Since completing Street Fighter 6’s World Tour story almost two years ago, and over the course of revisiting the game when new characters have been released, a singular thought has been percolating:

Could I play and enjoy this game using its new “modern” control scheme?

The “and enjoy” part is key, because there were moments during my initial World Tour playthrough that I switched over to modern controls, primarily to help finish challenges (I will always and forever be terrible at supers). During those times, using the game’s modern controls was just a means to an end; I didn’t see any point to using that control scheme generally. All that flipped a few weeks ago when, after leveling up my original avatar with the newest added fighter, Elena, I impetuously deleted her and decided to start the World Tour over. This time, I’d do it using only modern controls, from start to finish. So goodbye, Petra and all those classic quarter-turn/half-turn/full-turn button presses; hello, Skye and…uh, simpler inputs?

Indeed, I had forgotten exactly what entailed SF6’s modern controls, but I was quickly introduced to them during the tutorial. (The World Tour starts out with only modern controls assigned, and players can switch over to classic mode once they’ve completed it.) Individual light, medium, and hard attacks are attached to different buttons as usual (square, circle, cross on the PS), but unique attacks – the fighter-specific projectiles, charges, feints, special throws, etc. – and super attacks – big, flashy, fighter-specific combos –  are mapped to just one button (triangle), or two buttons pressed together (triangle+circle), with or without the addition of a simultaneous hit on the d-pad/analog stick (left, right, or down).  As an example, a unique projectile move might be classically assigned to a d-pad quarter-turn plus punch button. In the modern scheme, the same move is now be assigned to the much simpler input of left d-pad plus triangle. Supers are even more simple, requiring in the modern scheme only a d-pad press with triangle+circle. In the classic scheme, supers require, for the most part, two precisely timed d-pad quarter turns in a certain direction plus a precise button input.

Is that to say SF6’s modern control scheme is imprecise? Not necessarily. Decent timing is still required to pull off unique attacks, even with only a couple buttons in play. The fact that you’ll always pull off a unique move in neutral stance (if you miss the d-pad input) is something of a safety net, but of course you’d need that move to land to make any difference. And the thing of it is that the modern controls don’t replace the classic controls. Instead, they overlay certain move sets of the classic scheme. Though this limits the number of unique moves you can assign to a character (because they are tuned to directionality on the d-pad), frankly, it’s ingenious. The option to input classic actions is always there, but you can use modern controls for some moves when you want too.  

One other major change that comes with modern controls in SF6 is assisted combos. With the game’s classic controls, combos are performed by chaining together different moves. In the modern control scheme, three different combo sets can be performed by holding down the right trigger button while mashing an attack button, square, circle, or cross. If, by chance, you happen to hit the unique move button (triangle) while holding down the right trigger, you’ll perform an Overdrive Art, essentially a beefed-up unique attack. With the right timing, it’s easy enough to link assisted combos and Overdrive Arts to dole out some decent damage, though both, and particularly the latter, use up your avatar’s drive gauge, which is needed to perform other special moves, like drive impacts, parries, reversals, and rushes. Use up your drive gauge, and you end up in burnout mode, without access to any special moves until it fills back up again.

So, this is all well and good. SF6’s modern control scheme is simple to utilize, serves only as an option to but not a replacement for classic controls, and provides good opportunities for fun, flashy combos that make SF what it is. But, to my whole reason for doing the World Tour all over again, is it fun and enjoyable?

Obviously, the answer is completely subjective. Though I’ve played many a Street Fighter game, I’ve never risen much above mediocre. A lot of that has to do with the fact that I tend to get in my own way when playing. Rather than react appropriately to my opponent, I get hung up on wanting perform special moves and combos, which I know I can hardly pull off anyway. But I keep trying desperately, and then my character’s on the floor. For a long time, I saw this as me simply having fun with a fighting game; obtaining mastery wasn’t a goal. SF6’s World Tour flipped the script with “mastery” as a primary goal, obtaining such for an avatar and with every fighter’s style, too. Granted, its RPG-ish elements go a long way in making the path to that goal easier, but all the energy drinks in the world could never help me become a better Street Fighter player. With my original World Tour avatar using classic controls, I felt like to had to work pretty darn hard to max level her and all the masters.

With my new World Tour avatar and modern controls, well, I’ll admit that I’m astonished at how much more casual the game feels. It’s all because of the controls, which I have enjoyed using. I like that now I can do lots of big, screen-filling moves with simpler inputs. I like that I’m not dreading tough battles and am instead welcoming the experiences. I like that I can play for longer sessions because my hands don’t tire out so quickly. And I like that my avatar is making good progress on the journey to level 100.

If you’re sensing a “but” coming here, yeah, you’re right…

I have enjoyed using the modern controls, yes, but…how do I put this…using them makes the game, the World Tour specifically, feel more like a beat ‘em up than a fighting game. In sticking solely to modern controls, I’m essentially forced to accept moves and combos that are both limited and preset, much like the way things are in beat ‘em up games. You push buttons, eliminate enemies, and move onto the next stage. You perform and react rather than dictate the flow of battle. That lack of control is the missing element with the modern controls. I’m far from a good Street Fighter player but using the modern control scheme makes it feel like I’m not playing a Street Fighter game. Maybe I’ll change my tune by the time I again finish the World Tour, but for now, I can certainly accept that it is an awful lot of fun to pull off moves that have long been out of reach.

Lede image captured by author during PlayStation 5 gameplay of Street Fighter 6 (© Sony, Capcom).