Now that the Tokyo Game Show has come and gone, Capcom fans know a lot more about Street Fighter 6. The upcoming fighting game has laid itself bare, with detailed looks at the character creator, the Battle Hub online lobby, and various other features. Capcom even decided to reveal the entire Street Fighter 6 launch roster before the game's release date has been nailed down. Whether this was prompted by an earlier leak or was always the intent, showing the roster early was a bold but appreciated move.
As far as fans know, the launch roster for Street Fighter 6 will consist of eighteen characters plus a custom avatar. Returning characters include Ryu, E. Honda, Blanka, Guile, Ken, Chun-Li, Zangief, Dhalsim, Cammy, Dee Jay, Juri, and Luke, while Jamie, Manon, Kimberly, Marisa, Lily, and JP will be new faces. Eager players won't need to wait long to put these combatants to the test, as a closed beta featuring eight of them will be available in October. With a large portion of Street Fighter 2's cast returning and many newcomers to enjoy, Street Fighter 6 looks like it will start with a very strong base roster, even when compared to past entries in the series.
Street Fighter 2
It's difficult to compare Street Fighter 6's and 2’s initial rosters, as the former already contains all the characters from the latter. Street Fighter 2 brought Ken and Ryu back as playable characters and introduced six more World Warriors to round out the cast: Guile, Chun-Li, Blanka, E. Honda, Zangief, and Dhalsim. In addition, the first iteration of SF2 had four computer-controlled boss characters at the end of arcade mode. The boss of Street Fighter 1, Sagat, returned and was joined by Balrog, Vega, and M. Bison of Shadaloo. The core appeal of this roster is still evident, and Street Fighter 6 has done well adapting its iconic characters to a modern context.
Street Fighter Alpha
Although Street Fighter Alpha marked the first roster reset in the franchise, its starting roster still eclipsed that of SF2. Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, and Sagat returned and were joined by Birdie and Adon from Street Fighter 1, Guy and Sodom from Final Fight, and the newcomers Charlie Nash and Rose. These ten were accompanied by returning bosses M. Bison and Akuma, as well as the debut of the joke fighter Dan. Those three could be selected through codes, making for a final count of thirteen characters at Alpha’s launch. Street Fighter Alpha’s debut was the first case of bringing in characters from around the shared Street Fighter universe. Thanks to that, it still has a strong core roster even if it's short on truly new faces.
Street Fighter 3
If new characters were what someone desired, then Street Fighter 3: New Generation was the place to look. Ryu and Ken are the only returning characters in this entry's arcade release, with the remaining ten being brand new. Yun and Yang initially shared a move set and Gill was only playable in console ports, but that still left eight new playable fighters. No Street Fighter iteration has topped 3 in this regard, and with even SF6 falling short, it's unclear if any entry ever will.
Street Fighter 4
Unfortunately, Street Fighter 3’s approach and circumstances resulted in it being unpopular, prompting Street Fighter 4 to work the opposite angle. All twelve characters present in the original release of Street Fighter 2 were present and playable at SF4's arcade launch, as well as the famous secret boss Akuma and four new fighters. A couple other newcomers, Seth and Gouken, were also present as NPC bosses. Seventeen playable characters is one short of Street Fighter 6, but SF4 leans on SF2's cast as a crutch, and not all of the new faces were playable yet like SF6's are.
Street Fighter 5
That just leaves Street Fighter 5. This game launched with sixteen playable characters, four of whom were new. However, there was an extra wrinkle that kept the game exciting. While Street Fighter 2’s cast dominates once again, four of the returning characters were last seen in the Alpha series. Birdie returned again, and Karin, Nash, and R. Mika joined him as a set of major surprises. The lack of the full World Warrior lineup was felt all the way until the fourth season of DLC, but SF5 still deserves some props for trying to mix up its launch roster. SF6’s return to a Street Fighter 2-heavy cast is a little unfortunate, but a whopping six new characters smooth over any concerns about staying fresh.
Street Fighter 6 is set to release in 2023 for PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.