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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.
Why Guile is the Third Best Street Fighter Character
When it comes to fighting games, it’s obvious enough that Street Fighter II, in all of its incarnations, is easily the best of the best. It’s the standard on which every other fighting game is judged, despite (or possibly because of) its innumerable glitches. And Guile was right in the middle of the glitchiness with invisible throws, inexplicable handcuffs, and the ability to freeze the game at will.
Everyone has their favorites. Throughout all the incarnations of Street Fighter, everyone inevitably latches onto one or two characters and uses them each and every time. They master their skills. They perfect their special moves. They know just when to blast out a hadouken or fire up a shoryuken. And I have reasons why I believe Guile is the third best Street Fighter character of all-time. Who are number one and two? Well, I’ll leave those for another day.
In case you’re not all that familiar with Guile’s backstory, here’s what Wikipedia has to say on the matter:
In Street Fighter continuity, Guile was not introduced to the series until the events of Street Fighter Alpha 3, when he was sent by the United States Air Force to look for his senior teammate and best friend Charlie, who had gone missing during a secret investigation. Guile’s search eventually led him to the Interpol investigator Chun-Li, who warned him not to follow Charlie due to the danger involved. Guile demonstrated his fighting ability, and assured Chun-Li that he would not let their friend come to harm. He eventually found the Shadoloo base in Japan along with the missing Charlie. The sinister and powerful M. Bison appeared and attacked the two soldiers, daring them to follow him inside his Shadoloo base. As Chun-Li investigated another area, Charlie and Guile began to set explosives around their mission objective: Bison’s source of power, the Psycho Drive. However, Bison surprised them, and a fight ensued. Charlie convinced Guile to escape while he held Bison off, so Guile took Chun-Li and escaped, right before the base exploded, with Charlie and Bison caught in the blast. Standing on the top of a mountain, Guile says he will always believe in Charlie’s memory.
In practice, Guile was one of the characters that used charge techniques. This meant that instead of spinning quarter circles like Ken and Ryu, you’d have to hold back for several seconds, before pushing forward and hitting punch to unleash a sonic boom. You had to crouch with patience or three seconds before busting the joystick upwards with a flash kick. It’s also interesting to note how many names have come to refer to Guile’s jumping kick. Some call it a flash kick. Others may call it somersault kick or blade kick. Those are all the same thing.
Part of the reason why I liked using Guile so much growing up was because he seemed easier and more methodical to use than the two male leads. It was also a lot of fun stringing together the basic three-hit combo: jump attack, attack, sonic boom. It was also very cool to play as a US military soldier, complete with a stage that involved a fighter jet and a cheering battalion. And then, there’s the signature hair that would look far too ridiculous in real life. Guile was the epitome of cool and there was no denying it. He even told Ken to go home and be a family man. Ken is the spoiled rich kid; Guile is the rough and tumble military guy.
Guile is pretty awesome, there’s no denying that. He got even more awesome when he learned to do the Sonic Hurricane super special move, an energy trap that hits his opponent many times when connected. But Guile isn’t the best Street Fighter character. He’s only third best. Stay tuned for number one and two.
