Street Fighter is a name that requires no introduction. The true granddaddy of fighting games, Street Fighter 2 practically invented the genre back in the 90s, while Street Fighter 4 brought it back to prominence in the 2000s. Now, Street Fighter 6 is here to push fighting games forward again, with genre-shaping gameplay and graphical evolutions that will shape industry standards for years to come. Playing it in the cloud is the perfect way to practice or enjoy the depthless single-player content available on GeForce NOW Powered by CloudGG.
Ken, Ryu, Chun-Li, Cammy, and more, the World Warriors are legendary within and without the gaming space. They’ve been fighting in the streets since before many of us were born, and they’ll be fighting still for years to come. Chances are even your grandpa knows what a Hadouken is, so suffice to say Street Fighter 6, the latest entry in this legendary series, was a little bit of a big deal on release.
But for many, even among those of us who consider ourselves fighting game fans (my usual game is Guilty Gear Strive normally), Street Fighter has been a bit of an unapproachable title. The six-button layout, combined with the sheer amount of legacy knowledge, makes it hard for beginners who didn’t grow up in 90s arcades to just pick it up and play.
A truly timeless tussle.
Street Fighter 6’s Modern and Dynamic control schemes changed all that. Accessibility has lit a torch in the fighting game space, but Street Fighter 6 took that torch and sprinted over the horizon with it.
Modern makes the game infinitely more approachable for newcomers like me by reducing the controls to a four-button layout and significantly reducing the execution barrier to entry. Dynamic takes it a step further, with assisted combos and automatic strings opening the game up to almost anyone, ensuring the whole family can have fun fighting in the streets.
I’ve been playing Street Fighter 6 since launch and have gone through several different mains in that time, but its arrival on CloudGG has been a game changer for me. CloudGG is the ultimate practice tool, letting me turn every lunch break, train ride, or doctor's waiting room into a dojo where I can refine my combos and lab out my matchups.
My character of choice is Ed, the psycho-powered boxer, initially created as a spare body for the megalomaniacal main villain of Street Fighter, M. Bison, now freed to write his own story. Since launch I’ve played just about everyone though, with Luke, a rising MMA star, and Guile, his mentor from his time in the Air Force as stand out favourites.
My Ed-gy boy
Better yet, Street Fighter 6 introduced World Tour, a single-player story mode that melds fighting game and RPG mechanics, letting you make your own Street Fighter and forge their legend as a world warrior.
Since its release, the game has shown no sign of slowing down, with season two of DLC characters announced as just a month away right after the legendary Akuma closed out season one. M. Bison opens the new season, but the real stars of the show are Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui from the King of Fighters and Fatal Fury series.
Unbelievably hype.
These two are Street Fighter’s first-ever guest characters and represent an exciting future for the franchise. I personally hope to see Sol Badguy from Guilty gear making an appearance, but even I know that’s a long shot.
Even if he never arrives, though, Street Fighter 6 still represents everything I love about fighting games. It has a depthless potential for self-expression through gameplay and a truly limitless skill ceiling that just begs for you to dive in and fight, learn, and fight some more.
The fighting game community is one of the most inviting sub-cultures I’ve ever encountered, and becoming a part of it is something I’ll never regret and something I encourage you all to do. It’ll be a long path forward to World Warrior status, but you’ll enjoy every step up in the cloud when you’re playing on GeForce NOW Powered by CloudGG.
This spotlight was written by CloudGG team member “Motley” and does not represent the opinions of NVIDIA or CloudGG.
