It’s hard to believe it, but Street Fighter 6 is two years old. I vividly remember the lead-up to launch, spending dozens of hours inside World Tour to build up my character, and even duking it out in Battle Hub. The game initially launched with 18 characters, which, while all fun to play, was a key factor in my loss of interest after a few months. Fast forward to the present, and Capcom has added eight characters across the first two years of DLC, and we’re already in Year 3.
While Street Fighter 6 was playable on Steam Deck at launch, the game skipped Nintendo Switch, the biggest portable console user base out there. That has been rectified with the Nintendo Switch 2, with Capcom now bringing its fighting game giant with over 5 million copies sold to the portable console. Street Fighter 6: Years 1-2 Fighters Edition packs in the full game and both Year 1 and 2 DLC Character Passes, which include an additional eight characters and four stages.
I was confident that Street Fighter 6 would be an absolute treat on Switch 2, thanks to the hardware’s DLSS capability and 12GB of RAM. After spending well over a dozen hours with the port, I’m thankful to have been proven right, as Street Fighter 6 is nearly flawless on Nintendo Switch 2. If you wanted to play in a tournament with the system, you probably could.
A Premium Fighting Game Experience
Street Fighter 6: Years 1-2 Fighters Edition features a total of 26 different playable characters, with each offering a vastly different moveset. For Switch owners who might have only experienced the series with Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, this is an almost indescribable upgrade and change. Learning each character requires patience, time, and skill, but the rewards for getting good are like no other.
As soon as you boot up the game, you’ll have the option to choose between its three main modes: World Tour, Battle Hub, and Fighting Ground. Each has a lot to offer, especially for players who never jumped into Street Fighter 6 before. If you’re aiming to get the most out of a single-player experience, World Tour is the best place to start.
World Tour has you create your own character and enter the world of Metro City for yourself. This character creator is very impressive, with almost infinite possibilities on who you can create — Kratos, Geralt, or even Noctis. You can engage and learn with some of the series’ most iconic characters, like Chun-Li, which will allow you to level up your own abilities of your character. There is a story to be found with this offline mode, as you can speak with each character and learn a little insight into their life inside the world of Street Fighter. These are seriously a treat, with Terry Bogard’s World Tour content, for example, filled with all kinds of nods to SNK.
I find this a great mode to start with, as it is perfect for bringing new players into Street Fighter 6 by easing them into the controls and various abilities. Plus, it’s the perfect opportunity to find a main — finish each character’s story and see which one you like best! There is so much to discover, even as a longtime Street Fighter fan, and it really does feel like a wild RPG that veers into all kinds of fun directions at times.
The next mode, Battle Hub, is the ultimate social mode for Street Fighter 6. You can join servers from anywhere in the world, and once you’re in, you can jump into a match in any arcade cabinet against a real-time challenger. Battle Hub features numerous customization and social interaction options, including friending other players, jumping into tournaments, and much more. I found myself here during most of my time with Street Fighter 6 on both PS5 and Switch 2.
Finally, Fighting Ground is the Street Fighter experience you’ve come to expect. There’s Arcade, Versus, Ranked, Combo Trials, Training, and so much more. Exclusive to the Nintendo Switch 2 version of the game are two modes inside Fighting Ground: Gyro Battle and Calorie Contest. While these modes did not feel substantial whatsoever, I appreciate Capcom at least packing in something extra. Gyro Battle has you moving and attacking with the gyro controls on a single horizontal Joy-Con 2. On the other hand, Calorie Counter has you shake your Joy-Con 2 controller as hard as you can to fill up your meter first and burn calories the fastest. I would not expect anything more than a mode you may check out once or twice for fun, but it’s exclusive content nonetheless.
Flawless 60FPS Performance Where It Matters
Performance is arguably the most important aspect of any fighting game, as a consistent frame rate is key to timing inputs and winning against opponents. While many doubted the Nintendo Switch 2, Capcom has Street Fighter 6 running at a perfect 60FPS. I did not once experience any dips in Fighting Ground or any matches online, which is essential for any potential player.
Resolution is also strong, with a clear image that looks very nice on the Switch 2. Texture quality looks better than Xbox Series S in many instances, thanks to the DLSS upscaling technology utilized by Capcom. While the game absolutely has prettier textures, effects, and characters on PS5, Xbox Series X, or PC, the compromise on Switch 2 is barely an issue, especially since Capcom prioritized and achieved a locked 60FPS frame rate.
Unfortunately, while the game is essentially flawless in Fighting Ground, there is one major compromise for the World Tour and Battle Hub modes. The frame rate is uncapped, ranging from the low 40s to 60FPS, when running around the world. This isn’t much of an issue for Battle Hub in particular, as the frame rate locks to 60 as soon as you enter a match with another player, but the same cannot be said for World Tour — Capcom has locked the frame rate to 30FPS when in battle. While this is a little disappointing, it’s absolutely the right decision. World Tour battles, while better at 60FPS, don’t necessarily need it. It’s also worth mentioning that the 30FPS cap is right in line with the PlayStation 4 version of the game.
A Must-Buy Game for Any Fighting Game Fan
At a price of $59.99, this is an offering I highly recommend, especially considering the fact that Street Fighter 6 has many years of life left to go. This is a game that people will be playing through the end of the Switch 2’s life, and hopping in with all content up to Year 3 is quite appealing. The available modes are all a joy to play, and the flawless performance online is incredibly enticing for anyone looking to get a few matches in on the go.
I fell off of Street Fighter 6 quite a bit between the release of Akuma, only to come back and play a good 20 hours for Mai Shiranui. While I hadn’t touched the game since, the Nintendo Switch 2 release has been exactly what I needed to spend more time in one of 2023’s best games.
This is the same Street Fighter 6 experience you can get on either PC or console, and that’s everything anyone could ask for in a game like this. I hope that Street Fighter 6 marks the beginning of a fighting game surge on Switch 2. Sure, it’s never going to be my main platform, but the ability to take these massive games on the go is unbeatable.
Disclaimer: Capcom provided a Nintendo Switch 2 copy of Street Fighter 6: Years 1-2 Fighters Edition for review purposes.
