
I wouldn't call getting a victory on shin akuma at the highest difficulty satisfying, I would call it relieving. Like thank God I finally beat this guy...
I felt bad for the Sega Saturn not doing so well in America. We probably didn't understand market-friendly back in the day. I think the Japanese people were upset about the heavy westernization that was going on when video games, anime, and cartoons were first localized in English. I think Sega of Japan was jealous of the Sega Genesis being successful in America. I've just realized that Street Fighter Alpha 2 was the last Street Fighter game released on the Super Nintendo. And also, it introduced Sakura who is my favorite Street Fighter character. As Daisy was rejected in favor of Wario for the 1990s, I am grateful for Sakura's existence. When I first heard Sakura in the 1990's, her voice reminded me of Princess Daisy. It's not surprising when I have realized Sakura and Daisy are second-banana characters named after flowers and are known for having a tomboyish attitude.
Great review as always. There are a good amount of fighters for the Saturn. Absolutely love the controller feels great in the hands. I love this game even though i didn't have a chance to play it until Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection on Switch.
Saturn was the system to own if you were a fan of Capcom 2d fighters which I was. If you were a hardcore fan of the Capcom fighters (which I played semi-competitively), then owning the Saturn was a non-negotiable. And I agree, these types of 2D games have stood the test of time much better than 3D fighters.
At that time I went straight for the Alpha 2 Gold, what a game! Played it so much back then and I don't think any other SF had as good a soundtrack as the Saturn version, the tracks felt distinctive, characteristic and were a good upgrade from the arcade version.
SF Alpha 2 was a great conversion for the Saturn and no Ram Expansion Cart required. I think Dramatic Battle Mode wasn't incuded because of memory restraints. But what we've got was very close to the arcade experience. Alpha 3 was the superior game overall in my opinion, but Alpha 2 still remains a great release. Thanks for making this review.
Great review Mel. My uncle used to get every Street Fighter game day one. Sunk so many hours into this one. Akuma was insane on the highest difficulty setting for sure. Have a great day brother.
I was spoiled with Alpha 2, not only did I have the Saturn version that I played until it was unusable anymore. We had a small grocery store like 5 mins away with the Arcade version.
PS1 did get Alpha 2 Gold first in the Street Fighter Collection. I enjoyed the Saturn versions of thesr games too. As for joypads nothing beats PS joypads.
I played Street Fighter Alpha 2 Sega Saturn version once time only and I just could comprove myself how many better was than PS1 version.Better introduction,more frames like Zangief removing your cape before every fight that was completely missing in PS1 port.Seeing every video these console games I wish that could stayed more time with Saturn before bought the PS1 again in that time.
PlayStation port was good but the Saturn port was legendary and it was done without ram expansion. My only issue with alpha 2 on the Saturn is the versus mode layout is just the characters names in writing instead of the arcade mode layout but other than that it’s an amazing port.
A damn fine review SLX. Loved all the work you put into this video. SFA2 is an excellent experience on the Saturn (I unfortunately experienced it on the SNES back in the 90s).
my best friend and I were the only ones in school who chose a Saturn over a PS1. a lot of people questioned us about it, but everyone came to our house to play SFA2, because they all admit its better on the Saturn, especially with the saturn controller that had 6 face buttons. But my favorite saturn fighter was Groove on Fight by far! i had to mod my saturn to play this.
Easily my favorite fighting game of all time (Gold). I've put more hours into this than any fighter with KoF98 a close second. Awesome to see you covering this!
Street fighter Alpha 2 has a more authentic retro feel than the more sophisticated and nervous Alpha 3 game. The backgrounds are also more specific and have this grunge 80’s look (the public toilets and under the bridge stage for example). To me Street Alpha 2 is as good as Alpha 3 and has better overall arcade-80s atmosphere.
Indeed, 2d games have held up over the years a lot better than 3d games. It still looks great today, I actually think it looks better than SF4, SF5 and the upcoming SF6.
@retro game fan Agree there were a lot of guys that still wanted to play arcades on home, Super Nintendo did the trick for me with their 6 buttons pad and a variety of arcade fighting games ports of course the Super Nintendo had limits and we couldn't have things like Darkstalkers, X-Men vs Street Fighter or King of Fighters on it, I thought N64 being more powerful would be the platform to bring those games home but well we all know what happened.
