If you ask me, Street Fighter 6 is the best game in the Nintendo Switch 2's roster of launch ports. But being an incredible game doesn't necessarily mean it'll transfer well to being a good fit for the Switch; as we saw a fair few times during the life of the original Switch. And if that original Switch taught me anything, it's not especially great for fighting games, due to the Joy-Con's lack of a d-pad and the Pro Controller's d-pad – which was perhaps the mushiest d-pad ever conceived for an official controller. But after spending 10 more hours with Street Fighter 6 on Switch 2, the successor console may finally be fit to fight.
Is this the ideal way to play Street Fighter 6? Probably not. If you have a PS5 or PC, you're probably better suited to going with one of those versions if you're looking to buy just one copy of Street Fighter 6. But, as an additive to one of this decade's best fighting games, it's a great little gem to have for playing a quick round away from your TV. Granted, the full potential of having a companion version isn't quite as nice as something like Fortnite or Cyberpunk 2077, where you can continue your progress across consoles, but it's nice for brushing up on things.
On its own, the fighting feels as great as ever; the actual battles run at a solid 60fps and it looks real good for being a handheld game. The issues that Street Fighter 6 has are still present in this version, like an overabundance of SF2 characters and that zoning bastard JP making for the weakest roster in a while (although Terry, Mai, Elena, and the upcoming Season 3 cast remedy this somewhat).
Shake, Waggle, and Roll
Street Fighter 6 review: "Arguably the best overall fighting game package ever made"
The biggest letdown is actually in the World Tour mode. Street Fighter 6's story mode was effectively a Yakuza game where you travel around the world learning the ropes from the greatest fighters while buffing your character to the next level.
It's a great idea and would perfectly suit the handheld form, but unfortunately it's locked at 30fps, and is the roughest-looking part of the experience. Locked to 30fps in the overworld would be fine, but when it gets to the battles, the game feels rough, especially if you've just played the silky-smooth regular battles.
Then there are the Switch 2 exclusive modes. The gist of these is that you're going to want to waggle a Joy-Con to control the battle. This is just a party game mode thrown in to give the Switch 2 something extra, but it doesn't even feel that good as a party game compared to throwing on the game's pre-existing Modern or Dynamic control schemes, which are fit for new players.
Plus, it's way less elaborate than that weird first-person mode they had in Ultra Street Fighter 2 on the original Switch (yes, that mode was awful, but it was something different!).
Pros and Cons
Take yourself back to a couple of minutes ago when I wrote off the original Switch Pro Controller's d-pad. While the Pro Controller 2 may look like it's doing absolutely nothing new, it changed itself in the right way – that d-pad feels good to use.
In Street Fighter 6, I play Zangief, who – for those who don't know – has specials that require you to do a full 360 motion and hit a button to execute (or a 720 in his super's case). Doing this on the Switch 1's Pro Controller, which ranged from hitting misinputs or just being generally mediocre, felt nigh-impossible. With the new one I'm hitting them like nobody's business. Also, I can map my EX Spinning Lariat to one of the back buttons, which hits different in ways I can't explain.
This alone cemented to me that being the jackass who spent THAT much money on a Switch 2 Pro Controller when I already own many (I'm not saying how many) of the original console's ones, which work on the Switch 2, was actually the right choice.
That being said, controls aren't perfect either. Obviously the handheld mode Switch itself still has that lack of a d-pad, meaning that doing those pesky fighting game inputs can be a pain (I manage, but I'm definitely losing because of that and not due to my lack of actual fighting game skill).
Plus, Drive Impact – one of Street Fighter 6's most crucial moves – is a bit more awkward to pull off due to how small the R and ZR buttons are, which isn't the greatest feeling when you need to use them to quickly react. But granted, if you're taking Street Fighter 6 seriously, you probably won't be playing with the Joy-Cons (although I'm sure someone will win a tourney with them this year).
At the end of the day, having a solid version of the best fighting game of this generation, one you can take around and pop out at any time, is a good enough bonus as is. That's what made the Switch so great in the first place, and it's what will make the Switch 2 great for years to come.
Looking for something to play on Nintendo's new-gen console? Check out our pick of the best Switch 2 games.
