Capcom certainly is going all out when it comes to Street Fighter 6, and I’m glad to see that we’re finally getting some positive news. There’s a lot to discuss, but for now, I’ll just touch on something that was a sore point when it came to Street Fighter 5; the game modes.
Let’s face it. When Street Fighter 5 launched, it was lacking in several departments, which led to the game becoming the laughing stock of fighting games. It wasn’t because the game was bad in terms of gameplay. The issue was that Capcom’s flagship fighter was lacking content that should have been included from the start. Something to which the fighting game community, as well as others, were keen to point out.
The was a huge lack of single-player content as the arcade mode, a mode that’s been in every Street Fighter game ever, was absent. I still can’t understand just how Capcom thought that was a good idea. Let’s not put an arcade mode into a game that rose to fame thanks to arcades in the first place. The story mode was barebones and was too short for its own good. While trying to jump online to find a match proved to be an exercise in frustration. All of which made Street Fighter 5 much less of a game than it should have been, initially.
Thankfully, Capcom finally got it right. After update after update, with Street Fighter 5: Champion Edition beginning the pinnacle and packing in more than enough content for newcomers and veterans alike. Now, the fighter has plenty of modes such as an arcade mode, a much-improved story mode, surivial mode, challenges, a flesh-out training mode, and the team versus mode. And all those modes are going to be in Street Fighter 6, from day one. Or at least, that’s what Capcom has promised.
With Street Fighter 6’s Fighting Ground mode, Capcom is making sure that everyone is aware that every mode found in Street Fighter 5’s current state will also be available. Why? Because Capcom knows they goofed up with how it treated Street Fighter 5. It knows the fans, the fighting game community, and everyone else who’s heard of the game knows how bad Capcom dropped the ball. It wants to be sure that everyone who is still holding that L, will know that they screwed up and they’re not going to make the same mistake. At least, that’s the plan.
“All of the modes found in Street Fighter V can now be found in Fighting Ground.”
Then there’s the Street Fighter 6 World Tour mode. All we know is this is going to be an immersive single-player story mode. The way this is being presented, however, makes me feel as if this is going to be beefy. The A Shadow Falls story mode in SF5 was easily the best story mode in any Street Fighter game. It would seem that Capcom is taking what it learned from that and is putting considerable resources to provide an experience that is as good or better than that.
This is a step in the right direction, that’s for sure. I’m sure it’s both cliché and likely said way too many times, but I’ll say it again. Capcom, can not mess up the launch of Street Fighter 6. They simply can’t. There’s too much riding on this, for Capcom’s sake. This isn’t the same fighting game scene that when Street Fighter 5 launched that people would ignore all the issues with the game, just so they could play it. Tekken 7, Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate, Guilty Gear Strive, Dragon Ball FighterZ, and King of Fighters XV (PS, don’t support SNK) are going strong and have healthy communities. That’s not to say that Street Fighter doesn’t, but if SF6 isn’t the game that the fans are wanting, and Capcom stops supporting SF5, there could be another mass exodus.
For now, it seems Capcom is attempting to make sure they don’t repeat the Street Fighter 5 with Street Fighter 6. And that’s got me optimistic for the future, the fight for the future.
Street Fighter 6 is currently in development for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Nope, there’s no Xbox One version, that wasn’t a mistake on our part.