@retro game fan cartridges were a bad for the n64 which they missed on arcade, plenty of RPGs and 2D ports. They were able to port nba hangtime, sub zero mythologies, and rampage world tour.
Later N64 cartridge sizes could’ve brought over a VERY good SFA2. There wouldn’t have been any of the RAM limitations those CD systems had, which would’ve meant no loading. If they wanted to do dramatic battle, they could’ve made it 4v4 and and the only thing they’d have to be concerned about is fillrate. I think the only issue I could see would be having to actually redo all the music to a system generated format, and let’s be real. If KI Gold was any indication, they could’ve probably pulled off something really close, if not exact as Alpha 2’s music was MUCH simpler than anything on KI. Honestly I think it’s a crime that 2D gaming like that never really got explored properly on the system. I think given enough time, especially later in its lifespan it would’ve blown the both of them out of the water with it.
This convinces me that Konami could have done a better port of Castlevania Symphony of the Night on the Saturn. The slowdown didn't have to be there. The game should have been given more polish before they released it.
This sequel will always have a special place in my heart being that it defined 1996 as a memorable year in gaming. ❤️ The fact the Alpha series were made during mid production of Resident Evil speaks volumes on how Capcom were so devoted in finishing a product that delivered a memorable experience. Also noting, this game also had one of gaming's most influential and mesmerizing poster arts of all time by Dai-Chan. A few hiccups with the Saturn though: a) It did not contain the original Arcade soundtrack (just arranged). I adore Sakura's theme since it utilize the power of Q Sound. b) This one is an important one you forgot to mention...IT DID NOT HAVE Q SOUND. The audio in this game often suffers without this feature and somewhat sounds low quality. A very sad subtraction since I believe the Saturn did not support this feature. 😔
I got the game first, then went out to look for a Saturn to play it on. And, it was glorious. The game's audio did suffer a bit though. All the sound and voice samples were there, but at a noticeably lower quality so they would fit in the Saturn's RAM. Unless you played a mirror match, halving the required amount of RAM needed for speech samples, at which point they were arcade quality.
I was going to say that playing mirror matches on Alpha 2 Gold you can see and hear the quality differences. Original Alpha 2 is the same then. Still awesome port and awesome game.
I was waiting for this. Back in the day, after SSF2X, my "street fighter mania" was lets say losing grip on me...until 1996 came. I already tried the first SFA in arcades but then i purchased SFA2 for my Sega Saturn and oh boy.... This single game renew my hunger for street fighter and fighting games in general...until this very day. Thank you Capcom
You do such a consistently great job, X. What a great channel. I sincerely look forward to your videos. You do a great job mixing it up, and I like your presentation style. Have a nice rest of the week.
Possibly the best Street Fighter am ever made. I got SfA as my first Saturn game and absolutely adored it, but Alpha2 blew me away. Still my go to street fighter after all these years.
That stage and the snowy area outside of Suzaku castle are my favourites. I love the Australian stage due to seeing Australia get some representation in such an awesome way in my favourite fighting game franchise. It also reminded me of the opening scene from the Street Fighter II animated movie. I love the snow stage because of Ryu being my favourite character getting such a badass looking stage.
@@SegaLordX I bought a Japanese Sega Saturn I can't remember how many years ago, but I would play quite a bit of it. I had a blast, but I messed up after having not played it in a while and when I went to plug it in, I forgot to put in the required cable that wouldn't fry it for playing on a foreign system and it died. I didn't even realise it at first until further inspection. I had played X-Men Children of the Atom, Daytona and Panzer Dragoon: Saga on it. I would love to buy another Sega Saturn as watching your videos has gotten me revved up to buy another one. So many great games. I grew up with a Sega Megadrive and an Amiga 500, but my family switched to the Playstation instead of going with the Sega Saturn. I love the Playstation, but I definitely cannot deny that the Saturn was an amazing console, especially after my own experience with it as an adult.
Until a few years ago, I would have agreed 100% about the Alpha 2 arranged soundtrack being the best, but apparently I never heard the Alpha 1 arrange soundtrack and I find those to hold up better after all these years. You can't go wrong with any of them though.
