Intense. Brutal. Combat. The world has never encountered such a powerful collection of fighters in one tournament. Until now...

Every warrior's dream - the most devastating Street Fighters of all time assemble to battle in one ultimate contest. Armed with an arsenal of new martial arts moves, super combos, and deadly secrets, the legendary competitors Ryu, Chun-Li, Ken and Sagat collide with a lethal new combination of fierce opponents.

Infamous aggressors - Charlie, Sodom, Birdie, and Guy show they play for keeps when they battle on the street. The new contenders Rose and Adon draw powers of the soul and nature to annihilate opponents and secure fame, power and prestige.

The most extreme one-on-one warfare ever!! 

Discussion
Street Fighter Alpha was one of the most anticipated games of its era – magazines (remember those?) spent months of previews, arcade-to-console comparisons, move charts, and more waiting for it. When it hit, it renewed the rivalries between the Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter franchises all over again.

Probably the most important aspect of the game when it first came out was, surprisingly, it’s looks. Breaking away from the somewhat realistic looking sprites used in Street Fighter 2 and all it’s expansions, Alpha re-introduced the world warriors in full Japanese animation (“Anime”) styles. Suddenly Sagat was a towering, muscle-ripped giant with an uppercut arc that could take down an airplane. M. Bison now had a much more sinister look with a flowing cape to boot. Thanks to the earlier point in time, Ken, Ryu, and Chun-Li all look young and fresher than ever.

Fighting speeds were actually slowed down a little from the Super Turbo era, which caught a few people off guard. All the usual moves, along with two Super Arts per character were there – along with a new Alpha counter move. However, the game was really well balanced and provided killer versus matches. For those that wanted to work together, you could play Ryu and Ken vs. M. Bison in a hidden Dramatic Battle Mode.

Aside from the minor differences between the two versions discussed in the Saturn page’s trivia, both games are superior home conversions of a once great arcade game. Its been replaced by the experimental Alpha 2 and the absolute end all, be-all Alpha 3.

Still a good run through for old time’s sake.
 

• Two variants, see below.
   
• Street Fighter Alpha is really known as "Street Fighter Zero", as it takes place earlier in the game's canon. The only problem is that much of the original history is a bit fuzzy since Bison now has a place where he once did not. It's also why Rose mimes a "Z" in her opening cinematic.
   
• This launched around the same time as the original Japanese Animated Street Fighter II movie (the one with the Chun-Li shower scene...), which is why there is a "Dramatic Battle Mode" included. It recreates the 2-on-1 battle of Ryu and Ken against M. Bison.
   
• Speaking of, a poster of the movie can be seen on the window of the 24 Hour SonSon store in Ryu & Guy's background.
   
• Some interesting cameos in the game, and not just of people. Besides a young Guile, Cody and Jessica watching Charlie fight, the SonSon store is outside of E.Honda's bath house from the original Street Fighter II. The Roman Coliseum and the Great Wall of China also make an appearance. There's been an argument as to whether DeeJay, in a very, very young looking body can be seen in the night city stage.
   
• Cats really do make haven in many of Rome's tourist attractions, including the famed Coliseum. It's estimated that some 2000 colonies of cats live on the streets of Rome.
   
• Versus books created a maximum-number combo in the Practice Mode, if I remember correctly I believe it was with Rose.
   
• For older folks, you've met Sodom before - when his name was originally censored to Katana - and he was the end boss of the Subway Stage in the Super Nintendo / Sega CD / Arcade game Final Fight. Oddly enough, the Katana name was carried over into the Super NES version of Street Fighter Alpha 2. 
   
• Guy has the exact same punch combo he has in Final Fight, as well as his kicks.
   
• Capcom released the Arcade version on the PlayStation 2 under the "Street Fighter Anthology" guise.
   
• This was the first game I ever purchased for the PlayStation. I knew the release date by heart - and my original receipt. : )
   

All IDs and PSRMs are the same.