Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo/Ryu/Introduction

Story

Date of Birth: 7/21/1964
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 150lbs
Measurements: B44", W 31", H 33"
Blood Type: O
Likes: Martial arts, Mizuyokan (Japanese sweet bean jelly)
Dislikes: Spiders

Found as a baby by the legendary Anatsuken martial artist Gouken, Ryu trained in the art from childhood and quickly discovered his love for fighting. During this time he would find a surrogate brother in Ken, his fellow trainee and rival. At the age of 23, his fighting career truly began when he defeated the world champion Sagat in the last World Martial Arts tournament. He began to show his solitary lifestyle after the tournament's end, preferring to travel alone and focus on improving himself. He joins the World Warrior tournament to not only defend his title, but to exceed his own limits by challenging new fighters.

Overview

Ryu is the protagonist of the Street Fighter series, and in Super Turbo he's considered a good all around character. Even though he is not the strongest in any aspect, he does have very good moves overall. Say, his projectile, the Hadoken, is the second best in the game, only after Old Sagat's Tiger Shot. His special anti-air, the Shoryuken, has the second best priority among those that don't require a charge to execute. Finally, he has a great Super move, which helps him in tight situations.

Ryu's strategy in the SF2 series is mostly to employ his Hadoukens wisely so as to pressure enemies and either force them to take risks or get pushed into the corner. Would the enemy jump forward, Ryu has several moves to deal with that, being the Shoryuken the most damaging one. However, unlike Ken, his projectile has a relatively fast start-up, which allows him to use it as a poke tool. This is the main reason why he has less trouble against a number of characters which have the advantage or fair match-ups against Ken.

ST Ryu does not have a completely invulnerable Shoryuken nor a Hurricane Kick that is invulnerable up until it hits like he did in Champion Edition and Hyper Fighting. In this game, he rather gains better mobility with a short Tatsu that recovers much faster, and two new command normals; one that's a useful advancing attack, and another that's a standing overhead.

Among all characters (old versions included), Ryu is considered the fifth or sixth best character on the game, only behind the so called "big four" or "big five", which consists of Dhalsim, Vega (Claw), Old Sagat and Balrog (Boxer), plus Chun Li if she is included. However, he actually has a small advantage against Chun Li in head-to-head combat. If mastered, Ryu can deal with pretty much any situation.

If you want to check YouTube and Nico Nico Douga for high level footage, check players such as ShootingD, Daigo, Futachan, Sasori, Sashishi, Kawamata, Gotoh, Kurahashi, DGV (Dark Gaiden), Mike Watson, John Choi and Alex Valle, among others.

Strengths

Weaknesses

THE Shoto: Ryu's moveset is easy to grasp, and it's relatively easy to play well with him.

They Get Knocked Down: A lot of Ryu's special moves knock down on hit, leading to a plentiful mixup game.

Zoned In: Ryu has great fireballs in the Hadoken and the Shakunetsu Hadouken, and a relatively quick startup allows them to be used as pokes.

Double Reversal: Both the Shoryuken and the Tatsumaki Senpukyaku act as reversals, important when dealing with ticks and meaties.

Poster Boy Super: Ryu's Super Combo (Shinkuu Hadouken) is one of the best in the game with high damage, high hitstun, high chip, massive plus frames and even invincibility frames, making it well usable in many situations.

Easy, To A Fault: Due to the simplicity of Ryu's moveset, it's also very easy to figure out what he will be doing, and counter his moves.

Not Much Reach: Ryu's throw range and normals have average range, with his longer reaching normals having a long recovery.

Not So Dizzying: Ryu, along with Ken, has nerfed dizzy damage on his diagonal jumping Heavy Punches and Heavy Kicks.

Too Close, Too Close!: While Ryu's Super is still excellent, most other Supers will beat it flat out from mid range to close range.

Enormous Follow Through: Ryu's special moves can easily be baited out, and their long recovery doesn't help either.

New & Old Versions Comparison

To select O.Ryu, choose Ryu and then press → → → ← Jab/Fierce, pressing Short simultaneously with the punch button for the alternate color.

Here is the list of differences:

Obvious stuff: Old Ryu can't tech throws, does not have the new punches (dash, overhead, and air juggle) and Super;
Old Ryu has a faster pre-jump animation by 1 frame;
Old Ryu has some differences in some of his normals:
- Far Standing Jab has a fatter hitbox;
- Far Standing Short has a slower startup and is chain cancellable;
- Crouching Short has much better priority;
- Far Standing Forward has a slower startup;
- Crouching Forward has much better priority;
- Close Standing Roundhouse activates from a closer distance;
- Crouching Roundhouse has much better priority and does more damage;
- Diagonal Jumping Strong behaves exactly like the Neutral Jumping one, while for New Ryu its a new Juggling Punch;
- Both Jumping Fierces do more damage;
- Diagonal Jumping Short has worse priority during the first 10 active frames;
- Diagonal Jumping Forward has better air-to-air priority but has somewhat worse air-to-ground priority;
- Neutral Jumping Roundhouse has better air-to-air priority but worse air-to-ground priority and does more damage;
- Diagonal Jumping Roundhouse has better air-to-air priority but has somewhat worse air-to-ground priority. It also does more damage;
Old Ryu's ordinary (blue) Hadoukens have one less start-up and one less recovery frame, making the overall recovery 2 frames faster. Thus, they are better for zoning;
Old Ryu's Shoryukens are completely invincible until the recovery frames, while for New Ryu he is vulnerable during the rising/hitting part;
Old Ryu's Shoryukens have many more active frames, but the same overall recovery;
Old Ryu's Forward and Roundhouse Tatsumakis spin two less times than New Ryu's;
Old Ryu's air Tatsumakis have a bigger hitbox, do more damage and have a 50% chance of being unblockable if they connect on the first frame;

Picking between Old Ryu and New Ryu can be seen as a matter of taste. While New Ryu benefits from ST's system changes, his new command normals, and his incredible Super Combo, Old Ryu has better Shoryukens, better fireballs, and a knowledge check of an Air tatsu.