Street Fighter IV/Gouken

Introduction

Gouken is a console-only character with tools to shut down many common character types, including charge & shotokan characters. He is best played by someone who can consistently predict his opponent's next move based on their prior patterns. He has the concept of Shoto style, but no shoryuken, and a much different hurricane kick. This leads to a weak wake-up game, and his worst matchups are against characters with many safe or armor-breaking moves like Dictator and Boxer. His combos are very high damage, which makes up for his lack of offensive options.

How do I unlock Gouken?

Follow the instructions on the main SFIV page.

Move Analysis

Guide to Notation

Normal Moves

• c.FP: Great anti-air, general poke & combo starter.
  • Combo timing changes when you hit from further away.
  • Hit it late as an anti-air.
• s.HK: Distance poke; unpunishable on block.

Normal Throws

• LP + LK or f + LP + LK: Regular throw
• b + LP + LK: Dat backthrow. Follow up with...
  • Full 3-hit Ultra
  • c.FP xx Demon Flip
  • j.MP (one hit) combo. ??
  • QCB + HK
• s.HK ~ LP + LK: Kara-throw.

Command Normals

• f + MP: Overhead

Special Moves

• QCF+P: Hadoken
  • P strength determines angle - lp is horizontal, mp is slight upward angle, hp is sharp upward angle.
  • Juggles - combo into dash punch whenever possible.
• Ground QCB+K: Tatsumaki (Hurricane Kick)
  • Most useful when guaranteed after an EX Rush Punch or backthrow
  • EX: Invincibility frames on startup. Useful if your enemy is pressuring you on wakeup, but NOT if they're crossing over. Hitbox is high, so it can whiff on many characters if they are crouching.
• Air QCB+K: Air Tatsumaki (Hurricane Kick)
  • Travels horizontally
  • Can punish Gief's Lariat at the right height
  • EX Forward-back direction can be controlled.
• DP+P: Senkugoshoha ("Rush Punch")
  • Armor Breaking
  • Has three "phases": startup, dash, attack. Is invulnerable during the dash phase. Dash phase will end prematurely if Gouken reaches the opponent.
  • Punch strength determines the startup time & "max range" of the dash portion. All version (incl EX) are punishable.
  • EX: Two-hits, launcher.
• Reverse DP+K/P: Kongoshin ("Counter")
  • Can be cancelled into super.
  • Punch version generally counters high hits (high with regards to hitbox, not hit type). It will counter Chun-Li's sweep and Akuma's slide kick.
  • Kick version counters low hits.
  • EX: Counters high & low, does slightly less damage.
  • Vulnerable against...
    • Armor-breaking moves (including reversals)
    • Grabs & grab supers/ultras
    • Certain multi-hit moves (loses to Zangief's EX palm, but beats Bison's Scissors)
  • See Matchups for a table of which Ultras and Supers can be countered.
• DP+K: Demon Flip
  • EX: Invincible startup frames; tracks opponent.
  • Followups
    • P: Focus
    • K: Dive kick - does more hitstun than the bare Down + MK dive kick. Can hit-confirm into c.hp for combo starter.
      • The lower you are when you hit, the more frame advantage you'll have. This is why you cannot combo if you hit the top of Zangief's Lariat, and why a Sagat can punish this on block if you hit him high.
    • LP + LK: Grab - works on standing and crouching opponents. Timing is very tight.
      • Has instant recovery as soon as you hit the ground.
    • No Input: Slide kick.

Super Move

Kinjite (Forbidden) Shoryuken: QCF, QCF + P

• Can be cancelled into from Counter or Dashpunch

Ultra Move

Shin Shoryuken: QCF, QCF + PPP

Comboing into Shin Shoryuken

• Backthrow, Ultra
• Ex Palm xx FADC, Ultra
• Tatsu xx FADC, Ultra
• Demon Flip, Dive Kick xx Ultra
  • This only works if you basically kick their toe. This works because you hit the ground sooner, and thus can hit the Ultra while they're still in hitstun.
• Corner
  • Counter xx FADC, Ultra
  • EX Palm, Ultra
  • EX Palm, EX Hadoken, Ultra

To combo the full 3-hit version from a juggle, your opponent has to "fall" onto the first hit, so don't time it too early. If it still catches someone, a many-hit version will come out

Trades with Gief's Lariat

FADCing into Shin Shoryuken

Practice this: MP+MK, QCF, QCF, PPP. If you do the QCF, QCF fast enough, the "forward" parts will count as the double-tap you need to dash cancel the Focus Attack. That is, QCF, QCF will count as your dash input and your Ultra input. All you have to do is time the PPP once you recover from your dash, and you'll Ultra. Make sure you release MP+MK as you hit PPP, or at any time before you hit PPP.

