Developer Capcom and publisher Taito brought to life the 7th main installment in the Street Fighter franchise, oddly enough, titled Street Fighter 6. Street Fighter is a fighting game series that has been a staple in the gaming community since it's been around for the days of arcades. For that reason, it holds a soft spot in plenty of people's hearts. Let's see how this new title holds up.

Story

In the new World Tour mode, you create your own fighter and start in a training camp for a security company with your lovable coach and the face of this installment, Luke. Something I hadn't expected from a Street Fighter game was an RPG mode. After a training session with Luke you are introduced to your classmate Bosch who you get your first challenge from then Luke sends you and Bosch out into the world where there's an open world where you can fight… on the street; now I understand the name Street Fighter.

Luke sends you on a couple of very simple quests, and I mean simple, as he sends you to buy pizza and to buy a hat. After all the basics, Luke meets you back in the town square where he gives you a speech about becoming an Ultimate Fighter and how you and Bosch are going to grow together and one day be able to beat him. For some reason Bosch doesn't like that and decides he's going on his own journey then you head out after him.

After a short while you meet back up with Bosch and find out he's been getting into it with some pretty shady people and from here you are set off on a wild Goose chase looking for Bosch. During this time you're one step behind him sweeping up any baddies that you might find along the way. Shortly after finding Bosch again in London, where once again you come so close to finally reuniting just to be separated again by somebody that is a tad bit over your skill sets and Bosch sends you back off on another Goose hunt. Luke then gives you a speech about understanding your hunger for strength but he warns you to be careful about getting yourself into too much trouble. Then, in a bittersweet moment, he tells you that you've graduated from the training camp.

Now you're off on your way traveling the world from Brazil to Jamaica meeting more and more "masters" to choose your fighting style. In Brazil, you meet Blanka who turns out to just be a friendly jungle tour guide trying to promote his business. But when you go to Jamaica, you meet Dee Jay and honestly this interaction was so fun I'll leave it at that and let you experience it. You grab Luke some souvenirs from both places and head back to the USA. Then after a quick test of your newly learned skills, he tells you to join a martial arts tournament popping up nearby. You fight some people on the street in preparation, then you get your entry to the main Novice League Tournament.

Once you're in you fight through a bracket of more challenging fighters the tournament gets shut down because of some threats towards the stadium. After it gets shut down you finally are able to start looking into the Bosch situation and you get in touch with someone he was working with in an attempt to help find his whereabouts. From here on you are helping Bosch fight a battle that seems almost bigger than you.

Gameplay

This is Street Fighter; you know how it plays. But for those may be new to the franchise or just dipping their toes into the genre known as fighting games, welcome! Street Fighter 6 brings the same fast-paced intensity that has been present since the start. It still feels just like an arcade fighter with the option of classic and modern controls depending on how you like or are used to playing. This game does bring a buttery smooth feel to it. The fights play out seamlessly from the counter to the special moves, nothing feels blocky, and it all feels like a fluid motion.

There are a few different options when it comes to game modes. You have the classic arcade character stories. You choose an individual fighter and a 5-or-12-step ladder that you choose from and fight through to tell a story about that character. Throughout those battles, there will be a sort of visual novel with a monolog from the chosen character and sometimes dialog with another. You have online lobbies to brawl with friends or test your skill against the world. Then there's the new mode, a story mode called World Tour where you get to create your own fighter to play through the game’s new story.

In World Tour, you learn the basics of roaming the open world and then you start meeting interesting characters on the streets, talking to and fighting them, earning money, and playing mini-games. You also meet another coach pretty quickly. Coaches are just the characters from the main game and you can choose to be a student from them - in doing so you adapt their style and you can level up that style to learn more moves for your move set.

The controls are Street Fighter controls. If you're coming back again for more then you're going to feel right at home. If you do happen to be new to the series, there is an option for more simplified controls that come as the default called "Modern Controls" which will make it a little bit easier to understand. But classic fans fret not you can just change it back.

When playing online, you join rooms either private or public depending on if you’re playing with friends or random people. You join the room and at first, it was a little confusing but once you figure it out it’s simple and makes sense for keeping things moving, especially when the public rooms are packed. But, you join the room and you pre-select your fighter then you join a lobby and wait for a challenger. Once a challenger joins, you fight, easy as that. Now make sure that you know the move set you are using beforehand, you can not pause it at all when playing online so you won’t be able to check the move set even in between rounds. But while playing online, even crossplay, it ran SUPER smooth. I was actually really impressed by this because normally fighting games don’t have the most optimized online lobbies so having zero issues was delightful. I think while playing online I had one singular lag spike and that was likely because of my internet and had nothing to do with the lobby.

Audio and Visual

Street Fighter games have always had a very specific art style to them - this installment is no different. It stays true to the extremely muscular characters but adds a bit of a color pop. During the fights, there are some special moves with a paint splash animation that flows with the character and I have to say, I really love that addition to the fights, it gives it an extra layer beyond the character saying the move they're doing. My only complaint is a personal issue, in World Tour you have to see Luke a lot and for some reason, he has HUGE forearms like Popeye, and sometimes I look a little too long and the anatomy starts to bother me.

The voice acting is about what you'd expect, it's a little cheesy but it's what you want in these games. I think I would be disappointed if I didn't hear Ryu scream "HADOUKEN!" In the story mode, the interactions between characters are very corny too, I'm pretty sure I heard them make "Street Fighter" puns multiple times but that's fine, I love the cheese.

Replayability

This part is up to you, do you like fighting games? If not then you probably won't get any replayability out of this. But if you're a big Street Fighter fan then you're going to get plenty of play time. There are character story ladders, two per character, and there's a full RPG story mode. Plus it's a fighting game, hop online and get into some brawls with the world. Replayability is up to you one hundred percent.

What It Could Have Done Better

I'm going to be really biased here, Vega; I want Vega back. He's not an original character from the first game but Street Fighter II is close enough! Other than that totally huge miss (not really), I think the street fights in World Tour mode could use some improvement. At times they can be a little choppy which is surprising because the rest of the game runs pretty much buttery smooth, even when playing online I had zero delay or lag problems which surprised me.

Verdict

Street Fighter 6 was a fresh take on a series familiar to everyone! It's honestly a very smooth fighting game, with a lot of unfinished games coming out lately I don't feel that issue at all here. With a diverse set of characters from playable characters like Dee Jay, Ken, and Marisa all the way to a sea of non-playable characters you interact with, there's plenty to keep you going on World Tour alone. On top of all that, a fun arcade mode and butter-smooth online gameplay, I think it's a no-brainer. If you like fighting games or are looking to expand the games you play, it's an easy recommendation. There is no struggle to get your money's worth here.

Street Fighter 6 will be available on June 2nd for PC via Steam, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 4. Are you up for a fight?