25 years after release, a secret method to unlock playable Shin Akuma discovered in SNES Street Fighter Alpha 2

[Teh_Lurv | 254]

A few months ago, a SNES modder by the handle of Gizaha discovered while reverse-engineering the game's source code a convoluted sequence of steps that would unlock a playable version of Shin Akuma. The steps you need to take are:

1. Beat arcade mode on any difficulty and earn enough points to score at the top of the leaderboard
2. Enter the initials KAJ
3. When you return back to the title screen, choose Arcade or Versus mode while holding down L+X+Y+Start on the player 2 controller until the character select screen appears
4. Highlight Akuma at the character select screen, hold down Start, and press a button to choose him. 

If you did everything right, Akuma's gi will change color to Shin Akuma's color.

From what I've read, unlocking Shin Akuma bugs out the arcade mode, so perhaps this is why this secret code was never made public back in the day.

Edited January 16, 2021 by Teh_Lurv