The Street Fighter 6 team promised sweeping changes and refinements to the classic one-on-one fighting formula, and if this small vertical slice is anything to go by, I believe them. In the latest Street Fighter 6 demo, you’re led through an introductory tutorial in the new Modern control scheme before being let loose into the world of Street Fighter.
From there, you can explore a tidbit of single-player World Tour or battle offline against another player as Ryu or Luke in Fighting Ground. In World Tour, you’ll create a fighter (or monster) and explore a small portion of the game’s mechanics and story.
Related: All of the characters in Street Fighter 6
Tour De Force
The single player World Tour mode does an excellent job of easing fighting game newcomers into the mechanics, giving a slow drip-feed of movement and attack options. After Luke, Street Fighter 6’s YouTuber-looking box art star, walks you through fundamentals of movement and attack, you’re ambushed by your, uh… rival? friend? slashfic generator?
Bosch, a fellow member of the Buckler security team with attitude. Your tense practice spar ends in a draw, so Luke acquiesces and lets the two of you hit the streets of Metro City, where you undertake your first few quests.
World Tour has some welcome inclusions—a wide range of body types and skin tones right out the gate, a skill point characters and sidequests that feel ripped right out Yakuza—but the real test will be how many new players stay for the long haul. I got a second opinion from my husband, a polite but firm fighting game agnostic, and watched him play through most of the World Tour demo.
Despite the improvements, there are still some old cobwebs to shake off. The slow ramp up of skills and mechanics does an great job of basic onboarding, but the demo portion leaves out some crucial mechanics that make strategy-minded players feel adrift in tougher matchups. However, the streamlined modern control scheme, which uses a combo of simple directions and single button presses a la Smash Bros, is a good first step.
Reading is Fundamental(s)
I was most impressed by the care put into every tutorial and text box. As an over-30, I grew up in the bad old days of fighting games, left to my own devices with barebones training modes and a cryptic manual. I logged hundreds of hours in Tekken 3 in this fashion, but I wouldn’t wish that teaching style on anyone starting out.
Street Fighter 6 never feels mechanical or condescending, even when walking you through the absolute basics. These are fighting game tips written by people that love them, and that energy is infectious. Every step includes a short demonstration, an invitation to try it yourself, and how each component of Street Fighter’s combat system can be used out in the wild.
After years of sifting through combo videos and YouTube tutorials, I was taken aback how much it meant to have a built-in training mode that felt encouraging and constructive. The full game will launch with character-specific training for each fighter, and I hope they’ll maintain this level of detail.
Overall Street Fighter 6 Demo Thoughts
Based on my time with the demo, my first impressions on Street Fighter 6 are really encouraging. The mixture of radical series changes, mechanical streamlining, and accessible tutorials has me excited for the full game!
For more Street Fighter 6 coverage, stay tuned to Press SPACE to Jump! See you in the ring when the game launches on June 2nd, 2023 for Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam.
