Street Fighter 6finally concluded its first season of DLC with the recent release of Akuma. Now, at the recent 2024 Summer Games Fest, Capcom released a trailer showcasing the roster for the second season of DLC.Street Fighter 6receiving more DLC was an exciting enough announcement on its own, but the roster of characters announced for it is truly unprecedented.
Street Fighter 6’s Season 2 DLC features two returning characters, M. Bison and Elena. As one of the resident main villains and the game’s first character representingStreet Fighter 3respectively, these two could have generated plenty of buzz by themselves in any other season. Instead, they were upstaged by a completely unprecedented move: the inclusion of guest characters inStreet Fighter.
Fatal Fury’s Flagship Characters Become Street Fighter’s First-Ever Guest Characters
Guest Characters in Street Fighter Are Completely Unheard Of
Street Fighteris sometimes seen as the grandfather of all fighting games. It’s a series with a lot of history, so it’s no surprise how many timesStreet Fighterhas lent its characters to other games. From in-house productions likeMarvel vs. CapcomorMonster Hunter, to truecrossover fanfare likeSuper Smash Bros., the World Warriors have made plenty of trips outside their home turf. However, they have never played host to another series, until now.
The closest thing to guest charactersStreet Fighterhas ever had is the inclusion of characters from series likeFinal FightandRival Schools. However, these inclusions are not on the same scale at all. After all, they are still Capcom properties that both exist as a definitiveshared universe withStreet Fighter. Likewise, characters such as Cody and Sakura have become so synonymous with their appearances inStreet Fighterthat they’re hardly considered to be crossing over anymore.
The Shared History of Street Fighter and Fatal Fury
Terry and Mai’s introduction toStreet Fighter 6may have come as a shock, but it has been a long time coming in many ways. There arefew publishers that share as much history with Capcom as SNK does. The two began as rivals thanks to their shared role as arcade fighting game developers, with rumors of bickering between executives fueling the feud.
Of course, this rivalry didn’t have bitter undertones forever. Capcom and SNK began a feedback loop between each other with homages of everything from characters to game mechanics. Rivalry turned to reverence, and ultimately culminated in the crossover fighterCapcom vs. SNK, akaSNK vs. Capcom.
Capcom vs. SNKwas a dream come true for fans of both franchises, which allowed playground arguments to play out in real time. Likewise, it was a huge step in the relationship between publishers, which left the question of guest characters hanging in the air. With that question finally answered, it is clear to see how thismajor crossover series paved the way forStreet Fighterto finally receive its first guest character.
Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui Blaze Their Way into Street Fighter 6
TheSummer Game Fest traileropened with the flagship fighters ofStreet Fighter 6, Luke and Jamie, going a round in a fighting game of their own. After a brief tease to the audience, the young fighters are interrupted by Terry Bogard himself. Terry Bogard is toFatal FuryandKing of Fightersas Ryu is toStreet Fighter. With so much ofStreet Fighter 6involving the passing of the torch, it’s no surprise that Terry’s first action as a playable character in the series is to meet with Ryu’s successor as the game’s flagship fighter.
While Ryu may have been the face ofStreet Fighterfor a long time, few characters have as much recognition in the genre as Chun-Li; SNK has its own flagship female fighter in Mai Shiranui. The two have even been posed as rivals in previous joint appearances, such as inCapcom vs. SNK. Hopefully, these established relationships carry over intoStreet Fighter 6’s World Tour mode.
Terry and Mai are without a doubt themost popular characters fromFatal Fury. This makes it no large surprise that they are the first to represent their home franchise, perhaps leaving the door open for others to follow.
Fatal Fury is Just the Beginning for Street Fighter Guest Characters
Though the inclusion of a crossover character of any sort is completely unprecedented, it’s no surprise thatFatal Furywould claim the first two spots representing another series. Now that this door has been thrown wide open, it’s only a matter of time before more guest characters find their way intoStreet Fighter.
There are many potential candidates for another guest character inStreet Fighter. As the grandfather of fighting games, the series has a long enough history to mine all sorts of material from. However, in terms of recent crossovers, there may be no better candidate thanTekken.Akuma’s appearance inTekken 7made waves, so maybe it’s time for Bandai’s biggest fighting game to return the favor.
Other popular fighting games likeMortal KombatandGuilty Gearhave a shot, but it’s likely that Capcom will continue to play in the territory it is most familiar with. This means it’s not unlikely thatStreet Fightermay simply reach for more SNK characters, such as Geese Howard, Rock Howard, or Kula Diamond. Whatever the route Capcom chooses to take, future guest characters will have to compete with fighters native to the series if they want a spot inStreet Fighter’s future DLC.
Street Fighter DLC Now Has Limitless Possibility & Plenty of Excitement
Calling the appearance of Terry and Mai inStreet Fightera huge leap forward for the series would be a severe understatement. While it may have been a pipe dream mere weeks ago, the road to this crossover is now clear.Fatal FuryandStreet Fightercrossing over in such a definitive way is simply the culmination of a decades-long relationship. Year 2 ofStreet Fighter 6’s DLC could pave the way for this relationship to grow even further, or perhaps allow Capcom to form these deep relationships with even more developers.
Street Fighter 6
WHERE TO PLAY
Play legendary masters and new fan favorites like Ryu, Chun-Li, Luke, Jamie, Kimberly and more in this latest edition with each character featuring striking new redesigns and exhilarating cinematic specials.Dominate the Fighting Ground: Street Fighter 6 offers a highly evolved combat system with three control types - Classic, Modern and Dynamic - allowing you to quickly play to your skill level.The new Real Time Commentary Feature adds all the hype of a competitive match as well as easy-to-understand explanations about your gameplay. The Drive Gauge is a new system to manage your resources. Use it wisely to claim victory.Explore the Streets in World Tour: Discover the meaning of strength in World Tour, an immersive, single-player story mode. Take your avatar and explore Metro City and beyond. Meet Masters who will take you under their wing and teach you their style and techniques.Seek Rivals in the Battle Hub: The Battle Hub represents a core mode of Street Fighter 6 where players can gather and communicate, and become stronger together. Use the avatar you create in World Tour to check out cabinets on the Battle Hub floor and play against other players, or head over to the Game Center to enjoy some of Capcom’s classic arcade games.
