Thank you Nintendo for sending us a Switch 2 review copy!

Street Fighter is one of the most important franchises in the history of video games. While not the very first 2D side-by-side fighting game, Street Fighter II: The World Warrior stormed arcades way back in 1991, and it absolutely dominated our available quarters at the time. The 1990s were littered with Street Fighter releases after that, with at least five versions of Street Fighter II and three each of Street Fighter Alpha and Street Fighter III. The next mainline Street Fighter titles took a bit longer, with Street Fighter IV coming in 2009 and Street Fighter V arriving in 2016. Street Fighter 6 was released for non-Switch consoles and PC in 2023.

Starting with Street Fighter IV, Capcom changed their model from multiple retail releases (sometimes with minor changes between them) to games with lots and lots (and lots) of purchasable DLC, including characters, cosmetics, and more. Street Fighter 6 follows a similar model. The base version of modern Street Fighter games are almost never worth purchasing; it's often cheaper to buy the game again in a bundle than it is to buy the DLC, even at a deep discount. For example, the base version of Street Fighter 6 is $39.99, while each Character Pass is $29.99. It is less expensive to buy the Years 1-2 Fighters Edition at $59.99 than the Character Passes along with the base game, even on sale. The Years 1-2 edition includes a few small extras, like stages, that the Character Passes do not. Always buy the highest-end package you can, or expect to be disappointed (and overcharged).

I suppose the only exception may well be if you bought it back on release in 2023 and kept playing since. As we're no longer living in the past, it once again bears repeating: Do not buy the base version of Street Fighter 6 if you care at all about value or the character roster. Buy this Years 1-2 Fighters Edition or some other future bundle that might include even more.

For those not familiar with the franchise, Street Fighter at its core is (typically) a one vs. one affair where you choose a character that represents a fighting style with a set of moves and fight against another character with their own style. Each has a health bar at the top, and attacks that hit do damage to the receiving character's health bar. Victory is achieved when the opposing character's health bar is brought down to zero. Most fights last up to three rounds, with the victor winning two.

Street Fighter 6 is in some ways both an evolution and a revolution compared to previous entries. I don't want to go too far down that rabbit hole describing differences in detail (while I've played most of them nominally, I am far from a pro with a deep understanding of mechanics), but what I can say is that it's taken mechanics from previous entries and pushed them in entirely new ways, while also expanding the single-player experience like never before.

When you first start Street Fighter 6, it asks you to create a Capcom account. Make sure you set aside time to do this, because it took me a solid 30 minutes to get that all ready before I could ever start playing. I don't (yet?) own a second version of this game, so I can't say all that is stored in the account verses locally on your system, but from what my research says, local single-player progression is sadly not shared between platforms.

This is relevant because this game's online modes are all entirely cross-platform between all of them. Switch 2 owners can play with PC, PlayStation, and Xbox gamers, and vice versa, though other Switch 2 players did have a flag above their head signifying that similarity. Other players didn't display platform loyalty to me, so I'm curious what they see. Online modes are many and extensive, though I should probably point out that I play 99% of my time either single player or via local multiplayer with others sitting next to me.

There are three options from the main menu: World Tour, Battle Hub, and Fighting Ground. World Tour is the entirely new single-player experience; I spent most of my time here. Battle Hub gives access to the main online game modes, along with a lobby to talk to other players. Fighting Ground brings you to the classic Street Fighter experience, with Arcade modes, Practice and Training, Versus, and more. There is also a simplified Online mode available in Fighting Ground.

World Tour is the bulk of the entirely new content. My wife walked by and said 'it's just like Yakuza', and researching more, this seems largely true. You start off as a new fighter, who wants to become strong. He pairs up with another new recruit, and they are both put under the tutelage of Luke, the first of many trainers (or Masters) you will learn under in your journey. You can design your avatar almost completely, as the game gives you quite a bit of freedom on how you design him/her/them. You can choose from one of two body types, and identify as male, female, or human.

From there, the character creator is honestly very impressive, enough to be overwhelming. Thankfully, there are avatar and body presets that can help you find something closer to what you want, or you can use the randomize feature to make a totally unique you. You can change skin, hair, proportions, muscle definition, face shape and parts, and so much more. Like I said, it's overwhelming with how much choice is available. And yes, if you want metallic glowing blue skin, have at it. You can choose from a large selection of voice types as well. The first time you adjust your character it's free, but to do it again you need to spend in-game credits, which are thankfully easy to get and plentiful (in World Tour; the in-game currencies in Battle Hub are another matter entirely).