My favourite Alpha game. I wish it utilized the 4mb cart! My favourite stage is Dhalsim's, the look and music are fantastic. I would always go through the art gallery, the art was amazing, and the music was so chill
I just realized I ran the part about playing Alpha 2 on more modern platforms right up against the Alpha 2 Gold comments, making it sound like I was saying Alpha 2 Gold was in all those versions. I meant that Alpha 2 in general were available in the modern editions, not Alpha 2 Gold specifically.
Your punishment shall be to play Nioh with us.
Yeah that's fine man. Your work is always appreciated, a small detail like this doesn't affect your quality.
But indeed I can confirm this. I got the Anthology collection for PS2, the Japanese version, and none of them are the special editions/updates, sadly. At least emulating them is easy, even on the console itself, but the Saturn version is just so much better. To this day I wish I had one.
Does Alpha 2 Gold have all the features of Alpha 2 plus the extras, or did they remove any features like Evil Ryu to add the new characters?
@@REALMRGOODLUCK Everything is there, as far as I know.
its fine. 30th anniversary collection uses the arcade versions of all the games.
An incredible game on a console that has the best controller and d-pad ever made, what more could you ask.
Yup. Good stuff.
Simply put, perfection. *chef's kiss
This x 10000009
@retro game fan we got the japan one from day one where I live luckily
It's weird how SEGA perfected the d-pad in 1994 and yet no one seem to be even able to make a half way decent one today.
I love it when Sega lord X tells me Sega bedtime stories
This.
Hope you enjoy it.
Lol 😂 well said
me too
I was just old enough at the time to remember the Street Fighter II craze of the early-mid 90s. I had a fun enough time casually playing Championship Edition & Super Street Fighter II on the Genesis but Street Fighter Alpha 2 was the first game of the series that I truly loved playing. I loved the vibrant anime art style, super moves & fun new characters like Sakura, Dan, & Guy from the Final Fight series which I had played for Sega CD. I remember getting quite invested in the story driven "rival battle" pseudo cutscenes for each character as well. One of my favorite Sega Saturn titles & definitely the Street Fighter game I most fondly remember playing as a kid.
I get what you mean. I was born in 91 and I originally did play Street Fighter II, but when alpha hit the scene that was my go to series for the franchise. The only thing that kinda bummed me out was how Ryu had the white bandanna which was obviously for story reasons, but I was so used to his red one.
Yeah, I was born that year, but in 94-98, I was way bigger on Street Fighter 2 and 3, and X-Men Vs. Street Fighter/MvC, but tried Alpha in the mid 2000s, which got me back into the scene as a whole for Street Fighter 4 and later.
I feel so privileged for this to be part of my childhood. These were my "golden years".😭 This gem was a S-tier fighting game for the Saturn. The music was banging. The stages immersed you into the fight. The art/sprite work was perfection.👍 Marvel Super Hero's, X-Men:COTA, DarkStakers 3, and SFA:3.. These games really showed what a 2-D beast the Saturn was. Even my friends, that had Playstation's, where impressed. I really wish they would bring back the SF Alpha series.😞
I love this game. It was such a big part of my childhood. The backgrounds, the characters, the gameplay and the music made it one heck of an experience. I used to play the alpha games with my brothers and even though I used to be bad at the games, I enjoyed them so much. The music and visuals inspired me so much.
This and Night Warriors were largely to thank for me purchasing a Saturn back in the day. I definitely didn't regret it.
My favorite Street Fighter game. Had the most memories with this playing the PS1 and SNES versions with my friends back in high school. Even though I started with SF1 and got into it with SF2 this was the one I spent the most time on. Still sad that the 30th Anniversary doesn’t have online for SFA2 or even have SFA2G available.
I love stumbling upon channels like this. It's so great to see in depth reviews on games from my childhood.
Glad you enjoy it!
@@SegaLordX Truly appreciate your dedication to your craft.
I got this treasure as a early Christmas gift to myself in dec of 96 for the saturn. I found out that if u hold specific buttons at the end of each battle u can do certain win poses of your choice.
lol rolento grenade and sakuras shoe!
