Top 5 Tuesday | Things I Want in Street Fighter VI

Despite buying my Playstation 4 to buy Street Fighter V, the game itself has been a massive disappointment for me; no stylized graphics like Street Fighter IV, simplified combo mechanics, and streamlined fighting styles which made every player carbon copies of the same mold rather than being able to express your own style through your character of choice.

Rumors of Playstation 5 are on the horizon with it being an inevitable reveal sometime within the near future.  One of the main reasons that Street Fighter V has probably not announced a brand new season pass is because, depending on the timing of Playstation 5, they are going to reveal Street Fighter VI and are putting all of their efforts onto that project. 

Street Fighter VI is going to happen beyond a reasonable doubt, so I want to list my top 5 things that I want when the game finally does drop for either current or next gen gaming consoles.

 Featured Image Art 

It should be noted above that the picture used as the featured image for this article is drawn by Stanley “Artgerm” Lau.

 #5 — New Costumes 

Street Fighter has their iconic costumes for characters; Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Cammy, etc. have sported the exact same starting costumes since they were first brought about.  While I absolutely love nostalgia, and I do appreciate that in Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter V you have alternate downloadable costumes you can purchase…I want brand new starting costumes for the cast.  I want them all to receive the same treatment that Ken Masters did, even if it was subtle it worked.

Something I have loved about the Mortal Kombat series is that characters get an aesthetic remake for each iteration; they also might have nostalgia costumes somewhere in the pack, but they typically always give the characters new outfits.  I wish Street Fighter would copy this so that it feels like a completely new game from head-to-toe.  How amazing would it have been if Chun-Li’s “Training Outfit” costume was her default one?  Or if “Hot Ryu” was the standard?

 #4 — Regular-Sized Appendages  

Street Fighter has always made itself known for making the hands and feet of its characters larger than normal; this is one defining characteristic that has carried across all games in the franchise.  For me, it simply does not make any sense and has always been something I was up in arms about.

Sure, many people do not see the problem and it is a stylized choice, I understand.  However, I am tired of having feet be one size when barefoot versus regular-sized looking when in shoes.  Examples are Makoto in Street Fighter IV and Ibuki in Street Fighter V.  Both girls feet look about the size of their male counterparts but look more dainty and “normal” in appendage-to-body ratio when they are wearing alternate costumes in normal clothes.

I get it, you want to draw more attention to hands and feet as an emphasis; however, I think we are past the point of needing that and Street Fighter could do well with proportionate appendages.

 #3 — Better Backgrounds 

I have always felt as if the backgrounds in Street Fighter were especially cartoonish and fell short of every other fighting game.   They were often clunky and stereotypical, and you had people walking back-and-forth in strange patterns or cheering the same way every time.  For me, it feels cheesy and added nothing of value to the game.

Think about the backgrounds of Mortal Kombat, Under Night In-Birth, BlazBlue, or even Dragon Ball FighterZ; they are beautifully detailed, they fit the scenario, and they are almost always devoid of other people.  I have never seen a Street Fighter stage and thought “Wow, this is breathtaking”.  For me, that is sad and something I hope they can pull off in the next game.

 #2 — Retention of the League System 

The League System is amazing for fighting games in my opinion.  You are given points for winning and losing, certain point totals allow you to go up or down in league; Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond, etc.  These separate players and allow you to fight opponents that are around your skill level.

I like the league system because it gives everyone a reason to play Ranked.  No one wants to mindlessly fight opponents without a clear objective to do it, especially people like myself who cannot go to tournaments on weekends because that is when their job schedules them.  However, I do wish they would initiate something along the lines of Killer Instinct’s “Killer League” which changes from month-to-month, also I hope they adopt what both KI and MK11 did and make the sets best 2 of 3 or 3 of 5 .

 #1 — New Fighting Styles 

Something else I have hated about the Street Fighter series is how some characters play very closely to their previous iteration; Ryu, Chun-Li, and Cammy fit that role.  However, some returning characters had playstyles different enough from their old ones that it was immediately recognizable; Ibuki, Zangief, and Bison fill that role.

While I keep referencing Mortal Kombat, every character has some mainstay move (such as Sub-Zero’s iceball or Scorpion’s spear), but their entire gameplay changes dramatically from game to game.  I want Street Fighter VI to really experiment with their styles and have a fresh take on the franchise to provide something that we have not seen before when it comes to their returning characters.