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Street Fighter 6: all you need to know
Capcom’s latest instalment in the fighting game series has landed. Here’s everything you need to know about Street Fighter 6.
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On February 21, 2022, Capcom revealed the future of Street Fighter, as Street Fighter 6 was presented in a short teaser. With the game now here, here’s the low-down on everything you need to know about Capcom’s latest fighter.
01
Red Bull Levels: explore Street Fighter 6
In collaboration with Capcom, watch Red Bull Levels, an in-depth exploration into the making of Street Fighter 6, featuring Red Bull pro players and their hands-on thoughts on the game, how Capcom brought the new characters to life, and just how expansive the World Tour mode is for solo players.
02
The three pillars of gameplay: Fighting Ground, World Tour, and Battle Hub
Street Fighter 6 is built on three game modes. Fighting Ground is a classic versus mode, with a structure reminiscent of past Street Fighter titles. World Tour is a campaign mode, where you create your own character. Battle Hub is the game’s online platform.
Fighting Ground is the classic Street Fighter mode
© Capcom
According to Capcom, the three different modes are so in-depth, that they could each pass as a separate game.
03
Single player content: World Tour mode
For single player gamers, the core of Street Fighter 6 will be the World Tour mode. Here you can create a character and explore the game world in an open-world style adventure. The World Tour mode starts off in Metro City, the same location as Final Fight. From there, you'll travel to various locations around the world, including France and Italy. You’ll also meet rivals and iconic characters, learn new moves, and fight your way to the top.
With the character editor you can create your personal Street Fighter
© Capcom
The visual customisation of your character is as in-depth as many in large role-playing games. Not only can you customise everything from hair colour to face paint, you’ll be able to purchase numerous new accessories and clothing items from shops in Metro City. In this way you can customise your avatar according to your own wishes. Your newly designed character will also represent you in the Battle Hub, the online lobby.
Within the game world you'll meet different fighters from the Street Fighter universe. You can learn from these masters and add their moves to your arsenal. You can then not only use these attacks in street fights within Metro City, but also act with the open world. A trailer shows how a Hadoken knocks over barrels or how chasms are overcome with a Spinning Bird Kick.
Gachikun, Bonchan, and Daigo got to grips with Street Fighter 6
© Jason Halayko / Red Bull Content Pool
A recent trailer also shows that you can play different mini-games. These also serve, among other things, to teach new players classic fighting game inputs, such as quarter circles. The Parry mini-game from Street Fighter III: Third Strike was also on display.
Watch more Street Fighter content
04
The Drive Gauge
The core of Street Fighter 6’s fighting mechanics is the newly developed Drive Gauge. This uses a Drive bar that works independently from your Super bar. Instead of charging it up by using offensive or defensive actions, it charges itself over time. This encourages the player to take risks and use the Drive Gauge – as once it’s full, it'd be a waste not to use it.
You'll start games with a fully stocked Drive Gauge
© Capcom
This bar can be used for the following moves:
- Drive Impact: An attack that absorbs enemy hits and hits them with a powerful attack – similar to a Focus Attack from Street Fighter IV.
- Drive Parry: If you keep the Drive Parry pressed, you’ll constantly spend Drive, but you’ll parry all attacks in this time. Parrying with perfect timing triggers a Perfect Parry, reminiscent of the Parry mechanics from Street Fighter III.
- Overdrive: Spending two bars of your Drive Gauge will enable you to give your special moves an Overdrive enhancement, such as more damage, further reach, or faster speed. This is similar to EX Moves from past Street Fighter titles.
- Drive Rush: This is a dash cancel for attack and parries, enabling you to perform difficult combos.
- Drive Reversal: Here, the Drive Reversal acts similarly to V-Reversals seen in Street Fighter V. This will cause your character to perform a counter that does little damage but can give you some breathing room.
Luke blocks an attack from Jamie with the Drive Parry
© Capcom
05
What do the pros think?
Ahead of the launch, pro players Tsunehiro 'Gachikun' Kanamori, Masato ‘Bonchan’ Takahashi, and Daigo ‘The Beast’ Umehara got their hands on the game and had a few thoughts on some of the new additions to the franchise – such as the Drive system and its various moves.
“The Drive Impact system will test your reflexes,” says Gachikun. “You'll need reflexes to counter attack. I believe it'll come with experience,” he says. “I like the craftsman aspect of it. I believe that system is good for newcomers, but also rewarding for experienced players as well.”