One of my very best games ever. I remember getting it on my Saturn when I was like 12. The nostalgic feels hit hard
Alpha 2 was perfection. Best stock controller for fighting games + best port + S tier game. I loved Alpha 3, MVC2, 3rd Strike, and Super Turbo too, but something about making a friend who had a Saturn with alpha 2 made that summer special.
The best street fighter game made and I bought it on the Saturn.
It was by luck I got it.
Story time
I’ll never forget, my father’s bass player couldn’t make the show, so at the last minute he had no choice but to use his 14 year old son, (me). The ultimatum I gave them was a trip to the store for a game.
We traveled from DC to North Carolina, that morning after the show, I went to Walmart for the game.. (I sucked at picking games back then) but when I saw the cover of alpha 2, I knew I had to buy it, never regretted it.
My buddy and I used to play this on his Saturn every day. He had a stick so we took turns using it as the winner of each match. It was mind blowing at the time how great it looked and played, that's when we had a revelation that home ports were rapidly approaching arcade quality.
SF Alpha 2 was always a cool game. People who had this on Saturn, PS1, or Snes back then, were really blessed. I play the snes version these days too. Nice review.👍😄
I love this game and I played the hell out of this back in 1997. This was the best arcade conversion of the game at the time. My only nitpick is that there is no option for the arcade soundtrack, only the arranged versions. I preferred the arranged anyway so it’s not big deal. Also, the packaging is sheer artistry. The instruction booklet is in full color with beautiful artwork and sprites from the game. Zangief and Gen are missing frames of animation, but they’re restored during same player matches.
I have a confession to make: My first time playing "Street Fighter Alpha 2" was on the SNES, mainly because I wasn't a fan of the Sega Saturn or Sony PlayStation as a kid, primarily due to both consoles focusing only on 3D games at the time, especially when the Nintendo 64 had been released at around that time, though I did eventually get myself a used Sega Saturn in 2008 with a small collection of games to play on it.
Snes for the win giving the Nintendo fans what they want
I had thIS game on the Saturn, the 4MB card made wonders.
Definitely one of the best Street Fighter Alpha versions ever made. I could never get into the 3rd Alpha game so this version is my favorite on in the series. It's awesome to see how good the Saturn converted this title. The magic of being able to play arcade quality fighters on a home console has been lost. I think that's what I love most about your videos. You have a way of recapturing that magic as you talk about these arcade ports. It's like a time machine back to a better time in gaming when we didn't take graphics and animation like this for granted.
This was the version that I had. I even bought an arcade stick for my Saturn for it. I got many hours of play from it.
I loved this game so much. I didn't have a Psx so i would visit a friend of mine with a cassette tape in hand and record our play. We would play this for HOURS!!!! every weekend for months. Then when back home, i would enjoy the videos. Alpha 2 was life back in 96.
Thx for these video dude. your work is very much appreciated. Keep it up.
I remember my dad had this on super Nintendo back in 1999 and I used to play it all the time as a kid.
I had alot of happy memories with my best friend in the day coming home from school to play this game.
Sad those days ended.
What a great game
1996 was one the best if not the best year with comes to fighting games in general
That part at the end about the systems becoming more and more powerful and 2D games from this era aging far better than the 3D ones sticks with me. Frankly, if I were to go back in time and become a higher up at Sega, I’d tell them it’s more than OK to stick with what you know. Not to discount 3D altogether, obviously, as many important and influential games did come about from this, but I also think even something as simple as an original 2D Sonic game on day one would’ve gone a long way towards helping the Saturn be successful.
I totally agree. Yes, a proper 2D sonic game would have drawn some criticism as feeling "old fashioned" in a time of 3D, but with updated graphics, special effects, and other ways to show off the Saturn's 2D, I think it ultimately could have been well received critically and helped to sell the system. And the Saturn could have been a success even if it was still second to the PS1, like in Japan. A Sonic title early on definitely would have helped. It would have been nice if they just recognized that the Saturn could really shine against the PS1 with 2D, especially due to RAM expansion which was not even an option on PS1. By the time X-Men vs. Street Fighter came out, bernie stolar had already begun, stupidly, killing the Saturn. And the PS1 version of that game was terrible in comparison.
