Batten down the hatches
In a moment threatening to tear the very planet asunder, Capcom has released a character showcase video for Street Fighter 6, which sees two of the game’s absolute solid-steel powerhouses throwing down in a battle for the ages — Hide the fine china before you check out Zangief vs. Marisa.
The earth-shattering scrap sees Street Fighter veteran Zangief take on one of SF6‘s exciting newcomers, Marisa, battling in a makeshift cage match held at an ironworks. While we’ve previously seen Marisa in action, the video gives us our first real look at this latest iteration of Zangief, who seems swifter and more acrobatic than we have perhaps ever seen The Iron Body in his previous appearances.
While we quickly recognize Zangief’s various chops, headbutts, hopping knee, and Spinning Piledriver, we also get to see some frightening new additions. These include a dropkick that guarantees a wall splat, an all-new rolling wheel kick, a slick ‘n’ sexy Dragon Screw, and a terrifying burst of speed from his Drive Rush, which allows the mighty Russian to close distance with ease, even transitioning into one of several options. When you add to this arsenal the concept of “Parry into SPD”, then we have a very, very impressive Zangief on deck.
Grapplers, due to their general slow and projectile-free nature, are usually considered particularly niche characters. But both Zangief and Marisa are looking extremely powerful, with varied movesets and distance-closing abilities. Of course, this is purely speculation, but we could see Street Fighter 6 truly bringing the behemoths to the forefront, giving Zangief his best opportunity yet at becoming one of the roster’s best characters. Regardless, they both look awesome!
Street Fighter 6 launches on PlayStation, PC, and Xbox June 2, 2023. Be sure to check out our other reports on Manon, Marisa, J.P., Dee Jay, Lily, and Cammy, as well as 50 things I loved about the beta, our thoughts on how the game is shaping up, and a list of Do’s and Do Not Do’s for the new sequel.
