Street Fighter 6 (Zero Punctuation) 

This week's episode of Zero Punctuation on Diablo IV is now available in Early Access via Patreon and RU-vid Memberships. www.patreon.com/posts/early-access-iv-85255198 We're dropping the video player on the website, along with syncing Zero Punctuation with the rest of our video schedule. Read the full update here: www.escapistmagazine.com/zero-punctuation-dropping-video-player-for-youtube-embeds-same-day-post-zp/

Blanka saying “Strap this to your nuts” while holding a car battery brings me more joy than it has any right to.😂

You know SF6 has accomplished its goals when Yahtzee of all folks can say they had a fine time with the single player content of a fighting game

I feel like Mayor Haggar would mandate all citizens learn to fight after his daughter was kidnapped. Feels like a true motivation.

The sentient fridge thing is NOT A JOKE. In fact, if you look close at the cutscenes of the final tournament, you can see a refrigerator WEARING A HEADBAND AND WALKING ONTO THE STAGE.

"Fighting games are like six year-olds in a playground-they're full of energy and fun to watch, but the moment you try getting your hands on them everyone beats the shit out of you"-could a Zero Punctuation episode begin any better than that?

"More Yakuza and not GTA" Is actually an immensively great thing.

Holy shit, Yahtzee actually praised a fighting game?

"Well I suppose the thing you'll need to do starts with 'G' and ends in 'ind.'" "But I don't want to go blind." Please never lose that beautiful wit, Yahtzee. Also, thank you for meeting the legally required minimum amount of Chun-Li thigh appreciation.

The fact that Capcom managed to produce a fighting game that's not only gotten someone like Yahtzee to give it a go but also to be pretty positive on it speaks volumes about how much they absolutely nailed what they were going for with this game.

4:45 “He chopped my soft ass up like avocado for the summer salad”, amazing

It’s really awesome seeing so many people who don’t enjoy fighting games try, and actually enjoy SF6. It shows the power of having options to make a game more accessible. From what I understand what makes SF6 really impressive is all the depth that hardcore fans enjoy and have been mastering for years.

Honestly, comparing JP with Charles Dance is hilarious, and I’m kind of glad to see a fighting game start to get Yahtzee to develop some goodwill towards the genre, even if it took making a weird Yakuza spinoff to do so.

Actually playing fighting games is much like playing an instrument. You learn what that special move that's best in that nanosecond beforehand, then you practice it over and over again, and then when you land a hit in an actual match, you black out for a couple of seconds only to realize you've successfully pulled your combo off.

"starts with g and ends with ind" And some reason my mind went:"get railed from behind?"

0:55 funny you should mention that because there is a fighting game that does EXACTLY that: Divekick. No complex combos, no insane button mashing, just two button inputs shared amongst the entire cast: One to dive and one to kick. Stripping it down to pure reflexes and strategy. Ironically? It still has the same sort of fun and depth of a standard fighting game.

To be unnecessarily serious for a zero punctuation video is that motion inputs, iirc I heard this first in a core a gaming video, are meant to be a form of learning the moves similar to learning them irl, as in martial arts moves which may be muscle memory for the skilled need to be practiced by the newbies and all that. Like timing reloads in fps, or how to crouch jump or bunny hop.

0:26 Seeing Yahtzee with a Bluey pool floaty as he dips his toe in the water warms my heart.

Finally Yahtzee has made the connection between Souls combat and fighting game combat. Whiff punishing, spacing, all that stuff is common between the two.