A 2D Sonic on the Saturn was a dream of mine, but it never came to pass. And the closest we've gotten since then is Sonic Mania...over 2 decades later. Maybe in another quarter of a century, Sega will again decide to make a classic 2D Sonic that people have been clamoring for. But by that time, the Sonic Mania team will be retired. (Forget "Sonic Team". 👎) Oh, well. If Sega is known for anything, it is for destroying their own franchises through a lack of care, and letting things go to waste...
SF2 still looks great today, PS1 games look awful.
Fantasia still looks beautiful today, Toy Story 1 looks quite basic now.
2D art is timeless.
The ones keeping it alive are arcsys. Look at Dragonball Fighterz, they make 3D games that look just like 2D and it's fantastic.
practicing at home and at friends house on the japanese saturn version really helped when i would go to the arcade on the weekend on day off from work, we would play it at home on 5rounds to offset the loading time ;)
I was in Japan when this was released and did not hesitate to buy. I've put so many hours into this game it's not funny... still play it today... it's a classic.
in my local arcade place there was a saturn that was wired to an arcade bench where i lived back in the 90's.They had 2 sega saturn, one for the racing and adventure games with a pad and the one with the arcade bench was just to the fighters.
alpha 2 was my favorite alpha game
Use to have this game on Saturn back in the day 😃
The Sega Saturn was built for pixel art.
Love the alpha series.
Nice work as always SLX.
9:29 Interesting observation & to be honest I think the more streamlined combat is also part of why I enjoyed Alpha 2 more than the various Street Fighter II iterations where I couldn't string together combos to save my life.
This was definitely my favourite Saturn game back in the day. Despite all the other ways to play SFA2 nowadays I still set up the Saturn occasionally to play this version. My biggest hope is that Capcom return to this art style for SF in the future. Imagine this in something similar to ArcSys's 2.5D engine!
Yes I agree. The SF4 5 n 6 art style and presentation is a meh af. Capcom needs to outsource a new SF Alpha or Darkstalkers game to Arcsystem works. They've even done it before, when Capcom hired them to make the Sengoku Basara X fighting game for them
I love SNES port of Alpha 2 because it seems so ridiculous that they managed to get on there even with the extra chip. Always wondered why they didn't port the smaller Alpha 1 or even a port of Super Street Fighter II Turbo.
The reason Capcom choose to port Street Fighter Alpha 2 for Super NES was the reason they can't port Street Fighter Alpha 1. The reason, the S-DD1 chip was not available at the time Alpha 1 came out and even if it was it was very expensive to get. Capcom had to make sure Alpha 1 sell before they could afford it, true to that when SFA1 sell and SFA2 came out the S-DD1 chip got cheaper and Capcom got more money to afford it to make the Super NES port of SFA2.
Also the reason why Super Street Fighter II Turbo was not on Super NES was because the home versions of Super Street Fighter II was the whole reason Super Turbo exist in the first place. When Capcom port Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers to Super NES and Sega Genesis, they added back the Turbo speeds and more modes, this anger the arcade players and complaints were made to Capcom. Capcom answered that by releasing a more faster version of Super Street Fighter II in the arcade called Super Street Fighter II Turbo, they even manage to add a hidden character and super moves in there for good measure. Super NES and Genesis didn't get a port of Super Turbo because in theory both games are essentially Super Turbo just without Akuma and the super moves.
I own the SNES version, too.
I remember I was upset with Capcom for the SNES version, because I felt like they could've ported it to N64. I didn't know till much later that the N64 had a poor 2D cache, so it wouldn't look good anyway.
@@pablovillegasiv9313that was the very reason I wanted NOTHING to do with N64,no SF games
I love those beautiful years of Capcom 2D arcade games like this one, Pocket Fighter, Puzzle Fighter and the Vs series. So many hours at the arcade.
This is the only Saturn game I own while I am saving up for a MODE for my Saturn, great game, even though I suck at fighters.
Sucking at a game doesn't mean you can't have fun with it.
My MODE just came in the mail on Friday despite me already having 2/3 of a complete library...gotta minimize the wear and tear!
I'm looking for one mega pack to torrent for it but couldn't find one so downloading everything 1 thing at a time from a redump. Taking a LONG time.
Solid review. Thanks. Street fighter alpha 3 improves the greatness of alpha 2 even more.
I think Alpha 2 on Saturn is the best home iteration of Street Fighter ever. To this day.
