Street Fighter 6 by Capcom is one of the more notable third-party titles to be available for the Nintendo Switch 2 within its launch month. Many can argue that it’s an important title. Versus fighting games have been experiencing quite a high in recent years and being available in as many consoles as possible is one way to keep the momentum going. 

The Street Fighter franchise should be near and dear to Nintendo users. I imagine many experienced their first taste of this game on the Famicom and/or NES – consoles made by Nintendo. 

Now, SF6 – the latest from the franchise – arrives on the latest console by Nintendo. 

So, how has the experience been so far playing SF6 – well, it’s certainly a win. 

Arcade Mode

I quickly jumped in on Arcade mode to get a feel of SF6 on the Switch 2. Generally, the fights felt fluid and the graphics looked better than we expected. 

There was some input delay especially when you’re using the Modern controls. Some commands didn’t register as quickly as we would have liked. That’s key when it comes to fighting games. Thankfully, it didn’t happen too often that it affected our overall experience. 

In the visuals department, there are some elements that are naturally different from the PlayStation 5 version. For context, we’ve mostly played SF6 on the PS5 prior to this playthrough. 

The models naturally don’t look as detailed and crisp. But on an 8-inch display in a handheld console, it’s something most people probably won’t notice. It also improves a little bit when docked, but the PS5 version, as expected, is just on another level visually. 

Although, most of it is just ‘gravy’ or what you can consider visual enhancements that don’t necessarily affect the gameplay. Nice-to-have but not musts. 

In fact, some of it I only really noticed after checking out the highly technical comparison by Digital Foundry. 

The mode is perfect for quickly competing 5-stage story lines of characters, especially when you’re on the plane trying to burn some travel hours. 

World Tour

This is the game mode I spent most of my time on. Like the game’s other console versions, the battles in World Tour noticeably drop to 30fps. It can be a little jarring especially when you’ve spent significant time in Arcade Mode. 

However, you do get used to it eventually. And the game mode itself is fun and diverse enough that you end up just ‘enduring’ the capped frame rate. 

Overall, it still looked fine. We played both in handheld and docked mode and the experience generally felt seamless. We also encountered the delayed input issue here. But like in Arcade Mode, it’s not to the level that will sour the overall experience. 

Unique to Switch 2

The modes unique to Switch 2 I haven’t been able to try as much. I am generally a solo player and don’t really have that many friends lol. 

The modes are: 

• Local Wireless Match – 1v1 matches with friends nearby.
• Avatar Battles – Throw down using your custom World Tour fighter.
• Tabletop Mode – Joy-Con 2 matches, anytime, anywhere.
• Gyro Battle – Motion-controlled mayhem for extra spice.
• Calorie Contest Mode – Burn calories with your punches? Why not.

Of these, I tried Tabletop Mode and Gyro Battle. With Tabletop Mode, you get to play locally with someone else using the joy cons as standalone controllers. Here, the Modern controls are used by default. 

I’m a first time Switch user with stubby hands. I didn’t particularly enjoy using tiny controllers. However, this is a nice little way to share the SF6 on Switch 2 experience without bringing in any extra peripherals. 

The Gyro was, well, let’s just say I was never good at anything with gyro controls. It’s a novel feature but one I’ll only likely revisit if I’m trying to show what the Switch 2 can do. 

Should you play Street Fighter 6 on the Switch 2? 

Fighting games aren’t for everyone. But if you dabble even just a little bit and you’re looking for something to play on your brand spanking new Nintendo Switch 2, the pickings are rather slim but you won’t go wrong with Street Fighter 6. 

It brings over the latest title from Capcom’s flagship fighting game with plenty of potential hours of play even if you’re a solo player. That’s thanks to the rich World Tour mode, always fun Arcade Mode, and even their cool collaborations like the one they have with KPop girl group aespa.