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Akuma (Gouki) vs. Character Strategies: Street Fighter 4

Last updated on May 1, 2009

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Vs. Akuma (Gouki)

Use your Standing Hard Kick to go under any Air Fireballs Akuma throws out. You should be able to pass right by them if timed correctly and possibly hit Akuma on the way down.

Vs. Balrog (Boxer)

This is a good match to play defensively, because Balrog has the tools to destroy you when you're up close.

He also has moves that will get through your Fireballs, so you have to be somewhat selective when and where you throw these out there.

Your Air and EX-Air Fireball work pretty well in this match. While Balrog can get through them with patience, he won't usually be in a good position to hit you if you're consistently throwing them in spots where you're low to the ground or far away.

Balrog's Headbutt will knock you out of some of your pressure tactics, so it's not easy to stay on him, and it's probably not a good idea anyway. Instead be selective and look for opportunities to combo him.

Play a strong mix up game, never really giving him an idea of what's coming next. Demon Flips work well for this, coupled with Air Fireballs when you need to get a little defensive ground. You'll frustrate most opponents when they have a difficult time getting in on you.

Screwing up just once in this match can cost you big time if Balrog has his Super or Ultra charged, so be smart and careful.

Vs. Blanka

You can punish a blocked Beast Roll with your Ultra if you're fast. This limits Blanka's game because you can make one of his best moves ineffective — when you have enough meter to execute an Ultra that is.

Vs. Cammy

Akuma's Crouching Hard Punch will counter Cammy's Spinning Backfist if she's too close when she sticks out her fist, her Hooligan Throw and some of her jump ins, so it's a very key move for this match up. While the range doesn't seem like much, if you time these well you can stuff a number of her moves.

You have some great combos, so you'll want to bait Cammy into her Cannon Drills and Cannon Spikes so you can punish her whenever possible.

Vs. Crimson Viper

You can be right on the edge of where Viper's Burning Kicks will hit you and go into your Ultra to grab her. Akuma's Ultra offers a small amount of invincible frames that you can use to go through the edge of Viper's attack.

Viper players have to be fairly careful of the range they use their Burning Kicks at when they're up against an expert Akuma player with Ultra meter.

The distance you need to be standing at depends on the strength of Burning Kick Viper uses. If you're struggling with this concept and range you need to be at, make sure you check out video of this being done.

Vs. El Fuerte

Kicking back in this match and chucking Air Fireballs can make things difficult on Fuerte, as he doesn't have much he can do to counter Akuma's aerial projectiles.

Also if you get stuck in Fuerte's Body Splash loop, simply Teleport away.

If you want to go inside, you can apply a lot of offensive pressure to El Fuerte by jumping at him, using a Demon Flip or following up an Air Fireball and either going for one of your combos, or throwing him. His anti air options are not great — until his Ultra gets charged up.

Once his Ultra is charged, you'll have to back off of him, and your best bet is to try and bait him into it. So play a bit more defensively until he uses his Ultra gauge.

Fuerte is so fast and doesn't leave many openings for you to counter, so keeping on him is usually a good strategy, plus it makes it more difficult for him to pull out his bag of tricks.

Vs. Guile

Your Red Fireball is a bit more useful in this match because of the onslaught of projectiles you'll be facing. Jumping backwards and either doing a late Air Fireball to counter Guile's Sonic Boom or if he's a ways off using your Red Fireball to blow through his attack and score a hit or chip damage is a good tactic.

Guile has some great anti air options, so jumping in won't be easy, and since you won't always be able to generate offense from the air — countering his relentless projectiles is important. Just don't fall in love with your Red Fireball because it's very easy to counter if the other player can see it coming.

If Guile does his Double Sweep, you can catch him with your Ultra after the first hit, if you're fast. If you don't have Ultra meter, absorb the second hit with your Focus Attack and follow up with a combo.

Contributions to this section by Dorky Diggedy Dave.

Vs. Zangief

Use a mixture of Light Punch Fireballs and Jumping Hard Punch Fireballs to keep Gief off of you. When this guy gets in — it's a big time problem for Akuma.

Your Hard Punch Air Fireball travels forward the most distance, so it's going to be your main weapon. Mixing in other random Fireballs is also huge because if do the same thing all day, any decent player is going to pick up your pattern and make you pay — sooner or later.

Light Punch ground fireballs work well because they're so slow the Russian has a tough time getting around them. Use your Hard Punch Red Fireball to catch Gief as he's coming out of his Lariat if he's far away or as he's getting up to chip away at his life.

Most Gief players will try to Lariat through your projectiles, if they do it too close, Sweep him and then create more distance by jumping away with an Air Fireball.

At midrange distance use your Standing Hard Kick to fight him off, go into a combo if he doesn't block it, if he blocks it — RUN.

If he manages to get in on you, Teleport away as soon as it's safe to do so to create some space. Whatever you do, don't let him get close.

A lot of patience and smart play will consistently win this match for you. If you'd like to see a long and somewhat boring match of this happening, check out this video.

Contributions to this guide by Diem, Yar1n.