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Guile Gets Himself in Trouble
You knew that destroying someone’s perfectly good car like that wouldn’t go unpunished right? Even if you’re a vet of the military, you’re not immune to the laws of the land, Guile. Charlie would be ashamed of you.
(Click to see full size image with animation)
Street Fighter IV Move List: Abel
Everyone already knows that Street Fighter IV is going to be pretty awesome, giving us access to the original eight from Street Fighter II, as well as the original four boss characters. But we’ve got to pay attention to the new characters as well.
I’m personally more excited about El Fuerte, but this guy Abel could prove to be kind of interesting too, especially if you like wrestling-geared characters similar to Zangief. In the video above, you can check out the full Street Fighter IV move list for Abel. It doesn’t look like he has any projectile moves and his specials are very wrestling-oriented, just like his Russian cousin.
You’ve got to feel a little sorry for Guile though, don’t you? The more American soldier is getting his ass handed to him in the most royal of fashions, over and over again.
Knowing me, I’ll just end up using Ken and Ryu over and over again. I wonder if either of them are going to get any new moves or is it just going to be the cheap hadouken-hadouken-shoryuken game all over again?
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.
