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M. Bison (Dictator): Street Fighter 4 Character Guide

Last updated on Oct. 11, 2008

4 Comments

Character Overview

M. Bison plays like his Super Turbo and Capcom vs. SNK 2 counterparts. He's very mobile, has good speed and damage and can be quite formidable.

His poke attacks are excellent and you can use his EX-Scissor Kicks to get through fireball traps that used to give him so much trouble. He also has some solid reversal moves now.

This guy is very good.

• Strengths •
+ Tons of mobility with his air attack moves
+ Exceptional poke, standing Medium Kick
+ His EX moves are very good
+ Does pretty good damage when he hits
+ Strong zoning game
+ Master of the Tick Throw
+ Good foot and move speed
+ Bison dizzies other fighters fairly quickly

• Weaknesses •
- Multiple jump ins and cross up attacks give him trouble
- Doesn't have great mix up options on offense, relies on a lot of pokes and throws
- Range on Focus Attack isn't good
- Psycho Crusher has limited use
- Relies heavily on bait tactics and feints to deal damage

Special Moves

A (2) next to an arrow means to hold the joystick in that direction for 2 seconds to 'charge' the move.

With moves that charge by holding back or down, you can use the diagonal positions to charge up as well. For example, if you're holding back, you can jump backwards or block low and still maintain your charge.

• Psycho Crusher Attack (Flaming Torpedo) •
The Punch button pressed controls the range and power of this move. An attack with very limited uses, and can be punished if blocked. You'll usually end up right at your opponent's feet, although Light Punch Psycho Crushers seem to be the safest of the bunch.

The best use for this is in combos or if your opponent jumps backwards when you're charged.

You can cross up the other fighter with this attack as they're standing. Just time it so that the bottom part of your body hits them as they get up.

Can be an alright attack in some anti air situations, but the timing is tricky.

• Double Knee Press (Scissor Kicks) •
The Kick button pressed controls the range and power of this move.

Light Kick version is very, very safe from counter attacks, but goes the shortest distance and does the least damage.

Hard Kick is still fairly safe, but does more damage and goes about half the screen's distance. Medium Kick is a mix of both.

This move works great against characters who like to stick out low pokes, because you'll usually fly over their attack and hit them.

It's also a great punishing tool for opponents who throw out moves with long recovery times. For example, if you block Ryu or Ken's Crouching Hard Kick sweep, simply block and let them have it.

A simple but effective strategy after your opponent blocks a Scissor Kick attack is to do another one right after wards. Many times this will catch them trying to counter attack.

Use this move often, it's very good.

     
• Head Press & Somersault Skull Diver (Head Stomp and Body Splash) •
This causes Bison to jump on the head of his opponent, after which you can maneuver him while he's airborne either forward or backwards. Pressing Punch will result in a Body Splash.

The Head Stomp move is great against anti-air attacks, as it beats most of them out for priority.

But the Body Splash doesn't have much priority and can be difficult to follow up with. In fact if your opponent ducks, just stands there or basically breathes you will probably miss them.

So some players like to just hold away on the joystick to fly out of attack range after the Stomp. Although the Body Splash can still be effective if your opponent doesn't think its coming, and if you manage to hit with it you can follow up with a Crouching Medium Kick for extra damage.

     
• Devil's Reverse (Aerial Fist Dive, Flying Chop) •
Bison will jump up into the air, pressing Punch while airborne will make him do a Fist Dive.

The animation for this move looks almost identical to his normal jump, and the Devil's Reverse gives you a TON of mobility in the air.

After executing the Devil's Reverse, your opponent may do something they shouldn't like attempt an anti air attack. Either punish them with your Fist Dive, or land and pressure them with a throw or poke. This is a great attack to keep your opponent off guard.

If you're trying to hit with this instead of using it as a fake out, you'll need to be within 3/4th's of the screen's distance to your opponent.

Don't underestimate this move's usefulness. Although it seems awkward at first, the mobility and opportunity to fake out your opponent with it really give Bison another dimension to his game.

or
• Bison Warp (Teleport) •
A fast teleport. You go into this and come out very quickly, but you can still be hit if your opponent knows its coming.

Best used as an escape tool when you're trapped in the corner or in a bad situation, but also works good to reposition yourself for Bison's excellent zoning game.

EX Moves

• EX-Psycho Crusher Attack (Flaming Torpedo) •
This can absorb one attack and still hit the other fighter (although you take damage if hit), which makes it a solid counter to projectile throwers, although most players prefer the EX-Scissor Kicks.

• EX-Double Knee Press (Scissor Kicks) •
The projectile killer.

This move comes out very quickly and goes through projectiles. This makes Bison a difficult opponent to pin down with fireballs when he has Super meter.

