RYU - INTRO - SUPER STREET FIGHTER 4

 NORMAL MOVES | SPECIAL MOVES | COMBOS | MATCH UPS 

CHARACTER STATS & INFO
TYPE	HEAVY ZONING, FOOTSIES
STRENGTHS	Excellent zoning tools and powerful combos.
WEAKNESSES	Well known match up for most players so many opponents will know what to expect.
STAMINA	1000 -  AVERAGE
STUN	1000 -  AVERAGE
CROSS UP	JUMPING MEDIUM KICK
ANTI-AIR	CROUCHING HEAVY PUNCH, SHORYUKEN
ARMOR BREAK	TATSUMAKI
GOOD MATCH UP	N/A
BAD MATCH UP	N/A

GAMEPLAY STYLE

Ryu is a well-rounded character.  He's a good choice for beginning players because he can effectively utilize most aspects of the game such as footsies, Focus Attacks, zoning, FADCing, EX Moves, and more.  If you are new to the game it is recommended that you start with Ryu so that you can learn the various aspects of the game system. It will make transitioning to other characters easier.  However, due to his incredible popularity as a character in general, one of his weaknesses is that most opponents are very familiar with Ryu as well and will know what to expect. 

He is a strong character because he has tools for almost any situation and can win using very basic but effective strategies.  Ryu is also popular because his playstyle can be adapted to suit your own play preferences.  He can be a rushdown character or he can be effective at playing a zoning game.

RYU - MATCH VIDEOS - SUPER STREET FIGHTER 4

RYU - NORMAL MOVES - SUPER STREET FIGHTER 4

LIGHT PUNCH

     

•  Crouching light punch is one of Ryu's best normal attacks, allowing him to start many combos and set up tick throws.

MEDIUM PUNCH

     

• Crouching medium punch is a solid poke which also sets up many combo opportunities.

• Jumping Medium punch is a good air-to-air move which allows him to follow up with an Ultra or EX Fireball on hit.

HARD PUNCH 

     

• Crouching fierce punch is slow and unsafe even on hit 

• Can be used during poke-strings to catch people teching/crouch-teching

• It will stand up the opponent character during combos allowing followups such as hurricane kicks that whiff versus a crouching opponent

 LIGHT KICK

     

• Crouching light kick, although not as fast as crouching light punch, is still a good combo starter when in close.

MEDIUM KICK

     

• Crouching medium kick is one of his best pokes, if not the best, allowing him to apply a lot of pressure when comboing into his Hadouken.

HARD KICK

     

• Crouching hard kick is a mid-range fast knockdown move and sets up the nasty wakeup games

• Is unsafe to many supers and ultras if blocked

COMMAND NORMALS

OVERHEAD PUNCH

FORWARD + STRONG PUNCH

   

• Two hit ground overhead with slow start-up and no real follow-ups, but is needed against a very tightly defensive player. 

SOLAR PLEXUS STRIKE

 

FORWARD + FIERCE PUNCH

• Two hit punch that moves Ryu forward. You can combo after it with a dragon punch and also many of his normal moves such as crouching strong and crouching fierce.

RYU - SPECIAL MOVES - SUPER STREET FIGHTER 4

HADOUKEN (FIREBALL)

QUARTER CIRCLE FORWARD + PUNCH

The Hadouken is a fireball projectile.  It is one of Ryu's primary zoning tools, using it to make it difficult for an opponent to approach and/or push them towards the corner.

The strength of the Punch button used determines the projectile's speed with the Light Punch version traveling the slowest. The damage and stun of all three regular versions of the fireball do identical damage and stun.

If you hit an airborne opponent with a Hadouken it will bounce them back, allowing you the opportunity to go into Ultra.

Because it takes Ryu time to recover after throwing a fireball, it is usually unwise to throw predictable Hadoukens at close range outside of a combo. It is easy for the opponent to simply jump over it and punish.  Also, if you are using Hadouken as a zoning tool, it is good to mix up the speeds of Hadoukens thrown in order to keep the opponent guessing and to make it harder to get in close.

