Street Fighter IV

Street Fighter IV Characters:

Who to Pick

This is a simple guide on the different players in Street Fighter IV. It brings insight about all the characters in SFIV. Whether you’re looking for the right player that suits your style, checking out different reviews, or trying to find a specific character’s weakness, this is the article you want to read.

Ryu: The simplest character of the game. This character is mainly one-sided to his power but lacking in speed. Ryu can be used by the worst and best players formidably. If you are just starting the game this is the recommended player to learn with since he is relatively easy to play with. HOWEVER, Ryu is very well known. This is not such a good feature since you can be sure that everyone is going to know all your moves, Ryu almost never has the element of surprise. He is the striker type; hit-and-run process is his most used style.

Ken:  This is usually the second character one picks after playing with Ryu. Unlike Ryu, however, Ken is more of a kick-based character with slightly more agility and less power than Ryu. Nevertheless, Ken is not as incredibly predictable as Ryu, even though he is very commonly used. Also, most of his main moves are similar, if not identical, to Ryu’s. Ken is much more versatile taking his speed to his advantage.

 Seth: The antagonist of this game is not as powerful as some may think. Although he can do a crazy number of moves at incredible speeds, he has the least amount of stamina. If you don’t already know, the fewer amount of vitality a character has the more power he/she deals. This becomes a dilemma to Seth’s end. So, let’s take this scenario: Ryu has 10% of his health left while his opponent, Seth, has 100% health. If Ryu is able to hit an ultra it would probably take anywhere from 50% to 75% of Seth’s health, where it would normally take about 25% if they both had 100%. Alongside this, Seth’s Ultra takes out virtually nothing although it compensates by being easy to use and catches people off guard.

Dan: This is the taunt master. That’s all he’s actually good for. You might not believe this but he is the anti-Akuma character. His fire ball is pathetic, barely visible for a few centimeters. However, his dragon punch is annoyingly dreadful to many opponents because it has amazing priority. This is the most embarrassing player to lose to. So if you want to make people cry, here’s your man. (I recommend taunt #9)

 Dhalsim: Dhalsim is the reach guru. He can be the most irritating opponent in the right hands. Since it is almost impossible to catch him, it is hard to deal him any damage. Dhalsim usually stays on the far other side of the screen from his opponent with occasional teleports to the back of his opponent when they are off guard.  However, he is extremely hard to play with since he requires such precise timing. (Recommended to do all his trials before playing with him)

Guile: This is the most predictable guy in the game. All the punching and kicking aside, Guile has basically two main moves. These are his projectile and flash kick. To make matters even worse, both moves, even his Ultra and Special moves, are charge moves. These become increasingly dangerous because they have TREMENDOUSLY high recoil time. Meaning, he is open for a very long time after the move. You must be very good with charge moves and play with ferocity to be a notable player with Guile (which is hard because charging requires time).

Zangief: The grab extremist. Most of his grabs can take priority even over a low punch. His focus takes the most distance in the game (which is about half the screen). To ensure the connection of his Ultra it is commonly done right after the focus. His spinning lariat can become a strong weapon; however, it tends to handicap most Zangief users because they abuse it and forget all other moves. Zengief’s main weaknesses are his aerial moves. Most characters easily beat Zangief in air. (It’s a good thing to watch out for if you’re a Zangief user.)

 M. Bison: Bison is a charge happy character whose attacks are hard to escape and have little to no recoil. Most Bison players have a tendency to repeat the air stomp which becomes frustrating after a bit. The best way to go about beating a Bison is to overwhelm him by a series of combos. Other than his charge, Bison is a well balanced character which is easy to lose against, but with the right tactics even easier to win against.

Fei Long: Although his attacks are packed with high speed, Fei Long is nothing out of the ordinary. Very good Fei Long players are straight forward. Although he’s not at the top of my list, Fei Long, if put to optimum potential, is a sharp and good player to use. This is probably one of the hardest guys to combo with.