I always liked when fighting games would let you watch cpus fight and you could do tournaments for them
I was the expert at Akuma’s kill move in my house.
Love this game to this day man
Street Fighter Alpha 2 was a great port for the Sega Saturn. To this day whenever I face M. Bison (Vega) I put my best foot forward to beat him mercilessly. I especially enjoyed the music on the art section.
Another excellent video! Man I can’t beliece watching this channel when it was slightly sub 10k subscribers. You have come a long way! I know it may not be intentional, but this channel helped me through some tough times. I’m in a happy place in life now, and honestly little things like this, you will not expect can help others.
My first console was a Sega, and this channel really rocks!
Love seeing random reviews of classic titles, keep em coming and I'll keep clicking!
Let's not forget to mention that for the NA version the cover art is probably the Dopest of the Street fighter series
Totally agree about 2D. I feel it was robbed of its golden age a bit too early.
I had just got into High School when the SF2 craze hit. So many quarters went into those arcade machines. And then the SNES version came out in the summer and playing it was ALL I could think about lol. Ahhh memories. Alpha 2 was the last one I really put a lot of time into, on the PS1 of course. No one owned a Saturn ;)
I owned one , but Saturn games were not on sale or available by 99' thankfully I had a friend that lend me the game. I was so lucky to play it back then.
My most played Saturn game! I just watched your Alpha video last night, and you give me this.
Good old day..i missed this when i was a child and cant afford it.
The Saturn is a true beast of a system.
I wouldn't call getting a victory on shin akuma at the highest difficulty satisfying, I would call it relieving. Like thank God I finally beat this guy...
I was playing it yesterday on my Sega Saturn. For some reason I always end up coming back to this version. It feels different than the other consoles.
In which way does it feel different?
I felt bad for the Sega Saturn not doing so well in America. We probably didn't understand market-friendly back in the day. I think the Japanese people were upset about the heavy westernization that was going on when video games, anime, and cartoons were first localized in English. I think Sega of Japan was jealous of the Sega Genesis being successful in America. I've just realized that Street Fighter Alpha 2 was the last Street Fighter game released on the Super Nintendo. And also, it introduced Sakura who is my favorite Street Fighter character. As Daisy was rejected in favor of Wario for the 1990s, I am grateful for Sakura's existence. When I first heard Sakura in the 1990's, her voice reminded me of Princess Daisy. It's not surprising when I have realized Sakura and Daisy are second-banana characters named after flowers and are known for having a tomboyish attitude.
Such an Ace in-depth review, great work as always !
*This disc was region free and plays on all Saturns of every country!* ⭐️ 💡 ⭐️
Great review as always. There are a good amount of fighters for the Saturn. Absolutely love the controller feels great in the hands. I love this game even though i didn't have a chance to play it until Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection on Switch.
Street Fighter Alpha 3 is peak Street Fighter. They haven’t topped it yet and I doubt they ever will unless we get an Alpha 4
Saturn was the system to own if you were a fan of Capcom 2d fighters which I was. If you were a hardcore fan of the Capcom fighters (which I played semi-competitively), then owning the Saturn was a non-negotiable. And I agree, these types of 2D games have stood the test of time much better than 3D fighters.
At that time I went straight for the Alpha 2 Gold, what a game! Played it so much back then and I don't think any other SF had as good a soundtrack as the Saturn version, the tracks felt distinctive, characteristic and were a good upgrade from the arcade version.
SF Alpha 2 was a great conversion for the Saturn and no Ram Expansion Cart required. I think Dramatic Battle Mode wasn't incuded because of memory restraints. But what we've got was very close to the arcade experience. Alpha 3 was the superior game overall in my opinion, but Alpha 2 still remains a great release. Thanks for making this review.
Great review Mel. My uncle used to get every Street Fighter game day one. Sunk so many hours into this one.
Akuma was insane on the highest difficulty setting for sure.
Have a great day brother.
I watch every video you put out, in it's entirety! They are all so enjoyable.
Wow, thank you! Much appreciated.
This game made me buy a Saturn. No BS.
I was spoiled with Alpha 2, not only did I have the Saturn version that I played until it was unusable anymore. We had a small grocery store like 5 mins away with the Arcade version.
PS1 did get Alpha 2 Gold first in the Street Fighter Collection.
