August 30 is the 35th anniversary of the original arcade Street Fighter, and it has been an eventful 35 years. Initially conceived as a kung-fu beat ’em up entirely focused on boss fights, Street Fighter has grown to become the face of the fighting game genre. Any fighting game taking place on a two-dimensional plane will inevitably draw some comparison to Street Fighter thanks to how influential it was in the genre’s formation. Both the series and its development team have driven countless imitators that either spun off in their own direction or died out, and the pattern repeated itself after Street Fighter 4 served as a sort of reset point.
With an expected release in 2023, Street Fighter 6 will usher the franchise onto the PS5 and Xbox Series consoles. It's an exciting time for the Street Fighter series, and even though SF6 won't make the current anniversary, many are excited. It seems to be made as a response to criticisms of Street Fighter 5 feeling too restrictive, and will be celebrating the franchise its own way by bringing back successful elements from all other entries. Street Fighter 6 wouldn't be where it is without the rise and fall of its predecessors, and parallels can be drawn between Street Fighter’s efforts and the fighting genre itself.
Fighting Games Got Their Start With Street Fighter
Things started off on a rocky foot with Street Fighter 1. It introduced a number of characters that would become mainstays and prototyped the use of special moves and three strengths for punch and kick attacks. Unfortunately, it executed all of these horribly, and it took 1991's Street Fighter 2 reinventing itself to get things right. This is the game that began a fighting game craze which lasted through the 90s, spawning Mortal Kombat, The King of Fighters and its component series, and far too many other games to count. Whether it was in arcades or on home consoles, Street Fighter 2 and its re-releases shaped an industry.
With so many releases, one wouldn't think that there's room for a proper sequel. As the villainous cast gradually filled out the roster and super combos, speed selection, and even combos became more codified, it seemed like Street Fighter 2 rapidly ran out of places to go. That’s not to say that new editions haven’t continued releasing on consoles, as Ultra Street Fighter 2: The Final Challengers did launch on Nintendo Switch. All of these versions contributed to Street Fighter 2’s combined version sales being higher than any other fighting game until Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in 2019. Still, the core of SF2 was complete and getting tiresome for players.
Capcom was preparing a massive push on both visual and gameplay fronts. Street Fighter Alpha, or Street Fighter Zero in Japan, took place immediately after the events of Street Fighter 1 and was a proper evolution for Street Fighter 2. While it was neither a hyper fighter nor what one would now think of as an anime fighting game, Street Fighter Alpha and its numbered sequels added a lot of crazy options to every character, as well as impressive single-player offerings for the time in console releases. Tiered super meters and Alphas Counters, as well as mechanics like play style-altering “isms” and Custom Combos, defined this experimental time for Street Fighter, and set the stage for crazier titles like the Capcom Vs. series.
Street Fighter Brought Fighting Games Back on HD Consoles
Street Fighter 3 had trouble following that wave, especially as it featured few returning characters in its first release. History has vindicated the Street Fighter 3 trilogy, especially SF3: 3rd Strike, and the parries introduced there now define how it is remembered. However, Street Fighter 3 failed to sell in its era lasting from 1997 to 1999, and marked the decline of fighting game popularity overall.
Then, Street Fighter 4's arcade launch in 2008 and subsequent home release in 2009 was when the genre recovered. Sporting 2.5D visuals, a Focus Attack system that rewarded defense, and Ultra Combos that bolstered offense, SF4 brought fighting games back in a big way. It felt like all the major fighting game franchises stopped spinning their wheels and followed Street Fighter 4’s lead. Plenty of great fighters released in the 2009-2011 range, marking a silver age of fighting games featuring Mortal Kombat 9, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, The King of Fighters 13, Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, and more.
Street Fighter 5 suffered a much less triumphant launch in 2016. It had online troubles, and some remain to this day. Characters felt like they had tools locked behind the V-Trigger system, and especially potent V-Triggers would define entire seasons of the game’s meta. Add on various DLC delays and the uncovering of a rootkit in the PC version, and it's a wonder that Street Fighter 5 managed to last long enough to turn its reputation around. While Street Fighter 5: Champion Edition and its Season 5 have appeased the remaining fanbase, SF5’s early troubles shed players, which benefited fighting games as a whole by driving fans toward Tekken 7, Guilty Gear Xrd and Strive, as well as other promising games. Street Fighter 6 will need to outdo its rivals to bring the masses back.
Luckily, the game is primed to do just that. By uniting the best parts of every previous SF under the new Drive System and crafting a single-player adventure, Street Fighter 6 could become the face of the fighting genre again. With the tried-and-true gameplay of Street Fighter 2, the World Tour from Street Fighter Alpha 3, parries from Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike, Focus Attacks from Street Fighter 4, and Street Fighter 5’s V-system dispersed into the roster’s normal movesets, SF6's mechanics have a little something for everyone. It's a great way to celebrate how far Street Fighter and its surrounding genre has come, so hopefully Street Fighter 6 and later installments will continue to please casual fans and competitors alike for years to come.
Street Fighter 6 is currently scheduled to release in 2023 for PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.