Since its release,Street Fighter 6has caught on like a house on fire. It’s certainly the most popular entry in the series sinceStreet Fighter 4and might even contend with the series’ 1990s heyday. The new roster gained fans before the game came out, and the classic characters got a fresh set of moves and new looks. Then the gameplay managed to appeal to hardcore fans and newbies with its Classic and Modern control settings.
RELATED:Street Fighter 6 Glossary: Terms Every Player Should Know
But nothing comes out of a vacuum. The diehards can point out its call-backs to older games, like the Drive Impacts resemblingSF4’s Focus Attacks, or certain super moves coming straight fromStreet Fighter 5. Even the Modern controls were previously tried out inMarvel Super Heroes Vs Street Fighter. Butwhat other games didStreet Fighter 6take inspiration from?Here are a few suggestions.
7King Of Fighters
Capcom and SNK’s fates have been intertwined since their earliest days, and it sticks out the most in their fighting games. Takashi Nishiyama and Hiroshi Matsumoto essentially created the foundation for the genre withStreet Fighter 1. But after they left Capcom, Yoshiki Okamoto, Akira Nishitani, and co, took fighting games to the stratosphere withStreet Fighter 2and its new combo moves. Nishiyama and Matsumoto weren’t to be outdone as they created theFatal FuryandArt of Fightingseries for SNK.
Neither would topSF2, but they introduced the genre’s flashiest technique: Super Moves. Originally, they required the player to be low on health to pull them off. But by the first fewKing of Fightersgames, being near death’s door enabled players to pull off even more powerful super moves called Super Desperation Moves. Just like howSF6’s Critical Artsdo more damage, but only occur when the player has 25% or less health in their life bar.
6Darkstalkers
Capcom didn’t just look to their rivals to inspire their new works. Their long-forgotten, horror-themed fighting seriesDarkstalkershas left its own impact onStreet Fighter.SF6features a few callbacks to it, like Lilith fromVampire Saviorappearing on Li-Fen’s laptop, or Luke settling down to play the originalDarkstalkersat his pad via pad when he’s not working at Buckler’s Boot Camp.
The biggest thingSFinherited from its spooky sister series were the EX Moves. The ability to boost up the character’s special moves with a little super meter, or Drive Gauge inSF6’s case, has been part of theSFgames sinceSF3: Second Impact. But they debuted in the firstDarkstalkersgames as ES Moves and have since turned up in other games likeMortal KombatandKing of Fighters 15.
5Tekken
The combination ofStreet FighterandTekkenmay give fans bad memories ofStreet Fighter X Tekkenor the barely existentTekken Vs Street Fighterthat’s been on ice for over a decade. ButTekkenhas been the premier 3D fighting game since the first game sold over a million units on the then-new PS1. Even if its gameplay is a world away fromSF’s (as people who fought Akuma inTekken 7know all too well),Tekken’s left some DNA inSF6.
RELATED:Best Fighters in Tekken History, Ranked
It’s largely seen in its single-player content as,untilT7trimmed them down,Tekkengave players a variety of modes to play with. There were beat ‘em up modes, adventure modes, story modes, and more. One of its wackiest modes wasTekken 3’s Ball Modes, where players smashed a ball to hurt each other with. It was popular, but it hasn’t turned up in the series since the Wii U port ofTekken Tag Tournament 2. Luckily,SF6’s Party Mode has a similar feature, including the ability to juggle multiple balls at once!
4Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombathas also generally been stronger on the single-player content for the past 20 years, with wacky additions likeMK: Armageddon’s Motor Kombat kart minigame, andMK: Deception’s Puzzle Kombat, their own take onSuper Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo(which wasSF’s version ofPuyo-Puyo). But the random fun ofSF6’s Party Mode may sound familiar to fans of 2011’sMortal Kombat.
Its Test Your Luck mode put optional special conditions on 1-on-1 fights, like taking away the opponent’s ability to jump or block, dodge random projectiles, or even become zombies and chunk their limbs at each other. It could also be argued thatSF6’s World Tour mode has more in common withMK: Deception’s Konquest Mode, where Shujinko did odd jobs for people in Outworld thanStreet Fighter Alpha 3’s more RPG-inspired World Tour mode.
3Shenmue
YetMK: Deceptionwasn’t the first thing that came to some people’s minds when they saw the World Tour Mode. When an interviewer for IGN Japan spoke toSF6director Takayuki Nakayama and Shuhei Matsumoto last year, he said aspects of the mode reminded him ofShenmue. He didn’t dare ask directly about it, but Nakayama ended up mentioning the similarities himself.
“Shenmue’shad a big impact on me too. Walking around in a world like that, and even having fighting game elements as part of the game too”. While he didn’t say it was a direct inspiration, he said: “It’s quite possible it was in the back of my mind all along”. That, andSF6also has a Game Center to play classic arcade games on likeShenmue’s in-game arcades. While Sega’s series has seen better days, it’s nice to seeShenmuestill inspiring successors today.
2Saints Row
Then again, theShenmueconnection to the World Tour mode may be more noticeable to older players or ones based in Japan and East Asia in general. Younger, Western ones who missed out on the Dreamcast classic often compare it more to theSaints Rowseries, another open-world game where the player did odd jobs and fought urban gangs. Only withoutSR’s guns, cars, and ability to main enemies and civilians alike for yuks.
RELATED:Saints Row The Third: The Best Mods You Need to Install
That, and the player gets tocreate their avatarwith an in-depth series of sliders and features like in theSaints Rowgames. Character creators have also been used inMass Effect,Skyrim, theWWEgames, and more over the past few decades. But the combination of the creator with the urban environments, gangs, music, and tone, does give World Tour mode a moreSRvibe than its rivals. Johnny Gat & co would fit in quite nicely inSF’s streets.
1Final Fight
But ultimately, the urban tone comes more fromSF’s increasing blending withFinal Fight. Their classic beat ‘em up was originally meant to be part ofSFas “Street Fighter ‘89”, and only gained its separate name when people pointed out its gameplay was nothing likeSF’s. Even then the two were never far away, with the likes of Guy, Cody, Rolento, Sodom, Poison, and Hugo among others making their way intoSFas playable characters.
SF6double-downs on it by makingFF’s Metro City the first location for players to explore, and its Mad Gear as the first goons to fight and take jobs from. It also confirms Metro City is where many of the series' classic stages come from, like Remy’s club stage inSF3: Third Strike.SF’s keptFFin the public eye, though withsidescrolling brawlers coming back in style, it’d be nice to see aFinal Fight 4joinRiver City Girls,Final Vendetta, andStreets of Rage 4.
