Steam The argument has been going since launch and it has never had a number in it. Classic gives you the full move list; Modern fires the same special from one button and a direction. So the real question is how many milliseconds of hand work your own quarter-circle takes — and whether it completes at all. Both are measurable, on your own hardware, right here.
Pick a motion, then perform it — the directions, then the attack. Arrow keys or WASD on a keyboard, the stick or d-pad on a controller. The page checks that every required direction registered in order, names the ones that did not, and times the whole thing from the first direction to the button.
The fireball motion, and the first thing anyone learns. Roll from down to forward through down-forward, then press.
Click here, then roll the directions and press an attack.
Controller: not seenPick a motion above and perform it — the directions, then the attack. The page checks that every required direction actually arrived and times the whole thing.
Complete a few motions and this panel reports what Classic is costing your hands, and what Modern removes.
—
Because a dragon punch is 623 — forward, down, down-forward — and if the opening forward never registers, what is left is 236. That is not a broken input. It is a complete quarter-circle, and the game does exactly what you told it to. Here are both paths across the same gate.
Forward first. That one direction is the whole difference.
A complete, legal motion. The game gives you the fireball you asked for.
Read from the verified entry behind /controls/street-fighter-6/. Note the last row: throw ships as two buttons pressed together and has no key of its own, which is the single highest-value remap in the game for a new player.
Light punch and light kick together; no dedicated button by default.
The shortcut for Medium punch + Medium kick.
The shortcut for Heavy punch + Heavy kick.
The full move list. Every special is a direction motion followed by an attack, so each one costs several hand actions rather than one.
Specials fire from one button plus a direction. Fewer inputs and a faster reaction, at the cost of part of the move list and a small damage reduction on assisted specials.
The game picks the move for you from one button. Not usable in ranked play; built for a first session with a pad in someone's hand.
Every attack button and both Drive shortcuts can be remapped, including onto the shoulder buttons.
A motion on a keyboard is three or four separate keys rather than one rolling thumb, which makes completeness easier and speed harder. The bench measures both, so you can see which half your own hardware is costing you rather than taking someone else's word for it.
A fast motion that skips down-forward is not a fast special — it is a different special. Slow the roll until the page stops reporting a missing direction, and only then start closing the gap. Speed is the easy half and it comes second.
Every number in the notation mirrors when you cross over. Most players are measurably worse on one side and have never checked which — run the quarter-circle back as well as the forward and compare your own two numbers.
This page measures your hands. These measure the hardware they are on.
The argument has been going since launch entirely without numbers, and the number is measurable on your own hands. Classic performs every special as a direction motion followed by an attack, which costs a few hundred milliseconds of hand work and completes only some of the time. Modern fires the same special from one button and a direction — that time and that failure rate both go away, and in return you lose part of the move list and take a small damage reduction on assisted specials. The bench on this page tells you what your own Classic motion actually costs, so the trade stops being blind.
Because a dragon punch is 623 — forward, down, down-forward — and if that opening forward never registers, what is left is 236. That is not a broken input: it is a complete quarter-circle, and the game gives you exactly the fireball you asked for. It is a completeness problem rather than a speed problem, which is why the bench here checks which directions actually arrived instead of only timing you.
Roll the direction from down to forward through down-forward — written 236 — and then press an attack. The roll has to pass through down-forward; skipping it means you have not made the motion, however fast the rest of it was. Practise slowly enough that the page stops reporting a missing direction, then speed it up.
On Classic with a PlayStation pad: Square light punch, Triangle medium punch, R2 heavy punch, Cross light kick, Circle medium kick, R1 heavy kick. L1 is Drive Parry and L2 is Drive Impact, both shortcuts for two-button inputs. Throw has no dedicated button — it is light punch and light kick together, which makes assigning one the highest-value remap in the game for a new player. The full verified list is on /controls/street-fighter-6/.
Classic is the six-button layout with motion inputs and the complete move list. Modern is three attack buttons plus a special button, so specials need one press and a direction instead of a motion. Dynamic picks the move for you from one button and is not usable in ranked. Classic and Modern are both legal everywhere.
Directions are numbered off a keypad with your character facing right: 1 down-back, 2 down, 3 down-forward, 4 back, 5 neutral, 6 forward, 7 to 9 the up row. So 236 is a quarter-circle forward and 623 is a dragon punch. Everything mirrors when you cross to the other side of the screen, which is why a motion that is reliable on one side often falls apart on the other. This page draws the keypad, which most guides assume you already know.
Different rather than harder. A motion on a keyboard is three or four discrete keys instead of one rolling thumb, which makes completeness easier and raw speed harder; a stick or a pad is the reverse. The bench measures both halves separately, so you can see which one your own hardware is costing you rather than taking somebody else’s word for it.
No, and it does not pretend to. Capcom has not published it, so nothing here says whether your motion was inside the buffer. What is reported is completeness, which is a fact about your hand, and duration, which is also a fact about your hand. A motion this page calls complete is one you genuinely made.
I answer from this site only — the 28 browser tests, the controls library for 46 games, the sensitivity converters and the two games. I can tell you which page to open, how a tool works and what its result means.
I will not guess. If something is not on the site, I will say so.
Answers come from this site's pages.