How Street Fighter 6 Will Change The Series

Players everywhere have been trading punches, kicks, and flashy combos in "Street Fighter" for over 30 years. During that time, the series has seen massive graphical improvements and, more importantly, moved from the arcade to the home. But a lot of the series' elements have stayed pretty much the same. For example, players can still select Ryu in "Street Fighter 5" and pull off many of the same combos they employed in "Street Fighter 2" way back in 1992. But unlike "Street Fighter 2," the most recent entry into the series, "Street Fighter 5," wasn't a critical success. And unsurprisingly, this left many worried about the future of the series.

To fans' disappointment, "SF5" shipped with few characters, no story mode, and shoddy servers (per The Guardian). But over the years, the game saw a steady flow of additional content and fixes, and eventually, it got its first truly positive reviews.

With "Street Fighter 6" on the horizon, many longtime fans have been hoping this next installment would have more content upon release. And it looks like not only this wish will come true, but the game will even include new game modes players didn't even realize they wanted. Here's how the next sequel seems poised to further transform the iconic series.

During PlayStation's State of Play livestream on June 2, Capcom surprised fans with a new trailer for "Street Fighter 6," which showed off an exciting new gameplay mode called World Tour. This is a new single-player experience like nothing the series has seen before, allowing players to create their own avatar and roam the streets of the game's fictional city in a "Yakuza"-esque overworld. And judging from the trailer, it seems players will encounter fighters in the world to fight as they use their abilities to search for loot and collectibles. 

Although it's true that "Street Fighter" has done single-player modes in the past, they often lacked content and weren't quite as immersive as World Tour appears to be. For example, it only takes one to two hours to finish the "Street Fighter 5" story mode (per Destructoid). Many fans online are excited about an adventure mode, especially since it indicates that the new game will have a healthy amount of content at release. Some are shaken by the very idea that they'll be able to design their own fighter.

Additionally, the official PlayStation blog went on to detail a slew of other new elements in "Street Fighter 6." Perhaps most interesting, Capcom is bringing real-time commentary to "SF6" via spectating modes. The game will also feature a new power meter called Drive Gauge. This game has already come a long way from getting fans up in arms over its logo.