Street Fighter IV/Ryu

Move Analysis

Strategy

1UP's Strategy

From 1UP's Street Fighter 4 Superguide

Controlling the Ground

When zoning on the ground with Ryu, you cannot be afraid to throw fireball after fireball to pressure your opponent into jumping into your Dragon Punch or push them into the corner and limit their options. This basic strategy dates back to Street Fighter II and is still quite relevant in Street Fighter 4 due to the fact that he has so many options to dish out damage when the opponent makes a mistake by trying to avoid fireballs. If you can master this and force your opponent to play this game, you will go very far playing Ryu.

Once you push the opponent into the corner, be sure to continue to pressure not only with regular fireballs, but EX Fireballs as well once you get the meter. The EX Fireball comes out extremely fast so it can catch the opponent trying to jump out of the corner or while they try to counter attack. Once the EX Fireball hits in the corner, you can also connect with an Ultra for added damage. Keep in mind that while zoning with fireballs is one of the main aspects of controlling space with Ryu, be sure to mix in standing Light Punches and other assorted normal moves to bait your opponent. This will allow you to get a reaction out of your opponent without having to commit to a fireball which can open up a lot of opportunities to do damage.

Inevitably the distance between you and your opponent will turn into more close quarters combat, and Ryu has a wide array of normal moves to help push the opponent back out or start some basic but damaging combos when this time comes. Crouching Light Punch and Medium Punch are usually your best bet once you are fighting from this close range in that they combo into a lot of his other moves such as crouching Hard Punch and crouching Medium Kick. If these attacks are blocked be sure to mix in a throw for a knock down and a bit of extra damage.

Crouching Medium Kick on its own is a good mid range normal move in which you can cancel into fireball to push the opponent back. You can also cancel crouching Medium Kick into EX Fireball or Super to score a knock down and more damage in the process. If the opponent is out of range of your crouching Medium Kick, you can also use his crouching Hard Kick which will sweep them.

So as you can tell, getting a knock down with Ryu is a big part of his game in regards to mounting an offense and he has many moves to get to that point in the match. Once the opponent is knocked down, in most cases it is best to move in and apply pressure (unless you are playing against certain characters such as Zangief who can Spinning Pile Driver you or Rufus who has enough EX meter to perform an EX Messiah Kick). To close the distance once you get a knockdown, you can obviously jump or use his different strength Hurricane Kicks to close in on your opponent quickly.

Once he is near a downed challenger, one of his best options is his jumping Medium Kick because when spaced correctly it can cross up and hit the opponent from either side depending on the angle of your jump. Once you hit with the jumping Medium Kick, he can continue into one of the many of combos that he has at his disposal to once again gain another knock down.

You can also apply pressure with one of his many block string such as multiple crouching Light Punches in that this will allow you to hit confirm and combo if they end up hitting. Be sure to mix in throws and his Focus Attack with these block strings to keep the opponent guessing.

Also, useful on downed opponents is his towards Medium Punch which is an overhead that will hit crouching opponents. Many opponents will wake up and block low so this is a good move to keep them on their toes and tack on a bit more damage in the process.

If you find yourself on the defensive, blocking an attack string from your opponent, be sure to try to Dragon Punch between their attacks. You can score a reversal Dragon Punch when timed correctly, and if you have the meter, Focus Attack Dash Cancel and follow up with EX Fireball or Ultra. As a side note, executing the Focus Attack Dash Cancel after the Dragon Punch in close range situations is usually a safe option because if it hits of course you can follow up with an attack (EX Fireball or Ultra), but even if its blocked you can simply dash in for a throw.

Ryu's Super can also be a great tool to end the match (it's usually better to save the EX meter unless it will take out the other player for sure) and he has a couple ways to connect the Super combo from both his normal and special moves. From a crouching Medium Kick the Hard Punch Super will combo and you can also cancel the super off of a Fireball that was canceled from the crouching Medium Kick. You can also connect a Hard Punch Super from a Light Kick Hurricane Kick or Light Punch Dragon Punch.

Controlling the Air

Jumping directly at Ryu is really the last thing your opponent should do if they know this match up, but this is your primary goal as you zone them on the ground with fireballs. If they do indeed decide to make a leap of faith and jump directly at you, you have many many options to knock them out of the air and even deal some more damage with either his Ultra or EX Fireball when you have the meter.

First and foremost is his Dragon Punch which in its most basic form will knock them out of the air and score you a knockdown. The thing is, in Street Fighter IV Ryu has a couple ways to connect his Ultra off of a Dragon Punch as well so this should be your first option. If a Light Punch Dragon Punch connects at the apex of their jump, you will land before your opponent and still be able to throw out his Ultra, the Metsu Hadouken. If any strength Dragon Punch hits deep, you can Focus Attack Dash Cancel into his Ultra to also put the hurt on your opponent. Finally, if your Dragon Punch trades, you can do the same set up because he will land before the opponent and have enough time to hit them with his Ultra. Also know that in all of these situations, if you do not have an Ultra but you do have EX meter, go ahead and throw out an EX Fireball to juggle the opponent instead.

As far as normal moves go, his jumping Medium Punch can be a good option because when it hits, you can perform an Ultra because you will land before the opponent. Standing Hard Kick and crouching Hard Punch are also a good moves to knock them out of their jump in attempts.

