Street Fighter 6 is the latest entry in Capcom’s most popular fighting game franchise. With the upcoming launch of any new fighting game, fans want to know how the gameplay has changed for better or worse. Will the game be bringing back mechanics or systems from previous entries, and how will it build on those and balance them with new ideas?
Street Fighter 6 looks to be one of the most ambitious entries in the franchise yet. That could make fans and newcomers wonder about what new elements are coming to Street Fighter 6.
What’s new coming to Street Fighter 6?
Street Fighter 6 will include three core modes. World Tour mode is a new single-player adventure in which players can explore the open world of Metro City as a custom-made character. It will help players learn the game mechanics, and Capcom has teased that it won’t be the only location to explore. Battle hub is the multiplayer portion of the game, but no details have been revealed just yet. Finally, Fighting Ground will include traditional modes like arcade mode, online matches, training mode, and local multiplayer.
Street Fighter 6 is powered by Capcom’s RE Engine, which makes the characters and environments look stunning. The officially confirmed characters so far are Ryu, Chun-Li, Guile, Jamie, and Luke. The existence of another character called Kimberly has also been subtly teased. Three stages have been revealed thus far, including a stage in the back alleys of Metro City, a Japan-themed stage, and an airship carrier stage.
The story of Street Fighter 6 is the latest in the timeline. It takes place after Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, and some of the updated character designs and backstories reflect this. Ryu is sporting a new robe which is in reference to his master, Gouken. Meanwhile, Chun-Li is no longer part of a police force and spends her time training others as a Kung Fu teacher.
New to Street Fighter 6 is the ‘Modern’ control scheme. This simplifies the controls so that players can execute special moves with just a single directional input and a button press. It’s similar to how Super Smash Bros. Ultimate works, but players should know that they won’t have all access to their full move list while using this control scheme. The classic control scheme is still available too.
Capcom has introduced a new core mechanic called the Drive Gauge. This 6-bar gauge sits below the health meter, and it refills over time. It can also be refilled through attacks and parries. The Drive Gauge enables 5 abilities to be used at the cost of varying numbers of bars. When the Drive Gauge is depleted, players enter a ‘burnout’ state, during which they cannot access any of the moves provided by the Drive Gauge.
Drive Impact will absorb up to three hits and it can wall splat and stun opponents who are burnt out. Drive Parry can absorb attacks from enemies. If players tap Drive Parry with precise timing, they can also achieve a perfect parry that enables them to follow up with a counterattack. Drive Parries and normal attacks can be canceled with a Drive Rush to dash towards your foe. Overdrive arts power up your regular moves. Finally, Drive Reversal acts as a counterattack. The variety of offensive and defensive options with the Drive Gauge should enable players to come up with distinct playstyles.
Players also have a super meter at the bottom of the screen. The super meter has three levels which each grant a different super attack. Additionally, when players have a super meter at level three and are below 25% health, their level three super attack becomes an even stronger super called a Critical Art.
Street Fighter 6 also includes an assortment of other features that players are sure to appreciate. Various outlets and influencers have confirmed that it will feature cross-platform play and rollback netcode. Matches feature an option to hear real-time commentary from real-life fighting game commentators such as Jeremy ‘Vicious’ Lopez, and Aru. The game is also adding in fun bonuses like being able to make funny faces on the pre-match screen and using taunts that might be character-specific. Various poses in the menus and in gameplay are references to classic poses or artwork of those characters from past Street Fighter games.
