Street Fighter 6 is an excellent fighting game that makes every punch satisfying. The roster could use some work and the World Tour is a bit underwhelming, but everything else about the newest Street Fighter entry has me excited to throw hands for years to come.
Street Fighter 6
Developer: Capcom
Price: $60
Platforms: PS4, PS5 (reviewed), Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
MonsterVine was provided with a PS5 code for review
Fighting game fans have been eating good over the last few years, with another seemingly strong era coming as Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and Tekken release their latest entries in the not-so-distant future. If Street Fighter 6 is an indicator of what this new phase of fighting games will be like, then we’re in for a good time.
A major feature of Street Fighter 6 is the World Tour mode, which is essentially a story mode that stars your avatar. Like in the beta, you can make your avatar as cool or proportionally ridiculous as you wish, though their dimensions do affect their hitboxes. I personally based mine off Yu Yu Hakusho’s antagonist Toguro, as I wanted to see how goofy I could get with the proportions without seeming out of place in a universe with characters like Zangief and Blanka.
A lot of World Tour is spent battling NPCs to fulfill main quests or side quests. The battling here feels less meaty and substantial than it does in actual matches online or in arcade mode since you’re fighting a few archetypes in the skins of what are essentially more avatars. The mentor system is fun, as you get to learn the moves of the series’ iconic characters, and randomly attacking NPCs on the street to initiate brawls is very funny, but World Tour feels a bit lacking overall.
The roster is a bit lacking in terms of distinct characters, as a lot of the new cast feels fairly unremarkable to me. Perhaps it is the visual style, but the new characters look a bit bland compared to the returning cast. Obviously, it’s hard to go against some of the most iconic characters in the fighting genre, but the new additions to previous entries like Street Fighter 4 and 5 stand out as more colorful and memorable than those this time around.
Regardless, the fighting experience itself is top-notch. Hits have a satisfying impact and this is especially true of the moves that use the Drive Gauge. Using this gauge you can do things like Drive Impacts and Drive Parries to interrupt opponents or easily parry their hits. It makes for a strategic experience that requires instinct and timing to truly pull off and adds an extra layer of excitement to battles. This and the rest of the game’s mechanics are communicated through comprehensive tutorials that are thorough and well-paced, making Street Fighter 6 a rather accessible entry.
“Destroying a giant truck is a fitting evolution of the car-based bonus stage that I thoroughly enjoyed as well.“
My online matches in the Battle Hub were incredibly smooth, even with wireless internet. I experienced no major stuttering or issues and found the battles to be fluid and fun, with it being easy to rematch or fight other people quickly. The Battle Hub itself is an exciting way to present online lobbies/rooms in a pleasant way, as it’s more like you’re in some cyber arcade with other dorks than just waiting to brawl with faceless online people. Whether you’re comparing avatars or watching matches, it’s just fun to hang around the hub.
The Fighting Ground section of the game includes things like Extreme Battles and Arcade mode, which offer different kinds of fun from World Tour and online. Arcade contains voice-acted segments and endings featuring slick still art that give you insight involving where each of the characters is at by the time of Street Fighter 6. I’ll always appreciate arcade endings and stories, as they add some additional incentive to completing the mode multiple times. Destroying a giant truck is a fitting evolution of the car-based bonus stage that I thoroughly enjoyed as well.
Extreme Battles let you put all sorts of crazy conditions on a match, from randomized changes to features like Mega Man enemies (Mets, specifically) wandering around that can stun whoever they’re smacked into. The different combinations of these changes can make for very frantic and fun battles that I could see being an exceptionally good time with a group of friends, though they’re also very enjoyable on your own.
The Final Word
Street Fighter 6 is a grand fighting game experience that just keeps building on the series’ strong foundation. Though the World Tour mode and new characters aren’t as stand-out as they could be, the core gameplay is excellent and there’s plenty to enjoy.
MonsterVine Rating: 4.5 out of 5 – Great
