The pudgy Rufus was also a standout from the four new characters. Balrog plowed through the competition with his beastly jab, great normal attacks, and his ability to deal with fireballs using Turn Punch and EX moves that powered up a special at the cost of some super meter. Some theorized that Akuma was the only one who had an even or advantage match-up over Sagat.īut Street Fighter IV wasn’t all about projectiles and uppercuts. His Demon Flip special move had several variations that allowed him to create a never-ending “vortex” of guessing games, and later people found an effective combo loop involving his long-reaching Heavy Kick.

But towards the end of Street Fighter 4’s lifetime, Sagat did have someone to fear.Īs a “glass cannon,” Akuma has a ton of great moves but little health. Zangief was a strong force, but lost badly to Sagat. The Russian grappler terrorized weaker foes with his nasty Double Lariat and life-crushing Ultimate Atomic Buster. A strong reversal can’t replace good blocking skills, but it makes people more wary of pressing their advantage. As one of the worst fighters in the game, the Spaniard relied on stabbing foes one strike at a time, had poor mixups, and didn’t have a reliable reversal move like the Shoryuken. Other contestants like Vega had a rougher time. The First Lady of Fighting Games can dominate most of the round only to lose because of one mistake. Chun-Li could handle him at close range with her superior normal attacks, but she couldn’t match the comeback potential his Tiger Destruction Ultra gave him. Still, Sagat posed problems for other fighters. Many players say, however, he wasn’t as overpowering as previous “top tiers” in the series. Sagat placed at the top of high-level players’ character rankings or “tier lists” and was dominant at Japanese arcades, where the nation’s best trained.

The Muay Thai king had many of the benefits Ryu had along with terrific fireballs, amazing damage, and high health. You can never overlook a veteran Ryu player either: Japanese grandmaster Daigo Umehara has been arguably the most famous fighting game player in the world for over a decade, and he continued his dominance with the karate expert by taking the first two SF4 tournaments at Evolution, the world’s largest fighting-game event. Or he can dash back to safety if he doesn’t feel aggressive. If he uppercuts his enemy, he can stop the move with a Focus Attack, rush forward and keep attacking. The lone traveler benefited from an easy-to-connect Ultra Combo and the ability to make his powerful Shoryuken safe using a Focus Cancel.

It’s best to start with Ryu, as both beginners and experts favor him because of his fundamental tools that help him handle any situation. The game introduced two new mechanics to the franchise: the powerful Ultra Combo that the player gained by taking damage and the Focus Attack, which will absorb one hit of most moves. They used that game’s cast along with four brand-new characters and demon warrior Akuma to create SF4’s roster. After almost a decade of ignoring the genre, Capcom and co-developer Dimps decided to keep the basics close to the franchise’s greatest success, Street Fighter II. The first Street Fighter 4 premiered in arcades in 2008.

Street fighter 4 tournaments