Fighting game stages were usually just pretty backdrops to impress players, with just a few games (e.g. Super Smash Bros) using them for gameplay. Even then, it wasn’t like the player could scoot off & explore what the world outside the generic Training Stage was like.
Street Fighter 6 changes that with its World Tour mode. Players can now explore the world that connects all of its different stages. Some are just singular sets to visit one master or another, but there are others that offer much more to see in Street Fighter 6.
12 Metro City
Metro City was originally the New York proxy setting for Final Fight. Now it’s where the avatar starts their journey after learning Luke’s moves. But if they look around across the mode’s different chapters, they can find Chun-Li, Jamie, Ken, E.Honda, and Kimberly, all ready to share their skills.
There are also a lot of callbacks to previous SF games, like Ken’s big yacht from SF3: Second Impact and the basketball stage from its parry minigame. Final Fight’s Mad Gear mooks and some of its old cast also turn up to put the avatar through their paces. Provided they haven’t already beaten Sheng Long to stand a chance.
11 Nayshall
Nayshall is a new, remote nation in Asia that plays a big part in the story. It’s where JP based his NGO, Terra Network Partners, with the unwitting help of Ken Masters. It’s supposed to help the developing country, but the locals don’t really feel that way. The avatar’s rival, Bosch, is a Nayshall native who wants to boot JP out of the country.
Whether he succeeds is up to the avatar, who can also learn JP’s moves once they beat World Tour mode and head to the Suval'hal Arena at night. Until then, they can help out Bosch’s little sister Yua, become Juri’s pupil in the back alley at night, and find Rudra, Damnd’s street gang rival, to do some jobs for him.
10 Colosseo, Italy
The rest of World Tour’s locations are expanded versions of the game’s main stages. Like an actual ancient coliseum (but not THE Coliseum) that’s still maintained and used to entertain up to 50,000 spectators with its fights and festivals.
People used to fight to the death here, but now they just fight until their health bar is depleted. It’s also where Marisa practices her pankration with real lions. Players can talk to her here in Chapter 3-3 to become her student and study her moves. Provided they finish all her tasks.
9 King Street, England
King Street looks like it came straight out of a Sherlock Holmes novel, with its cobbled streets, foggy weather, and the very British phone box and double-decker bus. Sadly, players can’t use it to tour around Big Ben & the Houses of Parliament in the background.
What they can do is get Cammy’s attention. If players successfully beat up the Mad Gear Dancers on the Metro City subway in Chapter 7-1, she’ll turn up in London and agree to school the avatar. That is, if they have what it takes to keep up with her.
8 Ranger’s Hut, Brazil
After the luscious looks of Rio in Street Fighter 5, the sequel heads straight back to the Amazon from SF2. If it isn’t the same jetty from that game, it’s not far away as this is where Blanka and his mother Samantha call home. In the years leading up to SF6, Blanka’s tried to earn some money by giving his home its own cryptid: Blanka-chan, the jungle sprite.
Apparently, him being a green, electric-powered ape-man wasn’t special enough for tourists, so he cooked up a folktale and gave it a goofy suit too. He and his home open up in Chapter 6-1, where he agrees to teach the avatar after a cutscene, and even gives them their own custom Blanka-chan suit too.
7 Genbu Temple, Japan
Genbu Temple is a serene location with torii gates, cherry blossoms, and fox statues carrying lanterns. It’s one of the game’s prettier stages, like a step back into feudal-era Japan. So, it’s perhaps no surprise that this is where the avatar can become Ryu’s pupil.
They have to wait quite late into the game to do so: Chapter 8-4 after completing the Photo Mission for E.Honda. Even then, the player has to visit the temple in 8-1 and Honda’s restaurant just to get that opportunity. It’s worth it to finally learn how to throw Hadōkens and teach the Shoto master how to use a smartphone in return.
6 Carrier Byron Taylor, USA
Byron Taylor was the buff NPC who provided exposition during SF5’s “A Shadow Falls” story mode. Why he got an aircraft carrier named after him before Guile is anyone’s guess. Nonetheless, it’s where SF’s premier air force pilot and walking shaving brush resides.
The avatar has to take out a bunch of bots gone amok in Chapter 8-7. With Guile’s help, the player will clear them up. Talking to him afterward and getting a photo will complete the chapter. Then talking to him again will convince the man to take the avatar under his wing and show him how to throw Sonic Booms and more.
5 Barmaley Steelworks, Russia
Where else would a man with an iron body hang out than a steel mill? Zangief has been working hard and playing hard at industrial sites since his debut. Barmaley is one of the safest as, despite hosting underground fights, it isn’t mere feet away from an open pool of liquid metal like Zangief’s Street Fighter Alpha 3 stage. But to get here and start training under the bear-wrestling grappler, the player has to do a few tasks.
First, they have to complete the Metro City Tournament. Then they have to speak to Saou at the Mike Haggar Memorial Stadium to start the Hither & Thither submission. Once complete, Saou will give the player’s avatar a ticket to Russia, which will take them straight to the Steelworks.
4 Dhalsimer Temple, India
Despite the name, the temple isn’t dedicated to Dhalsim. It’s just where he practices his Yoga. Instead, it's for an “elephant god”, where the adherents live with and respect the resident pachyderms. This would suggest it’s for worshiping the Hindu deity Ganesha, though he's more of an elephant-headed god than a god of elephants.
That aside, Dhalsim’s one of the harder characters to learn in SF6. But if players want to access Dhalsimer Temple and learn how to breathe fire, they have to buy a statue for 70,000 zenny off of Anik in Bayside Park, Metro City in Chapter 11-1. Talk to him again at night and beat him in battle to open up the route to India.
3 Fête Foraine, France
Just as King Street offers a dusky view of London’s Big Ben, the Fête Foraine is under Paris’ Eiffel Tower. It’s based on a real temporary carnival that takes place in the city during summer. The difference is that it's set up in the Jardin des Tuileries, which is a 30-minute walk down the road and across the river from the Tower.
Foraine is much closer, likely in the staid but classy Rue de l’Universitie, which fits its resident Manon to a tee. Getting on the ballet dancing, judo-throwing supermodel’s good side requires some work. In Chapter 11-1, grab a Gi top & bottom from Drippin’ Style in Metro City for Manager Oscar, then talk to him again to head to the Fête. Beat Manon’s goons, then take her on to become her pupil.
2 Thunderfoot Settlement, Mexico
At the start of Chapter 6, the avatar has to go to one of many locations to get Luke a souvenir. One of them is the Thunderfoot Settlement in Mexico, where the titular tribe resides. It’s a humble place, yet it’s also one of the more vibrant and eye-catching stages in the game.
It’s where the avatar can find Lily, the teen successor to SF’s T.Hawk. Not that they make a good first impression, as their attempt to talk to the tribal elder Singing Wolf leads to a misunderstanding between them and Lily. No matter how the fight goes, Lily will take the avatar on as a student if they talk to her afterward.
1 Bather’s Beach, Jamaica
If the avatar decides to go souvenir-hunting in Jamaica instead of Mexico, they’ll find themselves among a throng of dancers. But the only button-based boogying that’ll occur will be a fight when Deejay arrives to kick the tempo up a beat or two.
Whether the player wins or loses, they can talk to Deejay afterward and become his student. He has some powerful kick moves, though his Jus Cool might be the best skill of his to learn. That way, the avatar can back out of any trouble, then scoot back in with a counter-attack. Just don't forget Luke's souvenir while there.
Street Fighter 6 is available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.