Street Fighter 6 Review

Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Turn Left (AU)
Release: June 2, 2023

Dan Rizzo
Reviewed on: PC, Steam Deck
June 16, 2023

Shinku...

Street Fighter’s prominent place within the fighting genre has had a turbulent history, when it comes to addressing the faults of its last entry prior to its current release. Street Fighter V was met with a mixed-to-negative reception after taking its core offerings, stripping them to the bone, then slowly refining the title patch-by-patch, update-by-update. It would have been dire for Capcom to repeat history, so it pleases me to say that Street Fighter 6 offers players the burger with “the lot”, rather than drip feeding its hungry players crumbs, not before serving its banquet of delectable options. At the core, it’s a fighting title, and caters to a vast market within the one genre across multiple types of gamers that have entrenched themselves with the arcade title’s rich history, cementing a legacy as one of the greatest ever.

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Street Fighter 6 capitalises on successes seen in prior entries without breaking the mould. It could be argued that Street Fighter V’s weaknesses are to the benefit of its sequel knowing that developers would be hesitant to repeat its mistakes, and its to Street Fighter 6’s advantage that the title come out extremely polished and exciting to experience, despite the trepidation its fifth entry may have instilled on a marginal portion of its devout audience. Those that came out burned from Street Fighter V, will leave with all sense of betrayal washed away in its inexplicably detailed demonstration through a variety of characters that lead you on this illustrious joyride. Whether you’re a casual gamer, arcade connoisseur, an esports athlete or just someone that loves this medium and the flexibility and freedom of a fanatical fighter, Street Fighter 6 has something for everyone.

Hadoken!...

An generous roster of eighteen elite fighters are available right off the bat for players to craft their own habitual main into their personal warrior, blazing a trail through the thick of competition whether it’s online or simply through Street Fighter 6’s traditional arcade mode. The core fundamentals are all present, with the new features that exponentially engineer your playstyle, whether its expeditious or carefully paced. Each character carries their weight – literally – when it comes to respective attributes that aid or hinder them in the long run. Playing as fan favourite Ken or Ryu, will allow a balanced act of martial art beauty and exploding uppercuts, coinciding a nice Hurricane Tatsumaki exclaimed with their trademark Hadoken, blasting the competition. While choosing Zangief proves to be a meticulous task that will require some work to steer the big man around the arena.

Zangief’s mammoth size slows the beast down but bellows a beating like no other with his strong blows that can end rounds quite quick. JP on the other hand, a newcomer to the Street Fighter roster is poised with great style, incredible flair juxtaposing his grizzled vet-like gruff exterior and slender physique helps him move a quicker pace, while aided with a walking cane to fit his conman persona of an amnesia-riddled retiree. Longstanding hallmark characters of the roster will entail their trademark offensive moveset for the experienced fan, albeit some twists in chain-combos that work in tandem with the all new drive system that sprinkles in the familiarity of Street Fighter V’s V-System, along with IV’s parry system that amalgamates into a super-powered meter that tangles a tiered charge of five unique ways to conduct offense.

Re-enforcing parries, reversals, rush attacks, overdrives and signature impact. It hearkens to Street Fighters of old but keeps it fresh, inlaying a cosmetic appeal that’s approached either in quick fashion or cinematically. Parries are more shields than anything in Street Fighter 6, allowing the player to retort by enacting a spectral-like glow that protects you from an attack to which you can quickly reverse and land a flurry of blows that are all so gratifying – almost a breaker if your opponent is going ham. The Drive system gauge is represented below your health bar, and will deplete over time of its use, also depending on the severity of a special, moreso when spam-abuse the feature to which it will drain your drive meter to the point where you will only have the basics of your fighter’s moveset to utilise.

Don't call it a comeback or a renaissance, but think of it as the next chapter of growth in this long-standing saga. Street Fighter has held an insanely large portion of the fighting genre in the palm of its hands for decades, and yes it almost suffered its own embarrassing knock-out last round, but it's come back stronger, tougher, quicker and much more appealing than ever.

