We’re all still reeling from the big announcement that guest characters will not only be coming to the main Street Fighter series for the first time in franchise history, but that those first guests are none other than Fatal Fury and King of Fighters own Terry Bogard and May Shiranui.
This incredible announcement has fans wondering, naturally, how these two outsiders might play in the Street Fighter 6 sandbox, and if they’ll keep some of the key elements they use in their own games. In a recent interview with the developers, Famitsu spoke with Street Fighter 6 director Takayuki Nakayama and producer Shuhei Matsumoto to pick their brains on these upcoming DLC characters, and Nakayama-san shared some insight into the development of Terry and Mai – among other things , referring to the two guests.
Moving on from discussing M. Bison, another upcoming Season 2 DLC character, Famitsu asked the developers about Terry and Mai’s abilities in Street Fighter 6. Specifically, they wanted to know how their maneuvers shape up, and Nakayama obliged with an answer.
“There are many ways to interpret this, but basically we at Capcom go to SNK and say, ‘This move has to be like this, right?’ and we work on it that way,” Nakayama began. “Each time someone would say, ‘I want to make a move like that,’ and I’d put together a design document for it, and then the conversation would expand from there.”
Capcom has directly stated that they are getting information from SNK directly when it comes to Terry and Mai’s moves in Street Fighter 6. As Nakayama said, their process can be interpreted in a few different ways, but one thing that is clear is, that they carefully craft the movements of these guest characters, with SNK seemingly ignoring things every step of the way.
So far, Street Fighter 6’s launch and DLC characters have seen a lot of attention to detail in their design, which shows how much the developers know and care about the story and lore. Most recently, we saw a secret Easter Egg for Akuma that lets you play as Shin Akuma and gain access to some new moves that past fans of the character will no doubt recognize.
I think it’s safe to say that trademarks like Terry’s Rising Tackle will be part of his Street Fighter 6 moveset in some capacity, but one of the main questions we still don’t have an answer to is whether or not Terry and Mai may see some unique abilities that mirror the mechanics they have in their own games.
Based on past experience, there’s a good chance they’ll have some traits like this in Street Fighter 6. Back in Street Fighter 5, we saw Akira from Rival Schools added to the DLC roster, and with her came unique, high-flying air combos that reminiscent of those she would use in her home tile.
Although the prospect of Terry and Mai as guest characters in Street Fighter 6 has been discussed for a while, Matsumoto notes that the two weren’t locked in until about six months after Evo 2022. The posters we saw at that event featured the Capcom and SNK characters together and facing off against each other hinted at the collaboration between the two companies, although Terry and Mai specifically weren’t quite decided until a bit later.
Famitsu went on to ask about the connections between Terry and Ken, where in past games they’ve had special interactions, and whether we might see this revisited in Street Fighter 6. Nakayama can’t spill the beans yet, but explains that the team is well aware of this aspect while developing the upcoming content.
“You’ll have to see that after playing with it,” Nakayama said. “During development, we were very aware of previous interactions and connections between the two.”
Finally, if you’re wondering what guest characters mean for the World Tour mode, you can be sure that Terry and Mai will get the same treatment that other DLC fighters have received. Basically, this means that they will be Teachers, you will be able to find them and learn from them, and you can even take selfies with them.
“Of course. We’re pretty careful about the story. We can’t give any concrete details right now, but we have scenes where fans will definitely go “Ah!! That’s it!” Nakayama said. “Because it’s a collaboration, we’re really putting all our energy into it,” added Matsumoto.
While this insight is certainly appreciated, it still remains an important question that we currently do not have an answer to. Since Terry and Mai are in World Tour mode, does that make them officially canon in the Street Fighter world?
We’ll probably have to wait until closer to their release to find out.
Street Fighter 6’s second season of DLC characters begins on June 26 with the release of M. Bison.
The translations of this story were done by Nicholas “MajinTenshinhan” Taylor.
