I've just loaded the game and the arrow keys don't work, neither do any of the other keys that are often times used for moving and the mouse doesn't work either.

What precisely do I have to do to actually play. I see that f9 exits and I think x is start, but that's not really enough to change settings, let alone play.

The game should really have come with some sort of documentation.

That is the most bizarre default control scheme I have ever seen. Seriously, who would ever use ybhg for movement?

I had to plug a controller in to be able to change controls for the keyboard.
Nevertheless, I'm still having trouble.

I tried to make the control WASD for movement, with UIO for punches and JKL for kicks. The controls did not map the correct punch and kick strengths to those keys though. It did change the controls, but not the way I intended. Is there are work around for this?

Someone suggested to me that this may be a problem with Windows 7 UAC not allowing changes in Program Files, but I don't know if that is the case or not in this instance.

Ah, thanks, that definitely did the trick. I must have missed those keys when I was mashing my keyboard. It shouldn't be UAC, GOG now defaults to installing outside the Program Files directory. Which caused me a bit of confusion trying to find the executable earlier.

I ended up swapping Y G H B for the appropriate arrow keys. Which works fine because my notebook is too small to play multiplayer with anyways.

You're welcome. :D

No problem, and now the solution is here for everybody else to find. I was surprised that GOG wasn't able to include some type of manual for the game. This is probably the first game in a very long time where I genuinely needed a manual. And it wasn't there.

I hadn't noticed this. I tried to redirect it to install to C://Program Files (x86)/, but the GOG installer says that the ( and ) are not allowable characters. ARGH! I want all my gog games in one place! Anybody know a solution to this?

I can't seem to get my 360 arcade stick to work well the buttons will work no problem but the stick part won't work at all can anyone help?

I'm also trying to get my arcade stick to work but for some reason it's getting picked up as player 2 and the stick itself isn't being recognized. Any solutions?

I use a Logitech F310 gamepad, and it works just fine.

Street Fighter Alpha 2 is Direct Input friendly: it auto-maps to old Logitech and most generic gamepads. With the Logitech F series (F310/F510/F710) you need to have it plugged into the USB port and switched to "D" (for Direct Input) for it to work. It plays just like the old Playstation version of SFA2 I originally experienced this game on.

*NOTE: When switched to "X" (X input) on a Logitech F series gamepad, it reads like a 360 controller. X input works pretty good with Hotline Miami, Bastion, etc...XNA games.

**NOTE: Direct Input is what old Logitech and most generic gamepads use. Logitech Dual Action and PS# (Playstation 3) controllers auto-map to any games that recognize Direct Input. Guilty Gear X2, Street Fighter Alpha 2, Evoland, Project Black Sun, etc...