Ranking Every Stage In Street Fighter 6

Fighting games have always had spectacular arenas for you to fight in, giving you fantastic sights and sounds that play out in the background as you and your opponent mix it up in the foreground. And fortunately, that trend continues in Street Fighter 6, which may have the best-looking stages in the genre.

There are currently 18 stages you can throw down in, with the vast majority of them being packed to the rim with fascinating visuals, lively atmospheres, and colors that pop and capture the stage’s entire vibe. But which of these arenas is the best, and which ones fall short in comparison?

Updated October 2, 2024, by Seth Parmer: Terry Bogard has finally entered the Streets to check out the newly-opened Pao Pao Cafe in Metro City, and boy, is it ever a solid stage. Find out where we placed the new stage introduced in Street Fighter 6 along with Terry Bogard in the newly updated list below!

Training Room

Much like every other fighting game it appears in, the Training Room stage is still one of the most boring offerings you can get and the worst in Street Fighter 6.

This stage will never be good and is only acceptable when using the actual Training Mode. Using it outside of it should be considered a war crime at this point.

Barmaley Steelworks

Moving onto our first ‘real’ stage, we have Barmaley Steelworks, a steel mill located in Russia that has immense industrial vibes with a thick smog atmosphere blanketing the sky.

Overall, this stage isn’t terrible, but when compared to some of the others in Street Fighter 6, it falls drastically short. There’s no denying the stage nails its theme. It’s just not a visually appealing one.

The Macho Ring

The Macho Ring is another stage that would likely be much higher in most other games, but the competition is quite fierce in Street Fighter 6, placing it near the bottom.

Large screens that showcase the matchup, vast crowds of screaming fans, and an excellent color pallet make this stage easy on the eyes and exhilarating to fight it, but not enough to move it up any further.

Carrier Byron Taylor

Available in all Betas, the Carrier Byron Taylor was always a stand-out stage but paled in comparison to the other offerings at the time, and that remains true even with the game’s full release.

With that said, the sky is simply striking on this stage, and the scale of the Carrier is astonishing. We also love the colors used here and the liveliness of the onlooking crowd. Still, we wish we could place it much higher than it is, but the others are just that good to keep it this low.

King Street

We know we made a point to acknowledge the importance of color and vibrancy of stages, and we are well aware of how drab-looking King Street is, but it has such a calm and gloomy vibe to it that we cannot get enough of it compared to the others listed this far.

King Street is set on a cobbled street in front of the famous Elizabeth Tower and the Palace of Westminster. While this stage is primarily gray, the splashes of reds and greens help breathe life into it, making it a surprisingly solid entry.

Metro City Downtown

Metro City Downtown is, perhaps, the exact opposite of King Street and offers bright neon lights, striking graffiti, and a look at the primary city of the series in all its glory.

However, even if it’s a much better stage overall than King Street, it still falls short of the remaining offerings. It’s a solid arena to fight in, with excellent use of color and NPC interactions in the background, but it’s missing that extra ‘something’ the others seem to have in spades.

Bathers Beach

Bathers Beach kicks barely misses our top ten, and its beautiful sunset in the background, lively crowd, and summer vacation vibes make it hard not to place it higher. This is just a feel-good stage, and we love it for that.

This stage doesn’t try too hard to be anything other than fun, and Dee Jay’s “Maximum Bar” blaring funky tunes in the background drills that point home. The onlookers are also having a blast, dancing and interacting with each other. What’s there to hate?

Colosseo

Whether or not an enormous Colosseum in Italy can bring better vibes than a beach in Jamaica is up to you, but there’s no denying that the Colosseo stage is nothing short of phenomenal.

Everything from the onlooking Spartans in the background with their shields and spears drawn to the sleeping lion and the brilliant splashes of red and gold that stand out in contrast to the brown stone, concrete, and dirt of the Colosseum make it one of the best in the game.

Ranger’s Hut

Ranger’s Hut takes place on a small dock in Brazil, surrounded by huts, an enormous snake, and several people enjoying their day by the water. There’s also a large waterfall deep in the background that helps elevate the stage drastically.

There’s an oddly relaxing and calming nature to Ranger’s Hut, and it does an excellent job capitalizing on the brown wood used for the huts and dock by including splashes of green from watermelon and trees, a bright blue sky, and hints of reds and yellows from signs and clothing.

Ruined Lab

As we near the end of the first season of Street Fighter 6, we finally received a new stage to brawl in with the addition of Ed entering the roster. As its name suggests, Ruined Lab takes place in the aftermath of a destroyed Shadaloo Base, showcasing many of Bison’s experiments and clones in the background.

