Street Fighter II (??????????II, Street Fighter II?) became an instant success when it was ported to consoles such as the SNES and the Sega Genesis. It was so popular that it seemed like people wanted it on every available platform, including handheld so it could be played on the go. So Capcom gave it a shot on the Game Boy… with mixed results.

Due to the memory constraints of the cartridge, the cast of fighters had to be cut down naturally. While the game is based on the Super Street Fighter II engine, only six of the original eight warriors and three of the four bosses remain. Dhalsim, E. Honda, and Vega were ceremoniously discarded, either for reasons of popularity or complexity, and none of the new challengers (nor Akuma) are to be found.

With only two buttons to press, attacks were limited to one punch button and one kick button. As a compromise for the differences, Capcom provided the game with Super Game Boy support. When played over the SNES peripheral, the game appears in color, with full color backgrounds designed to mimic the stage that the fight was taking place in.