Street Fighter 6 Review (PS5) | Push Square

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Capcom saw your Street Fighter 5 complaints and threw the kitchen sink at its vastly superior successor. Street Fighter 6 is a live service game that will grow and expand over the course of the entire generation, but those anticipating a light, half-hearted effort at launch will find one of the most robust, feature-rich fighters of all time. This is an exceptional package that even takes the time to try and onboard newcomers, and while a few minor issues prevent it from securing an unexpected Perfect, it comes about as close to a Flawless Victory as fans could have possibly hoped for.

First, though, the follow-up would be nothing without a robust gameplay system to wrap its karate belt around – and that’s where Drive Impact enters the arena. This powerful paint smeared special move can be used by all 18 characters in the launch day roster, and will break through blocks and a maximum of four counter-attacks at the expense of using up a slice of the Drive Gauge. This, specifically, can be used to punish opponents caught in the corner, and when it connects, will open up your rival to supreme punishment – assuming you have your chosen character’s combos memorised, of course.

That said, it can easily be countered with a simple throw or by using the Drive Parry, which again draws from the Drive Gauge but actually replenishes some of the all-important resource when timed perfectly. Parries can be followed by Drive Rushes or Drive Reversals, which enable you to effectively turn the tables on your opponents when you successfully anticipate their attacks, adding to the mind games that already make the series so compelling. Backed up into the corner, for example? Well, a Drive Impact’s probably coming – but trying to predict when