The eerie and desolate vibes of this stage make it an excellent change-up from most of the other offerings in the game, and the history and lore aspect of it elevates it above the vast majority of them. While not the best in the game, it’s certainly within the top ten!

Suval’hal Arena

Suval’hal Arena is a unique stage with tons of potential but barely misses cracking the top five due to some slight misses. However, this stage is still unbelievably gorgeous and solid, making it still tons of fun and mesmerizing to play on.

Our biggest gripe with this stage is the large red and blue streamers stretching over the arena and to the tower in the distance. While it looks cool initially, we’d love to see more of the sky and surrounding areas. Still, that nitpick aside, Suval’hal Arena packs a solid punch overall.

Old Town Market

Old Town Market takes place in the same fictional region Suval’hal Arena is in, Nayshall. Nepal and Bhutan strongly inspire this developing nation, and this stage displays that much better than the previous entry.

This stage has shopkeepers shoeing away overzealous monkeys trying to steal fruit, bright, vibrant colors contrasting the stone and brick, and an incredibly warm and welcoming atmosphere that keeps us wanting more.

Dhalsimer Temple

Another calm and relaxing stage is the Dhalsimer Temple, one of Street Fighter 6’s best and most striking offerings. Deep in the background, you will see a giant gold statue of Ganesha, the remover of obstacles, and a crowd of monks who worship him praying in front of it.

You will also spot several elephants standing and lying around the temple. They are considered sacred animals in Indian and Hindu denominations, making this stage awe-inspiring from a cultural standpoint. This stage is a joy to play on and is undoubtedly very special.

Fête Foraine

From the streets of London to beaches in Jamaica and everything in between, we also have a pop-up amusement park in France with the Fête Foraine stage, which offers some of the best visuals in the game.

Standing tall in the background is the Eiffel Tower and the attraction of the amusement park just in front of it is intoxicating, drawing you into the onlookers and those enjoying their night out. The lighting, color, and just the overall vibes of this stage make it unforgettable and one of the best.

Genbu Temple

Genbu Temple is an isolated temple deep in Japan surrounded by cherry blossoms, Torri Gates, and calming waters that welcome all sorts of wildlife ranging from birds to turtles to even a red fox that occasionally shows up, making it all the more remarkable when taking in the stunning scenery.

The diluted colors used on the mountains in the background and the rocks in the foreground make the red temple and Torri Gates and the pink cherry blossoms pop much more than they usually would, making this stage irresistible to place in the top five.

Following that, our next pick is Thunderfoot Settlement, a stage belonging to the Thunderfoot Tribe of Mexico in the Street Fighter universe, showcasing excellent color coordination, music, and tremendously exhilarating vibes across the board.

While we would have loved to see a more accurate representation of Mexico and its tribes, as we saw with the likes of Dhalsimer Temple and Ranger’s Hut, the overall execution of Thunderfoot Settlement is everything you could ask for in a stage.

Enma’s Hollow

Our new third pick is Enma’s Hollow, the stage that released alongside the devastating and demonic Akuma, which features a sea of blood-red lava, lit lanterns, and a decapitated head of a large stone demon head. To say this stage is eerie would be an understatement, which automatically makes it a contender for one of the best in the game.

While there is lots and LOTS of red, and the smokey atmosphere can detract from the background, having the volcano erupt in the background after a round brings a whole new level of detail and appreciation to the stage that is otherwise absent in the others. This stage rules and is fitting for one of the best characters in the series!

Pao Pao Cafe No.6

Pao Pao Cafe opened its sixth chain within Metro City, bringing Terry Bogard and other members of the Fatal Fury and King of Fighters squad along with it, which you can periodically see living it up in the background as fighters throw down in the foreground.

Seeing Blue Mary, Joe Higashi, Roxy, Axl, and Two P casually appear in the background is a delight, and the vibes, music, and overall presentation of the Pao Pao Cafe No.6 arena are perfect. We cannot get enough of this stage and all of its references and easter eggs, making it automatically fly toward the top. While not the definitive best, it’s darn near close, and we absolutely cherish it!

Tian Hong Yuan

Finally, the best stage in Street Fighter 6 is undoubtedly Tian Hong Yuan, based on the breathtaking Yu Garden in China. This was the best stage in the beta and remains so in the full release, offering some of the best colors, sights, and sounds you could ever wish for in a fighting game.

The bright reds and oranges, the deep black and blue night sky, and the lights shimmering off the gold statues and water make it hard to compete against. Tian Hong Yuan is remarkable in every way, making it our number-one pick and the best stage in Street Fighter 6!