It's funny, because once you get past that and learn your first fighting moves from Luke, you are sent out to get into fights with people. And what's funny about that is you can get into fights with almost anyone. Want to fight with the old lady walking down the street? Sure thing. What about the noodle vendor? Why not? Almost anyone with a 'press Y to fight' button next to their name can be challenged to a fight. Everyone also has a level number, letting you know how relatively tough they are, and some have a details buttons you can press, with rewards you can earn by fighting or defeating them. For example, one enemy might give you a healing item if you defeat them with a certain move type or by using someone's fighting technique. The variety of rewards and conditions for those rewards varies greatly and can help you get some of the best gear if you're paying attention and being careful.

In case you didn't catch that, yes, there are lots of different outfits that you can gear your character up with, and many of those outfits have various stats that help you become more powerful. For example, one early item I used for a long time was a safety helmet. Not only does it raise my defense and increase my punching power, but it also includes a special skill called 'Rock Solid' that lowers damage dramatically once per round, potentially saving you from an embarrassing early defeat. Items help increase one or more of your base stats, which includes Vitality (health), Punch Strength, Kick Strength, Throw Strength, Unique Attack Strength, and Defense. These, along with various traits like Rock Solid, help you round out and customize your character. It also helps that you can use the same gear to change how you look, giving you a way to make your avatar look great... or quite strange.

While many characters around Metro City (the main starting place in the game where much of the story takes place) are peaceful, some are also gang members. Strangely, such members are easily identifiable because they wear cardboard boxes on their heads. If you walk by them, they may attack you, forcing you to deal with them before you can be on your merry way once again. Thankfully, most fights have you beating up these characters fairly quickly, as they have small health bars and you don't need to fight them for more than one round. If you fight a Master or another story fight, it often goes back to the multi-round combat the rest of the game uses, but not most of the time. Combat can be pretty fun, especially if you've already played a Street Fighter game before. With that said, there are now two control schemes, designed to be easier on new players while still offering something for old ones.

For the first chapter you're stuck with the new Modern control scheme, where light, medium, heavy, and special move buttons each make attacks based on your suggestions, but you don't have direct control over what each move does. This is designed to be easier for new players, and I can kind of see that. Once you complete chapter one, you can then enable Classic controls, which is what Street Fighter has always used: Light/Medium/Heavy punch and Light/Medium/Heavy kick, each with their own buttons. Special moves are executed with special combinations, as they always were, rather than by using a dedicated button. For example, the most common projectile move is a movement of down - down forward - forward in one smooth motion, followed by a punch. This is usually called a quarter circle forward motion by fighting game fans and is the most fundamental fighting game move. It's more complex than Modern controls, but it's more true to the roots of the franchise and gives players much more control over what their character does. There are other actions as well that are mostly new, but more on that in a moment.

As World Tour mode is a form of RPG where you level up and power up your character avatar, you will have many main quests and optional side quests to complete. There are quite a few, and as you meet additional Masters, you gain some from them, too. You certainly want to 'collect' as many Masters as possible, because each one gives you a set of special moves for becoming their student, and as you raise the rank for each Master, you gain more skills from them. You raise Master ranks up to a maximum of 20, which is when you've mastered that style. Every playable character from the other two modes is available as a Master in World Tour, so you not only gain insight into their location, personalities and history, but you get to learn as many of their moves as you like while playing the single-player experience.

As you gain experience levels though winning battles, you also earn points to spend in a skill tree where you can directly power up your character. One of the nice options I always went for first was additional accessory and skill slots. It doesn't take long before you have far more skills than you can equip, but by unlocking those slots, you can have more moves available. For example, each trainer starts by giving you two attacks, one being Rising Uppercut from Luke. Chun Li gives you two as well, one of them being Spinning Bird Kick. So, you can have both of Luke's attacks, as well as one of Chin Li's at first. However, once you get a third Master, or earn another skill from one of your existing ones, you might need more slots to equip them. It doesn't take long before you have way more skills than slots, so each one helps give your character a variety of moves.

One quirk of this system is you can't equip two moves with the same button action at the same time; for example Rising Uppercut uses the same action combination as Shoryuken, so you have to pick one of the two. (Ken's Shoryuken is way better.) However, because of overlap from the Modern control scheme, some moves with different button combinations can't be used together, either. For example, Ken's Jinrai Kick can't be used along with Hadoken, and Dragonlash Kick can't be used with Shoryuken, despite them both using different buttons. So, you can't spec yourself out with all of one Master's moves in most cases but are forced to mix them up. I found that a little disappointing and ended up having a solid minority of charge moves and unique throws to fill out the roster. A couple of Zangief's moves have unique inputs, and thankfully they are very powerful! Being able to throw a fireball then rush in with killer throws from Zangief is a dream come true for many. I also enjoyed having access to Dhalsim's air teleports, and Dee Jay's Air Slasher became another mainstay attack for me.