I enjoyed the Saturn versions of thesr games too. As for joypads nothing beats PS joypads.
I own a Mister and a CPS 2 multi, but the Saturn version is my preferred way to play it.
I played Street Fighter Alpha 2 Sega Saturn version once time only and I just could comprove myself how many better was than PS1 version.Better introduction,more frames like Zangief removing your cape before every fight that was completely missing in PS1 port.Seeing every video these console games I wish that could stayed more time with Saturn before bought the PS1 again in that time.
Would be great if they did a mini Saturn.
I had Street Fighter Zero 2 on the PSX and I loved it! It's still my favourite Street Fighter game.
PlayStation port was good but the Saturn port was legendary and it was done without ram expansion. My only issue with alpha 2 on the Saturn is the versus mode layout is just the characters names in writing instead of the arcade mode layout but other than that it’s an amazing port.
It made the load times faster, so at least there was that.
Alpha 2 looks amazing, played amazing and is straight fire! Awesome episode! The content here is so great! Keep it up SegaLX!
My favorite Street Fighter game of all time. I own the SNES version.
A damn fine review SLX. Loved all the work you put into this video. SFA2 is an excellent experience on the Saturn (I unfortunately experienced it on the SNES back in the 90s).
my best friend and I were the only ones in school who chose a Saturn over a PS1. a lot of people questioned us about it, but everyone came to our house to play SFA2, because they all admit its better on the Saturn, especially with the saturn controller that had 6 face buttons. But my favorite saturn fighter was Groove on Fight by far! i had to mod my saturn to play this.
Easily my favorite fighting game of all time (Gold). I've put more hours into this than any fighter with KoF98 a close second. Awesome to see you covering this!
Favorite of all the classic sf games. Liked the hidden fighters
Really enjoyed this. Thanks for these Street Fighter Alpha reviews on Saturn.
Street fighter Alpha 2 has a more authentic retro feel than the more sophisticated and nervous Alpha 3 game. The backgrounds are also more specific and have this grunge 80’s look (the public toilets and under the bridge stage for example). To me Street Alpha 2 is as good as Alpha 3 and has better overall arcade-80s atmosphere.
Indeed, 2d games have held up over the years a lot better than 3d games. It still looks great today, I actually think it looks better than SF4, SF5 and the upcoming SF6.
Just was playing this yesterday, one of my favorite Saturn games.
Still can't believe N64 didn't have any Street Fighter game.
@retro game fan Agree there were a lot of guys that still wanted to play arcades on home, Super Nintendo did the trick for me with their 6 buttons pad and a variety of arcade fighting games ports of course the Super Nintendo had limits and we couldn't have things like Darkstalkers, X-Men vs Street Fighter or King of Fighters on it, I thought N64 being more powerful would be the platform to bring those games home but well we all know what happened.
The N64 wasn't design to play 2D fighting games anyways.
@retro game fan cartridges were a bad for the n64 which they missed on arcade, plenty of RPGs and 2D ports. They were able to port nba hangtime, sub zero mythologies, and rampage world tour.
Later N64 cartridge sizes could’ve brought over a VERY good SFA2. There wouldn’t have been any of the RAM limitations those CD systems had, which would’ve meant no loading. If they wanted to do dramatic battle, they could’ve made it 4v4 and and the only thing they’d have to be concerned about is fillrate. I think the only issue I could see would be having to actually redo all the music to a system generated format, and let’s be real. If KI Gold was any indication, they could’ve probably pulled off something really close, if not exact as Alpha 2’s music was MUCH simpler than anything on KI. Honestly I think it’s a crime that 2D gaming like that never really got explored properly on the system. I think given enough time, especially later in its lifespan it would’ve blown the both of them out of the water with it.
This game is awesome 99.9% like the arcade version unlike the snes version.
The music samples you chose are so rich in tone. Probably the best versions of Street Fighter music I’ve heard.
This convinces me that Konami could have done a better port of Castlevania Symphony of the Night on the Saturn. The slowdown didn't have to be there. The game should have been given more polish before they released it.
This sequel will always have a special place in my heart being that it defined 1996 as a memorable year in gaming. ❤️
The fact the Alpha series were made during mid production of Resident Evil speaks volumes on how Capcom were so devoted in finishing a product that delivered a memorable experience.
