Street Fighter™ 6

Review

Street Fighter 6 is the latest entry in the historical franchise, featuring a roster of 18 fighters that includes many iconic characters from the series, such as Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Blanka and others. Four more fighters are planned to be released with the next DLCs as part of the expensive Year 1 Character Pass, a common practice that I personally don’t like, perhaps because I’m used to old fighting games with bigger and definitive rosters. There are also six new fighters which are rather interesting, especially Jamie, Manon and JP.

The game features three different control schemes: Classic, Modern and Dynamic. Classic is the one that has been always used in Street Fighter games, with a 6-button layout and a set of light, medium and heavy attacks. Modern includes a simplified 3-button layout, more similar to the one used in the Marvel vs. Capcom series, plus one button dedicated to special attacks. This scheme also favors auto-combos (which deal 20% less damage), so it’s best suited for players who are not used to the classic controls layout, but want to be on the same level of those who use it. I must say it works pretty well, but you clearly have less control over your character and you only realize that when you are facing an expert opponent who uses the classic scheme. Dynamic is the mode for beginners because it allows you to spam any button to perform a great variety of combos and Super Arts. I don’t think that anyone would really love to use this scheme, but it’s good it exists.

Combat also features an interesting new interesting: The Drive system. Players have six stamina bars that can be refilled by attacking, and they can use them to perform powerful Drive attacks, such as Impact, Rush, Reversal, Parry and Overdrive. It takes some time to learn their best use, but they are really fundamental during battles. If you use all your Drive bars, you will enter the Burnout state, which means that you will receive more damage from enemy attacks while you wait for the Drive bars to recharge. It’s a smart system because it forces players to use Drive attacks only when they are sure they can hit the target, instead of simply spamming randomly.

World Tour is perhaps the biggest addition to the franchise. It’s essentially a single player RPG adventure in which you play as your own custom fighter with the objective of discovering what strength really means. Through this journey, you will become a student and learn how to fight under some of the major characters in the series. Increasing your affinity with them will allow you to know more about their story and acquire their special moves, which you can then equip and mix to create your own playstyle. The character editor is huge, with tons of customization options for each part of the body. After creating your fighter, you are thrown into a 3D open world where you can speak to different NPCs to gather information, fight them or receive side quests. Winning battles rewards you with items, money and experience points that can be used to level up, increase your stats, buy new clothes and obtain powerful skills. It’s a classic RPG beat’em up that fits really well within the universe of Street Fighter and is incredibly well-polished, with tons of cutscenes, quests and other minor activities that will keep you busy for a long time. It’s also a good way to know the main characters and learn the mechanics if you are new to the series.

Other game modes are accessible in the Fighting Grounds. Training Mode should be your first visit as it explains movements, user interface, the attack types for each character, the best way to use them and how to successfully perform every combo. Arcade Mode is the classic fighting mode in which you follow the story of one main character of your choice, challenging other fighters and completing bonus stages in-between battles (like destroying a truck). Perhaps the Arcade Mode needed more love, because it doesn’t explore characters’ stories that much except for a few quick comic book cutscenes at the start and at the end of each playthrough, so it feels less polished compared to the World Tour. Casual and Ranked online modes are of course present, featuring rollback netcode and crossplay multiplayer. Before accessing these modes, you must visit Capcom’s website and make a Capcom ID, which is required for online. It is also required for Battle Hub, which is essentially an online social playground where you can walk around with your avatar (who retains all the clothes, stats and abilities acquired during the World Tour), meet other players, challenge them, watch battles, create or join clubs. This Hub also includes a shop for cosmetics and a selection of arcade classics such as Final Fight and Street Fighter II. Unfortunately, as you will probably see during your first visit, there is currently a lot of advertising about one particular brand of shoes, which I don’t think it was necessary in a paid game. You will eventually get used to the flashing promotional banners and videos, but it can be annoying at first. There is also a form of premium currency (Fighter Coins) which can be used to purchase cosmetic items. For now they are not really worrying, but we must wait to see how these microtransactions will evolve in the future.

Graphics are simply gorgeous, with stylish special effects and detailed backgrounds. Every fight is visually colorful while movements feel smooth and natural. The game is powered by the RE Engine, which is currently Capcom’s best engine (and my personal favorite). The optimization is great, despite the presence of Denuvo anti-tamper, and there are a lot of graphical settings to tweak according to your hardware.

2023 will certainly be memorable for fighting games, with Mortal Kombat 1 and Tekken 8 arriving later this year and looking really promising. For now, Street Fighter 6 is holding the crown, with its great quantity of content, smooth combat, a complete single-player campaign, online modes, rollback netcode, customization and accessibility options for those who are new to the genre. It’s hard to improve a formula that has always worked well, but Capcom really delivered one of the most satisfying fighting games in decades.

Review written by Sonic Punk for Zeepond.com

Street Fighter™ 6 Steam Store Page