STREET FIGHTER 6

If there's one company that's running an excellent run of productions, it's Capcom. Whether we're talking about remakes of its older games or new releases, everything the Japanese company has gotten its hands on turns to gold. The "golden" equation couldn't be without Capcom's, in many people's minds, flagship series, the Street Fighter series, which was essentially the one that defined the fighting game genre and drove it to the status it has today.

However, the previous instalment, Street Fighter V faced a lot of problems at launch, mainly due to the lack of content, shaking players' confidence in Capcom. Of course, the game may have later received a plethora of free patches and paid DLC's, which ultimately contributed to making it one of the top fighting games, however the damage was done. To its credit, Capcom listened to the strong public reaction and decided to pay much more attention to Street Fighter 6 before hitting the red release button. The result? A masterful game.

Honestly, we can't remember the last time we've seen such a complete game, from the first days of its release. Unfortunately, we've become accustomed to the unfinished products that most publishers shamelessly push on us, with the result that the obvious now seems like a luxury. Street Fighter 6 includes just about everything: a satisfying roster of 18 characters, featuring a mix of old familiar and new faces, and three different modes (World Tour, Battle Hub and Fighting Ground) that feature enough content to keep the player busy for weeks on end.

Starting with the World Tour, it's a pretty clever mode that combines a nice story with "RPG" elements and of course, countless fights. The whole setup is slightly reminiscent of Ryu Ga Gotoku's Yakuza series, especially with the way its semi-open world is depicted. To begin with, our first concern is to create an avatar, which will equally accompany us in some of the game's other modes, via an extensive character creation system that, among other things, is capable of molding some pretty funny effects. Our character is then set in Metro City (an obvious cross-over with the same company's Final Fight), setting us the basic (and rather simplistic) goal of becoming stronger fighters.

Of course, this takes several hours of training and effort, as in the World Tour we have to complete dozens of missions (mostly fetch), with some of them having completely bizarre nuances (the Yakuza's influence we were talking about), in order to raise, as much as possible, the stats of our avatar. The most interesting part is that during our wanderings, we meet well-known characters from the game (such as Luke, who is the main protagonist of the game, but also Chun-Li, Ryu, Ken, etc.), from whom we train and can "borrow" their fighting style and some of their trademark moves. Consequently, it is possible to make an avatar that combines the special moves of different characters, thus creating something unique. Besides the various moves and strengthening the character when levelling (on simple skill-trees), we ought to buy better clothing, which in turn raises stats like defense, attack, etc. Overall, World Tour is a very enjoyable addition, ideal for the newcomer taking his first steps in the world of Street Fighter, which lasts for at least 15 to 20 hours. That's no small number.

In Battle Hub, things start to get serious as the online element of the game kicks in, with the classic duels against players from all over the world, which is essentially the heart of a fighting game. By using our avatar, we are transferred to an arcade-like area, where, in addition to socializing via chat with other players on the same server, we can duel with them for as long as we want. The duel can either be between avatars (in which case it's good to have progressed a bit on the World Tour to be competitive) or sitting in an arcade booth and choosing a fighter from the regular roster. And if we get tired of the constant fights and want to... let off steam, we can play a retro Capcom game (Street Fighter II, Final Fight, Side Arms) in the respective booths.

It's worth mentioning here that there are two different modes of control: classic and modern. Classic is the familiar six-button system and is undoubtedly the number one choice of experienced players of the series and, in my humble opinion, the only way to play the game. Capcom, however, in an attempt to appeal to a more casual audience, had a different opinion and created the modern system, which greatly simplifies the gameplay mechanics. As a result, there are only three buttons (light, medium and heavy attack), special and super moves are performed using minimal combinations, and depending on the character we have chosen, the game decides which is the most appropriate move, in accordance with the button we have pressed.

There's nothing negative about this, on the contrary, for someone who doesn't have enough time or inclination to spend countless hours learning the game's dozens of combos, the modern mode is a godsend. However, it would have been useful to have the ability to filter players between classic and modern mode, so that there is no "unfairness" - though admittedly, I haven't met any modern mode players who made my life (very) difficult.

Of note, there's another control mode, called dynamic, which simplifies (!) things even more, as there's only one attack button and it's entirely up to the AI to decide which move to execute each time. Fortunately, this mode is blocked in online matches and I must admit that I find no reason for anyone to opt for it, unless they like to watch the game play itself.

The third and final mode is Fighting Grounds, where the most familiar options of a fighting game are included. The classic arcade mode (with a choice of 5 to 12 fights), VS between players (hotseat) or AI, while special mention should be made of the training, which is extensive and very explanatory. If you want to be competitive in online matches, it is highly recommended to watch and complete a significant part of the training mode.

Besides, there are Extreme Battles, which are quite fun, as in the classic 1vs1 battles, some "unpredictable factors" are added, such as a bull entering the arena every now and then, which can completely change the course of the battle. It's not a mode I'll be too concerned with, but it's another welcome and fun addition, especially if you're playing with company.

Fighting Grounds is completed with the multiplayer battles (ranked, casual or in a custom room), which are (along with the Battle Hub) the main reason that can keep our interest for a long time. The online code is impressively good and works seamlessly, thanks of course to its roll-back properties, and in all the matches I tried to play, even if there was low quality connection, there was not the slightest lag or disconnection. And the fact that cross-platform connectivity between three ecosystems (PC, PlayStation and Xbox) is included, as it was in SFV of course, ensures that there is, and will continue to be, a big pool of players for some time to come. And indeed it does, as the matchmaking system finds new opponents with great frequency, at all hours of the day and close to our skill level. So many closed and open betas preceded it, it would be a disaster if the opposite happened.

So far, we haven't talked about the gameplay at all, and that's because once again, Capcom has done its magic. In some unspecified way, the Japanese company has managed to refresh the interest of its already familiar gameplay with the addition of the Drive bar. It's a game-changer that can be used to boost the damage of special moves (e.g. a stronger hadouken), for defense, parries and counter-attacks. At first, it may seem like... a cheat, especially when used every now and then as a counter-attack, however it hides tons of strategy behind it. Proper use of it can actually cause a lot of damage to the opponent and key openings for some powerful combos, on the other hand, its promiscuity creates major gaps that end up in burnout mode, with our character unable to defend and attack properly. It's all about balance, and Street Fighter 6 knows this all too well.

Of course, the game retains the fast-paced combat that made it famous, with fancy moves and even more impressive visual effects. The RE Engine once again shows off its power, presenting a gorgeous effect that "saturates" the eyes, with stunningly designed characters and environments, full of vibrancy and dozens of beautiful details. A great job has been done on the animation as well, perfectly balancing between realism and anime approach, where it makes the Street Fighter V counterpart look like a very old generation production. On the audio front, although I'm not a fan of its modern music choices, I can say that the soundtrack is fitting, along with the apt voice-overs and the (optional) commentators commenting the battles in real-time.

If there's one thing we'd like to see missing, or at least less greedy, it's its business model and its heavy emphasis on microtransactions in order to get, for example, more costumes for our characters. While all of the interventions may be cosmetic (except for future Character Packs of course), we would still like it to be possible to acquire them (albeit by grinding) without the need to open our wallets.

So be it. We're going to do a little bit of looking the other way on this one, because Capcom delivered. A masterful addition to a legendary series that more than honors the momentous name it carries and will provide many, many hours of quality entertainment to anyone who decides to invest in it, whether they're a novice or a seasoned gamer.

We would like to thank CD Media for providing the review code.

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