Street Fighter 6 (Year 1/2 Edition) Review (Switch 2) – Handheld Hadoukens?

Before we go on I will stress this review is purely focused on the Switch 2 version of the game, so there won’t be a deep dive into modes, story or characters. It’s a review looking how the game has been ported over to the Switch 2, focusing on the more technical details. If you’d like to read a full review of Street Fighter 6, our own Greg wrote up a fantastic piece around the original launch which you can read here.

It’s funny playing Street Fighter 6 on a handheld. I fondly remember playing Street Fighter II on my Game Boy back in the 90’s, attempting to work out how to balance Heavy, Light and Medium attacks with only two buttons (I didn’t, and the game made little effort to do so), but the port was memorable to me, only because it was the first game I would play at home religiously on my Mega Drive and then be able to sort of take on the go with me on my Game Boy. The experiences were very different but ultimately, the core Street Fighter aesthetic was always present and correct.

Now we’re four Street Fighter games later (you know, if you don’t count the other 345 released in-between) and I can now finally play a Street Fighter at home and take it with me. Yes I know the Street Fighter Collection was released on Switch. Shh. What I mean is a game of this visual calibre probably shouldn’t work on a handheld device with such aplomb but damn, Capcom – as they have done over and over again the last decade – have absolutely knocked this port out of the park.

The version Switch 2 owners are lucky enough to be getting is the Years 1-2 Fighters Edition, which includes the DLC characters from Season 1 and 2, funnily enough. It’s a generous package and acts as probably the definitive version of the game you can pick up without having to purchase anything else. I remember Greg saying that the SFV release was slightly barebones on characters, so it’s nice to see they’ve been filled out for this new edition of the sequel.

And the 20 stages included – along with the must praised single player campaign – this is quite the package for fans and newcomers alike to get stuck into and learn how to Hadouken on a Joy-Con.

Something I thoroughly love about Street Fighter 6 is how alive it feels. With the Fighting Ground, the enormous Battle Hub and of course, World Tour, it feels robust and jam packed full of single player content to get completely lost in and the brightness of its visuals make the series feel more vibrant than ever. That SF6 has leaned into its colour and its energy compares to the likes of say Mortal Kombat, it knows what it is and has choosen a lane that’s fresh and light-hearted over anything else. It’s a perfect fit for the Switch 2 in that regard. The neon menus, the hue of the ‘open world’ and the electric feeling of it all feels almost designed to pump you up, to get you wired and ready to take on your opponents. The confidence the game exudes is palpable and coming off a handheld screen it feels like a Fight Club at Pride is in your hands.

Something that’s worth knowing regarding this Switch 2 version is the controls. It’s all like you remember from the PS5/Xbox versions but Switch 2 adds Gyro Battle modes, using the Joy-Con’s gyro modes to make movement and offence a little easier, featuring the swinging and tilting of the controller to aid your character. Then there’s Calorie Count, which let’s you find out how many calories you’e burnt using the Gyro controls. You gotta love a shoe-in gimmick mode that you’ll play once and never again. Gyro Battle and Calorie Count are these particular modes this time around and safe to say they’re not the most exciting fight on the card. 

And I’ll say it – Street Fighter 6 looks *great* on Nintendo Switch 2. In a gorgeous 60FPS SF6 runs just as smoothly as it did on the ‘better’ consoles, and in handheld mode, whilst the visuals are less crisp (it being a 1080p screen after all anot not 4K when docked), but crucially, the framerate remains consistent and the games aforementioned vibrancy is as exuberant as you would expect. Ah, I love having a beefy Nintendo console.

Still, World Tour has sadly dragged over its issues from the PS5 and Xbox versions to Switch 2. When entering the mode the combat framerate really takes a knock, and it’s not much better in handheld. It’s a shame this wasn’t cleaned up for this version but whilst the updates have improved this on other consoles since launch, it’s unfortunate the Switch 2 mode has to launch with this slightly buggy experience in a mode where I would imagine the majority of players will head to first.

Safe to say I’m buzzing about Street Fighter 6 on Switch 2. It runs really well – except when it doesn’t – and the sheer amount to do is well worth the asking price, particularly as it includes two full DLC packs (including Terry and Mai from Fatal Fury) and a whole lot of characters from the history of the franchise. Docked the game is gorgeous to look at, and handheld runs about as well as you’d expect it to run with a handheld of this power. You’ll naturally get the best out of this game if you’ve got yourself a Switch Pro Controller – which is to my mind the best controller available right now anyway – as you’ll feel far more comfortable jumping in with a more familiar controller, but the Joy-Con’s also do the magic if you’re brave enough to jump in with those ‘bigger-than-last-time-but-still-little’ buttons. It’s like the Pro Controller was built for this game.

Street Fighter 6 Year 1+2 Edition is available now on Nintendo Switch 2 (review platform)

Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom

Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.

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