E. Honda: Despite his heavy appearance Honda is a dangerous character. He has three basic moves with little recoil time but very hard to combo in. Most Hondas tend to be very cheap by either repeating the sumo headbutt or the aerial squash which seems to work a lot on many people. However, just like Bison, Hondas can be easily overwhelmed by repeatedly switching sides as to mess up the direction of the charge.

 Akuma:  A.K.A Fireball Spammer. If you play Street Fighter (any version) regularly and you don’t know how cheap Akuma can be, then shame on you. The only thing that actually balances Akuma’s cheapness is his significantly low stamina. If you want a demonstration on how cheap Akuma can be, I recommend you watch ‘Momochi’ on YouTube. Granted, there are few Akumas that have amazing combos, so I won’t tarnish their pride. Thing is, all Akuma really has to do is teleport to the far side and repeatedly shoot air fireballs. As a fighter, if you feel like you stand somewhere between Ken and Ryu, then Akuma may be the right choice. Just one favor, try to play right.

 Sakura: No. Sorry to all the Sakura fans, but that’s the first thing that pops in mind when Sakura’s name comes up. Usually one would rather pick Ken or Ryu over Sakura any day. The reasons? Basically this: they have almost the same amount of moves, which are very similar, but Ken and especially Ryu deal out much more damage and/or combos. That’s how people normally use logic. You can protest all you want, and go ahead and play with her if you like, but I would be amazed if you had over a 50% win rate in over 1000 battles.

 Sagat: Supposedly Sagat is the “Tiger”, top of the food chain. He has a well assorted spectrum of moves which allow him to counter and overcome mostly every of his opponent’s attacks if timed right. The ‘king’ makes use of his reach as his build only supports the epitome of his fighting style. Sagat can be a brutal character because of his massive power and swift blows. Although his fighting style makes him a little slower, he more than reimburses it with his combos. However, a skilled fighter can easily kill most Sagats because of his high predictability. With precise timing, most Sagats won’t stand a chance.

 Chun Li: One of the most pestering characters of 3^rd Strike returns. Long Legs gains even more priority moves than before! Her EX Spinning Bird Kick will always hit an oncoming opponent. Bad news for her fans, though, because she is much harder to play with. I’m happy to announce that the kicking queen has finally been balanced. The power Chun Li now takes down significantly lower than previous games. Her Super and Ultra combos are now charge moves which probably caused a few Chun fans to cry. Even though she is now balanced it won’t stop the best Chun Li fans from playing with her because she remains as unpredictable as ever before.

 Blanka: For the first few days playing online everything goes fine… until you meet a Blanka user. That is when you recite every cuss known to man. Other than Sagat, because of his high priority moves, almost every other character has a big disadvantage against Blanka. Although his moves are mostly charge moves, and are almost impossible to combo in with anything but a medium punch, he is well supported in almost every other area. First of all, there is almost no such thing as an in-fight against Blanka. If you get too close he shocks you, if you’re far he rolls at you. Other than fireball spamming, fighting a skilled (or cheap) Blanka using no projectiles is a feat to be proud of. Mastering him is not so hard either. Mastering any other character, on the other hand, is something to be proud of and with good skill can beat many Blankas.

 Rufus: Explaining this character is just as hard as it is to play with him. For the most part Rufus is all over the place, not just because he’s fat, but because he has an array of moves which, in real life, should be physically impossible. Almost all his moves betray the fact that his stomach is bigger than the rest of his body. If used correctly Rufus can confuse almost any player and, in the process, use one of his many crazy long combos. Rufus’ only drawback is that his strength does him no justice. Rufus’ power is notably lower than most characters; however he can be a force to be reckoned with.

 Rose: Not too many people play with Rose, and there’s a good reason for it. Rose takes barely any damage with her slow but reach-efficient moves. As I’ve already established, Rose has good reach, but aside from this there are hardly any combos to do. Yes, she is very unpredictable since she has that weird scarf but if you screw up a move you are susceptible to many hits. Rose is the kind of character one uses when he/she can predict the opponent’s moves, otherwise if you try to use Rose… good luck.

