Street Fighter 6 is one of the best fighting games ever made because of how successfully it appeals to every potential type of player.
When I was first walking around Metro City in Street Fighter 6’s World Tour mode, I was shocked by just how diverse its residents were. I saw people of all shapes, sizes, and races walking the streets of this rough-and-tumble city. That included the most overweight people I’ve ever seen in an open-world area in a video game, which is something that stood out as an obese player myself. Although it is just one aspect of one mode and has little to do with the game’s great fighting mechanics, it reinforces a feeling I got everywhere I went in Street Fighter 6: This is a fighting game for everyone.
Yes, Street Fighter 6 is the fantastic fighting game one would expect from the latest entry in the genre’s premier series. It’s not just that, though. While hardcore, competitive fighting game fans will be satiated, a detailed tutorial and more welcoming control schemes mean that more types of players can get the hang of Street Fighter 6. Even if you aren’t a massive fan of the traditional fighting game experience, the World Tour mode is the densest and most comprehensive single-player offering ever in a fighting game, mixing elements from Street Fighter, Final Fight, and Yakuza to create a wholly unique RPG experience. And if you have friends who also picked up the game, you can hang out with them in the Battle Hub, showing off your World Tour avatar while playing casual online matches or classic Capcom games.
Street Fighter 6 feels like the most significant revelation for the fighting game genre since Street Fighter 2. No matter the skill level, all types of players will find something to enjoy here — and even feel represented in some way. And for the most part, it does all of those things well while looking incredibly stylish.Fighting Grounds
I’m a fan of fighting games, but don’t consider my skill set to be a competitively viable level. I can pull off some flashy combos and certainly have my go-to characters in games like Samurai Shodown and Mortal Kombat 11, but I enjoy these games most for their lore, larger-than-life characters, and the satisfying nature of seeing those characters triumph in a fight. Fighting Grounds, a hub that contains Street Fighter 6‘s basic battles and arcade modes, wholly succeeds on that front.
From ranked online play to more gimmicky Extreme Battles, Battle Grounds provides a variety of options so players can tailor their fighting game match experience to their liking. At release, Street Fighter 6 contains a roster of 18 characters. This isn’t the biggest roster on the market, but each fighter is incredibly refined in how they look and play. Series staples like Ryu, Ken, and Chun-Li are all present and accounted for here, with new looks that show us older, more world-weary versions of the characters. And newcomers like Jamie and Kimberly have instantly iconic designs and distinct movesets that make them feel different from any fighter in this series that has come before them.
No matter who you pick, every fighter in Street Fighter 6 has some inherent draw, and the game provides more than enough tutorials and training to allow new players to get the hang of the character. As always, this new version of Street Fighter is a fighting game all about the fundamentals. Understanding a character’s best moves and combos, the best times to use them, and where to place your character when you pull them off is crucial to coming out on top in the fight. What’ll take a bit more time to get used to are the new gimmicks layered on top of the core fighting mechanics.
[[ullquote]The Drive Gauge enables fights that feel as dramatic as aWWE match.[/pullquote]
Fights are full of excitement and have an intense push-and-pull feeling, thanks to the new Drive Gauge system. During a fight, players can use this meter to do things like parry, enhance special moves, and pull off colorful and disruptive Drive Impacts that can absorb incoming attacks and turn the tide of the fight. Players can burn out this meter if they use it all up, though, and will then be at a disadvantage as they wait for it to recharge. The Drive Gauge enables fights that feel as a dramatic as WWE match.
Still, this all might sound intimidating to those who don’t play many fighting games, even with Street Fighter 6’s plethora of detailed tutorials.
