Akuma is always a problem.
Whether it’s because his traditional moveset contains everything a Street Fighter character needs to get into trouble on the tier list, or because of his often ridiculous damage output, Akuma is a guy who causes problems whenever he’s in the game character of. Over the years, ever since his first appearance as a secret character in Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Akuma has almost always been one of the best characters in any game he’s played. Hell, he even ended up in Tekken 7 as one of the characters. Also the best character in the series.
Akuma is inevitable.And now, he is about to appear in Street Fighter 6 As the final DLC character of the first season. May God have mercy on our souls.
Everything I expected was confirmed during a brief hands-on with the “Akuma version” of SF6 before it was officially released into the game. Akuma is a well-equipped threat character designed to unleash devastating combos whenever he hits a target, and he has access to all the usual tools. He is a beast.
So you can use his “Shoto” moves – fireballs, hurricane kicks and uppercuts – his cunning “Devil Flip” where he’ll fly across the screen at you and potentially hit with a variety of possible attacks You, forcing your opponent to guess quickly and react accordingly. He has aerial fireballs – the special move that caused him such a meltdown on his debut – and a dive that ensures he can pause or change the trajectory of his jump and attack, making approaching from the air extremely dangerous, and Can decoy any anti-aircraft attempts by the opponent.
Watch on YouTube
He can charge up his fireball so that it not only hits multiple times, but also punches through his opponent’s projectiles, making him a dominant force in any fireball war. Of course, if all that doesn’t sound like enough, he also has the ability to teleport so he can get out of hiding when the going gets tough. In short, he once again has a way of giving players control over the fight no matter what the situation, and constantly giving them different ways to attack.
Well, it sounds like he doesn’t need anything else, right? Well, Capcom thought it would be appropriate to give him some extra toys to add to his arsenal this time around.
First is a new action called continuous flame, which is probably the least interesting, but probably the most useful. A large attack that can be done on its own or with an additional attack at the end of it, primarily used in combos or as a means of punishing opponents who attack recklessly.
The “OD” version of this move causes the opponent to be stunned in the corner of the stage, allows the combo to continue regardless of where it is performed, and most importantly gives the player immediate control of the corner, something that was featured in Street Fighter 6 extremely important position.
His teleport now has a new action attached – orobo throw – Allows you to teleport the Akuma to your opponent and throw them away. Yep, they basically gave him a command! Fortunately, the initial teleport animation conveys this well, and after a very brief test, the opponent seemed to be able to react with his own throws and win the exchange. Even so, it was yet another string to Akuma’s well-drawn offensive bow.
My favorite new feature is how scary it sounds Demon Raid, a new addition to his Demon Flip move, is performed by holding down during the initial flip, which causes the Akuma to do nothing…absolutely nothing. Rather than hurling fireballs, diving, or overhead slamming, the akuma simply lands next to the opponent.
Now, the thing here is that the usual follow-up to a demon flip would be for the player to try to block the attack, so Akuma now has a way to do that, for example, where he can grab the opponent and hit them with a throw. It adds a whole new dimension to the traditional mind games surrounding this move – there will be plenty of clips of people doing full-screen demon flips, landing and hitting other players with his legendary super move, Shun Goku Zatsu – or more Common – A raging demon. When I first get caught, I get mad at men.
All of these new moves fit perfectly into Akuma’s usual highly aggressive playstyle, and all of his standard attacks felt very difficult and impactful. In training I did some pretty sub-optimal combinations that made me The opponent’s health is reduced by more than 50%. Because they don’t block jumping attacks. It’s interesting.
However, Akuma is, in fact, a so-called “glass cannon” character, having the lowest health in the game despite his very high potential to remove health bars. A quick test showed that punishing counter throws reduced his total health by around 30%. Hit, but don’t get hit is still the character game plan here.
While we won’t really be able to tell until some of the better players get their hands on him, Akuma seems to have what it takes to be a competitive character in the current Street Fighter 6 meta – which itself will come with Akuma’s release changes, and features a series of character balancing updates. He was the right choice for the Season 1 finale – to continue with Season 2!
