I fully expect backlash on this one, may contain elements of 3D fighter elitism.
Street Fighter 6 will be including an optional more simple control scheme for players who want it which they are calling "Modern" controls, i'm not sure why removing inputs to make it easier makes it "modern" but it got me thinking and i've been thinking this for a while, are developer's attempts to make 2D fighting games appealing or even playable for a broader audience a sign that the genre itself is outdated? If not outdated then maybe just requiring of a different kind of evolution?
Street Fighter was a massive success and created the foundation for which almost all 2D fighters would be made going forward, the sequels and other games that followed added new mechanics, combos, more difficult inputs (especially in KOF) and now... to cut a long story short, every new big name 2D fighter that comes out is slowing things down, adding auto combos, reducing complex inputs, basically removing or simplifying anything that might intimidate more casual players, but i can't help but notice the same thing hasn't happened with 3D fighters, like, not at all.
Tekken and especially 2 and 3 were huge hits when they came out, appealing to a wide audience with their presentation but also their low barrier of entry, you can hit buttons and make cool rewarding things happen, and with each iteration more moves, new mechanics, crazy combos and more have been added with every release but the foundation of Tekken remains, hit buttons, cool things happen, and the franchise has never been more popular despite becoming more complex. Neither Tekken, Soulcalibur or Dead or Alive has had to remove or simplify mechanics to make them accessible to casual fans, and i see this as a sign that maybe instead of constantly rounding off the sharp edges with every new 2D fighter a bigger change is needed, and i think i can see some of those changes in Street Fighter 6.
Early impressions of SF6 report that it's heavier, slower, there are more pauses giving players more time to react, attacks have more forward momentum, when i hear these things i think "so they're making it more like Tekken?", they're not going that far of course it's still clearly the sequel to SF5, which was already simpler than SF4, that's just the impression i get, they haven't found a way to naturally solve all the issues otherwise it wouldn't need an easier alternate control scheme and auto combos, but it's the first time in my eyes the franchise is taking steps to move away from Street Fighter 2's foundations.
I don't know how long i wanted this to be but it's clearly too long, i just wanted to try and find a way to explain my frustration with 2D fighters and some of the changes in SF6 including calling its simplified controls "Modern" gave me the idea.
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