For close range-use, seriously practice the 2-in-1 from Crouching Medium Kick into Hadouken.  The Crouching Medium Kick is a fantastic poke, and if you manage to connect you can guarantee additional damage by 2-in-1ing into Hadouken.  With the input leniency of the Street Fighter 4 games, however, it is easy to accidentally throw out Crouching Medium Kick into Shoryuken if your movements are not clean, which can leave you vulnerable. Once again, hit that practice mode.

The EX Version consists of two hits and results in a knockdown.  It travels faster than the Heavy Punch version and does more damage as well.

You can FADC out of an EX Hadouken that is part of a combo or close range into Ultra 1.  You can also FADC out of EX Hadouken into Ultra 2, but it requires that the opponent is in the corner so that they aren't bounced back out of range.

COMMUNITY VIDEOS

SSF4 - Ryu Ex-Fireball to ultra mid-screen by FlipWilSRK: This video shows how it looks when you EX Hadouken into Ultra 1 without FADC from mid-screen. May not work on all characters but useful to know.

SHORYUKEN (DRAGON PUNCH)

FORWARD, DOWN, DOWN FORWARD + PUNCH

The Shoryuken is one of Street Fighter's signature moves.  In Super Street Fighter 4 the Light Punch version is one hit and all other versions consist of two hits.

The strength of the punch button used determines the horizontal and vertical distance of the attack as well as the damage.  The Light Punch version does the least damage and has the least distance.  The Heavy Punch does the most damage, even more than the EX version, and is second only to the EX version in horizontal and vertical distance.

All versions of the Shoryuken have a few frames of invincibility at the very beginning of the move, which makes it an excellent anti-air move at some ranges.  The Light Punch version has the least invincibility frames. The Medium Punch version is best used as an anti-air from around mid-range.  The Heavy Punch version is best used in combos.

The EX version of the Shoryuken does slightly less damage than the Heavy Punch version but has significantly more invincibility frames and has far more vertical and horizontal distance. 

You can only FADC out of the second hit of the Shoryuken.  Learning to FADC out of Shoryuken is crucial if you want to playing at higher levels.  Ryu can FADC into another Shoryuken, Super or Ultra 1. Not only do you need to know how to FADC into other moves on reaction, but you need to know when to FADC out of a Shoryuken that an opponent has blocked.  If you have two bars of EX meter and your opponent blocks your Shoryuken, FADC and back-dash away.  Doing this can save you from being punished very hard and taking a lot of damage.  Hit the training mode and practice FADCing in various situations so that it becomes second-nature. Check out the first community video link below for some tips on practicing FADC.

COMMUNITY VIDEOS

Ryu's FADC into ultra tips by SledgeStarFighter: All beginning Shoto players should check this vid out for a few tips on how to *practice* FADCing into Ultra. Don't mind his execution while talking. The tips are gold.

TATSUMAKI SENPUUKYAKU (HURRICANE KICK)

QUARTER CIRCLE BACK + KICK

Ryu's Tatsumaki is genrally best suited for combos, allowing him to send his opponent flying into the corner. The move can also be done in air which is a useful cross up on downed opponents. It can be used to punish Fireball spammers in that it will go through most projectiles except High Tiger shots. 

The EX version spins in place which is typically best suited for use in combos and it also inflicts a lot of stun. 

SUPER - SHINKUU HADOUKEN

QUARTER CIRCLE FORWARD X2 + PUNCH

A very versatile and powerful super with numerous set ups and combos. Follow up with a Super after a Light Kick Hurricane Kick or Light Punch Dragon Punch. When in Fireball fights, you can use the Super to go through their oncoming fireball and punish them. After a cross up Hurricane Kick you can also connect the full Super.

