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.
3 Responses to “Why Guile is the Third Best Street Fighter Character”
November 22nd, 2007 at 12:45 am
[...] 10 Best Fighting Games of All-Time | Hadouken Online on Street Fighter IV Officially AnnouncedWhy Guile is the Third Best Street Fighter Character | Hadouken Online on Official Screenshots: Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix [...]
December 21st, 2007 at 5:13 pm
[...] that other live action Street Fighter movie, the one starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as Colonel Guile. They totally f*cked with the storyline (Charlie and Blanka are not the same person) and the [...]
February 7th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
[...] to prove it. Joining Ken and Ryu in this fourth Street Fighter generation are E. Honda, Blanka, Guile, Chun-Li (with her thunder thighs!), Zangief, and [...]
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