Bonchan has similar thoughts: “You have six base gauges. If you don’t clearly decide how to use them, you end up with all of them going empty,” he says. “You have to set priorities – for example, which gauge you’re going to use first. I haven’t grasped that judgement skill yet, but I felt it can be quite rewarding.”
06
Controls: Modern vs. Classic
Street Fighter 6 will offer an alternative control option for newcomers. The game calls this control type 'Modern' and it's a bit reminiscent of the 'Stylish' option found in Arc System Works’ fighters Guilty Gear and BlazBlue.
The modern and classic control types in Street Fighter 6
© Capcom
The modern style is simpler and, above all, makes it much easier to do special moves. However, Capcom adds emphasis that only the Classic Style allows full control over the character. This means that if you want to get the most out of your fighter, you should look at the classic style.
Bonchan adds his perspective, saying: "I find the modern controls to be a nice addition to the game.”
“There wasn’t such a system in the other games I played,” he says. “I believe that the immediate first challenge for newcomers is to be able to insert the commands. The modern controls solve that issue.”
Daigo feels similarly, too. “There have been a few attempts at adding easier controls in past Capcom games, however they never really took off,” he says. "You'd end up being stronger, or having more fun with regular controls most of the time.”
“However, new modern controls may be used to be stronger or have more fun in some situations,” he adds. “I really agree with that way to make the game more accessible. I really felt the efforts put in making the game this time. I believe it can become the best game in the series.”
07
The character roster
Street Fighter is best known for its iconic cast of characters. Street Fighter 6 continues the trend with returning fighters, and new entrants to the series - highlighted in bold.
- Blanka
- Cammy
- Chun-Li
- Dee Jay
- Dhalsim
- E. Honda
- Guile
- Jamie
- JP
- Juri
- Ken
- Kimberly
- Lily
- Luke
- Manon
- Marisa
- Ryu
- Zangief
Four characters are also scheduled to be released as downloadable characters during the game’s first year of release.
- A.K.I.
- Akuma
- Ed
- Rashid
Street Fighter mainstays such as Ryu and Chun-Li are obviously returning
© Capcom
08
Extreme Battles
Street Fighter 6 aims to be a versatile title and appeal to a wide variety of players. That’s why there are fun extras added to this edition, allowing you to enjoy the game away from its traditional fighting gameplay.
Watch for the bombs! Ridiculous things happen in Extreme Battles
© Capcom
Extreme Battles are fights with changing rules and gimmicks, which are set to shake up your encounters. For example, a bull may run through the arena and throw fighters around, or you may punch and kick a bomb back and forth until it explodes. These extra gimmicks will shake up your regular battles, but while some luck may be involved, skill is also a factor, as you may be able to incorporate the additional dangers into your combos.
09
Battle Hub – the online lobby
The Battle Hub is a place where you can spend time with your avatar. Here you can sit down at different arcade machines and play against other players online.
Street Fighter 6 takes you back to the days of competing in the arcade
© Capcom
However, the Battle Hub is supposed to be more than just a fancy interface for playing online matches. There’s much more for your character to do here. You can listen to the game's songs on the DJ set or take cool snapshots in the photo booth. You can also get new clothes for your avatar – you earn the currency for this in online battles. If you want to spend some time with another Capcom classic, no problem. Just sit down at one of the other arcade cabs and play titles like Final Fight or Street Fighter II for a retro fix.
Bonchan is ready for Street Fighter 6
© Jason Halayko/Red Bull Content Pool
10
Commentary from real esports casters
New with Street Fighter 6 is the ability to have your matches accompanied by a selection of commentators, just like in real life tournaments such as Red Bull Kumite. Their phrases should also help new players get a better feel for the game. For example, they indicate how much super meter you have or mention if you repeatedly make a certain mistake.
Eight different commentators are featured, four of each of the two commentary types: play-by-play commentary and colour commentary, the latter being optional.
Play-by-play commentators:
- Aru
- Jeremy 'Vicious' Lopez
- Steve 'TastySteve' Scott
- Kosuke Hiraiwa
Colour commentators:
- Demon Kakka
- Thea 'Zelina Vega' Trindad
- James 'jchensor' Chen
- Hikaru Takahashi
11
$2 million prize pool
After the conclusion of Capcom Cup IX in February 2022, Capcom announced that the Capcom Cup 2023 will feature Street Fighter 6 as its main game and will award a prize pool of $2 million - with half of that up for grabs for the first place finisher.
See how some of the world's top Street Fighter 6 players have adapted to the new game at Red Bull Kumite 2024 on March 16-17 in New York City in the United States. Find out more information on the event including how to watch a live stream of the event right here.
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