I like how with all the comical examples he uses to describe something in a video game the "sentient fridge" bit wasn't a joke at all haha. the enemies i hated the most were the murder roombas

Love to hear a fully single player review of a game that's generally intended to be multiplayer. I'm not being facetious; I mean that I'm glad that some multiplayer games can have a reasonable single player these days.

not that any of your critiques are unfounded, but to provide a different perspective, the purpose of all motion inputs/movement/blocking being mapped to the same stick is very intentional. It’s all ways to express how a specific character controls space. Charge input characters like Guile are the most unsubtle implementation of this, the fact you have to hold down-back to charge your anti-air or projectile moves means guile is given lots of tools when he stays where he is, but in turn sacrifices his ability to move forward and gain ground on an opponent. Equally as important is Ryu’s ability to do a shoryuken while walking, since forward is already the first input for the move you can use it on reaction. But in turn it leaves you open if you whiff or the opponent blocks. The best special moves are all designed this way to make specific characters have risk and reward all unique to them. And really, they aren’t hard to do at all once you have the muscle memory down. It’s not the only way a fighting game should be designed, but it is a very thoughtful way to design these mechanics and definitely still deserves to be around, despite what some people say. As a competitive experience, I do think that street fighter made a mistake by pushing modern controls as the standard, if only because the experience between individual players is now vastly different. and while it does allow for more accessibility at a low level, I do think modern takes away much of the complexity which makes this game fun to watch at high levels of play as there is an entire element of interaction with the mechanics themselves that are just missing. (Just my opinion, I don’t think it’s the end of the world) Anyways, great review, and to anyone looking to get into street fighter, play how you want! We’re glad to have you. Fighting games are a beautiful hobby :)

That tournament part sound like that nightmare scenario in everyone's head that makes people end games with a bunch of top quality consumables saved "for later"

3:31 Lily actually does have a really good command throw so this is hilarious

Yeah I too got the same vibe when I played through World Tour mode, but it was still fun all the same. One of the drawbacks of that mode is the fact that you can't use any special move you want since every move is tied to specific motion imputs like quarter circle forward or quarter circle back. Glad to see SF6 pave the way for more people to get into fighting games. A genre that has long been stigmatized due to all that it asks of you if you wish to put the time in to play them, but have evolved in a way that the skill floor is low enough for more people to not only play , but to get more out of it without affecting the skill ceiling and thereby lowering the bar for the more experienced fighting game fans, but instead raising the skill ceiling to give said skilled fighters and newcomers enough defense and offense options with the Drive Gauge system such as drive parries, drive rushes, drive reversals and Overdrive versions, Or what veterans called EX moves, of your characters' special attacks. All in all, SF6 is a great breath of fresh air for fighting games, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who want's to get into the genre, yet want something to alse ease them into it. Also, the music is top notch.

3:30 she actually does have a Atomic pile driver LOL. people just forget to use it's just as good as zangief's too.

I either laughed harder than I should have at Blanka holding up a car battery saying "Strap this to your nuts" or I laughed exactly the appropriate amount.

Luke's VA is a real great guy! his memes about the game convinced me to buy the game

"if fighting games were invented now, would they still have these complex controls" is a difficult question to answer that hinges on an almost impossible hypothetical. would any genre work the same way if it was invented now? And it's even arguable that if it was, they'd be worse, because they haven't got decades of experience to learn and improve from. I.E. Character Balance in fighting games is far, far, far more understood now than the days of SF2. If the question is that motion controls are simply outdated tradition- I disagree. i think there's a really good reason they've stuck around the way they are. There has to be a difficulty of technique and fumble to doing combos and movement options as a counterbalance against how powerful some of these options are. There was a lot of pre-release talk about modern being potentially broken because of one button command grabs and special uppercut anti-airs. It would be extremely- *extremely* easy to break the game with those, if handled badly. Sure, someone coming from the outside can't see that and that's absolutely fair enough, but once you get to grips with the mechanics, these execution barriers start to make a lot more sense. Besides that- they have made controls easier. You don't tend to see pretzel motions anymore, and pretty much only Zangief has a 720 motion now, and on top of all that, the games have hidden mechanics that make doing a lot of these motions considerably easier. A continued tragedy that it doesn't actually outline it anywhere, though! All that said I think Modern is great. They've made something that can compete comfortably with classic without obviously overpowering it. And I think it's a great way in for newcomers who (understandably) think motions are bullshit. And on top of that, to get the most out of it, it includes a few motion specials buried in, just in case you want to experiment with some better options. I think they did a fantastic job and I welcome anyone to pick up this game whichever way pleases them, because, god damn, i love fighting games and i wish everyone else could see them like i do

As someone who has been playing SF since II was in ar arcades: if you complain you lost because your opponent used modern controls I say this: modern controls aren't the problem you are the problem, you aren't as "gud" at the game as you thought you were.