While I had fun rotating through various characters’ variable offense, I found myself maining Ken throughout the majority of my playtime. Six new fighters enter the fray, marking their territory with impeccable impression that’s surely to have fans satiated for years, but as an old school gamer I can’t look past classics but that’s personal preference. There’s plenty to love about Kimberly’s street-ninja moveset that’s aesthetically cool to engage with, while her stealth-like manoeuvres are a force to be reckoned with. Then there’s Marisa, who I would say poses a great threat with her incredible agility and speed, although being of massive proportion allowing the Italian-born mammoth of muscle to maul her opponents. And while he’s not new per se, Luke is the cover star of this entry with his eccentric snark and overly confident attitude that leads him to victory or embarrassing defeat. It’s only right that given Street Fighter’s history in delivering a roster of unique characters, that they bring forward its own brand of fighters that are still engaging and fun to portray, past or present.

Shoryuken!...

SOLID POINTS

✔️ An outstanding return to form for SF, washing away SFV’s questionable launch.

✔️ Cross-platform perfection demonstrates a polished netcode.

✔️ 18 fighters, 6 new faces, and a litany of playstyles make this an engrossing arcade experience.

❌ JP is OP.

Okay so I’m going to get World Tour out of the way first. Simply put, I wasn’t a fan. It’s not my cup of tea, but I understand the appeal behind a narrative driven, adventure mode that almost mimics a ‘2K Rise to Fame’ style campaign mode with variable characters making cameos as they train your customised avatar to learn special skillsets, earn point to maximise your character’s level, and engage in battle with almost every single NPC in the surrounding area. But to say that I was immersed in this mode would be an overstatement.

I had zero interest after only a few hours, and decided that it simply wasn’t catered for my personal tastes. It’s not like a Mortal Kombat story where we’re treated to an interactive cinematic feature length film. World Tour lets you forge your own path and make interesting choices to advance through scraps, mini games that almost reminded me of Yakuza puzzles and possibly the only thing that got a pop from me was fighting an angry kitchen appliance – yes, it goes there. But I’m not saying it’s bad, it just wasn’t for me.

Now let’s get to the nitty gritty, the main mode people will be sinking their teeth into; online. Quite simply put, this has to be the most masterly crafted netcode in place for any Street Fighter I’ve had the privilege of playing. For a title that poses the unique stance of crossplay over PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, XBOX One and XBOX Series, I was astonished in how smooth my overall experience was from the onset. This of course can vary to a user’s Internet connection, or the server they’re connected to in their locale, but as someone that lives in Australia and having friends in the United Arab Emirates to play some rounds, there was absolutely no issues that arose. Mind you it was extremely fun to jump on discord and duke it out with friends and acquaintances that likewise are fanatics of the fighter.

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Now if you aren’t playing with friends, but are seeking some friendly competition, there is the Battle Hub that lets your traverse through a hall of fighters that may also be seeking to grind it out against a stranger online. Character creation is simple and is low effort, but you can make your avatar look as weird and goofy as you like – keeping it safe for work of course, you don’t want to get banned on your first day. But once you’re in, you’re welcomed to the Battle Hub by its host Eternity, where they show you around. There are a variety of features you can unlock and play in the Hub including classic Capcom titles such as Final Fight and Street Fighter 2 – kind of wish they had Mighty Final Fight, my favourite – purchase clothing for your character with in-game currency, duke it out with avatars in the middle of the hub itself like a wacky fight club and of course, pair up with someone to have a few rounds. Now if this isn’t at all appealing, the classic online menu is available to navigate through the system menu.

Street Fighter 6 is Capcom’s return to form for its critically acclaimed, globally loved fighter that’s unequivocally a household name within the gaming market. It sits comfortably equal with such franchises as Mortal Kombat and Tekken, with each evolving while keeping their own distinct flavour of presentation attached to their respective series. Don’t call it a comeback or a renaissance, but think of it as the next chapter of growth in this long-standing saga. Street Fighter has held an insanely large portion of the fighting genre in the palm of its hands for decades, and yes it almost suffered its own embarrassing knock-out last round, but it’s come back stronger, tougher, quicker and much more appealing than ever. This is Capcom’s return to the fight, their moment to rise-up and make a statement, and Street Fighter 6 firmly clenches its fist, and uppercuts the competition. Shoryuken!