Combos

Any combo beginning with s.FP or c.FP can be started with an FP or deep MK jumpin, or a dive kick.

BnB's (Bread 'n Butter Combos)

1. FP, EX DP+P, DP+P
   • Works against all characters
   • DP+MP is easier to time than DP+FP
2. FP, EX DP+P, dash forward, QCB+HK
   • High damage
   • Whiffs against small characters (Dhalsim, El Fuerte)

Street Fighter IV

Corner Combos

These are the ones that make people ragequit.

1. FP, EX DP+P into corner, FP Hadoken, LP Hadoken, FP xx Demon Flip
   • Leads into Demon Flip Mixup.
2. FP, EX DP+P into corner, EX Hadoken, Ultra
   • Can EX Hadoken twice vs. Zangief

Footsies

1. c.LP, s.LP, s.LK
   • Can follow up with c.MP, LP Fireball, but it doesn't actually combo, so you're vulnerable to people mashing Shoryuken

Strategy

Matchups

Responses to Ultras / Supers

This table explains how you can counter/punish Ultras on reaction (that is, if you essentially mash your response during the Ultra cinematic startup.) "EX HK" is EX Hurricane Kick (QCB+KK). For fireball supers like Ryu's and Dhalsim's, the Counter will avoid the entire Ultra (except for the first hit) if you are at point blank range. If you're further away, the counter-hit will still come out, but you will proceed to eat some more damage from the ultra.

What do I do about this Ultra/Super?

Character	Super		Ultra		Notes
	Counter	EX HK	Counter	EX HK
CAMMY	Low	Yes	Low	Yes	Super: Only EX HK from one character width away. Ultra: Only EX HK from one jump length away.
BLANKA	High	Yes	*	No	Ultra: Counter Low at point blank range, High for all others. At long range, throw a Jab Hadoken.
C. VIPER	High	Yes	No	Yes	Super: Can EX HK after the first 2 hits. Ultra: Can EX HK after the ground pound.
DHALSIM	High	Yes	High	Trades
FEI LONG	High	Yes	High	Yes	You can also do this between the 4th and 5th hit.
GUILE	High	Yes	High	Yes	You can also do this between the 2 flip kicks.
ABEL	No	Yes	No	Yes
M.BISON (Dictator)	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
RUFUS	High	Yes	High	Yes
RYU	High	Yes	High	Yes
AKUMA	No	?	No	?
BALROG (Boxer)	No	Yes	No	Yes	Ultra: Can block 4 hits, then EX HK
CHUN LI	No	No	No	Yes	Super can be Countered/EX HK'd, but only if you input it BEFORE the freeze.
DAN	No	No	Yes	Yes	Super can be Countered/EX HK'd, but only if you input it BEFORE the freeze. Or block until the last uppercut and Counter High/EX HK.
E.HONDA	No	Yes	No	No
EL FUERTE	High	Yes	No	Yes	In the air HK/EX HK will also work against his Ultra.
GOUKEN	No	Yes	No	Yes
KEN	No	No	No	Yes	Super can be Countered/EX HK'd, but only if you input it BEFORE the freeze.
ROSE	High	Yes	No	No	Ultra: Hold up or EX Demon Flip.
SAGAT	No	No	Yes	Yes	Super can be Countered/EX HK'd, but only if you input it BEFORE the freeze.
SAKURA	Low	Yes	No	No
SETH	?	?	?	?
VEGA (Claw)	*	*	No	No	Super can be Countered High or EX HK'd if he goes for the stab.
ZANGEIF	No	?	No	?
GEN (Mantis)	No	No	No	No
GEN (Crane)	No	No	No	No	Hold up or EX Demon Flip.

Street Fighter IV

Cammy

High Counter will protect you from everything except Hooligan Throw and her armor-breaking Spin Knuckle. Blocking low is a safe bet, especially since she can't Hooligan Throw a crouching opponent.

El Fuerte

• Backdash on wakeup. It has invincibility frames and will help you escape his wakeup traps.

Blanka

• Tricks & Tips
  • Blankaball is punishable by reversal jab dash punch IF you block it standing.
  • Slide is punishable either by c.fp or c.hk depending on distance.
    • Slide has a deceptively long range, but it slows down considerably after the first few frames. If you throw an LP Hadoken that Blanka slides under, and he's far enough away that it doesn't immediately hit you, mashing low counter may net you a hit. No use against a Blanka with a great sense of spacing, though.
  • Punish Rainbow roll with EX dash punch, use counter on point-blank electricity.