     
• EX-Head Press & Somersault Skull Diver (Head Stomp and Body Splash) •
Like the normal version of this move except the Stomp does A LOT more damage, and it even hits pretty hard when your opponent blocks it. Bison also jumps faster and the attack part has more priority. This thing rocks!

Also works good as a wake up move. It has some frames of invincibility when you first execute it, making it difficult for your opponent to wake up throw or put out a 'meaty' attack.

Knocks down when it hits.

     
• EX-Devil's Reverse (Aerial Fist Dive) •
Like the normal version, but the first few frames of animation are invincible and hits twice.

Super and Ultra Moves

• Knee Press Nightmare (Super Scissor Kick) •
This super is difficult to punish if blocked — unless your opponent is in the corner. You can also cancel into this after doing your Scissor Kicks.

Many players are avoiding this move altogether though because of how good Bison's EX attacks are.

• Nightmare Booster (Ultra Scissor Kick) •
A good Ultra move, you can juggle your opponent after two airborne Medium Punches. Can go through projectiles if started when the fireball is almost point blank.

Combos

• Cross up with Jumping Medium Kick, Crouching Light Punch x2, Crouching Medium Kick, Cancel to Scissor Kicks •
This is your Bread and Butter combo, use it often. Safe on hit or if blocked.

• Jumping Hard Kick, Crouching Medium Kick •
Yep, just those two moves. Does good damage.

• Crouching Medium Kick, Cancel into Hard Kick Scissor Kicks •
Another simple but effective combo, again, nice damage.

• Hit aerial opponent with Jumping Medium Punch, Medium Punch again while in the air, land then Ultra •
Timing has to be good to pull this off, but it's a nasty price for your opponent to pay just for jumping in.

• Jumping Hard Kick, Standing Hard Punch, Hard Punch Psycho Crusher •
Very good damage, but only use this in guaranteed hit situations.

• Hit aerial opponent with Jumping Medium Punch, Medium Punch again while in the air, land Psycho Crusher •

• Level 2 or 3 Focus Attack, Dash, Crouching Medium Punch, Crouching Medium Kick, Light Kick Scissor Kicks •

• Jumping Hard Kick, Standing Light Kick, Link into Standing Hard Kick •
One of a few M. Bison combos that do not require a charge to pull off.

Normal Moves

Note this is not a complete list of all of M. Bison's normal moves, just the ones we think are noteworthy.

• Standing Medium Kick of Death •
An excellent poke. Great range, speed and priority, and you recovery quickly if blocked. Use this often to foot slap the other fighter and keep the pressure on.

(In the air)
• Jumping Medium Kick •
This is your cross up move. Useful, but sometimes you'll miss your opponent if you're not precise with your jump in.

• Anti Air Kick •
Bison's best anti air normal. Works great at the start of your opponent's jump as a poke, and it's solid for countering most jump ins if you have your angles down.

• Slide Kick •
Safe from counter attacks if blocked if you do it from far enough away. Hits low and can be a deceptive way to get in a quick, unexpected attack. And it can slide under High Tiger Shots.

    (In the air)
• Double Air Punch •
Close to how it works in Super Turbo, you can juggle your opponent with two Medium Punches if you jump and catch them while they're airborne, and after wards you can land a Psycho Crusher or his Ultra.

Also if you only hit with the first Medium Punch in the air, you can juggle with almost any move when you land.

General M. Bison Strategies

Here are some pointers to help learn how to play M. Bison.

• Try to anticipate projectiles and jump ins. You have very effective tools to deal with both of these situations, learn where and how to use them.

• Your EX-Scissor Kicks go through fireballs, and both versions will beat most pokes. Use these often to keep your opponent off guard and afraid to throw out random moves.

• When they're on the defensive, start throwing them. Your power and speed are very good, meaning they're going to take a lot of damage when you hit, and won't have a lot of time to react to your moves.

• Avoid your opponent's jump traps by teleporting away, or doing a quick Jumping Hard Punch to smash them out of the air.

• Jump straight up over projectiles and immediately begin to charge your Scissor Kicks while in the air. If your opponent throws out another projectile, blow through it with an EX-Scissor Kick.

• Learning what range you have to be standing at to hit your opponent cleanly with Bison's anti air attacks is very, very key. Because Bison is a large character, many players will try to hit him early when they jump in, expect this and counter.

• Try to maintain a charge at all times to counter attack your opponent. This seems like an obvious thing, but it's still important to note.

Contributions to this guide by Forgenjuro, Pat the Great, CFAY, Ultima, Shoo, Leebee Link, Onslaught35, Mariodood, CaliPower, FullMetalRoss, Ohayo1234 and MinhHoang.