2023-06-04 17:44:34
With Street Fighter II, Capcom invented, and even imposed a genre. The greatest fighting game of its time was also, quite simply, the greatest video game. Since then, the license has had its ups and downs, versus fighting is no longer the main attraction of esports, and a game like Mortal Kombat has been able to overtake it in popularity, and even at Capcom, Resident Evil or Monster Hunter are now more profitable. The challenges ahead Street Fighter 6 are therefore numerous, and the first images that had been published led us to believe that the teams had pulled out all the stops to meet them. So “SF6 Wins”?
(Review of Street Fighter 6 made on Xbox Series X via a copy of the game provided by the publisher)
A massive game like Zangieff
Despite ending his career in fairly good shape thanks to the DLCs forming the Champion Edition, Street Fighter V had somewhat tarnished the image of the license. Blame it on the starving content at launch, but also on the somewhat confusing choices, such as the sponsor displayed at the start of each free-to-play fight which annoyed all the players a little. It was therefore the first mission of this Street Fighter 6 : make the start of episode V a bad memory.
And it’s a mission largely accomplished, with content as heavy as E. Honda! We had to “open up” the game, but at the same time not stray too far from what a vs game is. competitive fighting; it was necessary to continue what Street Fighter II had begun to build a little over 30 years ago, but also to offer a modern game, with its share of novelties, beyond a rebalancing of the characters… So Street Fighter 6 will be divided into 3 game modes, almost 3 different games.
The Fighting Ground mode, first of all, is all that is expected from a basic fighting game. Fights ranked or not, once morest another player or once morest the computer, a training mode where you can practice your quarter circles, but also a “story” mode as in any good vs. self-respecting fighting. There are also very well-designed tutorials, and an Extreme mode, which adds fun and original little constraints to spice up the fights, such as the arrival of a small robot which will be used by the first player who activates it, or a mode in which an enraged bull crosses the screen, and which must obviously be avoided…
It’s a bit like the retro mode of Street Fighter 6the one who would have been terribly missed if he hadn’t been present, but who will surprise no one.
Much more surprising, the World Tour mode is this open world that has been talked regarding a lot since its announcement and the first images of Street Fighter 6. It’s both a single-player mode and an incredibly well-thought-out gateway into the world of 2D combat. In the World Tour mode, following having created your avatar via a rather complete tool (and which invites extravagance!), you will first walk the streets of Metro City – because the universes of Final Fight and Street Fighter do not are now more than one – then the world, to complete various missions that are usually resolved through combat.
This is an opportunity for the game to confront us with situations and constraints that we will have to know how to recognize and analyze, then, in combat in the other modes, if we have the ambition to win a few matches. . Thus, one enemy will challenge us to bring him down, another will systematically protect himself from low and medium attacks, forcing us to fight him with jumping blows… And little by little, we will acquire the basics of how to react in front of certain situations, we will learn to manage the space, to get out of trouble like when we are stuck in a corner… All while having the impression of playing an RPG-lite. It’s the Karate Kid method, when Daniel-San thought he had spent his summer polishing bodywork, while he was perfecting the gestures that would allow him to counter his opponent at the All Valley tournament!
A mode that is difficult not to compare to the Yakuza saga, both in its presentation in a small open world that is ultimately quite restricted, and in its tone, dialogues and mechanics. The gangs that populate the streets wear boxes on their heads with two holes for their eyes (?!), and rush into the stretchers to fight us as soon as they see us, just like in the Yakuza games. Generally speaking, just regarding everyone from the salarymen heading home, to the greengrocer, to the patrolling police officers, everyone is always up for happily banging each other in the World Tour mode. It makes no sense, like the missions entrusted to us, and that’s what makes it all especially fun!
Fun, we will also find some in the third mode, the Battle Hub, probably the main attraction of this Street Fighter 6, since the World Tour mode will probably not be replayed following being looped for the first time. It is also found in the central position in the game menu.
