Street Fighter 6 offers robust package for all fighting game fans

Capcom is currently in an enviable situation, having released several successful games in recent years and has established itself as one of the best developers today, with the responsibility now falling on the shoulders of Street Fighter 6 to continue this good moment.

Fortunately for fans of Capcom and fighting games, Street Fighter 6 hits the spot, whether you’re a player who prefers to play alone or online. Unlike the situation Street Fighter V had to deal with at launch, with too many problems and too little content, the sequel is excellent.

Innovative story mode with World Tour

In addition to having the classic Arcade mode, which allows you to finish the game in the traditional way using each of the characters, Street Fighter 6 features a separate story mode called World Tour. In it you make your own fighter using a robust character creator and start your journey in search of becoming stronger in martial arts.

Initially you are under the tutelage of Luke, a character that was introduced in the Street Fighter V DLCs and has more prominence this time. You start with some of his abilities and need to use them to take out the enemies and opponents you encounter in the open world of Metro City.

As you progress through the story, you’ll encounter more of the iconic fighters from the Street Fighter franchise and become their apprentices. The more you use each other’s martial style and skills, the more experience and affinity with their respective master you gain, which unlocks new dialogues, situations, abilities and more. The cool thing is also that you are not tied to a single master, being able to be a disciple of all of them at the same time.

The game world expands as the story unfolds, with more locations for you to explore and several optional missions being released. Most of them aren’t very important and end up not serving much besides gaining more experience and items for your avatar, but there are one or another that allow you to experience some interesting situations, including easter eggs and even meet new masters to learn their styles.

In addition to the enemies that attack you as soon as they see you, you can also fight passive NPCs, just for that you get close to them and confirm the desire to face them (or hit them with a blow). Accomplishing certain objectives during the fight will give you more rewards, with some of them being special depending on the opponent.

Because there are RPG elements in character evolution, it’s important to fight so you can get stronger and learn new tricks, in addition to getting money to feed yourself in order to replenish your energy, gain temporary (and some permanent) improvements, and buy new equipment and consumable items that will give you boosts to your attack and defense.

Importantly, you’re not restricted to Metro City, with the World Tour allowing you to travel to other countries in the Street Fighter universe. These locations are unlocked with the story and also with side missions.

If you want to do everything the World Tour has to offer, be prepared to spend a few dozen hours, as there is a lot of content waiting for you. Lucky for us, the experience is great most of the time. I, at least, still haven’t found myself bored at any time, always looking to merge the special moves of several characters to mold the fighter best suited to my own fighting style and face the challenges.

Fun multiplayer and more game modes

The online mode features a location called Battle Hub, for those who want a more suitable place to find their friends and opponents to carry out online fights, both with classic characters and with those created by players for the World Tour.

There are also arcade booths with classic Capcom games for players to pass the time, including heavyweight titles like Street Fighter II and Final Fight, which were absolute hits in their respective eras.

In my time playing online, I haven’t had any connection issues or lag, with matches appearing quickly in both casual and ranked mode. Initially the game asks you your skill level to try to place you with players of the same caliber, and after a few fights it creates a profile for you according to your performance, which changes based on your victories and defeats.

An interesting aspect is that novice players do not lose points in ranked matches after defeat, which serves to encourage them to play online until they manage to dominate their favorite characters.

It is also possible to face other real opponents or even the computer with a team of up to five characters, customizing the match format according to your preferences, such as team battles, doubles or the classic single elimination.

In addition, there is another mode called Extreme Battle that introduces a set of specific and very fun rules, such as surviving a bomb thrown into the scenario or a stampede of cattle while meeting the requirements to beat the opponent. They are quite varied, such as not taking damage for a few seconds or hitting a certain amount of a certain blow on the opponent.

Accessible and vigorous gameplay

In addition to having several tutorials, character guides and combo tests so that you have a solid foundation for each character, Street Fighter 6 features three different types of controls: Classic, Modern, and Dynamic.

The classic is aimed at those who want a root Street Fighter experience, being necessary to execute all the strikes and movements in the old fashioned way to finish off the opponent.

The modern one is for those who like fighting games, but aren’t very skilled when it comes to combos and special moves. With it, just hold R2 for assistance and press the buttons on the face to perform normal and special attacks according to the situation that the AI ​​deems most appropriate.

The dynamic is for those who understand absolutely nothing about fighting games, but would like to enjoy it anyway. It allows you to unleash the most powerful blows and combos of the characters by pressing just one button, with AI helping when performing the movements.

Only the first two types of control – classic and modern – are available in online matches, and it is up to players to decide which one best suits their style of play when facing opponents around the world.

The downside of the modern controller is that you do less damage on all special attacks and you are also unable to perform some basic actions both on the ground and in the air.

There is also a need to comment on the new mechanic called Drive Impact, which can be used offensively or defensively in fights, and can even turn the game in your favor (or not). However, abusing this technique until it drains your Drive meter will deplete you, so use it sparingly.

The Drive meter fills up by itself over time and also by performing attacks on the opponent, as well as being completely separate from the Super Arts bar.

Eye-popping new artistic style

Visually, Street Fighter 6 is easily the best-looking game in the franchise by any means. The scenarios are alive and full of details, whether you’re playing on World Tour or in a traditional Arcade mode fight.

Thanks to the use of the RE Engine, the characters also draw attention with their visuals, and it is even possible to see their musculature at times. In some game modes, there is even the presence of bruises on fighters during the fight.

However, all this beauty comes at a price. Opting for Quality mode on PS5 makes World Tour stay at 30 fps, being necessary to use Performance mode to play there at 60 fps.

In Arcade mode or playing online, both graphics modes run at 60 fps, with no frame rate drop seen when playing World Tour.

It should also be said that in World Tour the animations farthest from the player character also suffer from a reduction in the number of frames in which they are animated, remaining only at 60 fps when you are close to the respective NPCs that are in motion.

Thankfully, Performance mode ran remarkably smoothly on the PS5 as I explored Metro City and other story mode locations. Therefore, I suggest playing him this way, and activating Quality only on the others.

Last but not least, there are extra colors and skins that you can buy for the characters in an in-game store, in order to make them stand out in Arcade mode or when taking on an online fight. To get them, you must pay with Fighter Coins (purchased with real money) or Drive Tickets (vouchers obtained as rewards in challenges and events).

Conclusion

Street Fighter 6 is one of the most complete fighting games available today. With a huge starting cast of fighters, a great story mode and plenty of content for all fighting game fans, it also offers support for anyone wanting to jump into the genre, thanks to gameplay that manages to be accessible and robust at the same time. Simply unmissable.

pros

+ excellent graphics
+ Starting lineup
+ Flawless gameplay
+ a lot of content

cons

– Frame rate in World Tour is good only in Performance mode

Grade 9.5/10.0

A PS5 copy of the game was provided by Capcom for the preparation of this review.