Throughout the World Tour, you not only play through the story and meet many new Masters, but the game also has you do a ton of side quests, many of which introduce mechanics to you. In this way, by playing through the campaign, you learn everything from special moves to control types to Super Arts to the new Drive mechanics. Super Arts are largely similar to older games; you spend between one and three bars to execute a powerful and flashy move that damages your opponent significantly. The main and most important new mechanic is the Drive system, and it really does separate Street Fighter 6 from previous entries.

There is a second new meter called the Drive meter. This isn't entirely new, as some games had an EX meter, and this does share some similarities with that. But what is new is how consistent its use is between characters, and how you can power up almost any special move using it. The Drive meter has six segments, and it constantly replenishes when not in use, so its presence has a dramatic impact on the flow of a match.

The simplest function is Overdrive. When you execute a special move, there is variety based on if you used the Light, Medium, or Heavy version of the attack. However, Overdrive is activated when pressing any two of them at the same time. Overdrive attacks change the attack in some way, often making them more powerful. For example, Ken's Shoryuken becomes Shoryureppa, adding flame and an extra couple of hits to the combo when overdriven.

The other Drive actions are Drive Parry, Drive Impact, Drive Reversal, Drive Rush, and when you run out of Drive meter, Burnout. Drive Parry is when you hold the Medium Punch + Kick buttons (or use the dedicated button), you can parry attacks. This drains your meter while not actively parrying. If you time it perfectly, you land a Perfect Parry. Drive Impact is executed by pressing Heavy Punch + Kick buttons (or use the dedicated button). It's a powerful attack that gives you temporary invincibility to three hits, and breaks through blocking. It can also be countered by throwing and another Drive Impact, so be careful! Drive Reversals are a great way to create space. You basically press forward while activating a Drive Impact, and it knocks your opponent away from you. And finally there is Drive Rush. You can use this to rush towards your opponent. This is one skill that I need to spend more time using, as apparently it's quite powerful but I don't use it well. Burnout is when you run out of Drive meter. You can't perform any Drive skills, and you also take a small amount of damage while blocking, unlike normally. It does recharge over time, but it takes long enough to put you at a significant disadvantage.

All of the mechanics that World Tour teaches you apply to other modes in some way. Your cosmetic outfit that you earned and setup in World Tour carries into your online persona in Battle Hub. Battle Hub is the main area for online play. I can't possibly cover everything on offer here, but this seems to be the main way to interact with other players. You can chat, look over their profile, or start matches with them. There are also events, clubs you can join, V-rival fights, and more.

You can of course battle with the main Street Fighter 6 fighting style, but there are also a rotating set of retro games that you can play if you like. Some are single player, and others are multiplayer. One that I saw was Super Puzzle Fighter II one week, and when that one left the rotation, Super Street Fighter II Turbo showed up in its place. The list of classic games seems to be extensive, though there are only around four at a time. Interestingly, World Tour does have two games available to play: Final Fight and Sonson. Final Fight has plot relevance, which I found funny since I beat Final Fight One on my Game Boy Advance many years ago.

Fighting Ground is where most of the classic modes are. Arcade is where you play as a single character to beat your opponents and learn their story. If you want to learn mechanics, you have Practice that includes Training, Tutorials, Character Guides, and Combo Trials. Versus offers the classic One on One mode, and a Team Battle where each side brings two characters to the fight. The Switch 2 has some exclusive modes; one is listed under Versus and it's Gyro Battle. You can shake your Joy-Con 2 to execute attacks. I can see a young child enjoying this, but that's about it.

Other modes are Special Match, which includes Extreme Battle and another Switch 2 mode, Calorie Contest. The latter is quite dumb... you compete to see who can burn the most calories by shaking the Joy-Con 2. Yeah. Extreme Battle is okay; you choose a set of alternate rules and gimmicks to mix up the victory conditions. For example, you can win by achieving knockdowns instead of draining their health meter. Also, gimmicks introduce additional dangers like exploding bombs to the match.

Local Wireless is likely another set of Switch 2 exclusive modes. Wireless match is what it sounds like, battling other players over local wireless. I only have one copy of Street Fighter 6, so I wasn't able to test it. Avatar Match seems like it would be fun; you fight with your avatars from World Tour. I also am unable to test this since it's a local-only affair.

There are also Online modes available from Fighting Ground. There's Ranked Match, Casual Match, and Custom Room. I played most of my online matches from Battle Hub, but here's a quicker way to get right into the action.

The performance on Nintendo's brand-new Switch 2 is both great and underwhelming. While strangely contradictory, it still makes sense. In some ways, it's a great port. Texture quality is apparently better than Xbox Series S, which is quite impressive. But to get there, they had to run the game at very low resolutions, and aggressively upscale using DLSS. Most of the game runs at an upscaled 540p, with handheld mode running at about 360p. This is mostly acceptable, but there are times that you can really notice the upscaling artifacts. For example, hair can often look cross-hatched, which is a tell-tale sign of a very low resolution being scaled up far too high. Also, water reflections look really bad, and cause everything from shimmering to ghosting of various kinds when you get too close.

