Street Fighter 6's praised original single player may have not been so original

When Street Fighter 6 came out in 2023, people were skeptical and then stunned by how fun the single player story mode was. Instead of just going through the traditional eight fights and getting a brief cut scene, instead you made your own character from scratch and had them start off as a nobody that slowly got more moves after getting mentorships from the famous characters in the universe.

As you unlocked more of the world, you unlocked bigger threats, leveled up, and got higher ranks and respect from your virtual peers. A lot of people really got into it because it gave people an experience that they've never witnessed in a game.

But recently I remembered I absolutely had.

See, back in 2020, Bandai Namco (who I love) came out with a really interesting game called One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows. They realized there's no good fighting game from a show that is literally about a guy who's bored with the fact that he's beating people in a single hit and not taking any damage. So, instead, the game focuses around a character you make yourself who starts off as a low level hero.

Starting off as a custom character in a preexisting universe isn't the only similarity though.

As you play, you encounter and help other characters from the One Punch Man universe who, as your relationship grows through meeting up with them or texting, you learn not only their stance and fighting skill, but you also learn their special moves. Just like in SF6.

You level up each fighting style so you can unlock more features to do stuff with. Just like in SF6.

As you expand the range you can travel you encounter more and more shops that allow you to purchase clothing to make your avatar look different as you're exploring. And the clothing is in the form of very generic looking street gear, just like in SF6.

You start off fighting low level gangs and weirdos, and by the end you're dealing with magic threats and secret cabals. Like in SF6.

From the way most of the stats are set up, to the way the stances and special moves are equipped, to the way you unlock more stuff, it's insane the comparisons one can make. Because while the fighting game is different in how it plays, the many part of the single player is ALARMINGLY similar.

Which is a shame, because it makes me realize if more people would have given the One Punch Man game a chance, it would have done a lot better because it was a fantastic game.

Long story short, if you got into Street Fighter 6's prequel and you want more info in the same vein, get this.