The Battle Hub is the recreation of an “old-fashioned” arcade room. A whole series of terminals are installed, and you can sit there to face players from all over the world. If two players compete on a terminal, you can also, as in front of a real terminal, queue to face the winner! This is really the heart of the game, both very simple and yet brilliant.
In the center of the Battle Hub is a small arena where avatars can compete once morest each other. When playing on arcade terminals, you will have to choose a character from Street Fighter. But avatar combat involves the character we create and evolve in World Tour mode, who will have learned special moves from different masters. Thus, our avatar can be a mix of different Street Fighter fighters (a special move from Luke, another from Chun-Li, and obviously a Hadoken…), and the Battle Hub arena allows us to put our recipe to the test. test once morest other avatars.
Finally, we mentioned the comparison with Yakuza for the World Tour mode, and this comparison returns in the Battle Hub mode, since there is also a retro corner, with playable terminals of various “historic” titles from Capcom. At the moment, Street Fighter II, Vulgus (a vertical shoot’em up) and Final Fight are available, and other games should sooner or later appear.
Seductive game like Cammy
Even if the avatars are generally rather ugly, even downright monstrous, for the rest, it’s full board. The art direction of Street Fighter 6 is absolutely superb. It’s pop, colorful, joyful. The explosions of colors that arise when a special move is launched have their effect, the entrances to the ring like “Main Event” of a wrestling gala are hyper charismatic, and the music is not left out.
The animations are extremely neat, and make us feel the heaviness of the characters, the power of the blows. The muscles, which take shape more or less according to the movements, are those almost imperceptible details that convey the strength of the characters.
The game’s graphic qualities will make you want to try it, but it’s the gamesystem that will keep you there. First, there’s the gigantic content discussed above, but more importantly, the game is made for everyone to enjoy. It’s simple: there’s never been a better time to start the fighting game.
The World Tour mode, the collection of tutorials from the Fighting Ground mode, but also the three control modes (Classic, Modern, which facilitate special moves, and Dynamic, to have fun without worrying regarding the controls) allow beginners to start in a less intimidating way, but also to the most casual players to play the time of an evening between friends without being lost by the complexity of the commands.
Which does not mean that it is a game only for the general public. The expert player looking for a deep meta will also (probably) find what he is looking for, between the Drive bar, that of the ultimate moves, the cancellable actions, the state of burn-out… So many details of mechanics that we don’t quite master on our side, but we’re counting on the training program to remedy that!
A game that ages well, like Ryu and Chun Li
We remember a tweet (which we have not found, alas) published during the reveal of the characters of Street fighter 6, and their new design, which criticized Chun Li’s new look, saying “she looks 50 years old.” What it was answered that precisely, she is 50 years old!
Because the historical characters of Street Fighter (Ryu and Ken, Guile, Zangieff, E. Honda, Chun Li…) have all taken a little bit of old. An appreciable detail, which also shows that the game is evolving, maturing. It’s a game that no longer takes itself seriously, and that pushes the cursor all the way towards fun. As in the Metro City of the World Tour, we play the fight, many elements are parodies, and we are there mainly to have fun.
For the fun to work, as we have seen, the emphasis is on accessibility, but also on inclusiveness. There are characters of all body types, all ages, all looks and all colors. The old can beat the young, and the girls are sometimes much more muscular than the boys. Eternity, the character that welcomes us to the Battle Hub, is quite “gender fluid”, and the game seems to have slowed down a bit on the hypersexualization of the characters. Even Cammy wears pants!
Massive content, attractive AD, accessibility, inclusiveness, and above all, a lot of fun, at our level, we can’t see much to complain regarding this episode, which seems to have everything it takes to put the license back in its place world’s greatest fighting game! Public success already seems to be there, with audience peaks on Steam that far, far surpass the performance of any other versus fighting game.
It remains to be seen how it will be received on the pro circuit… See you at EVO and on the Capcom Pro Tour to see if, as we think, this Street Fighter 6 will join the legends of fighting games and accompany us for at least a few years!
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