The standard Street Fighter II arcade control panel had 6 buttons. The layout used three punch buttons and three kick buttons, each corresponding to light, medium, or heavy strength.
Players operated the panel with an eight-way joystick alongside those six attack buttons. The three punch buttons and three kick buttons gave Street Fighter II a broader input system than the original Street Fighter’s unusual pressure-sensitive punching-pad cabinet. This six-button arrangement became one of the game’s most recognizable design features and strongly influenced later 2D fighting games.
The buttons did not represent six entirely unrelated attacks. Instead, they divided attacks into two groups—punches and kicks—with three strength levels in each group. A character’s special moves were generally performed by combining joystick directions with one of these attack buttons.
Some home versions rearranged controls or used gamepads, which can cause confusion. The quiz refers specifically to the standard arcade panel, whose six-button attack configuration is the canonical answer.