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Ryu: Street Fighter 4 Character Guide

Last updated on Nov. 12, 2008

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Character Overview

Ryu in Street Fighter 4 is most similar to his counterpart in Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo. His fireballs are powerful. They come out quickly, do good damage and he can still dominate a match by controlling the other player with his projectiles, although not to the degree seen in SSF2T.

His Ultra gives him exceptional juggling opportunities, and it's one of the main reasons why he's considered a top tier character.

This guy is nasty.

• Strengths •
+ Excellent juggling ability with his Ultra move.
+ Lots of effective combos to choose from which do good damage.
+ His Fireballs are excellent, they have very little recovery time.
+ Master of playing a 'zone' game, i.e. keeping the other player where he wants them to be.
+ His Focus Attack is pretty good.

• Weaknesses •
- His Light and Medium Punch Shoryukens no longer have good anti air priority.
- Missed Shoryukens usually leave you wide open to be punished.
- Probably the most popular character in the game, so most players know his tricks.

Special Moves

• Hadouken (Fireball) •
One of the best projectiles in the game. The Punch button pressed determines the speed at which Ryu's Fireballs travel. Light is the slowest, while Hard Punch is the quickest.

He recovers very quickly after throwing one of these out, this helps him immensely with his 'zoning' game.

A good Ryu player can constantly be pinning you down and adjusting his own position by using his projectiles to push you into the places he wants you to be. Coupled with his anti air attacks, his old school Fireball traps can still be viable.

Ryu has several combos which end with a Fireball as well, which gives him a lot of range to finish off attacks with.

• Shoryuken (Dragon Punch Uppercut) •
Ryu's Hard Punch Shoryuken is a good anti air weapon. It's least likely to trade hits when your opponent jumps in, and even if you do trade hits — you can go into an EX-Fireball, Ultra or Super once he recovers to juggle the other fighter.

Arguably the best thing about the Hard Punch Shoryuken though is that you can Focus Attack Dash Cancel out of it, setting up some great combos.

The Light and Medium punch Shoryukens have their place, but you have to use them more sparingly unless you have your timing and range down — or you'll be hit out of them.

If you successfully land a Light Punch Shoryuken, you can sometimes juggle with your Super, Ultra or an EX-Fireball — you need to hit the other fighter when they're nearly at the peak of their jump though.

The Light version also works well as a counter attack against opponents who throw out poke attacks, because the recovery time is so short.

Do not throw out random Shoryukens in hopes of catching your opponent though, the recovery time on this move will usually leave you wide open and result in you losing a good amount of your life.

• Tatsumaki Senpuu-Kyaku (Hurricane Kick) •
You can also use this in the air. The Kick button pressed determines the range and speed of this move. All versions knock down when they hit.

The Hard Kick version will go through some projectiles, which can be a nasty surprise for the other fighter.

This move can be good to end combos with if you're looking for a knock down. It also works well to hit people out of their Focus Attacks if you time it correctly. While the first hit will be absorbed, the next one will likely nail them.

Executing this move in the air changes the trajectory of your jump, which can be handy for re-positioning yourself on the screen, or landing some where your opponent doesn't expect you to be.

But Ryu's Hurricane Kick is pretty easy to counter if blocked, and should only be used in situations where you know you'll be safe from counter attacks.

EX Moves

• EX-Hadouken (Fireball) •
This fireball hits twice, and it's great to use against people who try to match your projectile attacks.

If you hit your opponent in the corner with this move, it's also possible to juggle them with Ryu's Ultra. Disgusting.

• EX-Shoryuken (Dragon Punch Uppercut) •
This is most like his Hard Punch Shoryuken in distance and range, but it has terrific priority, hits twice and takes away a nice chunk of life when you land it.

It's a really good move to use when you're in trouble, or to reverse attacks.

• EX-Tatsumaki Senpuu-Kyaku (Hurricane Kick) •
You can use this move in the air. The EX version has a vacuum-like effect which will pull an opponent who's not too far away closer to Ryu's legs. This also does more damage than the normal Hurricane Kick and can be used to juggle if you're in the right position.

If you land this when your opponent is in the corner — and they're sent away spinning — while they're in the air you can juggle them with your Ultra.

Super and Ultra Moves

• Shinkuu Hadoken (Super Fireball) •
Ryu charges up and releases a powerful set of fireballs.

You can use this move to juggle the other fighter after a properly timed Light Punch Shoryuken. There are also several other instances where you can juggle with this.

A pretty good Super, but some players prefer to spend their meter on EX attacks in most situations, and just use their Ultra for big combos.

• Metsu Hadoken (Ultra Fireball) •
Ryu's Ultra is an exceptional move. The juggling potential with this attack is one of the reasons Ryu is regarded as one of the top characters in the game.

Finding ways to land this as your opponent is falling through the air after an attack is key to winning with him.

This attack also takes off a good amount of block (chip) damage even when it doesn't land.

Combos

Note, you can sub in a Hard Kick Hurricane Kick for most of Ryu's combos that end with a Fireball.

• Crouching Light Punch 3x, Crouching Medium Kick, Cancel into Fireball •

• Towards + Hard Punch (Dash Punch), Crouching Light Punch, Crouching Hard Punch, Cancel into Fireball •

• Light Punch Shoryuken, when you land juggle with Super, Ultra or EX-Fireball •
The timing on this can be tricky.

• Jumping Hard Kick, Crouching Light Punch, Crouching Medium Kick, Cancel into Fireball, , Focus Attack Dash Cancel, Standing Hard Punch, Cancel into Hard Punch Shoryuken •

• (Opponent in corner) Level 2/3 Saving Attack, Dash Forward, Towards + Hard Punch, Crouching Light Punch, Crouching Hard Punch, EX-Hurricane Kick, juggle with EX-Fireball and with another EX-Hurricane Kick •
Yes, this combo is nuts.

• Level 2/3 Saving Attack, Dash Forward, Level 2 Saving Attack, Dash Forward, juggle with Shoryuken •

• Towards + Medium Punch, Link into Crouching Light Punch, Hard Punch Shoryuken •

• Crouching Light Kick, Crouching Light Punch, Crouching Medium Punch, Cancel into Hurricane Kick •

Normal Moves

• Dash Punch •
This makes Ryu dash forward and hit with his fist.

• Overhead Punch •
Ryu takes a short hop forward and does an overhead punch that will hit an opponent blocking low. You can Link into a Crouching Light Punch after this move and follow up with additional attacks for a bigger combo.

• Crouching Medium Kick •
You can Cancel this move into all of Ryu's Special Moves. It has good range and speed and should be used often.

Ryu's Shoryuken, Focus Attack Dash Cancel into Ultra

It's a bit tricky to pull off Ryu's Shoryuken into Focus Attack Cancel into Ultra unless you know the specific commands. Here they are.

(Hold buttons)

(Release Medium Punch and Kick)

The timing on this can be very tricky. You have to juggle your opponent with Ryu's Ultra as they're coming down.

But your reward for pulling this off is quite good. Whenever your opponent jumps in and eats an anti air Dragon Punch you can go into this for some nice damage.

Contributions to this guide by Time_attack, CFAY, Kamui, Mickey D' and Captain Ryu.