How to play the Street Fighter games in order

gamepur.com:

Street Fighter has a complicated history, and that goes for both its in-universe timeline and its many different re-releases. The likes of Street Fighter III and Alpha have seen numerous special editions, essentially functioning as inter-quels that add even more characters in between the main numbered titles. We’ve made a list that avoids getting that specific, but it will serve to guide you through the series in chronological order.

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Street Fighter started it all, and it also happens to be the first one in the timeline. This was our first introduction to rivals Ryu and Ken, who’ve been the faces of the franchise ever since. They’re the only playable characters, but five of their opponents — Adon, Birdie, Eagle, Gen, and Sagat — eventually made it onto the roster in later games.

One of those later games is Street Fighter Alpha, which released after Street Fighter II, even though it takes place before it in the timeline. So while it wasn’t the first appearance of hero Chun-Li and villain M. Bison for fans, it was their first time meeting the rest of the roster. More Street Fighter II newcomers were added in later versions too, bridging the gap toward that game.

The original Street Fighter focused on a global martial arts tournament, and the sequel took the idea even further. More payable characters hailing from all across the globe made their debut here. Brazil’s Blanka, USA’s Guile, the UK’s Cammy, Russia’s Zangief, and so many more have been inseparable from the series ever since. Notably, it was the first arcade game to let players freely choose from the roster before going head to head.