El Fuerte: In order to play effectively with the El Fuerte you’ve got to be fast. Very fast. Yet, at the same time you have to know what you’re doing. El Fuerte is one of the weirdest characters in the game, since he just keeps running. Also, since he has a variety of moves you can never be positive of what’s coming next. El Fuerte, with a good player, can find many openings and strike down many opponents. Even with all these advantages, he is still subject to a crucial point. Although his power and stamina are normal he requires the most accurate timing in his moves and combos. Also, his combos are very hard to do.

 Balrog: Deals out crazy damage, has even crazier stamina. Balrog can be either very well used or very poorly used. The trick to Balrog is to continuously charge at all times, when you jump, when you’re getting hit, when you hit, and so on.… The mistake that most Balrogs make is that they hold the charge for too long and become vulnerable to many well applied hits.

C. Viper: The makers of SFIV obviously took a long time to make this one. If you didn’t realize yet, her hips look deformed. Other than that C. Viper is a good character in skilled hands. Her moves have a wide range over the screen and have medium recoil. A very balanced character, Viper has many good combos. Since she is very unlike most other characters it could be very confusing playing with viper. Also, the priority of her attacks is considerably low, and this is her main flaw.

Vega: Without his cage Vega isn’t the same. His charge moves deceive him. Vega can be overwhelmed very easily. They did add one thing that adds some spice to Vega and brings him back in the game. This is his ability to easily evade any move by simply clicking punch-3 or kick-3. Vega’s aerial attacks are pretty decent. What bothers me the most is that his mask and claw keep falling off. Personally, I can’t handle it. If you’re a patient player Vega is not a bad character to look in to.

Abel: There’s not much to say about Abel. He’s just there. Without his roll he would be the easiest character to beat with a projectile player. Yes there are a few good combos he can do but, other than this, Abel is just plain normal. No, he’s normaler than normal. He IS normality. If you want to have any hope beating players is to master the focus, which is his only refuge. Then you can unleash deadly combos.

 Cammy: The best girl to play with. If you really feel the urge to play with a girl, for some reason, than Cammy is what you need. Her moves are long ranged, high priority, and have little recoil. She gives good damage and stamina. However, she can be a nuisance to play against. Nonetheless, Cammy has some specific weaknesses. Like how her air roll is completely vulnerable to dragon-punch-type attacks or how her spiral arrow leaves her prone to grabs after her opponent back blocks.

Gouken: Gouken met his expectations in SFIV. He plays at a whole different modality. Gouken has many combos that can cancel and go straight to his ultra. As if that wasn’t enough, Gouken can easily do his Ultra by timing it after his back grab. Gouken’s Ultra also has amazingly high priority over almost every other ultra. To make things even wilder, Gouken has a fine set of hadokens which can, in some cases, become very cheap. To off balance him even more Gouken has a counter move… enough said. Haven’t you ever wondered why he’s banned from many Japanese tournaments? He is a very difficult character to play with, so if you know you can’t expert him don’t even try, because when he misses a unique move he is open to almost ANY attack.

Gen: This guy is SICK, both figuratively and literally. The only bad thing I can think of about Gen is that his stamina is a little lower than most characters. Otherwise he is a versatile character. When used correctly, Gen becomes the most deceptive character in the game. The cunningness of his moves is unprecedented. He claims two styles with different unique moves, basic moves, Ultras and Specials. Just like Gouken, if you can’t expert Gen then you shouldn’t use him. Gen is a very sophisticated and complex, one must master switching between his two stances between moves and other uneasy functions. Gen also has a crazy amount of combos which only tribute his style. Few players play with Gen, so he his almost the most unpredictable character to play with.

Now that you know the main points of all SFIV characters you can go and try out your preferred player. Feel free to comment about anything you’d like to add to this article.