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When Street Fighter 6 erupted onto the scene, I noticed Capcom game the entire roster some kind of “gimmick” mechanic to ensure they all play a little bit differently from each other. You can still play them in a very straightforward way but utilizing their “gimmick” mechanic was a way to get them to the next level. Whether it be Guile‘s “Perfect” Sonic Boom, Blanka‘s Blanka Chan dolls or Manon‘s Medal system, Street Fighter 6’s roster all had something a little extra.

Well, some time has passed since AKI’s release, the last character I did this for, and a bunch of new characters have come out since then. So, it’s about time I updated this list. Let’s go check out the “gimmick” mechanics for Ed, Akuma, M. Bison and Terry Bogard.

Ed’s Kill Rush

Ed does have several “gimmicks” built in, such as the ability to charge up his Psycho Flicker and how he can charge up his standing heavy punch to turn it into a lunging strike. However, these are more enhancements to his standard movelist. To me, Ed’s real “gimmick” is his Kill Rush move. Kill Rush has 2 different variations, a forward moving dash and a quick backdash.

You can also use Kill Rush to cancel out of a charged Psycho Flicker, which is nice because you don’t have to stand around like an idiot if you’re caught in the middle of charging the wrong version. The backdash version is useful for cancelling out of that errant Psycho Flicker but, as Kill Rush is a cancellable special move, you can also use it as a quick shimmy during pressure.

The forward version of Kill Rush is really where it’s at as it gives Ed 2 new special attacks, Kill Switch Break and Kill Switch Chaser. They’re both lunging uppercuts but they have different uses depending on the situation. They can be hard to execute as the motion for the latter attack has to be done during the later frames of the Kill Rush forward dash. This might be difficult to execute during the heat of battle. However, the Kill Rush dash itself is good enough by itself as it is a quick way to get in for pressure.

I do believe Ed’s Kill Rush is a fundamental part of his gameplay so players who plan to main Ed will have to train a whole lot to get both Kill Rush follow ups locked in their muscle memory. That does make it a problem for newbies as knowing when to use the Kill Rush Break and the Kill Rush Chaser might up their mental stack to a level they’re not ready for. Still, this is a very powerful move if mastered properly.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Akuma’s Double Super Arts

Akuma actually has a couple of “gimmicks” to him, but we’ll tackle the one which makes him the most unique first: access to 5 Super Arts. If you have 1 Super Art bar, Akuma has 2 big fireballs, one on the ground and one he can use for jumping. This might not be much but the mere fact he can execute a super fireball while in the air is great as it can be used as a surprise attack to those who forgot he has this. When Akuma is at critical health, he actually has 2 Level 3 Critical Arts. He has a powered up version of his “regular” Level 3 but he also unlocks his ever popular Shun Goku Satsu!

However, in the long run, having access to more than the regular 3 Super Arts isn’t all that great. It’s nice how Capcom gave Akuma more options. You still have to be careful about when to use them, however, as one false step can still be Akuma’s undoing. Still, the Shun Goku Satsu is a very frightening Critical Art as it’s totally invincible and is also unblockable. Just having access to this is terrifying enough.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Akuma’s “Glass Cannon” Stats

This “gimmick” is not really new to longtime Street Fighter fans but it is something which needs to be mentioned. Akuma is a character who can pump out massive damage with a single combo. He can essentially KO his opponent with 2 to 3 touches in the right hands thanks to the character’s ability to perform long combos as well as juggle opponents in the air.

Capcom did realize early on they had to balance out Akuma’s humungous damage output so, early on, they made the wise decision to nerf his health. Akuma has the lowest health value in Street Fighter 6, with only 9,000 points of health. That’s a solid 1,000 less than most of the roster. While 1,000 points may not seem like a lot as it’s around something like Guile’s non-Perfect Flash Kick. That’s still one less non-Perfect Flash Kick for Guile players to connect with to KO Akuma! So, there is some risk and reward to playing Akuma but I do think it still falls in Akuma’s favor a smidge.

Rating: 7 out of 10

M. Bison’s Psycho Mines

I’m kind of disappointed Capcom brought back M. Bison so soon. However, I will say I do like what they did with him as they gave him something really unique to play with: the Psycho Mines. Capcom gave the Shadaloo Dictator a new move called the Backfist Combo. It’s a 2-hit special move which is pretty good in combos and will knock the opponent down. Not only that, if the Backfist Combo connects, M. Bison’s opponent will be implanted with the Psycho Mine, which will explode after a set amount of time and can only be “diffused” if the opponent gets a clean hit on M. Bison. The Psycho Mine doesn’t do a lot of damage but, as it does launch the opponent if it explodes, allows M. Bison to follow up with a juggle combo.