15 seconds in and fighting games are compared with a pedophile joke. Never change Yahtzee...

1:10 I love the way that everyone talking about Street Fighter 6 forgets that Soul Calibur did exactly that over 20 years ago. I mean, I don't really blame them. It still fell into the same "Press hard to remember button combos in the fraction of a second you have between enemy attacks" trap as every other fighting game. But it did have a universal special move system.

"Can finally enjoy the energy and spectacle of a one-on-one fighter without giving myself tendonitis" Considering I've hurt my hands playing Smash, I wouldn't say you're completely tendonitis free by removing the command inputs

0:48 That's Divekick and it's fun.

Special motions were mostly made so they can have more moves on the buttons they already had, some other modern fighters did away with it, but those had to put the moves on cooldowns or limit them by a mana bar to keep them semi balanced. While again we wouldn't have such unique interactions during projectile wars where someone who can throw out more ⬇️↘️➡️(Hadouken) will always beat a charge motion 🔙➡️(Sonic Boom) at long range, these are the cooldowns meter the modern games use, but you can charge during any action which allows a lot of flexibility.

Yatz that opening joke is one of your riskiest ones yet, glad to see you can still surprise us after all these years.

IMO the world tour mode is a genious idea, to get good at a fighting game mode you need to spend a lot of time practicing and the RPG adventure offering you tons of extrinsic motivation feels like the ultimate way to not make it FEEL like a grind. I'm also firmly in the "do all the moves using the Smash button + direction system" camp, but in my brief encounters with Tekken I've felt that system is also very intuitive. Each face button is assigned to a limb, so you get a feel for how to do any given move just watching the animations and it all feels very fluid and responsive.

There was a game called "Dive Kick" and the only buttons you had were Dive and Kick i don't think you got much in the way of movement either, the goal was to take the entire experience of high level fighting game play and boil it down into far less buttons.

Yahtzee used Lily as the example of a character that can't piledrive Zangief, which is funny because Lily can absolutely piledrive Zangief

Just so people know, some of the mini games in World tour teach you how to do the special move inputs.

Not going to lie, thanks to the modern control mode, accessibility settings, and being well designed...this is the first time I've had any level of interest in Street Fighter above zero.

Hurrah for modern controls. Maybe now it won't feel like my thumbs are about to snap off after playing for 10 minutes.

Let's be honest comment section, the minute you saw Yahtzee and Street Fighter you clicked it like a rabid dog. Not dissing Yahtzee or anything, I just find it cathartic to see him cover the genre's more groundbreaking titles and to see the "souls boss" comparison be made. Though if you're not a fighting game nerd and want to see a "real souls boss" in one on one fighters, try getting to, and beating Omega Rugal in The King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match. If you know you know.

World Tour actually does teach you how to play, but in a more general sense than specific characters. For example, it teaches you about counter hits, how to recognize them, and hives you plenty of practice doing them. That knowledge will transfer over to the multi-player side. Or some enemies will exclusively do jump attacks, teaching you how to anti-air. It teaches by presenting situations, and you figuring out how to deal with them. I tanked my placement matches for online to get the worst rank I could to see what skill lvl people were at, and I think it's paid off. Cause the people at the lowest lvl are at a higher lvl than the lowest of other fighting games.

