Street Fighter 6’s World Tour mode is actually pretty neat

A chunky single player offering in my fighting game?

Now there’s a few gripes about World Tour that I need to get off my chest first, so I’ve made a list of them for your convenience. Number one: opponents that are several levels below you can do (and take) more damage than your sad excuse for a fighter can manage for some reason. Number two: you can only level up one playstyle at a time, which is just restrictive in an anti-fun kind of way. Number three: having to constantly return to Masters gets tiring quickly, especially when the payoff is just Blanka shouting “this technique will surely give your opponents a shock, UWWAHGG!”. Number four: plane tickets are a resource so plentiful that I struggle to think why they are included in the first place. Number five: the mission design can entail such riveting escapades as you running into a guy and him telling you to fuck off until nighttime, which you do only for a new guy to tell you to fuck off until daytime. And finally number six: the overall arcing story suffers from the usual fighting game issue of having to juggle an oversized cast, so you end up with a supposedly emotional scene with a character that you’ve spent maybe an hour with at max.

So despite all of its irritating quirks, I actually ended up really liking World Tour. I know the scene of fighting game single player modes isn’t exactly popping off these days, but I would rate World Tour as one of the best. I would even put it above NetherRealm’s work, because while the stories of Injustice and Mortal Kombat do their best to be epic, cinematic and all that, I do have to roll my eyes when all of the fights just so happen to take place in the exact same handful of locations. While the world in World Tour isn’t exactly a world (more like a city and a half), it’s still big enough that you could be throwing down anywhere, from alleyways, to rooftops, to trains, to parks and beyond.

It all feels so animated and alive, bursting full of people that are exercising, resting, fighting, mediating, waiting to fight, juggling, watching you do a Spinning Bird Kick and getting really hyped about it. It kind of reminds me a little of New Donk City from Mario Odyssey, just with a lot more graffiti, gang violence and introspective speeches about the “meaning of strength”. The transition from exploration to fights is also a technical marvel, with the amount of work that had to be done in order to avoid the camera getting stuck in geometry or making sure that there’s enough space to fight being extremely impressive. Of course, the fighting in World Tour is Street Fighter 6 fighting, which is pretty damn good, so I can’t be that upset when a random punk decides to sucker punch me in the back, because then I get the opportunity to put in some practice. The ability to switch playstyles and moves also opens up the floodgates for some real depraved shit, like linking Kimberly’s izuna drop into Marisa’s superman punch and then into Manon’s grab.

But what really surprised me about World Tour is how it teaches you to be better at fighting games. Those bastard roombas aren’t just there to be a whacky enemy to fight, they also teach you the importance of low attacks. The flying drones show you what attacks are good anti-airs and the fridges (yes you read that right) test your ability to punish from a distance. Even your less rectangular-shaped opponents will do things like spam projectiles from a distance, or constantly try to grab you, or jump all the goddamn time. While playing against other people is still the best way to improve your skills, this is the closest to actual human behaviour I’ve ever seen a fighting game AI get to.

The greatest praise I can give World Tour, however, is the fact that you can play this mode exclusively and still feel like you’ve gotten the Street Fighter 6 experience. World Tour isn’t some throwaway option that the developer chucked in just to meet some requirement, it has real effort and passion behind it. And for me personally, having a mode where I can cool off after some intense ranked matches is very welcomed indeed. Too many modern fighters these days depend on the online multiplayer being the main draw, so it is refreshing to see a refocusing on this kind of stuff.

I can’t believe this ended up being my takeaway from Street Fighter 6, but what has got me the most excited about the future of the series, is the thought of where a mode like World Tour goes to next!

I also enjoyed World Tour a lot. I think it's a much better approach to single player than the unfortunate cinematic story mode from SF5. Playing as a voiceless avatar that becomes a student of all the street fighters is good framing device to learn more about them. I found the writing and characterizations to be quite charming; adding more personality and dimensions to the world warriors than before. The original story characters are far less interesting, but there are moments here and there. Shame about the ending though.

