We've got a little less than a month to go before Terry Bogard hits Street Fighter 6, so Capcom invited us to swing by the office and get in a bit of play time with Terry, the new Replay Review feature, and the new V-Rivals mode.

For those unfamiliar with Terry, he is one of the key characters in the Fatal Fury series. Fatal Fury (and Terry) were designed by Takashi Nishiyama, who is also responsible for creating the original Street Fighter game. In some ways, you could say that modern day Street Fighter and Fatal Fury are distant cousins. Both franchises have been evolved by different teams, but they originated from the same creator.

It's also safe to say that Terry has a bit of history with the Street Fighter crew, having faced off with them across multiple games, including Capcom vs. SNK, Capcom vs. SNK 2, and SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos. The last game was recently re-released for PC, PlayStation 4, and Switch with a surprise drop at EVO earlier this year.

While I didn't get to experience any of Terry's story in World Tour, I did get to take him for a spin in Fighting Ground. The first thing I noticed is that Terry reps SNK from the start. As soon as my cursor moved over his character icon, he appeared on-screen, playing King of the Monsters on a two-slot Neo•Geo MVS arcade system. For the SNK-heads out there, Savage Reign was in the second slot. There's no way to tell if the game selection were simply the designer's favorites, or if they hint at something deeper, but given that Battle Hub does have a classic arcade section, who knows what's possible? On the other hand, the only classic games we've seen in Street Fighter 6 so far have been lifted from Capcom Arcade Stadium 1 and 2.

Jumping into a match, Terry felt easy enough to wrap my head around, even if his moves were a bit more deliberate than Ryu or Ken. Playing against a handful of other characters, I was best with Terry when I could stay in close proximity and pressure my opponent. I found him a bit more challenging to use when fighting opponents who tended to strike and then keep a distance, especially if it was against a quicker character.

Terry's new stage, the Pao Pao Cafe, is a detailed update of one of the backgrounds from the original Fatal Fury. Everything is rendered in detail, but the key elements (large chandelier, dragon statue, upper balcony) from the original are all present. Joe Higashi can also be seen in the background, cheering you on.

One group that is not from Fatal Fury is the band performing at the cafe. The lead singer is Poison, who previously appeared in Street Fighter V as a playable character.

It's difficult to say how Terry will fare until after he officially releases and everyone can spend a bit of time with him, but initial impressions are promising. For a casual player, Terry is easy to get to grips with, and the small details around both the character and the background make it obvious that the team who worked on him have a strong appreciation for the character and his history.

When trying to learn a new character, one of the challenges is figuring out where you went wrong in a match. This is where the new Reply Review feature comes in handy. An addition to the existing training mode, Replay Review allows you to not only watch your replay, but also to take control at any time. You can take control of your own character and try to change the outcome, or you can take control of your opponent's character and see how to exploit a weakness.

Over in the Battle Hub, the new V-Rivals mode is designed to give players a way to test themselves against an AI-powered opponent at a given ranked level. If you're new to ranked, you can start at the bottom. If you're already a ranked player but not sure if you're ready to make the push to the next level, V-Rivals can provide you a way to test your mettle without facing a human player.

At the end of a V-Rivals match, Li-Fen offers you a few pointers on how to improve your play.

Even if you're not interested in Terry as a character, Replay Review and V-Rivals are both exciting additions to the core Street Fighter 6 experience. They're designed to benefit novices and experienced players alike and should be useful for anyone who wants to improve their fighting game skills.