I wrote this in response to another comment, but I'll just leave it here too as some advice for anyone else interested in getting started with fighting games. It's difficult to get into the rhythm of seeking out good information but getting somewhere with fighting games is really a community effort. Most fighting game tutorials suck, they've been getting better in recent years, but still leave a lot to be desired, so community-made content is the main way people figure out what they're doing. How people did it in the arcade days before RU-vid guides and comprehensive wikis I'll never know, but some of the best places to start today are Core-A Gaming's videos in fighting games, lots of nice beginner-friendl content that can get people interested in the scene. Sajam's videos focused on learning fighting games are great too (he gets into the mentality and learning process a lot,) Brian_F is a Street Fighter player who has made a lot of videos documenting how he leans things and explaining basic concepts to new players, and there's a video published by Polygon called 'How to get started with Fighting Games and have a Nice Time' that I recommend. All of these are great resources! Lots to learn, it is a real time investment, but there's no rush and if you find that it's just too much that's cool too, as long as you pick up the basics and apply them you should be able to hold your own in low ranks. Many fighting games these days have some kind of comprehensive wiki detailing the properties of every character's moves, and in-game learning tools and documentation are always getting better. Maybe give it a shot! :)

I'm glad you liked Street Fighter 6. I wasn't interested at first and I still have no incentive to try it but after watching a friend stream it, where I learned it was bonkers--like if it took place in a universe where every Jean Claude and Steven Segal movie was actually happening --I came to respect it for subverting my expectations in a big way.

The beginning of the video is a little off, becuase during first one or two months after new fighting game comes out, it has plenty of new players, so it's not painful to play. but yea, if you're trying to jump into existing game past 6 months period, most new people either got gud or left.

Execution barriers are just considered cool. Games still include "skillchecks" nowadays. The eternal question of "should the sweats beat casuals" has no resolution, in part because the sweats beat casuals in a casual-friendly game too, because there are things that you cannot make easier, like strategy, and in part because there is a limit on how easy you can make the game for it to still be "cool" enough to attract players.

the first minute and a half are a scrubquotes goldmine

They specifically called it 'modern mode' because any time fighting games have had a control mode with the words 'easy' or 'simple' in it, it was immediately shat on.

I picked up Street Fighter 2 on the GBA when I was a kid, and Ryu was the only character I played because I struggled to memorize more than one set of inputs and his moves were the ones I could pull off the most consistently.

In defense of old school fighting game controls: Difficulty as its own purpose aside, there are some advantages to it, or rather, specifically you can have a much more varied moveset without having to equip or unequip only a small few of them. And while it does make it harder to actually keep them in mind, theoretically, at least in higher level play, you're not so much supposed to memorize them as you are suppose to engrave them in your muscle memory: You are not supposed to think: "I want to do X move, for that I gotta to do these inputs", but more so that the concept of "X move" should have your fingers already doing the movements, much like the much more complex movements of walking, riding a bike, or having more physical coordination than a newborn in any way. You don't think: "I gotta fire this whole bunch of muscles to rise my right leg, while firming up my left leg, and then quickly using a whole other set of muscles to lower it back again before I fall, then repeat it quickly in constant succession, and not fail even once", you just walk. So the complexity is not quite supposed to be an obstacle to experienced players. But yes, that does mean that, well, the barrier of entry is very high, and it's entirely understandable and reasonable that a lot of people won't like that and prefer a simplified control scheme, even if that does have its own drawbacks in turn. And while there is space for both, and that it's quite reasonable to make tournaments exclusively use one or the other control scheme, anyone who seriously judges others for preferring the simpler set of controls is an elitist ass. Perhaps think of the complex set of controls as writing code in Vim: A very powerful set of tools if you go through the trouble of learning how to do it, but very complex and taking effort beyond what the vast majority of people want to put into messing with whatever it deals with. And people who insist that everyone should use it are generally assholes.

Me: "Eh, as much as I appreciate the simplified controls, the series never really appealed to me as a fighting game" Yahtzee: "...full of larger-than-life characters, especially in the thigh region, to appreciate" Me: "...I'll think about it though"

You can really tell that Gabe has worn Yahtzee down over the years.

That opening caught and comboed me so hard I had to pause and admire it!

I like the comparison to the MOBAs. But the only difference is Fighting Game players actually encourage you to get better, while MOBA players curse you out for not being in the right Lane.

That opening made me actually laugh out loud. Startled the cat. Keep up the good work.

