What to Expect from Street Fighter 6

Capcom’s Street Fighter 6 is an upcoming game that is the seventh main entry in the popular fighting franchise.

Since its debut in 1987, Street Fighter is one of the best-selling video game franchises.

The sixth main instalment is now set to release on June 2, 2023, on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.

Featuring three main game modes, Street Fighter 6 showcases the evolution of fighting games where anyone can play to their liking.

With the game just a few months away, we look at what to expect from Street Fighter 6.

The Story

After nearly 25 years, the Street Fighter canonical storyline has progressed past the events of 1999’s Street Fighter 3: Third Strike.

This means no M Bison and no Shadaloo.

Characters like Guile and Chun Li no longer have their main motivations for fighting, so expect some new takes on classic characters moving forward.

Although Street Fighter 6 has a backstory for its characters, it does not focus too much on story modes, compared to more melodramatic alternatives like the upcoming Tekken 8.

The solo World Tour mode allows players to try out different fighters and styles.

For the first time, it looks like it might include a free-roam mode in the third-person, which could be a major shift for the series as a whole.

The Roster

In many ways, Street Fighter 6 feels like a homecoming, especially with its initial release roster.

It features 18 characters at launch and the first eight are the characters from Street Fighter 2:

• Ryu
• Ken
• Chun-Li
• Dhalsim
• Blanka
• Zangief
• Guile
• E Honda

Longstanding Street Fighter characters Cammy and Dee Jay will also be part of the roster.

Joining them are two younger returning fighters:

• Luke – an MMA fighter who was part of Street Fighter 5 and serves as the upcoming game’s protagonist.
• Juri – a character from Street Fighter 4.

Completing the roster are six new characters:

• Jamie
• JP
• Lily
• Manon
• Marisa
• Kimberly

Jamie is said to be a drunken boxer and breakdancer who is a rival for Luke. The blog describes:

“This self-styled Chinatown peacekeeper aspires to the example set by Yun and Yang, the Twin Dragons.

“An expert dancer, Jamie places justice and friendship above all else, defending his town with martial skill.”

Meanwhile, Kimberly embodies the retro style. She has a neon 1980s ninja outfit, complete with a Walkman.

Marisa is an up-and-coming jewellery designer from Italy who claims ancestry to ancient Greek warriors. As a child, she was inspired by a vision of the Colosseum in its prime.

On the other hand, Manon is a fashionista who struts the catwalk of street fighting to become the world’s strongest model.

JP is the head of an international NGO responsible for many successful investment projects.

He also has a beloved cat named Cybele. JP loves chess puzzles and local cuisine but hates stains on his clothes and sleep.

Finally, Lily is from Mexico and can be clumsy at times when she executes her Super moves against her opponents.

Her description reads: “A descendant of the Thunderfoot tribe, Lily speaks with the spirits of nature, trusting in their guidance as she travels the globe.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover – her small stature conceals truly titanic power.”

Game Modes

According to Capcom, the gameplay will be split up into three separate game modes.

They are: Fighting Ground, World Tour and the Battle Hub.

Fighting Ground

This mode is the basic versus area in the game, where players will battle against other opponents.

In addition to normal matches, there will also be Extreme Battles where players can customise matches with unique rules and gimmicks, such as having bombs randomly spawn during a fight.

World Tour

This is a new form of single-player that ensures an open-world experience.

Players get to create their own custom avatars and roam around Metro City. Players are free to run around and explore the environment.

There are lots of environments to explore, barrels to break and the ability to start fights with NPCs.

What the story is, who you play as, and what kind of progression or purpose the open world serves here all remain a mystery for the time being.

Battle Hub

The Battle Hub is Street Fighter 6‘s social space. Here players can cruise around with their avatar, interact with other players and launch Fighting Ground matches.

Each Battle Hub can hold up to 100 players and you can play some classic Capcom arcade games such as Final Fight and compete against other players for high scores.

In addition to socialising and starting matches with others, the Battle Hub also allows players to set up tournaments and spectate competitions.

New Mechanics

New game mechanics hope to make Street Fighter 6 more accessible while also changing the way players battle.

The main new feature is the ‘Drive Meter’.

The Drive Meter

It replaces the V-gauge from Street Fighter V.

Similarly, it allows fighters to execute different abilities.

The Drive Meter is a yellow multi-segment gauge that can be found right below the health bar.

Among the different things you can do with your Drive Meter includes:

• Drive Impact: A heavy attack that can absorb an opponent’s incoming attack, similar to a Focus Attack. When performed near the corner it can pin the opponent to the wall even if they are blocking, making wall defences much easier to break.
• Drive Parry: Deflects an incoming attack and replenishes the Drive meter. A ‘Perfect Parry’ can be performed if an attack is deflected in perfect sync.
• Overdrive: Replaces EX Special moves. An enhanced special attack that adds hits or improves the properties of its base move.
• Drive Rush: A fast dash that can be performed out of either a Drive Parry or a cancellable normal strike. Rushing out of a normal move costs more Drive gauge than a parry.
• Drive Reversal: Akin to an Alpha Counter or V-Reversal — the user blocks an incoming strike and retaliates with a low-damage move.

These moves reward memorisation of enemy tells and quick reaction speeds as it is easier to turn the tables with the Drive abilities.

But players will also have to be slightly conservative with their use of The Drive Meter.

While it will slowly replenish over time, completely depleting The Drive Meter will send the player to a “burnout” state.

Calling your Mentor in Battle

Learning from the masters of different fighting styles is a major aspect of Street Fighter 6‘s World Tour.

Therefore, characters will be hard-pressed to seek these masters around the world and learn from them.

Building a bond with these masters will unlock new fighting styles and moves to customise your player character with, but apart from that, players will also be able to eventually call upon their mentors and join them in their battles.

Simple Controls

In a bid to make Street Fighter 6 more accessible to new players, a simplified control scheme has been introduced.

This control scheme is similar to the one employed in Marvel vs Capcom 3.

With this control scheme, the usual six-button input for attacks will be replaced by three generic attack buttons, along with a button for Special Attacks.

This will make it easier for new players to execute complicated attacks.

But mastering the game’s complex controls for combos and special moves will still trump anyone using the simplified control scheme.

In addition to Street Fighter 6, a prequel comic book series explains how the game focuses on Ken and Luke’s stories, releasing on May 6, 2023.

The upcoming game has a large roster at launch and it is likely that more characters will be added post-launch.

Street Fighter 6 combines innovation with the basics it had become known for and players can experience that when it releases on June 2, 2023.