Original version of Street Fighter 2 was cancelled, later re-imagined as the title we now know

The infamous ROM shortage of 1988 was the culprit

The original version of Street Fighter 2 began development at Capcom during a planning meeting in October 1998, but it was later cancelled due to a ROM shortage, because it would have been too expensive to manufacture.

This original version of Street Fighter 2 didn’t feature any of the cast members we know and love — not even Ryu or Ken, but versions of the characters who would evolve into the cast that are so familiar to fans were seen.

For example, Chun-Li started off as Zhi Li, and instead of her father being murdered by M. Bison, Gen had taken his life.

This original version of Street Fighter 2 took place on an uninhabited island that was purchased specifically to host a mixed martial arts tournament.

The island would have been shown in the game as a scrolling image, with seven stages in order: City, Boat, Waterfall, Forest, Cave, Bridge and Temple on the Cliff.

This game featured eight fighters and seven stages, and the gameplay system was essentially the same as the final version of what we got in Street Fighter 2, e.g. a one on one fighting game.

The game had a bunch of battle variations like “Beauty versus Beast” fights, “Clashes of Fate” and “Handicapped Matches” as well.

The city from stage one had an audience in the background, similar to a stage that appeared in the first Street Fighter Alpha game.

There was also a cave stage that bears a bit of a resemblance to Akuma’s stage in Street Fighter Alpha 2 and Street Fighter 6.

This is a pretty amazing what if scenario, because it’s entirely possible that this version of the game wouldn’t have become the absolute phenomenon that Street Fighter 2 would later become.

Check out the gallery below of planning documents and artwork for the original version of Street Fighter 2, and how it evolved into the title we all are so fond of now.