Man there were some absolute *zingers* in this episode. Had to replay the start because that playground joke had me cackling. Yahtz is such a treasure (and warrior poet) ❤

It’s ironic he referenced the one little school girl character that can throw people around like sacks of potatoes.

Might want to update that description and take out the "Want to see the next episode a week early?" line

1:34 Wow, Cody's really done well for himself since he was elected Mayor. I'm happy for him, I was legit worried his term in the office was gonna end horribly.

Street fighter has even more literal fighting in the streets. What a day to be alive.

If you'd like to enjoy the depth of fighting games without memorizing and grinding combos try YOMI hustle, its a turn based fighting game featuring stick men.

4:33 I first thought Falke Then I realized it was AN ACTUAL GUN

Great video! Long time fighting game player here, I'm glad SF6 is doing more to help casual players have fun with the game. I think they're doing a great job of appealing to both parties. Classic controls and combos are just too central to competitive play to ever fully do away with. It's also just way too much fun once you get the hang of it! But modern is a great compromise, and ultimately I just want more people to have fun with my favorite genre.

I really liked the late game of world tour it was the only point where enemies felt actually threatening and the final boss (box head) was really fun since you had to figure out on the fly what to do about that one crazy attack. It was like a puzzle where you each part has a specific counter. Reminds me a lot of punch out.

Seems like people dont understand 80% of fighting game players are terrible at the game too. doesn't matter how bad you are, just play ranked and you will be placed with thousands of other terrible players.

I think there's a mention to be made at the Battle Hub, which is basically what the Zucc wanted for Meta but where there'd be crypto there's cabinets. Plus, the training mode is the best of any fighting game out there, it actually has quick setups to train specific stuff, the online is amazing (besides the matchmsking) and the tutorials are great, every character has a specific guide and the combo trials instead of being useless frame perfect stuff that is hard to apply in game they are actually useful confirms.

My experience is a variation of the kids on the playground full of energy. I see a game like MK, Tekken or Street Fighter and tell myself this is the time i really gonna enjoy the game and end up being a master. 5 hours later im bored and i have receded into button mashing, where my character stands in one place doing something that looks a like a kick.

1:00 So the point of motion inputs is actual vital to the strategy and learning curve of fighting games. More complex inputs allow a character to have more “character” for lack of a better term. They make it so that no single button or special is a swiss army knife and you have to learn your specific character’s quirks to be a better player. Charge inputs make it so certain moves can’t be done on reaction and require a certain amount of investment which uses your cost benefit analysid. Or certain inputs require you to be moving forward which disable blocking for the time meaning it is a risk you have to take to use a better attack. Motion inputs also feed into reaction times, making stronger options risked inherently as you have to be in the proper position and spacing to use them effectively. This is what makes big heavy grounded characters feel so heavy and powerful or what makes grapplers so satisfying to play well. Simple inputs may be more welcoming but they remove a substantial part of the game feel and strategy that we like them for.

That Chun Li bit at 3:50 was hilarious

0:12 Yahtzee’s still got it 😂

There aren't enough buttons on a controller for all the things an interesting character can do to be executed with simple inputs... or maybe no one's trying hard enough.

That end credit comic was fantastic. Thanks for the laugh.

4:51 - Did Yahtzee just discover what the final boss of EVERY SF game is like? Oh, but normally opening a bike lock while bending over.

Between this and Stephanie Sterling's review I may have to give this a try. I've wanted to get into fighting games, but couldn't wrap my head around the various button combos for single moves.

Poor Yahtz, he was getting confident right before the end. 😂

Not sure if it was intentional, but I like that Yahtzee chose the one schoolgirl in the cast that actually can do a giant spinning pile driver sort of attack.

The tiny willowy schoolgirl he mentioned at 3:30 is literally a grappler who can do a massive piledriver. Not a real critique but quite amusing choice of character

The beginning I start of this is so true. I have played so many Mortal Kombat games and rinsed characters to get to that final boss just to have it throw everything i dished out from the previous fights back at me like black panther’s armor.

