Capcom just made a substantial announcement for Street Fighter 6 players regarding the graphics area. The official Street Fighter account revealed a new feature ‘Battle HUD Design Setting’ which will change the look of the mid-match heads-up display entirely. The feature will be available starting from December 16, and honestly, it’s a great idea! One of the designs, called ‘Sim Sim Design,’ will be free for all the players. The main draw is the skins in the shop which honor the classic games. The list includes Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Street Fighter III 3rd Strike, Ultra Street Fighter IV, and Street Fighter V Champion Edition. Players that have had the chance to immerse themselves in these games will most likely feel the nostalgia.
Just in case you do not know, the HUD is the complete view displayed while a fight is taking place, encompassing life bars, super meter, timer, etc. Being able to apply the SFIII 3rd strike style to SF6 is a fantastic claim. It certainly indicates that Capcom is really the right ear for the community and knows the series’ historical significance. The online reaction was a mixture of ease and more requests, which was anticipated.
Players did not take long to respond and suggested a myriad of things. One user, HarleK’1 _ was sarcastic with a crying emoji: ‘We got HUD skin before costume 4 for every character.’ Oof. That is a valid point indeed. The gamers wanted more character outfits and we are getting UI cosmetics first. It is a typical case of ‘cool, but what about the other thing?’
Sooner than later, other suggestions came up one after another. User banelingrush posed the question that if the round start and KO screens could also be in the HUD theme, which would certainly elevate the immersion level. Player 8rmzii thought that it would be perfect if the character portraits changed to the era’s art style to match. These are really great ideas that would not only help to feel but also make the feature a whole lot more complete instead of just a slap-on skin.
Then there were practical concerns that came up. MrLitstar had a specific gameplay suggestion: ‘How about giving the option to attach the super meter directly to the life bar next to the stagger meter? It’d mean less darting your eyes around in split-second moments and less broken focus.’ It is a competing player who thinks about functionality rather than just the look. It’s about making the visual communication easier during those tense, frame-perfect moments. Will Capcom listen to that? Who knows.
Money, of course, became a topic of discussion. User FeuFion simply stated ‘need real money for hud’ together with skull emojis, which mirror the gamers’ common discontent with microtransactions. CHR0MA2501 wished that they could be acquired through Drive Tickets, the in-game currency one earns. However, going by the tweet stating they are ‘Available in the Shop,’ it appears that only real money or possibly Fighter Coins might be the choices. This is inevitably going to lead to conflicts.
Now, there was also a lot of hype, so do not take it the wrong way. Many replies were simply ‘OK this is awesome’ and ‘This is really cool!’ from users like PwnyHipster and _Moko_b. A player named Alexandru Catrina just said ‘very interesting i can change the health bar,’ which is just the pure joy of being able to customize. Almeida even wrote in Portuguese, which roughly translates to ‘Damn, I love you, Capcom, If I ever cursed you out, it wasn’t me.’ That’s the vibe.
Now, the community being the community, requests didn’t stop at SF6. Macabre_Bee recognized another fighting game titan: ‘I wish Namco would add the same feature for Tekken ‘cause Tekken 3 hud design was peak.’ Yes, it is indeed true! Fighting game players do love classic aesthetics that much and this might lead the competition to follow in Capcom’s footsteps. Imagine a Tekken 8 with Tekken Tag Tournament HUD options. It would be insane!
In addition, there was a bit of the classic, chaotic FGC debate going on. Several replies developed into the never-ending street fighter vs. mortal kombat debate, with one user, barddal7, asserting ‘MK >>>>>SF’ in a reply thread. A little bit of platform wars is always part of a PlayStation and Xbox fighting game announcement, right? And a user by the name of GrandeImperial was dismayed by the lack of one: ‘No cvs2 HUD is diabolical man.’ I guess Capcom vs. SNK 2 fans keep losing. Maybe next time?
Then what’s the bottom line of all this? That Capcom is still supporting Street Fighter 6 in unique and artistic ways.
