Street Fighter traditionally has restrictive movement compared to other fighting games; characters are primarily limited to walking, dashing, and jumping. Techniques like Short Hop, Super Jump, or Run occasionally exist as character-specific abilities. To move, use the D-Pad, joystick, or directional buttons (depending on your input device). Holding right/left will walk forward/back. Holding down will make the character crouch, and you cannot walk while crouching. Tapping up will cause the character to jump, either straight up or in the left/right direction.
Walking
The speed at which a character walks is not universal; a faster walk speed is desirable, but a slow walk speed is not necessarily indicative of a weak character. A faster forward walk makes it easier to gain ground against a zoning opponent, walk in for tick throws, and generally apply offense. Walking forward also allows characters to build additional Drive gauge; this can actually be stronger on slow characters, as they can hold forward for a longer time without reaching the opponent. A faster back walk speed makes it easier to create separation on defense, as well as walk in and out of the opponent's attack range to bait a response. It may also allow certain characters to escape common tick throw setups.
The first frame of walking has 1/4 its usual speed; for example, Chun-Li's forward walk speed starts at 1.25, then becomes 5.00 on the next frame. Tapping forward twice for 1f at a time will move less than holding forward for 2f. In most scenarios this difference is irrelevant, but it may limit the existence of extended combos involving short microwalks.
| Character | Forward Walk | Back Walk |
|---|---|---|
| A.K.I. | 0.0452 | 0.032 |
| Blanka | 0.047 | 0.032 |
| Cammy | 0.0505 | 0.033 |
| Chun-Li | 0.05 | 0.037 |
| Dee Jay | 0.043 | 0.032 |
| Dhalsim | 0.028 | 0.025 |
| Ed | 0.0475 | 0.032 |
| E. Honda | 0.045 | 0.025 |
| Guile | 0.043 | 0.032 |
| Jamie | 0.048 | 0.035 |
| JP | 0.037 | 0.025 |
| Juri | 0.047 | 0.032 |
| Ken | 0.047 | 0.032 |
| Kimberly | 0.0505 | 0.033 |
| Kimberly (SA3) | 0.0561 | 0.0366 |
| Lily | 0.042 | 0.027 |
| Luke | 0.047 | 0.032 |
| Manon | 0.0452 | 0.031 |
| Marisa | 0.039 | 0.027 |
| Rashid | 0.045 | 0.032 |
| Ryu | 0.047 | 0.032 |
| Zangief | 0.0364 | 0.025 |
Forward/Back Dashing
Tap twice in either direction (66 or 44) to perform a Dash. Compared to walking, a Dash covers ground more quickly in exchange for higher commitment; you are vulnerable throughout the entire animation and cannot cancel it to block or tech a throw. Backdashes are also Throw Invincible from frames 1-15, making them useful for escaping pressure. Unlike some previous Street Fighter titles, there are no Airborne frames during a backdash, and being hit during the animation does not result in a Counterhit.
When inputting a Dash, the initial forward/back input must be held for no longer than 8 frames, and the neutral time between inputs also has a maximum of 8 frames. This means that the fastest possible forward dash input is 6~5~6 (3f total) and the slowest is 6(8f)~5(8f)~6 (17f total). When attempting to dash on wakeup or after hitstun/blockstun, there is usually a 7f window to input it with reversal timing (though some moves are bugged, reducing the buffer window after hit/block).
| Character | Forward Dash | Back Dash | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speed (f) | Distance | Speed (f) | Distance | |
| A.K.I. | 19 | 1.30 | 23 | 1.08 |
| Blanka | 19 | 1.578 | 23 | 1.169 |
| Blanka (3K Hop) | 27 | 2.305 | 32 | 1.861 |
| Cammy | 18 | 1.320 | 23 | 1.002 |
| Chun-Li | 19 | 1.508 | 25 | 1.211 |
| Dee Jay | 19 | 1.500 | 23 | 0.900 |
| Dhalsim | 25 | 1.467 | 23 | 1.000 |
| Ed | 19 | 1.348 | 23 | 0.803 |
| E. Honda | 19 | 1.058 | 23 | 0.601 |
| Guile | 21 | 1.567 | 23 | 0.740 |
| Jamie | 19 | 1.500 | 23 | 0.850 |
| JP | 22 | 1.454 | 23 | 1.003 |
| Juri | 22 | 1.903 | 23 | 1.114 |
| Ken | 19 | 1.322 | 23 | 0.923 |
| Kimberly | 18 | 1.409 | 23 | 0.893 |
| Lily | 21 | 1.154 | 24 | 0.939 |
| Luke | 19 | 1.467 | 23 | 0.751 |
| Manon | 21 | 1.499 | 25 | 1.254 |
| Marisa | 22 | 1.400 | 25 | 0.900 |
| Rashid | 18 | 1.200 | 25 | 1.100 |
| Ryu | 19 | 1.252 | 23 | 0.923 |
| Zangief | 22 | 1.007 | 25 | 0.712 |
Drive Rush
See Drive Rush on Gauges page.
Jumping
Jumps are risky in Street Fighter 6. Most characters have restricted options in the air, and there's no air-blocking. Neutral jumps are useful for avoiding projectiles or baiting an opponent's throw whiff. Back jumps can help gain distance similar to a backdash. Forward jumps are a common method of approaching, but are the easiest for the opponent to predict and anti-air. Mixing up between walking, dashing, and jumping can overload the opponent's reactions, making it possible to get close to the opponent even while using "reactable" movement options.
Prejump Frames
Jumps begin with 4 prejump frames (except for Lily and Zangief with 5 prejump frames)
- Prejump frames are unthrowable, but considered grounded if hit by a strike or projectile.
- Can be canceled into special moves, which allows some input leniency (e.g. 2369+P = Hadoken)
- Cannot cancel into techniques like Drive Impact or Drive Parry
- You can intentionally start a jump to become throw invincible, then cancel into a special move to punish a throw; the timing is very strict, however
- Prejump frames of a Neutral/Vertical Jump can be canceled into a Diagonal Jump, up until the first airborne frame (5f, or 6f for Lily/Zangief)
- This does not work in the opposite direction; inputting Up+Forward cannot change into a Neutral Jump
Landing Recovery
There are 3 landing recovery frames at the end of a jump.
- If no air normal was used (Empty Jump), you can block and tech throws during Landing Recovery
- The 2nd and 3rd landing recovery frames of an Empty Jump can be canceled into any attack
- The 1st landing recovery frame cannot be canceled into any other action; this means that landing into a meaty Command Throw is inescapable
- Using an air normal prevents you from blocking or teching throws during Landing Recovery, and results in a Punish Counter state
- Some air specials and command normals may have additional landing recovery
- Landing will cut short any remaining Active Frames of an air normal
