And there was hardly any single game that made a bigger impact than Street Fighter 2.

It’s hard to overstate how massive a hit Street Fighter 2 was when it first hit arcades.

It also, not surprisingly, dominated the cash flowing into the arcade business.

Street Fighter 2 was one of the biggest games ever made in a genre with few rivals.

At the time, an arcade-faithful port seemed like a pipe dream.

Players had become accustomed to arcade machines far outpacing the power of home consoles.

The occasional console game that matched its arcade counterparts was the exception, not the rule.

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It was arcade-perfect, missing only a few visual flourishes like the arcade version’s opening cutscene.

Street Fighter 2 was relatively expensive at $75–roughly $158 in 2022 dollars.

That demand was fueled partly by its platform exclusivity.

There was no version released for the Sega Genesis in 1992.

Entirely new arcade cabinets and entirely new home cartridges were planned.

This version would serve as the basis for the Sega Genesis port.

Sega fans were stuck waiting once again.

But it was still a difference; Nintendo fans could boast a superior port.

One other major distinction sat between the Super NES and Genesis versions: the controller.

Those would also define the strength, speed, and range of your special attacks.

It was no arcade stick, but it made the game perfectly playable without buying any extra accessories.

The Genesis controller, by comparison, only had three buttons by default.

Needless to say, this was not ideal.

Foreseeing this problem, Sega released its six-button controller.

But it also represented another accessory purchase to get the full experience.

Another, final version of Street Fighter 2 released in 1994.

Super Street Fighter 2: The New Challengers was to be the definitive version of the game.

It included four entirely new fighters: T. Hawk, Dee Jay, Cammy, and Fei Long.

This time, Genesis wasn’t left behind.

It gained a respectable amount of market share against Nintendo compared to their competition in the 8-bit console wars.

But it is safe to say that this disparity contributed to Sega’s troubles.

It may have made different decisions in the intervening years.

It might even still be a console manufacturer.

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