Street Fighter fans in Japan can now experience life on the wrong end of a Hadouken. A Street Fighter VR (Virtual Reality) experience started location testing in Hiroshima, Japan. The test started on February 17, 2023 and is open to the public. [Thanks, Dengeki!]
The Street Fighter VR experience is formally called Street Fighter VR: The Shadaloo Enhancement Project. The premise is that the player is a Shadaloo goon working for M. Bison (Vega in Japanese). The player is then put through rounds of virtual training against Bison’s foes, the better to learn their techniques and defeat them in single combat.
Check out a promo trailer for the game below, courtesy of YouTube channel AsciiJPNews.
Like many location-based Virtual Reality setups, Street Fighter VR appears to use a PC-based headset and controller rig. Players will use their controllers to fight a virtual character in the first person, moving their arms to simulate punches and special moves. Ryu and Zangief are available as opponents, and will use their own unique moves in combat. At one point in the video, Zangief catches the player in a Spinning Piledriver, sending their view whirling into the floor. A slow-motion sequence allows the player to target special prompts on their opponent to do damage, as well. The trailer ends on the implication of a third opponent, likely to be Akuma (Gouki in Japanese).
Street Fighter VR isn’t the first attempt to render fighting games from a participant’s-eye perspective. In 2017, Ultra Street Fighter II released on the Nintendo Switch with a mini-game mode called “Way of the Hado.” Players played it in first-person perspective, using the Joy-con controllers to mimic Ryu’s moves and fight through waves of Shadaloo goons.
Street Fighter VR is available at Hiroshima’s Plaza Capcom store. A second location is planned to open on April 4, 2023 in Toyokawa, Aichi. No international or home release plans have been announced. The more traditional Street Fighter 6 is in development and scheduled for release on June 2, 2023 on the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC.