Most of the problematic artifacts are visible in World Tour. Fighting in World Tour is also only 30 frames per second (fps). However, outside of that, it actually looks and runs really well. The main competitive battle modes like Fighting Ground (and online battles) all run at a perfectly solid 60 frames per second, even if there is some resolution sacrificed to get there. Gameplay feels great, even if I wish the game was a bit sharper. Portable mode also looks really good when played like this, even if Joy-Cons are not a great way to play Street Fighter 6.

Speaking of controls, I'm actually really impressed with how they did that in this game. For one thing, most PC and PS4/5 fightsticks can be used if you purchase a Mayflash Magic-NS adapter. This is not a supported configuration by Nintendo, but I used it along with a PDP Victrix Pro FS fightstick and it was nothing short of awesome. We also played some two-player matches with that stick and a Mayflash F500 fightstick, which has working Nintendo Switch support. We had some great local two-player matches this way!

World Tour takes it to the next level by allowing you to use the fightstick for battles and use a Pro controller (or probably detached Joy-Cons) for walking around the 3D game world. This lets you control the camera and walk around with analog controls and the camera with the right stick, which isn't on most fightsticks. This two-controller setup for World Tour is simply awesome and very player friendly.

The game was perfectly stable for me the entire time for over 65 hours of total playtime. While writing this review, I had my first strange behavior when my home button stopped working, and I had to power off the system to get back to the home screen. Very strange! Other than that one time, it's been great.

Morally, there is a fair amount to consider. There is animated violence, as you probably would expect. Some characters in the story work for goodness and justice, while some don't. Your character has to work with gangs at various points in the story. Other than group fights in World Tour, most are one-on-one with punches, kicks, and various powerful special moves that use some kind of powerful spiritual energy of various kinds. A few characters wield weapons, but most don't. Violence is a normal thing in Metro City, and apparently street fights are just something that people do each day. Even professionals wearing suits get into the occasional scrap!

As is common in the fighting game genre, there are some wildly inappropriate outfits around. It's honestly not as bad as some games in the genre, as some characters had their default outfits toned down a bit, but where there may be a more modest Cammy, there is always Mai who wears a very alluring outfit that shows a whole lot of cleavage and more (with necessary things covered to keep that 'Teen' rating). Other characters wear swimsuits or walk around in a bikini top.

Some characters are bisexual, as one woman, Marisa, is offered a man and woman to marry and says she'll take both. The announcer, Eternity, is a man who speaks in a high-pitched voice and wears tight leather shorts with a purple suit jacket and no shirt underneath. While it's not explicit if he is a homosexual, he certainly fits the stereotype. One random character in the subway got defensive asking if I wondered if they were a man or woman, and says it's not the 90s anymore, and progress has been made since then. I don't remember asking.

There is some mild foul language used, with words like '*ss', 'd*mn', 'h*ll', and 'sh*t' present. I did catch 'oh my god' used as well. There is some alcohol and tobacco use, including one fighter who specializes in the drunken boxing style. There is also a fair amount of supernatural or supernatural-like effects present. One character is called a fire god. Others use psycho power, a spiritual energy of sorts that makes people more powerful but drives them crazy and makes them controllable by others. There are lots of mentions of ki and such by various Masters whose martial arts use those abilities. After all, fireballs don't throw themselves.

Street Fighter 6 Years 1-2 Fighters Edition is a really solid and fun fighting game and an excellent evolution from previous Street Fighters. Online always has players whenever I checked, and cross-platform play is really great, assuring it never completely runs out (until SF7 arrives, I suppose). The Nintendo Switch 2 version is surprisingly solid given the confines of the portable system, though I have to admit that I'm looking forward to picking this up on PC at some point when the sale is good enough, because I really want to see how great this game can look at high resolutions with sharp pixels. The moral warnings are mostly inline with what you expect in this genre, with a few extra modern surprises thrown in.

Outside of that, I really enjoyed my time with Street Fighter 6. Yes, it will nickel and dime those who want everything, and resist buying DLC except for perhaps characters and stages. There is a rather extensive microtransaction system present here, but this review is already long enough. It shows love to long-time fans and introduces new mechanics that really changes up the game. While I'm a bit sad to see long-time standbys getting up there in age (Ken & Ryu are in their late 50s!), the fighter roster is varied and interesting, and I'm sure most players will find someone to love. Season 3 has just started, and Sagat is the only character out so far. I was surprised to see that Sagat was an available Master in World Tour, despite me not purchasing his DLC. That's really great!

All of that to say, Street Fighter 6 is really a great game for fighting game fans. If you are curious about fighting games, this could be a great introduction. If you've been playing for a long time, this is another great entry into this storied franchise. Recommended if the moral and cultural issues are things you can look past.