Now that the Tokyo Game Show has come and gone, Capcom fans know a lot 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 entireStreet Fighter 6launch 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 forStreet Fighter 6will 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 ofStreet Fighter 2’s cast returning and many newcomers to enjoy,Street Fighter 6looks like it will start with a very strong base roster, even when compared to past entries in the series.
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Street Fighter 2
It’s difficult to compareStreet Fighter 6’s and2’s initial rosters, as the former already contains all the characters from the latter.Street Fighter 2brought 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 ofSF2had four computer-controlled boss characters at the end of arcade mode. Theboss ofStreet Fighter 1, Sagat, returned and was joined by Balrog, Vega, and M. Bison of Shadaloo. The core appeal of this roster is still evident, andStreet Fighter 6has done well adapting its iconic characters to a modern context.
Street Fighter Alpha
AlthoughStreet Fighter Alphamarked the first roster reset in the franchise, its starting roster still eclipsed that ofSF2. Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, and Sagat returned and were joined by Birdie and Adon fromStreet Fighter 1,Guy and Sodom fromFinal 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 atAlpha’s launch.Street Fighter Alpha’s debut was the first case of bringing in characters from around the sharedStreet Fighteruniverse. 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, thenStreet Fighter 3: New Generationwas 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.NoStreet Fighteriteration has topped3in this regard, and with evenSF6falling 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, promptingStreet Fighter 4to work the opposite angle. All twelve characters present in the original release ofStreet Fighter 2were present and playable atSF4’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 ofStreet Fighter 6, butSF4leans onSF2’s cast as a crutch, and not all of the new faces were playable yet likeSF6’s are.
Street Fighter 5
That just leavesStreet 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. WhileStreet Fighter 2’s cast dominates once again, four of the returning characters were last seen in theAlphaseries.Birdie returned again, and Karin, Nash, and R. Mikajoined 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, butSF5still deserves some props for trying to mix up its launch roster.SF6’s return to aStreet Fighter 2-heavy cast is a little unfortunate, but a whopping six new characters smooth over any concerns about staying fresh.
Street Fighter 6is set to release in 2023 for PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
