If there’s one name synonymous with fighting games, it’s Street Fighter. Dominating arcades in the late 80s and 90s and spawning the living room-conquering Super Nintendo classic Street Fighter II, Capcom’s beat ’em up became a cultural phenomenon. But since the death of the arcade, fighting games have become more niche. While 2016’s Street Fighter V slowly became a competitive esports sensation, it lacked the earlier games’ universal appeal. Now, 31 years after Street Fighter II, Capcom is reinventing its prize fighter for a new generation. Visually, Street Fighter 6 is forging a new identity for the franchise, sporting an eye-catching aesthetic that combines unattainably bulging biceps with attacks that explode in a burst of colour.
“I really want to make Street Fighter a game that everyone can play, like it used to be,” producer and series veteran Shuhei Matsumoto tells the Guardian. Offering a radical overhaul to its controls, Street Fighter 6 is a more accessible twist on spin-kicking, fireball-throwing fighting spectacle. A newbie-friendly control option ditches the classic six-button setup of high and low punches and kicks in favour of a simpler three-button structure, allowing first-timers to pull off a Shoryuken without spending months developing the muscle memory.