ULTRA 1 - METSU HADOUKEN

QUARTER CIRCLE FORWARD X2 + THREE PUNCHES

Metsu Hadouken is Ryu's most versatile Ultra with it's ability to be comboed into after a FADC Dragon Punch (first only on Medium or Heavy Punch), EX Fireball in the corner, or FADC EX Fireball mid-screen. Beyond that, it can be use to punish mistimed fireballs and other mistakes from the opponent. 

ULTRA 2 - METSU SHORYUKEN

QUARTER CIRCLE FORWARD X2 + KICK X3

Although Metsu Shoryuken is a very powerful Ultra, at the end of the day it has limited uses do to the fact that it is nearly impossible to combo into it and land the full Ultra. Generally speaking you will land it after a Level 2 or 3 Focus Attack or after the opponent wiffs a move close to Ryu. That said, it can be used as an anti air attack, similar to a normal Dragon Punch.

RYU - COMBOS - SUPER STREET FIGHTER 4

NORMAL MOVE COMBOS 

Crouching Light Punch, Standing Light Punch, Standing Light Punch, Crouching Heavy Kick ( 147 damage, 210 stun )

This combo is useful if you are not REALLY comfortable with links. The advantage of ending a combo with sweep is that you get an untechable knockdown, giving you ample time to set something up for when they wake up. Also, with Ryu if you hold forward jump after a sweep you get an automatic safejump.

Crouching Medium Punch, Crouching Medium Punch, Crouching Heavy Kick ( 192 damage, 280 stun )

If you are very comfortable with links, this combo is better than the one above because it does more damage and stun. Because Ryu's sweep has such a slow recovery time, using any combo that ends in sweep as a blockstring is not a good idea vs. many opponents because they can punish you before you're recovered. For blockstrings use a combo that ends in fireball.

HURRICANE KICK COMBOS

Jump-in Heavy Kick, Crouching Medium Kick, Medium Hurricane Kick ( 248 damage, 460 stun )

Half the time, you're going to want to replace the cr. med kick with a cr. hard punch, because it will make the combo do more damage and stun. Another big positive for cr. hp is that this move FORCES the opponent to stand up, so even if you start this combo on a crouching opponent, the cr. hp will stand them up, allowing the hurricane kick to hit. The cr. med kick has more range though, so if after the jump in attack you land somewhat far from the opponent then a cr. hp isn't going to connect. Learn the range of when you can use the preferable cr. hp, and when you NEED to use cr. mk. Changing to the cr. hp makes the combo do ( 278 damage, 560 stun )

That said, you can use this combo anytime the first jump in attack is gauranteed to hit (opponent dizzy, jumped over opponents fireball, opponent is in recovery from certain ultras, etc )

Crouching Medium Punch, Crouching Medium Punch, Crouching Medium Kick, Medium Hurricane Kick ( 245 damage, 420 stun )

This combo is pretty hard, like the sweep combo above that similar, you need to be very good at links. It also will not work on a crouching opponent cause the hurricane kick will fly over them. On a crouching opponent you can substitute the hurricane kick for a fireball or EX fireball.

This is high damage and high stun. You can make this a jump-in punish combo, starting it out with a jump-in hard punch (provided you land RIGHT next to the opponent), you can use it after focus crumpling an opponent, or punishing a whiffed move.

Solar Plexus Strike, Crouching Heavy Punch, EX Hurricane Kick ( 338 damage, 460 stun )

This is most viable after you focus crumple an opponent, because the solar plexus is too slow a move for you to throw it out too much randomly, although once in awhile it might catch the opponent off guard as a poke. If done in the corner you can use ultra after the EX hurricane kick.

The solar plexus to cr. hard punch link is super hard, so here's another one where you have to be really good at links.

