The game introduces several new features, expanding on the Super Combo system previously featured in Super Street Fighter II Turbo, with graphics drawn in a similar art style to the one Capcom employed in Darkstalkers and X-Men: Children of the Atom.

The number of punch or kick buttons pressed simultaneously when performing a Super Combo determines the amount that will be used.

In addition to Super Combos, the player can also perform a special counterattacking technique called an Alpha Counter (Zero Counter in the Japanese version) after blocking an opponent's attack, which consumes a level of the Super Combo Gauge.

The game also features a secret two-on-one Dramatic Battle mode in which two players as Ryu and Ken fight against a computer-controlled M. Bison.

The match was inspired by the final fight between the characters in Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie.

[14] The Japanese arcade version of the game plays an instrumental rendition of the movie's battle theme, "Itoshisa to Setsunasa to Kokoro Zuyosa to", which was replaced by M. Bison's regular theme in the overseas releases, due to licensing issues.

The immediate character roster includes Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li and Sagat from the Street Fighter II series, along with Birdie and Adon (Sagat's former apprentice) from the original Street Fighter, who make their first appearances as playable characters in this game.

Street Fighter II antagonist M. Bison appears as a final opponent for many of the characters in the single-player mode, while Akuma from Super Street Fighter II Turbo once again appears as a secret final opponent.

Due to the small amount of character animation data in Street Fighter Alpha, Capcom was able to do a relatively straight port to the Sega Saturn and PlayStation; source code from the arcade version is incorporated into both home versions.

A Game Boy Color version (converted by Crawfish Interactive) was released in 1999, featuring downscaled graphics and sound.

The Dramatic Battle on the main menu differs from the one in the original arcade game in that the player can select any pair of characters and face against a series of four computer-controlled opponents (Adon, Sagat, M. Bison and Akuma), not just Ryu and Ken against Bison.

[24] In North America, RePlay reported Street Fighter Alpha was the most-popular arcade game in August 1995.

[26] Reviewing the arcade version, Computer and Video Games praised the improved sprite graphics and innovative gameplay features such as the revamped Super Combo system and the new Alpha Counter mechanic.

[29][42] GamePro called it "easily the best argument that the PlayStation is not just a polygon-based system",[46] while Maximum deemed it "the next logical evolvement of the most popular fighting game of all time.

[44] GamePro criticized that some of the game's new characters were not as powerful or fun to play as the series regulars, but praised the gameplay additions and deemed the Saturn version "a near-perfect arcade conversion.

All three games in the series and their variations were included in the PlayStation 2 compilation Street Fighter Alpha Anthology, released in 2006.