Ahead of the release of Street Fighter 6 back in 2023, some players were probably a tad sceptical about just how the day one drop was going to look. Fight fans had felt a bit let down by the paucity of content available when the previous canonical SF title had slipped out, and as great as that game eventually became after its slow-trickle evolution into a fully formed EVO-worthy affair, it still never really had enough meat on the bones in terms of single player modes.
Obviously listening to the fans. Not only was the core fighting engine an absolute riot, but the World Tour mode was one of the most ridiculously bonkers and wildly entertaining add-ons ever seen on a one on one fighting game. I am still playing it now, and thanks to this launch port for the spanking new Nintendo console, Switch 2 owners can get their teeth into this fantastic game replete with a few new modes, for better and worse.
A fighter lives or dies by its actual game engine and fighting mechanics, and this one is a tonic after the hardcore, offense-minded SFV. Remember how much fun Street Fighter IV was, reigniting the worldwide love for the series? This is more akin to that in terms of accessibility and appeal. The Drive Gauge is the focal point that brings everything together and enables a number of special abilities, most prominently the slo-mo Drive Impact – a crushing blow which executed right will not only completely nullify a normal attack aimed in your direction but connect with dizzying power, enabling you to chain straight into a follow up combination.
Use of the Impact becomes a bit of a tactical balance beam as save for avoiding it with evasive movement, the only proper way to counter it is to use one of your own once you have spotted the wind up animation from your counterpart. Other ways to use up stocks of your Gauge include EX Overdrive Arts versions of specials, Drive Parries (what it says on the tin) and the Drive Rush which involves dashing towards your foe. In a move that has been recently pinched wholesale by SNK for City of the Wolves, overuse of the Drive Gauge will result in your character effectively blowing up and entering a state of burnout whereby you are unable to make use of any of these abilities for a punishing cooldown period where you are left scarily vulnerable.
The fighting system is banging, but so is the roster. Off the bat, this package brings together all of the day one fighters, plus the DLC content that has been put out since the original release. And that means a wonderful roster of characters drawn from not only Capcom’s own storied universes, but also the return of exciting crossover action in the form of SNK icons Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui. The brand new additions are uniformly superb and feel like they have been part of the furniture for aeons. Kimberley straddles the worlds of Final Fight and Street Fighter, a bubbly graf artist who was trained by Guy and has a dazzling array of lightning quick pressure based offence, and gimmickry based around the use of her ever present spray cans.
Manon is a debonair judoka who also has a sideline as a dancer and catwalk model, and has a devastating line in heavy hitting kicks and flashy command throws. Marisa is a hench Italian pankration specialist with one of my favourite specials in the game, a dashing double-striking combo punch which when executed in a timely manner can cause some crushing damage. Jamie is a tricksy blend of streetwise cool and drunken master stylings, who plays out like a cross between Eddy Gordo and Jackie Chan. He is difficult to get to grips with but once it clicks he has the kind of idiosyncratic offence that can be incredibly difficult to counteract.
She has taken some flak in some circles when the overall balance of the game is investigated, but Lily is perhaps my favourite of the new additions. She is a cheerful, optimistic descendent of Super Street Fighter II’s T Hawk, and plays as a more nimble version of her elder, providing dashing, swooping attacks with the brawn of her pogamoggan clubs and another brutal command throw with a potentially devastating reach but with the downside of a fairly easy to spot, telegraphed wind up animation. Rounding out the new characters is the resident overarching baddie of the piece: the sinister, bearded, besuited JP whose ranged Psycho Power abilities can in the correct hands win matches without actually having to get near an opponent.
All of your returning favourites have been given a redesign and a spruce up, with some of the reimagined designs really hitting the spot. There wasn’t a moment where I felt I was missing out on anyone, nor are there any characters with whom I haven’t had fun experimenting and learning with, something you can do to your heart’s content in the lengthy combo trials and in-depth character guides.
Once you have tinkered with the roster, learned all of the mechanics, and taken on the Arcade modes – which have some beautiful cutscenes and artwork to behold – normally that would be it with a normal fighting game. But Street Fighter 6 is no normal piece of work. First of all there is the approach to online – the Battle Hub. This is a huge arcade cabinet-laden arena in which you can matchmake, develop and pimp out your own created character and take them into online battles with others around the globe.
You can matchmake in conventional terms elsewhere in Fighting Grounds mode – but in the Battle Hub you can actually trigger a match by taking your avatar and physically sitting down at an arcade cabinet just like back in the day. Don’t fancy getting stuck in? You can even turn up at a cab and just spectate at your leisure, just like peering over someones shoulder in a smoky old arcade back in the early 90s. Even more old school fun can be had with a constantly rotating suite of retro Capcom arcade titles all in their original form, that you can play in full for free, and even participate in leaderboards and unlock in-game currency for completing tasks and daily/weekly rewards.
If all this seems quite generous, then you realise that in World Tour, Capcom has also included easily the most enormous, bonkers add on that any fighting game has ever seen. When I first got my hands on it I simply could not believe what I was playing. Imagine a full-onStreet Fighter action RPG, laden with deep cut references to Capcom (and now SNK!) games from past and present, with a feel that combines Shenmue, Yakuza, GTA and even dare I say it a bit of ability-unlocking Metroidvania re-exploration, and you barely scrape the surface.
This is a globetrotting adventure of utter ridiculousness that sees you creating your own custom badass from a surprisingly in-depth suite of options, and then unleash your creation across a range of beautifully executed destinations, with a wild, exposition-laden story underpinning everything, and the ability to learn a staggering amount of attacks and abilities from all of the characters in the game who act as mentors that you can train with and level up your relationships with by exchanging gifts, having conversations and completing missions. There are a ton of side hustles, mini games and secrets to discover, including more classic arcade cabinets. It is absolutely crazy. I have unashamedly sunk over 60 hours into it, and do not regret one moment. It has no right to exist, yet here we are.
Sadly, it’s World Tour that has suffered the most with the jump to Switch 2. The frame rate in World Tour is locked at 30fps for combat, you see. The other console versions have a “fidelity mode” that do let you get better visuals for that 30fps trade-off, but the fact there’s no option here is a huge downer. Bizarrely the open world sections are not 30fps, though you do also have a fuzzy looking effect around characters. This is a sort of worst-case scenario for World Tour, and given the other modes are rock solid 60fps, frame-rate wise, it’s hard to ignore this upsetting (and baffling) decision to limit the frame-rate for World Tour.
And likewise, the two new Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive modes (Calorie Content and Gyro Battle) are much of a muchness. It’s nice, I guess, that Capcom added these modes, but after trying them I cannot see why anyone would repeatedly play them. Essentially both are motion controlled battles: tilt the control to move towards enemies, and shake it for attacks. It’s like an auto-battler, if the auto-part was down to you shaking the Joy-Cons. It’s unequivocally and knowingly silly, with Calorie Content even offering Pizzas and Cappuccinos as rewards post tear-up, but both modes are destined to be forgotten very quickly.
Street Fighter 6 still has so much to give, and is perfectly suited to the launch line-up for the Switch 2. It is for my money the best contemporary fighter on the market, and the one which I have unequivocally enjoyed the most since the halcyon days of the SFIV launch which utterly consumed my life for an entire year. If you haven’t played it already and own the new hardware then it is absolutely essential. Even if you have, then the handheld capabilities make this a fantastic opportunity to play in that fashion this side of a Steam Deck or Portal. Buy it now.