I think this is the most I've ever heard Yahtzee compliment a game. Going to watch again to make sure it wasn't a fever dream.

Ah yes, the refrigerator enemies. At one point (spoiler-free) there's a tournament going on, and they show the fighters slowing walking to the arena, and one of them was a freaking fridge with the Ryu color-scheme amongst them. I laughed so hard :D But honestly, this is one game where the grind is actually fun. I just went around challenging everyone and by the time I've noticed I was level 23 on the first mission, right after they tell you that you can beat up people in the streets. Or street fight them.

@0:26 I like that Yatzee has a Bluey themed pool toy.

4:04 I'm genuinely impressed at the ability to have "confusing to navigate area" and "most areas are a single room" in the same game.

The Lily can't do grabs joke had serious "Tell me you've never tried Lily without telling me you've never tried Lily." energy.

02:24 The joke about Luke being Ken and Guile's shameful bastard child is even funnier both because they're brother-in-laws *and* because all three are currently thought to be the best in the game. Apple doesn't fall far from the tree I guess.

"THe thing you need to do starts with G and ends with ind" to "Go blIND" is insane, i love it, that was so good.

Special move motion inputs are fun and easy, and allow for characters to have more specials than 1 button mapping permits

The fridge should be a playable fighter. I want to play as a killer fridge.

I love modern controls. I have never been able to combo into mashing moves like Blanka's electricity or Honda's hundred hand slaps.

0:43 I recommend Your Only Move Is Hustle for those who want to hace a fighting game that plays like a chess match. It's good!

A lot of people struggle with the fridges in World Tour. They do have weaknesses, particularly when they are attacking. That second-to-last encounter I found real tough also. I didn't get time to learn his weaknesses, cause I found out you could jump the first attack, block the rest, then impact his last attack for an opening to attack. The final boss didn't give me as much trouble. Possibly because I spent some time online and fought a few people playing as them. Drive Impact seemed pretty effectice against him, however. I found World Tour good for learning fundamentals, but it is confusing changing between modes. It's analogous to learning a different characters move-set, because you are.

You accurately described my experience with fighting games all within the first seconds of the video! It's like, "if you're not already good, you might as well not play at all."

Just call the simplified move system what it is " Smash Bros with an extra button but less specialization" mode. Smash Bros made fighting games accessible to everyone and boiled being good down to knowing what every character can do, knowing the best way to make moves flow, knowing when and how to dodge, and finding characters you like using. Also wave dashing to break out of getting smashed.

lol glad u liked it man. we should have an escapist private lobby or battle hub meetup sometime during a stream or something and casually play multiplayer together as the audience and escapist employees

Honestly, inbetween this and Jim Sterling's review I really should check this out. I'm to fighting games what most people are to football: I try just hard enough that I can delude myself into being good right up until I go up against a actual opponent that knows what they are doing. So, while I don't consider myself a total noob I do freely admit both the single player and modern mode do sound like pretty pleasant additions to stroke that pretense.

We actually had this discourse already. Fighting game move inputs aren't just trying to be difficult for difficulty's sake, or to exclude people, they are what they are for a reason. The input is part of what balances the move, and making that move a single button press is a MASSIVE buff to the move.

I've been a big fighting game fan and zero punctuation fan for a long time now, I'm glad to see that this game was able to crack through the barrier with him a little bit. There is a lot of simple stuff that world tour still doesn't teach you, like if you don't want to take a big risk to stop a throw you can either throw yourself or jump out. It is just like a souls game with PVP at the end of the day, and with that in mind I feel like a lot more people would enjoy them if they had a better onboarding experience. If you ever wanted a coach Yahtz I'm your man. I could at least teach you some of the bread and butter concepts of the genre that might help you review them with a more robust understanding.

4:45 and a new line for my book of Yathzee quotes

"Uncle's Kentucky Fried Harp Seal." sounds like something the announcer from Marvel Super Heroes VS. Street Fighter would say via a hyper combo finish. I love it! 😂