Street Fighter 6 he comes to the call of combat with the same show of force that he already offered during his closed beta. We are not facing another installment of the saga; We are facing a meeting point for fans of the fight full of experiences. Capcom speaks to us of “an intelligent” and “innovative” change for the saga, and the truth is that the jump in registration is evident. It is the new era of a saga that manages to adapt to new currents.
The almost three hours that this review of contents took up flew by. Once immersed in the game, time seems to freeze. You jump from classic combat against the CPU to a campaign mode that embraces the basic elements of open world RPG. You pull the string and always find something to try. A month after its launch we have no doubts: Street Fighter 6 should not be missing from the bookshelf of anyone who considers themselves a fan of the genre.
The Battle Pit: Arcade Soul
It sounds cliché to point out the similarities of a fighting game with the place where kings once were, but the truth is that Street Fighter 6 is like that. From the moment you start until you enter a fight, barely seconds pass, and once a content is completed it is very easy to chain others. The transitions, with that urban style where everyone gathers to demonstrate their strength on the ring, transmit a constant rush to the player. As English speakers often say: “You’re in the zone.”
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The first part of the demonstration focused on a good part of the contents of the Fighting Grounds section, where pure combat modes meet, from tutorials to the arcades of each character and the ever-present Versus. We start with the Arcade mode, a combat tower available on all characters between 5 and 12 rounds. During the session we were only able to play with Ken and Lily, where we got to know part of their plot background in an opening scene full of illustrations. We were able to play until bonus stageswhich was about the destruction of a truck in a limited time frame.
Versus mode allowed us to check the CPU strengths up to level 7, where the competition already gets pretty serious. All the characters were unlocked, which allowed us to get a feel for such iconic characters as Cammy, Bianka, and Guile. We highlight the first one, very agile and covering a lot of the stage with its repertoire of flying kicks. We were also surprised by Dhalsim, who dominates the distance with his bursts of fire and outstretched arms, hallmarks of the mythical character.
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But where more smiles escaped us was in extreme battle. In this mode you must choose the rules that the combat will follow and what handicap you want to add. For example, you can create a room in which each round is won by whoever knocks the opponent down five times. And if we add as an alteration a bull that devastates where it passes every few seconds? Laughter filled the room at the delirious combinations of the attendees.
The influence of modern control
The difficulty curve that newcomers to the genre must overcome when facing any of the great sagas is well known. Many stay on the road; Despite liking them, the number of hours required to memorize a character leads to boredom when facing all the game modes. Therefore, Capcom has designed a system of alternative control simple so that any player can be minimally competent when playing.
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Forget medium punch, light kick or heavy punch: here the four classic punch buttons become a grouping of moves available on the character you control. Translated to the PlayStation controller, by pressing the square you make light attacks, while with the circle you make heavy attacks. Special moves are relegated to the triangle, and if you want to make grabs and throws you just have to press the left trigger. The combo is relegated to hitting hit buttons while holding R2, which works as an assist.
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It is a decision that many games are making in recent times. It allows less skilled players to understand the action of Street Fighter and apply it in a simple way. In fact, it even encourages jumping into classic control if you want to take the plunge and control the situation your way. Using the modern controller we have the feeling that it can dispel the skill jumps typical of the classic controller. We see it more as a good way to enter the saga without hitting the wall at the beginning.
World Tour, the fight reaches the street
The demo published on April 21 already gave a small sample of what we can expect from the World Tour mode. For those who don’t know what it’s about, this is a reinterpretation of the classic story mode to which elements that have little to do with the fighting genre are added. Street Fighter 6 takes you to Metro Cityan open world divided by districts in which you must fight your way as a fighter.
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The creation of your avatar (whose editor is scandalous in its possibilities) marks the beginning of your journey. The processes are similar to those of a traditional RPG. The power of your character is marked by the level you reach, which you will increase as you gain experience by completing activities around you. Those levels reward you with skill points to invest in an extensive skill tree that will increase your hitting repertoire.
You will start with a few punches and kicks. The team has followed a logical solution to maintain a playable consistency with the rest of the modes. You moveset it is marked by the style of the fighter you select, which you will unlock as you progress in the campaign. For example, the first one you get is the chun li style: all the characters of the main squad are part of a cast called “legendary”, which differentiates them from the rest of the combatants.
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This mode is very spicy. Almost every pedestrian you see on screen is likely to engage in combat in real time. In fact, thugs appear walking through its streets ready to rip your head off. Some professionals present pointed out the similarities with the Like a Dragon (Yakuza) franchise, bridging the gap. And it is so. But what surprised us the most is the way Capcom has taken seriously encouraging the player to explore the environment.
As you progress you unlock special moves that influence the areas you can reach and other activities. He uppercut of Luke, which you have at the beginning, works as a vertical jump to reach some areas. Later with Chun Li madness returns. His spinning kick turns you into a helicopter with which to reach other roofs and places of greater distance to which you reach us with the traditional jump.
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Deviating from the path we find side tasks, mini-games, chests with rewards and secrets. On one of the roofs of the first district we found a superhero dressed in the Capcom logo that took us almost 25 levels; it is evident that defeating him will give us a relevant boost. But not everything is about fighting. The money you collect can be invested in clothes that will modify our base statistics. Food and other bonuses influence how we approach the playable portions of combat.
The fight party is coming very soon
We have no doubt that Street Fighter 6 kicks off the genre’s race with the new generation already established. We can say little about a gameplay that once again proves to be bombproof. The most surprising thing about this demo has been the expansion of the game into a story mode that jumps into the foundations of another completely different genre. It’s fun, deep… risky for purists too, but it serves to consolidate the fan base and extend it to a larger audience.
You don’t have much left to see for yourself. Street Fighter 6 is coming on June 2nd to PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
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