Arcade Mode

Arcade Mode is a game mode that has the player fight against random computer-controlled opponents in one-on-one close quarter combat. After a number of fights, they might fight a "rival", a character who has some kind of relationship with the chosen fighter, shortly before boss fights.

Description
Arcade Mode is a term used to describe the mode that is most often seen in arcade versions of the given game, but it has become synonymous with the format. Most don't deviate to far from the format, often adding small additions.

Street Fighter
The first Street Fighter game allowed players to choose their first opponents. Only Ryu and Ken are playable, with the former being Player 1, and the latter being Player 2.
 * At the beginning of the game, the player has to choose between four countries: Japan, the United States, China and England, with each country having two opponents to fight (Retsu and Geki, Joe and Mike, Lee and Gen, Birdie and Eagle, respectively).
 * Once a country is cleared, the player will do one of two bonus stages, and then travel to the next country.
 * Once the player defeats all eight default opponents, Ryu/Ken will travel to Thailand to face the sub-boss and final boss, Adon and Sagat.

Street Fighter II series
In the Street Fighter II series, the order of fights goes as so.
 * Every playable fighter (excluding the Four Kings).
 * The original version, Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, did not allow Mirror Matches, but later versions do.
 * Later versions ( Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers and later) randomly selects eight of all twelve non-boss characters as the opponents.
 * Bonus stages strewn throughout the game (car destruction, barrel break, and fire barrels).
 * Fights with the Four Kings in this order: Balrog, Vega, Sagat and M. Bison.
 * Secret boss character Akuma, who can be fought in place of M. Bison (only in Super Street Fighter II Turbo and later versions).

Once Arcade Mode has been beaten, a character-unique ending is shown.

Street Fighter: The Movie (arcade)

 * Every playable fighter, excluding the final boss.
 * Final boss M. Bison.
 * Secret mid-boss Khyber.
 * In tag-team mode, the second-to last fight will be against two M. Bisons, and the last one will be against Super Bison.

Street Fighter: The Movie (console)

 * Random fighters from the roster, excluding the final opponents (Zangief, Dee Jay, Sagat and M. Bison).
 * Final boss M. Bison.
 * Secret boss Akuma.

Street Fighter Alpha series
Street Fighter Alpha was the first series to have rival fights. The order generally goes as shown:
 * Random fighters from the roster (excluding boss characters or rivals).
 * A rival fight in the middle (or as the last fight in the original Street Fighter Alpha).
 * Sub-bosses (Alpha 2 and 3) and final boss (which varies in the first two games, but in Alpha 3 is usually Balrog, Juli/Juni, then M. Bison).
 * Secret mid-boss character Dan (Alpha only).
 * Secret boss character Akuma (Alpha only).
 * Secret boss character Shin Akuma (Alpha 2 only).

Street Fighter EX series
The Street Fighter EX series uses a straight-forward Arcade Mode, though EX2 Plus added bonus stages. Street Fighter EX3 does not feature a standard Arcade Mode, and has Original Mode in its place.


 * Random fights from the roster (excluding boss characters).
 * Bonus stages strewn throughout the game (Excel Break and Satellite Fall, EX2 Plus only).
 * In the original Street Fighter EX and its updates, the final boss is M. Bison, with Akuma and a secret final boss, and Garuda as a secret mid-boss.
 * In Street Fighter EX2, Garuda is the final boss, with Kairi and Shadowgeist as secret final bosses.
 * In Street Fighter EX2 Plus, the final three opponents are Garuda, Sagat and M. Bison, with Kairi and Shadowgeist as secret mid-bosses, and Bison II as a secret final boss.

Street Fighter III series
The original Street Fighter III: New Generation also had a straight-forward Arcade Mode. Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact brings a return to bonus stages from Street Fighter II. 3rd Strike offers the chance to choose from two random fighters instead of being chosen one by the game.
 * Random fighters from the roster (excluding boss characters or rivals).
 * A rival fight in the middle (2nd Impact and 3rd Strike).
 * Bonus stages strewn throughout the game (car destruction and parry practice, the latter being in both 2nd Impact and 3rd Strike, and the former being only in 3rd Strike). Can be disabled if the player wishes so.
 * Final boss Gill.
 * Secret final boss character Shin Akuma (2nd Impact only).
 * Secret mid-boss character Q (3rd Strike only).

Street Fighter IV series
Street Fighter IV is the first series to have animated prologues and endings.
 * Intro animation.
 * Random fighters from the roster (excluding boss characters or rivals).
 * Bonus stages strewn throughout the game (barrel break and car destruction, Super Street Fighter IV onwards). Can be disabled if the player wishes so.
 * Rival fight before boss (can switch between rivals by either pressing all three punches or kicks on some characters).
 * Final boss Seth.
 * Secret boss characters (Gouken, Akuma, Evil Ryu and Oni, the latter two being present from Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition onwards).
 * Ending animation.

Street Fighter V series
The original Street Fighter V did not have an arcade mode, but the first major update, Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition introduces one as the main feature. There are six different ladders to go through, each corresponding to a major game in the franchise. The player gets the choice to choose the next fighter from two, a returning element from Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. There are over 200 arcade endings and each ending comes with a comic strip of what happened, similar to Capcom Fighting Evolution, so every character route in every ladder is completely unique. In some ladders (like the SFII and SFA ladder), instead of playing the stage theme, the theme of the opponent the player is currently fighting against plays. The SFII and SFA ladders feature Balrog, Vega and M.Bison (whose uses his Stage theme instead) as the final bosses, while other ladders have their rival as the final boss

In the SFII and SFV ladders, a bonus stage appears after defeating the fourth and fifth opponent respectively. giving the player a chance to earn more points. In addition, the SFII and SFIV ladders gives the player an opportunity battle Shin Akuma as the final boss. However, (depending on the ladder), the player must fulfill certain requirements in order to fight Shin Akuma at the end of the ladder, such as winning a round with a Critical Art on three different opponents. The SFV ladder also has certain requirements to face G as well.

At the end of each ladder, the player's total score is recorded on the Capcom Fighter's Network leaderboard. If the player's score is high enough, they will receive special titles to showcase on their profile page.

Below is the list of all known fighters to date.

All known fighters in each ladder

 * Street Fighter/Final Fight (four fights): Ryu, Ken, Birdie, Abigail, Zeku (standing in for Guy), Cody (possibly standing in for Joe as well), Balrog (mimicking Mike), and Sagat.
 * Street Fighter II (eight fights): Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Cammy, Guile, Blanka, Zangief, Dhalsim, Balrog, Vega, M. Bison, Akuma, and Sagat.
 * Street Fighter Alpha (ten fights): Charlie Nash, R.Mika, Karin, Cody, Sakura, Birdie, and all SFII characters (see above).
 * Street Fighter III (six fights): Alex, Ibuki, Ken, Chun-Li, Kolin (originally non-playable during SFIII, possibly as standing in for Gill), Urien, Laura (standing in for Sean), Akuma and Ryu.
 * Street Fighter IV (eight fights): Juri, Ibuki, Cody, Sakura and all SFII characters.
 * Street Fighter V (eleven fights): All returning playable characters, and newcomers including: Rashid, Laura, F.A.N.G, Necalli, Kolin, Ed, Abigail, Menat, Zeku, Falke and G.