Street Fighter Games Ranked
Ranking most of the Street Fighter games. Not including different versions of games, like how SF2 has like 20 different versions, I will only include the best or most modern iteration of each. The sole exception to this is the Alpha games which are all radically different from each other and not just the same game with minor tweaks across versions. I know nothing about the EX games so they are absent from this list.
9 Games
Peak Street Fighter easily. Focus Attacks opens up infinite interactions and promotes custom combos that are fun and rewarding. The visuals could look better but I think it's overblown how bad they are. Same with the soundtrack; I've come to appreciate most of the music tracks, they're all a great bop. Has some balance issues, but I'm fine with some broken top tiers if the low tiers still see some usage. Don't think any future SF game can surpass this.
Infinite depth and skill potential solely thanks to the parry; you will never see one game happen exactly like another. Great cast of unique characters with beautiful visuals and music. Just a few things holding it back: whiffing normals to build meter is stupid, broken games can be fun but the balance is pretty skewed here, and I wish there was more utility to the underutilized super arts.
An underrated gem of a fighter. The Tekken cast is perfectly translated into 2D and feel faithful to their 3D home games. The tag team system opens up so many possibilities and makes team optimization way more fun than it should be. It had a rough launch, but I'm willing to forgive it for that. I can't, however, forgive the lackluster soundtrack. The base game and mechanics are also basically SF4 without what made SF4 fun and engaging; this game took those aspects and added it's own, which is fine, but those changes are less fun than SF4.
Started out rough, but has grown to be a fairly polished and fun time. Great roster diversity, especially with final two seasons. The V-System has some depth, with your multiple defensive options vs V-Trigger. Speaking of, V-Triggers could be balanced better for each character; most characters only have one strong V-Trigger and go with that every time. The online play is also pretty bad, but I personally haven't had much issue with it. Not a bad time, especially considering what it once was.
Custom combos are incredibly fun; fun enough that it's the only positive thing I need to mention. I hate the counter hit flash that you WILL see every five seconds. I also wish there was more incentive to chose the other "isms," most people settle to V-Ism for the custom combos and I don't blame them.
Not much to say about this one. Pretty standard with some cool game mechanics and visuals.
This is the worst real SF game. I have literally nothing positive to say about this game other than it looks and sounds good. Random damage and stun output values makes every round a nightmare and I don't know how this was allowed in a fighting game. You can't tech throws, but have fun mashing while you're grabbed to only half the damage you took. I know this game means a lot to people, but I'm sick of seeing it as the only SF game that Capcom will ever make merchandise of. Maybe I'm missing something, but this game just seems like an unfinished mess, and through the accidents of this game, came much more fun and well designed games.
Decent gameplay, but nothing mind blowing. The visuals are very off-putting if you don't play Mortal Kombat, which I don't.
Unironically one of the worst games ever made.