Adding to the fear of the exploding Psycho Mine is the fact M. Bison can manually detonate it with another Backfist Combo, Psycho Crusher or his Somersault Skull Diver. This also causes the launcher, which can allow the Shadaloo Dictator to tack on another juggle combo, which he has a lot of. Not only that, if those aforementioned moves are blocked while the Psycho Mine is active, M. Bison is completely safe and even plus after the block. This increases M. Bison’s pressure significantly!

The only real weakness of the Psycho Mine gimmick is M. Bison does need to connect with the Backfist Combo to plant it. While this special is really easy to combo into, the mere fact you have to get a clean hit may be difficult to do against really good defensive players. Also, just because the Psycho Mine is implanted, that doesn’t give M. Bison players free reign to push the offense as the Psycho Mine will go away if the opponent gets in a hit through all the pressure strings. Still, M. Bison’s normals are really good so it’s relatively easy to sneak in the Backfist Combo anyways.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Terry Bogard’s cancellable heavy Power Charge

Like Akuma, Terry Bogard has more than just a single gimmick. This should be expected as Capcom did program him with a few of his tricks he has as an SNK character. Let’s first talk about his most used gimmick, Terry Bogard’s ability to cancel his heavy Power Charge into any of his other special moves. The Power Charge has Terry lunge forward with a shoulder tackle, with the heavy version launching his opponent in the air if it connects. From there, Terry can then cancel the hit of the Power Charge into whatever other special move. This does lead to a lot of situational combos but the most important is his bread and butter combo where he cancels the heavy Power Charge into his heavy Crack Shoot, which can juggle into his Rising Tackle. While the damage scaling sucks, it does do a lot of corner carry.

While this seems extremely good, the problem is actually connecting with the heavy Power Tackle in the first place. The only normal you can combo into it from would be the 1st hit of Terry’s standing heavy punch. That’s it! There are many other normals from a counter hit or from a Drive Rush but, if it’s just from neutral, only the 1st hit of his standing heavy punch will work. This does limit its overall use as doing it raw is super unsafe on block. In practice, Terry players won’t be throwing this out willy nilly anyways so this isn’t really a minus.

While the ability to cancel into any of Terry’s other special moves from the heavy Power Tackle is really good, its use is rather limited as comboing into it can be difficult as there aren’t many ways to do so in neutral. It’s not all that versatile but the corner carry makes this really good.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Terry Bogard’s Twin Geyser and Triple Geyser

Terry Bogard’s other gimmick is linked to his Level 2 Super Art, the Power Geyser. Unlike the rest of the roster, Terry can actually turn this into a pseudo Level 3 Super Art if you’re willing to burn a whole lot of meter, both Drive Meter and Super meter. This is obviously a reference to how Terry’s Power Geyser changes into the Triple Geyser in Fatal Fury 3 as his Hidden Desperation Attack. I will say it’s cool how Capcom decided to include this in without having it be Terry’s Critical Art! How good it is does become a whole other question, however.

The regular Power Geyser is already a neat Level 2 Super Art by itself as its fully invincible to attacks but it isn’t a reliable anti-air even though the “geyser” part hits high as it does come out pretty slow. If you’re willing to burn through a whopping 3 Drive Meter bars, Terry can perform the Twin Geyser. If you have an extra Super bar, you can then burn through that to hit for the Triple Geyser.

One problem with the Twin Geyser and the Triple Geyser is, while super cool looking, only does slightly more damage than Terry’s Level 3, the Rising Fang. This does make it useful if you really want that KO but, if they don’t finish off the opponent, Terry will probably be in Burnout (as you had to burn through 3 Drive bars) and sans his Level 1 as a backup. As it’s connected to his Level 2, comboing into the Power Geyser in the first place can be tricky as you have to do it from either a cancellable normal attack or an Overdrive special. You can juggle into it from his medium Power Tackle, however, so there are ways to get the Power Geyser to connect but, once again, you’re going to be in danger of Burnout if you do opt to use the Twin Geyser.

Still, while there are a lot of detriments to even attempting the Twin Geyser and the Triple Geyser, the mere fact he can add more damage when necessary can be very useful in a close match. It’s almost like you’re betting it all in this one move and, just maybe, it would be enough to close out the match.

Rating: 6 out of 10

See you when Capcom releases Mai Shiranui and Elena in the near future and I talk about their gimmicks!

Byee!

How would you rank the “gimmicks” of Ed, Akuma, M. Bison and Terry Bogard? Let me know in the comments section below!