5 characters we actually want in Street Fighter 6

Recently I wrote a piece on five characters that I absolutely do NOT want to see in Street Fighter 6. Today I want to take a more positive approach and talk about five characters that I would love to see return in Street Fighter’s latest installment!

These characters won’t just be ones that appeared in prior installment Street Fighter V, but from any and all Street Fighter titles from over the years. Round one, fight!

5 Characters We WANT in Street Fighter 6

Juri

Of course, this is probably a surprise to absolutely no one who is familiar with Street Fighter, specifically IV or V — but Juri is an absolute must when it comes to Street Fighter 6.

There are a couple of reasons I want to see her again, the most important being that she was my main character in SFIV and SFV. I put a lot of time into learning Juri’s mechanics and match-ups, and having her in the game made some of the rougher stages of SFV’s life much easier.

I’m sure most people are familiar with how much SFV struggled in its early stages, so having a character that you completely love makes even the worst of games feel a bit better. But as much as I love my girl, I feel as though she was designed a little poorly in SFV. The developers really wanted to make Juri’s whole thing revolve around her storage mechanic, and at one point, it just became really stale. So, I would love for her to progress and mix things up in some way in Street Fighter 6.

Finally, and selfishly, I really want to see Juri in that RE Engine! (I doubt you’re alone in that – Ed.)

Street Fighter 6: Ken

Ken

Now this may seem a bit odd to some of you. “Ken?!” I hear you shout. “It’s a Street Fighter game! In what world would they not include Ken?!”

Believe me, I get it. However, I just have this weird feeling that they might be trying to move away from some of the legacy characters, and that they’re really trying to shove some of the new zoomer characters in our faces. Maybe I’m thinking too much into it, but it seems strange that they would use a blond American fighter in the teaser trailer to parallel Ryu and it wasn’t Ken — I hope I’m wrong.

Besides my fear that Ken won’t be on the starting roster, I just really want to see Ken come back and be done right this time! Ken arguably suffered the most when it came to some of the innate downsides of SFV. His face on certain screens, such as the character select screen, looked incredibly scuffed. His hair was a complete mess, and was an unnatural yellow colour — plus it clipped right through his shoulder. Bring Ken back, do him right, and let our fan-favourite boy receive the love he deserves!

Street Fighter: C. Viper

C.Viper

Ultra Street Fighter IV was my introduction to fighting games, and C.Viper was always one of the characters that I really wanted to play — a MILF in Street Fighter! Truly heavenly.

She was a really distinctive character from the SFIV roster what with her animation canceling and crazy-fast play-style — honestly, it looks like it must have been really stressful to play against at a high level. 

C.Viper looked and felt like a character who would have fit in perfectly with the SFV style of gameplay, but she never made it outside of some brief appearances in some arcade mode cutscenes. She’s a really popular character who brings a really distinct way of playing with her, so I think she deserves a spot on the starting line-up for Street Fighter 6.

Street Fighter: Menat

Menat

Every installment of Street Fighter brings with it a handful of brand new characters. While these characters are often left in the dust as they are outdone by the legacy characters who have been around for years, every now and then we see characters who are not only fantastic in terms of design but also bring something completely unique in regards to their gameplay as well. Street Fighter IV gave us both Juri and C.Viper; Street Fighter V gave us Menat.

Menat is an Egyptian fortune teller who wields a crystal ball as a weapon, and she uses it in numerous ways to help give her the edge as she fights. This was a really new and interesting mechanic to see brought to the game and it was certainly the first time I had ever seen a character like that in my experience with the franchise. She was excellently designed, cute as hell, and brought with her a whole new level of execution that I would love to see some more of as we move into SF6.

Street Fighter: Evil Ryu/Violent Ken

Evil Ryu/Violent Ken

I don’t how they would end up in the game, but I just know that I would love to see the evil versions of both Ken and Ryu in SF6 — especially Ken. In SFV we had a character called Kage added to the roster fairly deep into the game’s life, and this character was basically Evil Ryu. However, I and I think many others, weren’t the biggest fans of some of the odd design choices they made for him — specifically the devil horns and the underbite. He just looked kind of weird.

These variations of two of the most popular characters in the franchise always sell well with the players, and I really think it’s time we see them properly implemented in a new game. With Street Fighter 6 seemingly moving forward with the idea of the characters we know and love growing older, perhaps we will see a focus on some of their disciple characters such as Sean for Ken and Sakura for Ryu. Maybe something happens to them and that is what causes Evil Ryu and Violent Ken to resurface — I don’t care how it happens, just give ’em to us!


Who are you hoping to see on the Street Fighter 6 roster, either at launch or added later to the mix? Let us know down in the comments, via the usual social channels or via the Rice Digital Friday Letters Page!

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Conor Evans
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