Frame Data

Street Fighter IV

				frame	frame	frames of	frames of			super meter		cancel
move Name	startup	active	recovery	adv.blk	adv.hit	blockstun	hitstun	damage	stun	gain	block	ability	comments
close LP	3	3	6	+2	+5	10	13	30	50	20	HL	CSpS	-
close MP	3	3	21	-3	+3	20	26	70	100	40	HL	SpS	-
close HP	5	7	26	-15	-10	17	22	100[80]	200[150]	60	HL	SpS	-
close LK	5	5	7	-1	+2	10	13	30	50	20	HL	-	-
close MK	3	5	16	-7	-2	13	18	70	100	40	HL	SpS	-
close HK	8	8(2)4	17	-3	+2	17	21	40*70	125*75	60*20	HL	S*-	-
far LP	4	3	6	+2	+5	10	13	30	50	20	HL	CSpS	-
far MP	5	4	14	-4	-1	13	16	80	100	40	HL	S	-
far HP	8	3	15	0	+4	17	21	120	200	60	HL	-	-
far LK	5	6	6	-1	+2	10	13	40	50	20	HL	-	-
far MK	8	2	17	-5	-2	13	16	70	100	40	HL	-	-
far HK	9	4	20	-6	-2	18	22	110	200	60	HL	-	-
crouch LP	3	2	7	+2	+5	10	13	30	50	20	HL	CSpS	-
crouch MP	4	4	8	+2	+5	13	16	70	100	40	HL	SpS	-
crouch HP	4	8	28	-18	-13	17	22	100	200	60	HL	SpS	-
crouch LK	4	3	9	-1	+2	10	13	20	50	20	L	CSpS	-
crouch MK	5	5	12	-3	0	13	16	70	100	40	L	SpS	-
crouch HK	5	4	28	-14	-	17	-	90	100	60	L	-	-
jump up LP	10	7	-	-	-	8	11	50	50	20	H	-	-
jump up MP	5	5	-	-	-	10	13	80	100	40	H	-	-
jump up HP	6	5	-	-	-	17	20	100	200	60	H	-	-
jump up LK	5	9	-	-	-	8	11	40	50	20	H	-	-
jump up MK	6	10	-	-	-	11	15	80	100	40	H	-	-
jump up HK	4	4	-	-	-	15	18	100	200	60	H	-	-
jump forward LP	4	7	-	-	-	8	11	50	50	20	H	-	-
jump forward MP	7	3*4	-	-	-	11	15	50*30	50*50	40*20	H	-	-
jump forward HP	6	5	-	-	-	15	18	100	200	60	H	-	-
jump forward LK	4	8	-	-	-	8	11	40	50	20	H	-	-
jump forward MK	6	6	-	-	-	11	15	70	100	40	H	-	-
jump forward HK	7	7	-	-	-	15	18	100	200	60	H	-	-
F+MP	17	1(1)2	14	-2	+3	13	18	30*50	50*50	40*20	H	-	-
F+HP	17	2*2	18	0	+4	19	23	40*80	50*50	60*20	HL	SpS	-
level1 FA	21	2	35	-21	-21	15	15	60	100	20	HL	-	-
level2 FA	17+12	2	35	-15	-	21	-	80	150	40	HL	-	-
level3 FA	65	2	35	-	-	-	-	140	200	60	-	-	-
F+LP+LK	3	2	20	-	-	-	-	130	140	40	0.9	-	-
B+LP+LK	3	2	20	-	-	-	-	130	120	40	0.9	-	-
Hadouken	13	-	45	-6	-2	18	22	70	100	10/20	HL	S	-
Hadouken EX	12	-	40	+1	-	13	-	50*50	50*50	0/0	HL	S	-
Shoryuken LP	3	14	14+10	-17	-	20	-	130[70]	200[100]	30/40	HL	S	-
Shoryuken MP	3	14	25+18	-36	-	20	-	140[70]	200[100]	30/40	HL	S	-
Shoryuken HP	3	14	28+18	-39	-	20	-	160[70]	200[100]	30/40	HL	S	-
Shoryuken EX	3	2*12	30+18	-39	-	20	-	80*60	100*100	0/0	HL	S	-
Hurricane Kick LK	11	2(6)2	12+5	-6	-	20	-	100	200	30/30	HL	-	-
Hurricane Kick MK/HK	12	2(6)2(6)2(6)2(6)2	18+5	-2	-	20	-	110	200	30/30	HL	-	-
Hurricane Kick EX	11	1(3)1(3)1(3)1(3)1	18+3	-1	-	20	-	40x5	50x5	0/0	HL	-	-
Hurricane Kick MK(air)	9	2(6)2(6)2	10	-	-	20	-	???	100	10/40	HL	-	-
Hurricane Kick EX(air)	7	1(3)1(3)1(3)1(3)1	4	-	-	20	-	40x5	50x5	0/0	HL	-	-
Super Combo	1+2	-	51	+11	-	20	-	50x4*100	0	0/0	HL	-	-
Ultra Combo	1+10	-	119	-25	-	20	-	30x7*55	0	0/0	HL	-	-
move name	startup	active	recovery	frame	frame	frames of	frames of	damage	stun	super meter	block	cancel	comments
				adv.blk	adv.hit	blockstun	hitstun			gain		ability