DRAGON PUNCH COMBOS

Crouching Light Punch, Crouching Light Punch, Heavy Dragon Punch ( 180 damage, 260 stun )

This one is good as a whiff or blocked move punish and also in footsies. Say Hakan slides at you and you block, but you need to hit him with a fast move before he is able to block again, you could do a cr. lp and then dragon punch. This is viable anywhere you can get a cr. lp in whether your move blocks or hits. The second cr. lp gives you time to recognize if the opponent is blocking or being hit, if they are being hit you finish with the dragon punch, if you recognize that they are blocking, finish with a move that is more safe like a fireball.

Solar Plexus Strike, Dragon Punch ( 270 damage, 300 stun )

As for where you can use this, the same rules apply as the combo above that starts with solar plexus, most likely after a focus crumple. This combo, however, is much much easier than the combo above, so you're probably going to want to stick with this one as your default solar plexus combo, unless you're a combo expert.

FIREBALL COMBOS

Crouching Medium Kick, Fireball ( 120 damage, 200 stun )

This is ryu's most important combo/blockstring. Because the cr. mk has good priority, speed, and range, you can walk towards the opponent and throw this out effortlessly in order to keep pressure on them, Daigo-style. It is also almost always safe even if the opponent blocks it. You should be getting some damage/chip damage from this every round.

One thing I like to do is sometimes on an opponents wake up, stay at a range where their dragonpunch/uppercut/reversal move would barely hit you, and block it. This should be close to the edge of the range of your cr. mk, where it's priority is at it's highest. If the opponent does a highly punishable move like a dragon punch, wait for them to land and punish like normal. If they too just sit there blocking, wait just long enough for you to recognize that they're blocking and not doing a reversal move, then throw out a cr. mk into fireball combo. If they try to do a move at the same time as you there's a good chance your cr. mk will beat it or at least trade. If they continue to block, you'll get chip damage from the fireball and not be in any worse a position. A lot of times though, they'll throw out a move a split second after you, or throw out a slow move, and your cr. mk will hit them during the start up frames of their move.

METSU HADOUKEN COMBOS

Dragon Punch, FADC First Hit, Metsu Hadouken ( 398 damage, 150 stun )

Use this any time you anticipate that the opponent is going to do a move that a Dragon Punch will beat, or if you anticipate that they aren't going to be blocking. If they do block, do not finish with your Ultra after the FADC, because they'll just block it and punish you. Instead after the FADC go into a blockstring or do a throw attempt if they blocked the initial dragon punch.

Crouching Medium Kick, EX Fireball, FADC, Metsu Hadouken ( 393 damage, 200 stun )

This is pretty safe to use anytime you have 3 bars of EX meter and Ultra meter charged. If the crouching medium kick is blocked, again don't throw out the ultra, do a blockstring or throw attempt.

EX Fireball, Metsu Hadouken [Corner Only] ( 364 damage, 100 stun )

Use this when pressuring the opponent in the corner. If the EX fireball lands, ultra, if they block it, keep on pressuring. What sometimes has worked for me is to throw a normal fireball, and if they block it, throw an immediate EX fireball. If you are at the right range, they will HAVE to block the 2nd EX fireball. If they try to jump (and they'll be looking to jump to get out of the corner) they'll get hit, which will allow you to

METSU SHORYUKEN COMBOS

Level 2 or 3 Focus Attack, Metsu Shoryuken

With level 2 FA ( 433 damage, 150 stun )

With level 3 FA ( 493 damage, 200 stun )

This will be your main way to use this ultra, other than punishing a highly highly punishable move (like a shotos hard punch Dragon Punch, or Hakan's slide). Use this anytime you can land a focus attack and crumple your opponent. Off of a jump-in (unlikely against good player), on the opponent when the wake up (unsafe), or absorbing an opponents poke and then releasing the focus attack (best idea).

Dragon Punch, FADC First Hit, Metsu Shoryuken

This does bad damage, but hey, if the opportunity arises to use your ultra, take it. Use this in the same scenarios you'd use dragon punch > FADC > Ultra 1. It's the same, just less damaging.

RYU - MATCH UPS - SUPER STREET FIGHTER 4

Coming soon.