So About That Leaked Roster

 

So a few days ago someone leaked images of the starting roster of Street Fighter 6 just a day after PlayStation's State of Play. Characters from Street Fighter II, IV, and V were revealed along with eight new fighters. 

It's no surprise that the original eight fighters are back, they are the most recognizable and have the nostalgia factor to pull in the older crowd. From Turbo we have Dee Jay who hasn't been seen since Super Street Fighter IV and Cammy and Akuma who I also feel are a given at this point. It's a bit surprising that M. Bison isn't on the base roster. He was on the base roster of both IV and V so I thought he was a given for every game since. That's interesting. What's also interesting are the choices for post Street Fighter II games. There are no Alpha characters or characters from III this time around and once again Juri is the only Street Fighter IV character to return. V brings back Ed and Rashid. Rashid I thought was popular enough, but I'm a bit surprised about Ed. I know a lot of the community doesn't like him. The names of the new characters are Marisa from Italy, Jamie from Hong Kong, Mimi from France, Lily from Mexico, JP from Russia, Kimberly from the USA, and A.K.I. from China.

Every returning character is sporting a new design and outfit. Ryu looks similar to his Hot Ryu skin from Street Fighter V. It looks like he's aged a bit however and this time he's wearing a brown sash and sandals. Ken looks like he's been going through a bit. Zangief basically looks the same except he's wearing pants and has some white mixed in. I'm glad Dhalsim maintained his beard from V. I don't really care about E. Honda as he's one of the characters I have the most trouble fighting in any game, but his new look I think is an improvement. It makes him look intimidating which also doubles on the bad side for me. I just don't like Blanka. Chun-Li though. Chun-Li has that swagger once again. She had some hot outfits in V and this new look for her is damn good. When I saw her in the trailer I was in awe. I like the two tones of blue in the outfit and how it separates up in the chest area. Guile looks fine. He's wearing an air force jumpsuit, but it looks stylized, more like a fashionable jumpsuit.

Cammy has a drastic change. She's no longer wearing that green suit with her ass out. She's now flaunting in some casual wear. The combination of the jacket with the boots and leggings? Or are those pants? It's hard to tell in the small scan, but those two together give some athletic design mixed with punk. She also has her stomach exposed showing off that six pack. I like this fit. Akuma continues to look badass and I'm glad he doesn't have that lion's mane this time because that shit looked stupid in V. Dee Jay on the other hand I don't like. It's too much. I get it bruh, you from Jamaica. Rashid is cool, but I really like Juri's. She hasn't had a lot changed. It's basically her Street Fighter IV outfit with some inverted colors, but she's also donning spiked bracelets like Chun Li and she also has a spiked choker. Juri has a bang covering her left eye with a magenta streak. I've always liked Juri's outfits. In V she definitely had the best alternate costumes out of the entire cast.

Ed, I still don't like it. It's better than his SFV outfit at least. It comes off as too edgy and modely to me. I feel the same about Luke as well. For these new characters I'm mixed. Marisa looks really weird. I'm not sure what's going on there with that helmet. Jamie is fine and Mimi looks a female Abel. What I'm most excited about though is this Kimberly. Street Fighter hasn't had a black girl since Elena and we've been way past due. I really like her design too. Elena's always had a sense of ignorance and stereotype about it, but I can recall the same being said about most of Street Fighter II's cast back in the day. The series has improved some since the new age though I feel this new Dee Jay design is kind of stereotypey too. Kimberly's design is actually very good. I can't tell exactly what's on her neck, if that's the collar or an accessory, but it does look goofy from this image. The rest of the fit however is dope. I like the pants that cut off just above the knees with the yellow wrappings on the legs and there's also something similar in the thighs and belt on the pants and she has yellow wraps on her arms. She also has a pair of earphones too with a player on her hip. Her fit feels very sporty. Like she's ready to jog or dance. There's a lot going on, but it doesn't feel overwhelming, jarring, or clustered. I also appreciate the long braids with the blue tips and the scarf on her head. It makes me so eager to find out how she plays. Just from looks alone I know I'm going to pick her up.

Lily is from Mexico and she looks okay. I'm curious about the weapons she wields and she seems to be another indigenous character like T. Hawk. JP is just another guy in the suit, not particularly interesting to me and A.K.I. looks interesting. She reminds me of something. I can't think of what though.

As far as gameplay goes this is all on speculation at this point, but from the trailer we know that there will be new mechanics and going off of Ryu and Chun-Li new moves and variations for the characters. Street Fighter V changed the way a lot of characters played most notably Juri. I hope this new redesign will also redesign how she plays once again. I was so taken aback at the drastic change in V that I never picked her up. I'm hoping they can bring back her playstyle from IV with some tweaks, if not I would be cool with them reimagining her once again. I wonder if Mimi really is a female Abel and we will get another grappler character. Marisa is big too and might be a grappler as well. I feel like A.K.I. will use some throwing knives in her moveset and might even use poison like F.A.N.G.

This roster I think looks solid. Now we wait for more gameplay footage and the inevitable character trailers. It's going to be a long time before we can discuss DLC. What did you all think about this leak? Let me know in the comments below.