While Ed is next in queue for Street Fighter 6 DLC he’s widely eclipsed at this moment as the fighter en route after him is one of the franchise’s brightest stars: Akuma.
The thing about Akuma? He’s been one of, if not the absolute, strongest in just about every fighting game (Street Fighter and beyond) he’s been in. On the latest episode of Talk and Block Catalyst and I consider the character’s traditionally and exceptionally powerful tool kit, and how it may fare in the context of Street Fighter 6.
Akuma was first imagined by developers not as a balanced addition to a Street Fighter roster but as an intentionally overpowered final boss of Street Fighter 2, only accessible to those who had mastered the game to the point of being able to complete it both under a specific time limit and without losing rounds.
He was designed to have the same kinds of attacks as the game’s most fundamental archetype, (shotos) but his versions of fireballs, uppercuts and hurricane kicks were all blatantly better than Ryu or Ken’s, sometimes in more than one way.
In addition to having better versions of established moves, Akuma also got a teleport, the Raging Demon super, and (in second appearance via the Alpha games) the Demon Flip (which equates to being 4-5 moves in one).
Over the years the character has maintained this “final boss” kind of air about him despite becoming one of the routine cast members, and has not only enjoyed the general benefits of his aforementioned tool kit but also unique benefits from most Street Fighters’ particular, game-defining mechanics.
In Street Fighter 4, for instance, when FADC, vortex, and option selects were some of the most important tools to excel at, Akuma had top marks across the board. In Street Fighter 5 when V-Triggers could easily make or break a character, his was amongst the most effective.
With what we know of Akuma and what we know of Street Fighter 6’s systems, we can already see at least some of the writing on the wall.
His air fireball could pair exceptionally well with Drive Rush to make for extreme grips of control in the neutral. Once he zips up and garners frame advantage with said Drive Rush approach, perhaps a cancel into the versatile Demon Flip will grant him powerful mix ups.
Catalyst brings up an additional interesting point during our discussion when he mentions the potential of Modern Controls Akuma. Inputs are simplified to single presses when Modern Controls are engaged, which may imply that single-input Raging Demons will be something we’ll be wrestling with come Akuma’s release.
There’s a lot more to the discussion which you can find in full right here. Chime in with your thoughts on the topic and reactions to our contributions in the comments, and if you enjoy what you experience please consider subscribing to our YouTube Channel and leaving a “like” on the video.
Akuma Thumbnail artwork: Zhang Li
Timestamps:
00:00 – Intro
01:39 – A Little History
12:20 – Really Ridiculously Good Moves
19:50 – Recap of potential tools
22:22 – Modern Controls Akuma and Ways of Corralling Him in SF6