It's important to punish him for all of his special moves. Don't let him play a game of abuse. Once he starts playing his normal game of crossups and pokes, you have the advantage (c.FP as anti-air is excellent against his jumpins). The hardest part is your wakeup since he can play a mean crossup game. The best thing to do is avoid these games all together with EX demon flip or by blocking + teching any throw attempt. Once you get to a midscreen game, the risk/reward is totally in your favor.

Gen

• Tricks & Tips
  • MP+HP Hadokens shut down his jumpin game.
  • He has no easy ground way to deal with LP hadoken. You can play a very good keepaway game with these two.
  • Be sure to play very differently once he gets an ultra - he can fly through your fireballs and do serious damage.

His ground pokes can be torn apart by counter. When he hits the wall, a HP hadoken can usually nail him for whatever he does. Really, hadokens shut down most of Gen's game.

Abel

• Tricks & Tips
  • Depending on distance, his wheel kick will get stuffed by Jab & MP Rush Punches. Sweet!
  • He can be grabbed out of his roll. Bait the hell out of it.

Balrog

• Punishable moves
  • Throw him out of his rush punches.

Zangief

• Punishable moves
  • Green Hand: c.FP + combo (This even works on hit, against non-EX Green Hands)
  • Lariat: Demon Flip + Slide, c.FP + Combo at max range, HK Tatsu at long range, c.LK + HK Tatsu at close range

Guile

• Guiles love to pin you down with Sonic Booms on wakeup, so they can walk up and mix you up once you come out of blockstun. High Counter will catch the Sonic Boom and slap him in the face.
• Punish his double-sweep with an ultra or low counter between the first & second kicks.

