It being said Street Fighter 2 did much of milestones in relation to popularizing and advancing fighiting genre. I myself do not care about what Street Fighter did to the genre, neither I think it was much, and I ain't liking Street Fighter 1 and 2, while I do liking Street Fighter 3 and 4.
Although old games indeed could have certain significance for fighting genre historically, and new games are show off cutting edge graphics etc, yet I myself like Street Figher Alpha Max 3 (got certain quality tracks, Sakura character I like, roster is big, 90s 00s graphics for me among the best), Street Fighter 3rd Strike (got cool dnb tracks, Ibuki character I like, graphics I like), and Street Fighter 4 (got okay music, Ibuki and Sakura both present, graphics quite good like).