One of the first characters announced for Street Fighter 5 was the iconic mascot of the series, Ryu. He retains most of his traditional attacks and has a move set that seems to add some Street Fighter 3: Third Strike flavor into the mix. He’s still a zoning character that can throw fireballs from across the screen, but once he gets in close he becomes truly deadly. The ability to quickly stun an opponent in Street Fighter 5 makes Ryu a huge treat at close range, and his forward throw leaves him close enough to continue pressure on a nearly stunned opponent.
Special Moves
Ryu retains most of his trademark special moves, but you can’t just pick up where you left off in Ultra Street Fighter 4 like nothing has changed. Ryu has access to his Hadoken fireball, Shoryuken Dragon Punch and Tatsumaki Senpukyaku Hurricane Kick. The fireball hasn’t changed all that much, with varying speeds depending on the strength of the punch button used.
The invincibility on the Dragon Punch has taken a hit and without the ability to Focus Cancel out of it, using a Dragon Punch as you get off the ground is far more risky than it used to be. However, it still works well as an anti-air attack and if you read the opponent well it can be just as useful as a wake-up reversal.
The Hurricane Kick can still be done on the ground or in the air, but the cross-up Air Hurricane Kick is no longer an option. If you attempt to cross-up an opponent with an aerial Hurricane Kick it will simply miss completely and potentially leave Ryu vulnerable to a counter attack.
V-Trigger
Ryu’s V-Skill is the ability to parry attacks, similar to the parry in Street Fighter 3: Third Strike. You can parry multiple hits of an attack so long as your timing is accurate, but it didn’t seem quite as responsive as the Third Strike parry. You also can’t cancel the parry into an attack, you can only cancel a parry into a parry so you can parry an attack with multiple hits.
Once Ryu’s V-Trigger gauge is full he can activate it and gain access to the Denjin Renki fireball from Third Strike. You can charge up the fireball to completely break through your opponent’s guard and it travels much faster than Ryu’s normal Haduken fireball. The EX version charges very quickly which creates a difficult guessing game for the opponent after knocking them to the ground. If they guess wrong, the Denji will go right through their guard and could end the match if they’re close enough to defeat.
Critical Art
Ryu’s primary Critical Art hasn’t changed much over the years and that remains true in Street Fighter 5. The Shinku Hadoken is a super version of his normal fireball that travels faster and inflicts significantly more damage. It can be used to punish certain blocked attacks, as an anti-air attack from the right distance, or you can just hold onto your full super meter and keep the opponent worried about when you’re going to use it. The comeback potential of Ryu’s Shinku Hadoken doesn’t seem to be as impactful as Birdie’s super move, but it’s still very useful, especially given how aggressive Ryu can be thanks to the new stun system.
We’ll be stopping by Evolution 2015 later this week so stay tuned to Prima Games for more information on Street Fighter 5, including a look at Birdie, Ken and more!