Frame Data

							Frames	Frames	Frames of	Frames of	Super Meter	Cancel	Ability
Move Name	Damage	Stun	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Block	On Hit	Block Stun	Hit Stun	Gain	Chain	Special	Super	Notes
Close LP	30	50	4	2	9	14	0	+3	10	13	20	O	O	O	-
Close MP	75	100	5	2	11	17	+1	+4	13	16	40	X	O	O	-
Close HP	105	200	8	2	15	25	0	+4	16	20	60	X	O	O	-
Close LK	35	50	5	2	9	15	0	+3	10	13	20	X	X	X	-
Close MK	70	100	5	2	13	19	-1	+2	13	16	40	X	O	O	-
Close HK	40*70	125*75	4	2*3	??	30	-3	+2	??	??	60*20	X	X	O	1st hit cancellable
Far LP	30	50	5	2	9	15	0	+3	10	13	20	O	O	O	-
Far MP	80	100	5	2	11	17	+1	+4	13	16	40	X	X	O	-
Far HP	125	200	8	2	17	25	0	+4	18	22	60	X	X	X	-
Far LK	40	50	6	2	9	16	0	+3	10	13	20	O	X	X	-
Far MK	80	100	7	2	13	21	-1	+2	13	16	40	X	X	X	-
Far HK	110	200	8	2	21	30	-5	-2	17	20	60	X	X	X	-
crouch LP	30	50	4	2	9	14	0	+3	10	13	20	O	O	O	-
crouch MP	70	100	5	2	14	20	-2	+1	13	16	40	X	O	O	Low attack
crouch HP	100[70]	200[150]	6	4	22	31	-8	-4	17	21	60	X	O	O	-
crouch LK	40	50	6	4	9	18	-2	+1	10	13	20	X	O	O	Low attack
crouch MK	70	100	4	3	16	22	-5	-2	13	16	40	X	O	O	-
crouch HK	100	100	6	3	18	26	-3	D	17	-	60	X	X	X	Low attack, cannot fast recover
Jump up LP	50	50	5	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	20	-	-	-	-
Jump up MP	85	100	5	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	40	-	-	-	-
Jump up HP	105	200	6	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	60	-	-	-	-
Jump up LK	40	50	6	7	-	-	-	-	-	-	20	-	-	-	-
Jump up MK	80	100	6	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	40	-	-	-	-
Jump up HK	100	200	7	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	60	-	-	-	-
Jump forward LP	50	50	5	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	20	-	-	-	-
Jump forward MP	50*30	50*50	4	2*2	-	-	-	-	-	-	40*20	-	-	-	(translate), 2nd hit pursuit property
Jump forward HP	100	200	5	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	60	-	-	-	-
Jump forward LK	40	50	7	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	20	-	-	-	-
Jump forward MK	70	100	7	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	40	-	-	-	-
Jump forward HK	100	200	8	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	60	-	-	-	-
f+MP Overhead	80	100	19	2	17	37	-5	0	13	18	40	X	X	X	Mid attack
Dive Kick	60	100	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	40	-	-	-	Mid attack
Focus Attack LVL 1	65	100	21	2	35	57	-21	-21	15	15	20	-	-	-	-
Focus attack LVL 2	85	150	18+11	2	35	65	-15	D	21	-	40	-	-	-	-
Focus attack LVL 3	150	200	65	2	35	101	D	D	-	-	60	-	-	-	-
Forward Throw	70*70	150	3	2	20	24	-	D	-	-	40	-	-	-	Throw range 0.9
Back throw	0	0	5	2	20	24	-	D	-	-	40	-	-	-	(translate), Throw range 0.9
Gohadoken LP	70	100	17	-		41	+2	+6			10/20	X	X	O	-
Gohadoken LP charge	60*60	100*50	17	-		41	+2	+6			10/10*10	X	X	O	-
Gohadoken MP	70	100	17	-		41	+2	+6			10/20	X	X	O	-
Gohadoken MP charge	60*60	100*50	17	-		41	+2	+6			10/10*10	X	X	O	-
Gohadoken HP	70	100	17	-		41	+2	+6			10/20	X	X	O	-
Gohadoken HP charge	60*60	100*50	17	-		41	+2	+6			10/10*10	X	X	O	-
Gohadoken EX	70*70	100*100	17	-		55	-12	-8			0/0	X	X	O	-
Gohadoken EX charge	60x2*60x2	(100*50)*(100*50)	17	-		55	-12	-8			0/0	X	X	O	-
Rush Punch LP	120	200	16	4	28	47	-6	D	25		10/20	X	X	O	4~13f invincible
Rush Punch MP	130	200	17	4	33	53	-6	D	30		10/20	X	X	O	5~19f invincible
Rush Punch HP	140	200	20	4	38	61	-6	D	35		10/20	X	X	O	8~27f invincible
Rush Punch EX	100*60	100*50	17	4*4		72	-5	D			0/0	X	X	O	2~25f invincible, 2nd hit juggles, Armor break, 1~2 hit cancellable
Hurricane Kick LK	60*20*40	100*25*25	7	2x3		97	-70	D			10/20*10*10	X	X	O	(translate), Pursuit property, 1st hit cancellable
Hurricane Kick MK	65*20x2*50	100*25x3	10	2x4		113	-83	D			10/20*10x3	X	X	O	(translate), Pursuit property, 1st hit cancellable
Hurricane Kick HK	70*20x3*55	100*20x3*40	13	2x5		135	-102	D			10/20*10x4	X	X	O	(translate), Pursuit property, 1st hit cancellable
Hurricane Kick EX	80*10x6*60	100*10x6*40	7	2x8		124	-97	D			0/0	X	X	O	(translate), Pursuit property, 1st hit cancellable
Hurricane Kick LK(air)	100	200	6	2x3		-	-	-			10/30	-	-	-	-
Hurricane Kick MK(air)	110	200	6	2x5		-	-	-			10/30	-	-	-	-
Hurricane Kick HK(air)	120	200	6	2x7		-	-	-			10/30	-	-	-	-
Hurricane Kick EX(air)	140	200	6	2x7		-	-	-			0/0	-	-	-	(translate)
Demon Flip	0	0	-	-		-	-	-			30	-	-	-	-
Demon Flip EX	0	0	-	-		-	-	-			0/0	-	-	-	1~25f invincible, flies toward opponent
Demon Flip Slide	100	200	43	11		73	-13	D			-/30	-	-	-	(translate), Low attack
Demon Flip Focus	0	0	4	Until ground		-	-	-			-/30	-	-	-	(translate)
Demon Flip Kick	80	100	12	Until ground		-	-	-			-/20				Forces stand
Demon Flip Throw	150	200	3	2		-	D	D			-/20*10	-	-	-	Throw range Light=1.15, Medium=1.25, Hard=1.35, EX=1.5
Counter P	180	150	1	14	18	32	-	-			10/35	X	X	O	(translate)
Counter K	180	150	1	14	18	32	-	-			10/35	X	X	O	(translate)
Counter EX	150	150	1	14	18	32	-	-			0/0	X	X	O	(translate)
Kinjite Shoryuken	85*40x5*60	0	11	3*2*3*3*2*3*4		90	-89	-			0/0	-	-	-	1~12f invincible, Pursuit property, Armor break
Shin Shoryuken	128*195*195	0	11	2*3*3*2*3*3*2*4		124	-123	-			0/0	-	-	-	1~11f invincible, Pursuit property, Armor break
							Frames	Frames	Frames of	Frames of	Super Meter	Cancel	Ability
Move Name	Damage	Stun	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Block	On Hit	Block Stun	Hit Stun	Gain	Chain	Special	Super	Notes

The 1 frame discrepancy you see between Startup+Active+Recovery and Total is because when it says a move has 4 frames startup, it really has 3 frames startup and hits on frame 4. It was written this way so you don't have to do any math to figure out what frame a move first hits on.

Street Fighter IV