The reviewer Julian Rignall criticized the original " Street Fighter " for being a " run-of-the-mill beat'em up with little in the way of thrills and spills, " but praised this sequel for being " absolutely packed with new ideas and special moves . " He noted the " six buttons combining with 8 joystick directions to provide more moves than I've ever seen in a beat'em up " and praised the " massive, beautifully drawn and animated sprites, tons of speech and the most exciting, action-packed head-to-head conflict yet seen in an arcade game, " concluding that it is " one of the best fighting games yet seen in the arcades " and " a brilliant coin-op . " The June 1991 issue of " Sinclair User " gave the arcade game an " addict factor " of 84 %.