Also noting, this game also had one of gaming's most influential and mesmerizing poster arts of all time by Dai-Chan.
A few hiccups with the Saturn though:
a) It did not contain the original Arcade soundtrack (just arranged). I adore Sakura's theme since it utilize the power of Q Sound.
b) This one is an important one you forgot to mention...IT DID NOT HAVE Q SOUND. The audio in this game often suffers without this feature and somewhat sounds low quality. A very sad subtraction since I believe the Saturn did not support this feature. 😔
I love the Alpha-Series. My favorite ist the third game. Played it do much on the Dreamcast.
Great video as always.
I got the game first, then went out to look for a Saturn to play it on. And, it was glorious.
The game's audio did suffer a bit though. All the sound and voice samples were there, but at a noticeably lower quality so they would fit in the Saturn's RAM. Unless you played a mirror match, halving the required amount of RAM needed for speech samples, at which point they were arcade quality.
I was going to say that playing mirror matches on Alpha 2 Gold you can see and hear the quality differences. Original Alpha 2 is the same then.
Still awesome port and awesome game.
I was waiting for this.
Back in the day, after SSF2X, my "street fighter mania" was lets say losing grip on me...until 1996 came. I already tried the first SFA in arcades but then i purchased SFA2 for my Sega Saturn and oh boy....
This single game renew my hunger for street fighter and fighting games in general...until this very day.
Thank you Capcom
I think it was called Zero 2 Alpha in Japan. At least the CPS2 version. Maybe the port is called Dash.
Best version of the game by far.
One of the best for sure. The hours i have spent on this are crazy!
Ive always got a soft spot to the the first 2 alpha games. To this day theyre still my fave versions of the music
They sure are good, that's for sure.
You do such a consistently great job, X. What a great channel. I sincerely look forward to your videos. You do a great job mixing it up, and I like your presentation style. Have a nice rest of the week.
Great video of a great game in the Street Fighter franchise. Love your work, man.
Please bring back these days of street fighter, capcom. Lot's of combos, super combos and single player content.
Possibly the best Street Fighter am ever made.
I got SfA as my first Saturn game and absolutely adored it, but Alpha2 blew me away.
Still my go to street fighter after all these years.
The Australian stage with the stormy/grassy plains is my favourite.
That stage and the snowy area outside of Suzaku castle are my favourites. I love the Australian stage due to seeing Australia get some representation in such an awesome way in my favourite fighting game franchise. It also reminded me of the opening scene from the Street Fighter II animated movie. I love the snow stage because of Ryu being my favourite character getting such a badass looking stage.
@@PS1Fan1991 Australia needs more stages in fighting games
@@hueyh5637 Agreed. I would also like to see an Australian fighter in a Street Fighter game.
This was my go to Capcom fighter until Marvel vs Capcom 2 was released. Good times.
Alpha 2 has infinitely more character than Alpha 3, I don’t know why anyone would pick the latter over the former.
Your Saturn videos make me want a Saturn.
That's good to hear. It's never too late to get one!
@@SegaLordX I bought a Japanese Sega Saturn I can't remember how many years ago, but I would play quite a bit of it. I had a blast, but I messed up after having not played it in a while and when I went to plug it in, I forgot to put in the required cable that wouldn't fry it for playing on a foreign system and it died. I didn't even realise it at first until further inspection. I had played X-Men Children of the Atom, Daytona and Panzer Dragoon: Saga on it. I would love to buy another Sega Saturn as watching your videos has gotten me revved up to buy another one. So many great games. I grew up with a Sega Megadrive and an Amiga 500, but my family switched to the Playstation instead of going with the Sega Saturn. I love the Playstation, but I definitely cannot deny that the Saturn was an amazing console, especially after my own experience with it as an adult.
Until a few years ago, I would have agreed 100% about the Alpha 2 arranged soundtrack being the best, but apparently I never heard the Alpha 1 arrange soundtrack and I find those to hold up better after all these years. You can't go wrong with any of them though.
My favourite Alpha game. I wish it utilized the 4mb cart! My favourite stage is Dhalsim's, the look and music are fantastic. I would always go through the art gallery, the art was amazing, and the music was so chill