One day on makunai island (off the coast of Japan) Ryu receives a letter from his pen pal from the United States, Ken. It is an invitation for Ryu to come to meet Ken in San Francisco. Ryu accepts this invitation. When Ryu arrives in San Francisco, Ken picks him up and brings him to his house. Then, at night, Ken decides to scope San Francisco for bars, then Ken flirts with one of the air force pilots' girlfriends and gets into a fight. Ken defeats the pilot, but he and Ryu are unaware of their next opponent.

As Ken defeats an air force pilot in the bar, the pilot's commander going by the name of Guile steps in and sees what Ken has done. However, Ryu wants to have his turn at kicking butt. However, Guile dodges Ryu's attacks and defeats Ryu easily. Ken, angry and out for revenge on Guile, Ken searches every air force base to find Guile, Ken eventually finds him and confronts Guile. Unfortunately for Ken, he suffers the same fate as Ryu. Then, both Ryu and Ken realize that Guile is nothing like any of the opponents that they are use to fighting in karate tournaments, they quickly realize that Guile is a Street Fighter and does not follow any rules or codes while fighting. So, both Ryu and Ken decided to venture the world to learn the way of the Street Fighter. They are going to start in Hong Kong.

Ryu and Ken take a trip to Hong Kong where their tour guide, Chun Li takes them to an underground fighting arena.

Ryu, Ken and Chun-Li try to escape from Kowloon Palace. Then, they are being attacked by street fighters from all sides. So, they realize that they have to fight in order to survive. then, Chun-Li's father Captain Dorai, comes in to assist them.

After escaping from Kowloon Palace, Ryu, Ken and Chun-Li decide to have an easy day in Hong Kong. First, they have breakfast. Then, Chun-Li suggested to go see her friend, the martial arts superstar Fei-Long, perform in his latest movie while it is in still production. To Ryu and Ken's surprise, Fei-Long decides to choose one of them in a fight scene in the movie. He chooses Ken. Then, they fight, and it turns out to be one of the best fight scenes ever shot.

It is another lazy Hong Kong day for Ryu, Ken and Chun-Li. This time, the 3 decide to go to Hong Kong's malls. Ken and Chun-Li were fascinated, but it easily bores Ryu. Then, Ryu spots an old man struggling to breathe, he aids the old man. Suddenly, a mysterious blue aura radiates from the old man's body, and just like that, the old man feels better. The old man decides to help Ryu, he tells him of a legend of a mystical energy called "Ki", and he even shows Ryu on how to perform a special fighting technique, though Ryu still does not believe in it. Then, he rejoins Ken and Chun-Li. With permission from her father, Chun-Li shows to Ryu and Ken that she is also a powerful fighter.

For several unrelenting days, Captain Dorai is hunting down a powerful underground drug ring known as "Ashura". Dorai has already arrested several Ashura members. Now, the Ashura are going to act revenge on Dorai. By doing so, they intend to kidnap his daughter, Chun-Li. One day after school, Chun-Li was spotted by a clown who tried to apprehend her, but, then fought back. Ryu and Ken soon joined to stop the criminals. The Ashura then tried to finish off Dorai at his own home, who was unknowingly waiting for them. Then, Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li and Fei-Long came to help him. They soon realize that some of the criminals are using a dangerous fighting art called "Muay Thai". But, they found a weak spot and finished off the Ashura, for now. Then, Ryu and Ken head for the southeast to discover more about Muay Thai.

Ryu and Ken are chasing down the Ashura. They have tracked them to Thailand. Unfortunately, no sooner that Ryu and Ken arrive in Thailand, Ryu is arrested for drug possession. Since there is no evidence that Ryu is innocent, Ryu was sent to prison, there he faced the warden, Nuchit. Meanwhile, Ken is trying to search for the man who set Ryu up with the drugs. Then Ryu gets into trouble with the other prisoners and fights with them. Ryu defeats the prisoners, but then, he will face a tough prisoner.

After Ryu defeated several prisoners, he is faced with a bug strong prisoner. He is Sagat, the former Muay Thai kick boxing champion. Sagat was not happy that Ryu defeated the prisoners. So, Ryu and Sagat fought. At first, Sagat had Ryu pinned down, then Ryu retaliated. Afgter the fight, Sagat tells Ryu on how he had it all, and why he was in prison, he as well as Ryu was set up by the Ashura. Meanwhile ,Ken finally finds the person who set up Ryu with the drugs. Then, Ryu was free from prison. Now, he helps Ken to defeat the Ashura.

Ryu and Ken are still hot on the trail of the Ashura. Now, Captain Dorai comes to help Ryu and Ken. Then, Ryu and Ken were attacked by a sniper. They quickly escape and jump onto a back of a truck to infiltrate the hideout. Then, they are faced with the head of the Ashura. Ryu and Ken fight the leader and his henchmen and defeating them, and thus, down falling the Ashura for good. Then, Ryu meets Sagat who is now released from prison. Sagat finds out that Ryu is finding somebody who knows about the "Ki". Sagat tells Ryu and Ken to go to India to seek the one named, Dhalsim.

Ryu and Ken head for India. They take a boat up the Ganges river, where they find a doctor with a makeshift hospital who is being harassed by some local people who want the hospital gone. Ryu and Ken help the doctor and then, with some of Ken's fortune, the doctor can build a better hospital. Ryu and Ken continue their journey up the river and find a village where Dhalsim lives. but, Dhalsim refuses to teach them about the "Ki". Then, a group of treasure hunters enter a forbidden temple to steal an ancient artifact, but they suspect that there is a monster that guards the treasure.

After Ryu and Ken completed their test in the forbidden temple, Dhalsim decides to take the 2 men under his wing in teaching them about an energy called "Hadou". While learning about Hadou, Ryu experiences a surging of energy in his body. Ryu then tries to shoot it out with the technique he learned from Yo Sen-Ko from Hong Kong. Unfortunately, the energy explodes out of Ryu, meaning that he did not have control. So, Ryu returns to the forbidden temple to try to control the Hadou. After a series of tests, he finally knows how to shoot out the Haodu, what he shot out was called the Hadou-Ken. However, Ryu still needs to learn to control it. But, he and Ken have to continue to their journey, so they leave the village. They receive a note from Chun-Li telling them to head for Barcelona.

Ryu and Ken arrive in Barcelona, Spain to meet up with Chun-Li and her father Captain Dorai to attend a meeting with Interpol. Ryu and Ken were presented with awards for helping Dorai in apprehending the Asura. After that, Ryu, Ken and Chun-Li decide to go around Barcelona. They go to see a bull fight with one of the finest matadors around, Vega. Vega also is somewhat disturbingly interested in Chun-Li, but Chun-Li dislikes his methods of defeating a bull. That night, Vega sneaks into the hotel where Ryu, Ken and Chun-Li are staying, and appears right in Chun-Li's room and kisses her in her sleep. Ken then senses something in her room, wondering who that was.