Summary
It seems like Capcom wants to shake theStreet Fighter 6meta up before the Evolution Championship Series 2023 (EVO) this coming August with a significant update to the game. The patch, which went live on Jul 18, 2025, featured the return of the Turbulent Wind himself, Rashid. It also included small changes, adjustments, and bug fixes for almost all the characters. Apart from adding a new character,Street Fighter 6’s latest version could also potentially shake things up with an update to the Drive Rush cancel mechanic.
EverySFgame since the third sequel has had a signature mechanic.Street Fighter 3had parries, whileStreet Fighter 4had focus attacks.Street Fighter 5had the V-system, which had an extensive set of moves and mechanics. The Drive System inStreet Fighter 6integrates some core features from the previous games and adds some fresh mechanics that make this installment’s gameplay truly unique. One of them is Drive Rush, which lets players dash forward from a drive parry. Players can also perform a Drive Rush by doing a dash input after a cancelable move for extra frames at the expense of three bars, leading to new combo routes.
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The Drive Rush Update is a Boon for Street Fighter 6’s Arcade Stick Players
Drive Rush canceling is an essential skill inStreet Fighter 6, as it allows players to capitalize on pokes and whiff punishes quickly. It also offers the opportunity to extend combos to cause devastating or even lethal damage to their opponent. Arcade stick players used to be at a disadvantage when it came to this mechanic. Buffering a dash for when a move hits takes significantly more effort, as arcade stick levers have significantly more distance to cover to register an input than D-pads and Hitbox buttons. As such, Drive Rush cancels can feel inconsistent on stick compared to other controller types.
The latest update adds the option to cancel into Drive Rush by doing the parry input (medium punch + medium kick) immediately after a normal attack. This is easier forarcade stickplayers to do consistently compared to the dash input. As such, the update could put them on a more level playing field with the D-pad and Hitbox users. It’s important to note that this is an alternative method to doing the Drive Rush cancel, so players who are already used to doing the dash input can still do so.
How the New Drive Rush Cancel Option Could Affect Street Fighter 6’s Gameplay
When news of the updated mechanic surfaced, some players were worried that it could makeStreet Fighter 6’scharge characters like Guileoverpowered. These fighters maintain their charge for their powerful projectiles and melee moves by holding back and down-back, so doing a dash can make them lose this resource. The alternative method doesn’t necessarily prevent players from holding the back input. As such, some people thought that it could allow Guile and Deejay to keep their charge while doing a Drive Rush cancel. Fortunately, Capcom Japan’s account allayed the player base’s fears by clarifying that fighters can only Drive Rush when their directional inputs are in neutral or forward.
The alternative Drive Rush cancel is considered by Capcom to be a “quality of life” update, meaning that it’s just intended to improve the players’ gaming experience and nothing more. However, some players see an advantage to using this method over the original one. It’s easier to do, as one only needs to press two buttons once to do a Drive Rush cancel. This is easier timing-wise compared to dashing, which requires players to press one button twice in quick succession. As such, fans can expect to see more players going for more aggressive hit confirmations into Drive Rush in tournaments like the upcomingEVO 2023as well as their own ranked matches.
Street Fighter 6is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