The character building system was much more involved than I expected. It was satisfying to create a move list that is fun to use and helps achieve bonus objectives. The gear system is basic, but I could still select equipment that was suited to my fighting style. Even after finishing nearly all of the missions, I still enjoyed just grinding master levels. There are good loops of NPCs to fight that grant bonus experience and I have well over half the cast at max. At some point I'll complete the rest, but currently have 54 hours in WT alone, so I've been taking a break to focus more on Ranked.

I'm curious how Rashid will be added. It seems like he'll show up in Nayshall, but I wonder if you'll need to purchase him or if everyone can learn from him for free. Either way, I hope that all DLC fighters will be well integrated into WT. Capcom has made a significant investment in this mode to reach a new audience, so it'd make sense if they continue to support it, too.

I'm also on board with liking World Tour mode and don't see why some reviewers were so down about it. It's a very fun mode for people who enjoy the single player aspect of Street Fighter and don't just play online rankings all day. Capcom learned their lesson from SF5 which focused purely on the esports boom that was happening and paid dearly for it. The mode itself is a nice combination of an open world Final Fight influenced game, with SF guest appearances and a good way to gradually show the gameplay mechanics of SF6. I also like that they really put some thought into executing it, giving the player plenty of things to do and it not just being a throw away mode. I enjoyed it more so that the so-called story mode of SF5, which kind of ripped off the story mode of the recent MK games, but worse. Capcom redeemed themselves with the whole SF6 package, especially when it comes to making a game everyone can pick up and enjoy, not just someone trying to win EVO.

I love the freaking hell out of it. It's so dorky and cheerful and weird. And in a weird way, it's the modern Streets of Rage I didn't know I wanted. What a fantastic breath of fresh air for someone who's mostly into fighting games for the single-player.

That last tournament though... yeesh. Unless I grind out some health items I don't think I can beat that. I suck.

World Tour mode was fantastic. I'm not going to grind out to max level, but it was a ton of fun. I know the Mortal Kombat 1 campaign is going to be like the previous games, which is going to make it feel so antiquated.

@gyratyne: I have to admit that getting texts from Ryu was a highlight. Though seeing him text “the answer lies at the heart of the Internet” made me wish I could reply with “no Ryu, you stay away from the heart of the Internet, you’re too pure”

@sparky_buzzsaw: Yeah that last tournament really just comes down to how many levels are you willing to grind.

I was at level 55 when I beat the last tournament, with the main threat being a psycho powered Bosch who uses his super art constantly throughout the match and it being very hard to counter or avoid. I used many of the healing items I had left as well as buff items I had saved up to finally beat him. The most important one being the buff item that cuts oncoming damage by a large amount. That one really helped. Dealing with JP afterwards was easy compared to Bosch.

I don't think they have much to worry about. World Tour is fine, but it feels more antiquated to me than anything in MK11. As an inclusion in Street Fighter, it's novel, but as a video game? It's grindy, clunky, and poorly designed in my opinion. As a filler mode? Sure, it's fine. On it's own? Maybe a 5/10 game. Streetmue isn't revolutionary.

I could only be bothered to unlock the extra content and it was a dang chore.

I'm still glad it's there, because the battle hub is amazing, and the freak fest contributes heavily to that. And I'm glad other people are finding fun in it. It's clearly good that more people are finding ways to enjoy Street Fighter.

But what really surprised me about World Tour is how it teaches you to be better at fighting games.

As someone familiar with the basics, I did not feel this at all. I think putting 30 hours into WT just held me back from actually learning how to play Street Fighter 6. You spend a lot of the game with an incomplete toolset, which just teaches you bad habits, and prevents you from practicing things that will actually be viable later on.

Rashid is in World Tour without purchase. A new marker will appear in Nayshall at night, which will eventually lead to him. He gets the usual cutscene intro, missions, and such. It's pretty nice for a free update.

I like getting to fight Azam. He has a cool command throw. Very Ultimate Muscle.

Just when I thought I was out. You can earn his 2P costume this way too?

I had a lot of fun with the amount that I played of it. I got distracted by other games, but I do want to go back to it.