Your fighters strut down an alley before their bout, revelling in the cheers of spectators and the neon glitz like superstars. With more than three decades of martial arts mastery to his name, that self-confidence is what you’d expect from Ryu, though up-and-comer Luke also takes a moment to smile at the camera. But when it’s fighting time, veterans like Chun Li have their game faces on.
Well, they do until you hold down the directional buttons, which allows them to pull a few other silly expressions as you size up or throw off your opponent. That light touch is welcome, and a sign of the confidence the developers have in the early build of Street Fighter 6 that we’re hands-on with. Within just a couple of rounds, it becomes clear Capcom has laid solid, and most importantly fun, foundations to take its reigning fighting game series to the next level.
MOONGLOW-UP
It’s not just the series that’s moving forward: its timeline is also progressing. Story may have never exactly been Street Fighter’s strong suit, but it nonetheless feels important that instead of clinging forever to the coattails of Street Fighter II, the game is set after the events of Street Fighter III. While the exact point in time has yet to be confirmed, we’d hazard a guess that it’s been almost a decade, given
