Push your talents to the limit as you discover new hidden moves and reversals for every character. Neutralize opponent's attacks with high and low Alpha Counters and execute incredible Custom Combos to create your own rapid-fire assault of attacks.

All your favorite warriors are back for more. Previously hidden characters Dan, Akuma, and Bison are joined by 5 new fighters: Sakura, Rolento, Gen and classic favorites Zangief and Dhalsim.

Discussion
Ah, custom combos, how I miss thee. I can still recall 1996 very vividly; I was able to run a Capcom sponsored Arcade Tournament at a comic convention. While waiting for the sign-ups to finish, I stepped over to a machine and just happened upon a devout Street Fighter player, and watched him annihilate me with a Chun-Li Custom Combo. I never stood a chance. But damn, the game was and still is fun.

For me, Alpha 2 was the pinnacle of Capcom’s ‘Fan Service’ days. If you ignore the game’s sequel status for a moment, you begin to realize just how much love was thrown into this game. The way Rolento gently tapped his fingers on his weapon, all the various cameos and in-jokes, Dan’s hidden Super taunt, references to other canons (specifically the anime), and other little things created a play environment that could not be touched.

18 characters, 5 new and the rest returning, provided a balanced and fully fleshed out roster. Each character had their own stage (unlike Alpha 1), with multiple moves, win poses, and several even had hidden opening animations. By providing each character with their own stage, Capcom went all out with cameo and interactive references. In Guy’s stage, you can see various Final Fight characters in the background. Should the player use a female character, Cody’s girlfriend will slap him. Dhalsim’s wife will cheer or hide her face depending on Dhalsim’s situation. Ken’s stage featured everyone from Darkstalkers and Alien vs. Predator to Captain Commando. This abundance in references really helped give the game an atmosphere, something sadly missing in the later Alpha 3.

Gameplay brought in the Custom Combo; essentially a move that would ignite your entire stored Super Meter, and allow any move to be come part of a Super strength. This allowed for standard combos to become more powerful, as well as let players get creative with how they linked various moves; several fireballs juggled me on multiple occasions.

Animation and gameplay are fast and furious, but the Saturn definitely has the PlayStation beat. Besides the better options and slightly (by millimeters) bigger characters, the Saturn controller allowed for easier custom combo starts. There’s also the instantly accessible Survival Mode and extra hidden character variants that the PlayStation version lacks.

With time, Street Fighter Alpha 3 became the standard thanks to its multiple options and amazing World Tour mode. However, it lacked that certain charm that Alpha 2 provided in its heyday. Despite the Saturn's superior version, the PSX one still holds up, if only for the nostalgia.

• Variant, see below.
   
• Alpha 2 brings back the Alpha Counter, but more importantly, it also introduced the Custom Combo. Essentially you pressed One Punch and Two Kick Buttons, and whatever you pressed within that time frame became your 'Super Move'. Players quickly found exploits, especially with Chun-Li, and began racking up insane 50+ hit combos. Capcom would eventually split the Styles in Alpha 3.
   
• The Saturn version is more arcade exact, and even has a Survival Mode and Illustration Mode not found in the PlayStation version.
   
•  There is some interesting lore with one of the game's cameos. In Ken's stage, among the various Capcom characters is Strider holding a Teddy Bear. When a character performs a Super Move, Strider tosses the bear up and catches it. Legend has is it that this was a small 'Get Well Soon' message to a fellow Capcom programmer. The worker was apparently under great stress while working on a port of Strider (different sources have it as the Super Grafx or Neo Geo Pocket), and when the project got canned, he was hospitalized for a nervous breakdown. In the PlayStation version, Strider is not animated.
   
• New characters to the game included Gen, Rolento (of Final Fight), Sakura, and returning characters Zangief and Dhalsim.
   
• In Sakura's stage her sibling is apparently playing Final Fight on the Super Nintendo. When the match is over, they throw the controller.
   
• If you can go undefeated for the first 5 opponents, and win using a Super Move, you will fight a surprise Rival on the 6th character. 
   
• There was a version released on the PC and the Super Nintendo. The SNES one was actually released by Nintendo.
   
• The Saturn version features several 'alternate mode' characters like Evil Ryu that the PlayStation version does not have.
   
• Though never released in the US, the Saturn version of Alpha 3 was superior to the PSX version as well, thanks to its use of the Ram Cartridge.
   
• Worth 10 Points in the Fighters Edge promotion. 
   
• Funny observation: Both this and the similarly troubled Samurai Shodown III have the phrase, "A Precise Arcade Translation" on the package's back. If you see that on a PlayStation game, run!