Street Fighter 6 is worth it for the brilliant new campaign alone

theverge.com:

It’s been clear to me over the last week or so that my hands are just too old for fighting games. Contorting my fingers into a claw to pull off a special move or combo has been a painful reminder of my age — and yet, I can’t stop playing Street Fighter 6.

Part of that has to do with the classic gameplay, with so much tactical variety depending on which fighter you master. Part of it has to do with how slick this game is, with stylish effects punctuating each big move, and a cast of characters that are eclectic, lively, and full of personality. But mostly, it’s because of a new single-player mode that turns Street Fighter into Yakuza. It’s extremely weird, but also the perfect introduction to this often daunting world of fireballs and hurricane kicks.

At its very core, Street Fighter 6 doesn’t change much about the minute-to-minute action of a Street Fighter game. It’s still a 2D fighter with a big cast of characters (18 at launch), including mainstays like (hot) Ryu, Dhalsim, and Chun-Li, who are joined by some great newcomers like the colorful hacker Kimberly, the drunken Jamie, and the towering Marisa (who feels like a direct response to the, uh, response to Lady Dimitrescu). As always, each has their own pros and cons; Kimberly is fast but weak, while Marisa is strong and has range, but moves slowly. There are special moves to master, power gauges to understand, and the realization that, yes, you eventually have to master blocking if you want to get anywhere.

In that way, Street Fighter 6 feels like a refined version of its predecessors, but one that is much more approachable thanks to a new “modern” control scheme. Essentially, it streamlines the number of inputs required to, say, toss a fireball as Ryu. It’s