Ryu is Only the Second Best Street Fighter Character
I know. Some of you are going to write this post off as blasphemy, because there’s no way that Ryu plays second fiddle to anyone. After all, he is the main character of the Street Fighter series and he’s easily the most recognizable character from the franchise. He’s always been a man of very few words, punishing M. Bison only to walk off into the sunset in search of the next challenge.
You see, there are reasons why Ryu is one of the best, ranking above third best Guile. Guile needs to charge before performing any of his canonical special moves, whereas Ryu can unleash fireballs, uppercuts, and hurricane kicks with some swift quarter-circles. He’s one of the most versatile players you can choose to use in the world warrior tournament and it goes without question that he’s one of the most popular Street Fighter characters in the arcades today or any day. I need not remind you how great he is.
But Ryu is not without his shortcomings. First, Ryu isn’t exactly accessible by newbies and relative beginners, because the quarter-circle-forward mechanic can take some practice for someone not accustomed to the move. Super fireballs can be even more challenging to perform. What’s more, when Street Fighter II was first translated to the Super Nintendo, we were forced to crouch, crouch-forward, forward, punch. The quarter circle movement, yet again, made for an unnecessary hurdle on a directional pad. My thumb gets blisters just thinking about it.
The karate master from Japan is not easily forgotten and he is one of the few players who has managed to appear in every Street Fighter game ever made, even making an appearance in off-shoots like Street Fighter vs. X-Men and Puzzle Fighter II (was there ever a Puzzle Fighter One?). As great as he is, Ryu is not the best Street Fighter character. That person will be revealed at a future date. I’ll give you a clue: it’s not Akuma either.
One Response to “Ryu is Only the Second Best Street Fighter Character”
November 29th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
Street Fighter 2 is one of my all-time favorite games, only second to the original Zelda for NES.
I was a master with Ryu and could beat most anyone with simple strong kicks… man now I wanna play!!
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