Instead of hitting you with some mega hype, unbelievable sequence you didn’t even realize was possible, this post is more about empathy for a terrible situation we’ve all been or will surely find ourselves in soon enough in Street Fighter 6.
The scene involves the most effective Super in the game (Rashid’s “Ysaar” Super 2) and a checkmate scenario against an Akuma that seems to play out in slow motion. If there’s anything fun about it, it’s that as we realize there’s absolutely nothing the Akuma can do to survive, the characters on the screen almost look they’ve come to the same realization and accepted their fate.
Developers are careful not to allow too many checkmate situations in their fighting games as the magic dies along with any potential of a comeback. Indeed, the genre’s most iconic moment is famous in large part because BST|Daigo Umehara was able to take advantage of an extremely narrow path out of otherwise certain death.
That said, Street Fighter 6 does have checkmate scenarios as a direct result of the game’s Drive System, a prominent example being when you face Drive Impact in the corner with no meter resources to counter it.
The thing is, being in these situations requires enough conspicuous decisions by the player that it feels like there’s substantial ability to avoid them and thus, if you’re in one it’s widely accepted that it’s your own fault and not a symptom of poor game design.
Does that sentiment apply, however, when a character is able to launch out a slow-moving, completely unavoidable tornado that spans the height of the screen? Rashid’s Ysaar shuts down the action and forces his foe to stop what they were doing and attempt to deal with an immediately unfavorable situation, but when they’re burned out, cornered, and meter-less, they’re effectively knocked out.
That’s what happens here as BigBird knocks his resource-less opponent near the corner, launches Super 2, and proceeds to raise his hands from this stick and hold them up in triumph for a full five seconds as the tornado slowly but surely finishes the job.
Rashid Moment pic.twitter.com/SZL0WBVwpT
— NASR | Adel (@Bigbird_fgc) August 15, 2024
You might be thinking right about now, “Hey, shouldn’t Akuma at least be able to chip away at the tornado with fireballs?” Which you’d be right to consider, but we checked and it turns out fireballs don’t really do anything to it:
This is actually, legitimately insane. I can’t think of a single good reason why fireballs shouldn’t chip away at the level 2 projectile durability. I know projectile priority works differently in this game, but Rashid’s lvl. 2 should not apply here. #SF6 pic.twitter.com/Zvhc6xoZXG
— Steven “Dream King” Chavez (@TheKingOfDremes) August 16, 2024
Maybe this is too much, maybe it’s on the Akuma to not be in this kind of situation, but what do you think? Is this yet another reason Ysaar should be nerfed, or should Capcom let it rock? Share your thoughts, feelings, and reactions in the comments.