The Red Tornado returns in Street Fighter 6, a look at Zangief.

Today we’re going to look at Zangief, and his updated look in Street Fighter 6. For the most part very little was done with the character. He doesn’t seem to have aged much, if at all. There is no gray in his hair, or beard. Also he remains as massive as ever. The primary color associated with him remains red. In Street Fighter II he wore red trunks, and boots with gold trim. This time he is wearing red pants with white, and gold accents. Given his size these aren’t normal pro wrestler pants, but instead the kind worn by USA football players. They do incorporate kneepads as well. The only other changes made to him are the addition of red elbow pads, and the tape on his wrists have been replaced with gold bracelets. I’m kind of surprised at this stage in his career he isn’t presented with the Capcom Wrestling Association championship belt. Similar to the way Darun Mister wore his belts in Street Fighter EX, and Fighting EX Layer. All in all I think this redesign maintains the classic look that we’ve come to expect from the Red Tornado.

By now you should have noticed that not one returning character in the series is wearing their same costume. They may have similar color choices, like Zangief, or go with a different color scheme like Ken, but in either case nothing is exactly the same in this sequel. These are bold directions from Street Fighter 6 Director Takayuki Nakayama, Producer Kazuhiro Tsuchiya, and Designer Yusuke Hashimoto. Previously the studio did their best to incorporate as many details from the sprite-based versions featured in SFII when being adapted for 3D. Even “minor” details like Ryu having ragged edges on his gi, while Ken had hemmed edges were not overlooked by Yoshinori Ono, and the team working on Street Fighter IV. I am not on board with all of the changes that they have made, but I do appreciate the tweaks that they made to designs to make them stronger. Changing the cut of Rashid’s uniform, as well as the cut, and color choices for Juri were well done. Completely revising Luke helped make him look less like a nationalist.

What do you think of the decision to completely redo the costumes for everyone revealed so far? Was this a good idea? Are you eager to get DLC of the classic costumes if Capcom offers them? My friends, and family know that I love playing as Zangief in the game. I can't wait to see how the studio has updated his move set, and special attacks. Did you ever play any of the wrestling characters in the franchise? I’d like to read your thoughts in the comments section. If you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!