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Street Fighter II was a revolutionary arcade game by Capcom that not only single-handedly changed the entire face of arcades for several years after it's release, but strongly dictated sales trends for the consoles it was released on.
The game featured a line up of eight characters which a player could choose from to battle all the other fighters around the world. Once the other characters had been defeated, four boss characters could be battled, ending with M. Bison (Vega in Japan).
Conversions of the game were released on many popular systems after the games rise in popularity. The most notable conversion was done for the Super Nintendo. It was the largest cartridge ever created for the Super Nintendo, or any other system at the time of it's release: 16 Megabits (2 Megabytes). It was also considered responsible for finally pushing the Super Nintendo in to the lead in the competition between it and the Sega Genesis. It was included as a Super Nintendo pack-in in the United Kingdom.
Click here for more information about Blanka's other fighting game appearances.
Blanka has green skin and long orange hair, resembling a monster more than a human. He is one of the original eight characters featured in the first version of the Street Fighter II series. Blanka's most apparent characteristic is his green color. His in-game storyline states that he was once extremely pale and was known locally as the hombre blanco (white man) and adapted the blanco into his name Blanka. His green skin color in the games is attributed to his constant use of chlorophyll from plants to better blend in with the jungle environment, a color change that eventually became permanent. His coloring changed in later games, making him bright green with vivid orange hair as opposed to the yellowish green skin he had in Street Fighter II. Blanka's style of fighting in the games is a self-taught savage fighting style (however, Capcom's USA division depicted it as a capoeira technique)
Background
Blanka's background story is expanded/rewritten in the Street Fighter Alpha series. In his Street Fighter II ending, he reunites with his mother who recognizes him from the anklets he wears. She reveals that Blanka was once known as Jimmy, before he was in a plane crash as a little boy. This crash caused him to grow up in the wild, although he has connections to a local village. Ever since the crash, Blanka/Jimmy had been separated from his mother.
HD Remix Alterations
Rolling Attack has safer recovery.
Rolling Attack with and have same sound effect and same spinning speed as version.
Rolling Attack with and travel slightly shorter distance so whiffed roll into bite is a little more effective.
Backstep Rolling Attack has faster startup and safer recovery.
Surprise Forward and Backward move has new command: hold stick or then + OR + OR +. (Old motion of still works).
Surprise Backward builds much less super meter.
Surprise Forward has 9 frames of foot-invulnerably at startup (but seems to hardly help).
Electric Thunder easier to execute (now requires 3 presses of a given punch button rather than 5 presses).
Ground Shave Rolling Super Move has faster startup, faster recovery (safe on block), and always knocks down if it hits.
Ground Shave Rolling Super input window is larger and is a fixed size, rather than random size.
Techniques
Name
Description
Image
Electric Thunder
Due to unknown reasons (but assumed to be tied to an accident in the jungle, possibly after being "gifted" by electrical eels from the Amazon river), Blanka has a very unique ability to conduct an amount of 10,000 volts of electrical tension through his skin. He must remain motionless while he concentrates on its release, but opponents who touch him at that time receive a harmful shock. When using this technique, there is a small spot very close to the ground where Blanka is vulnerable to attack.
Rolling Attack
Blanka has the ability to tuck his body into a ball, and propel himself through the air through the use of his strong leg muscles. He hurtles forward through the air in a tucked spin, hitting opponents with the force of a 10-ton wrecking ball.
Vertical Rolling Attack
In Street Fighter II Turbo, Blanka's spin ability evolves and he can launch himself upward through the air in addition to forward. Blanka travels very high, but not very far with this alternate spin. Blanka uses this attack against jumping opponents.
Backstep Rolling Attack
In Super Street Fighter II, Blanka's ability to spin evolves once more. This time, he can build up power by hopping back a step before hurling himself into the air. However, Blanka has less control over his momentum with this attack, and it results in an arc. It can take opponents by surprise, but it is not as accurate an attack.
Surprise Forwards/Backwards
In Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Blanka can summon a huge burst of agility to travel inhumanly fast in either a forward or backward direction. He can use this ability at will to either escape from an impending attack, or to quickly close the distance between him and an opponent, and attack before the opponent has a chance to react. While Blanka can use this move to pass through his opponent, it can't be used to pass through attacks.
Rock Crush
Blanka has developed a very calloused forehead over long years of smashing coconuts with his bare head while surviving in the jungle, and can do quite a bit of damage to opponents with a headbutt. His agility typically allows him to strike an opponent twice with this headbutt (the first blow hits high while the second blow hits low).
Amazon River Run
In Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Blanka gains the ability of literally flattening his body very low to the ground and slide forward to quickly attack his opponent in the base of ankles. This attack easily escapes any attack that isn't directed towards the ground, and allows Blanka to slide underneath all projectiles except Sagat's Ground Tiger Shot.
Ground Shave Rolling
Blanka's super move allows him to take the energy that he stores up during the fight, and build up a substantial amount of kinetic energy before rolling forward across the ground at his opponent. After initiating the move, Blanka is able to spin in place for a small number of seconds in order to choose the right moment for his attack. If he waits too long (or if an opponent touches him) he will be forced to rush along the ground. Opponents who are struck by the attack will be hit multiple times before being knocked down.
Click here for more information about Chun-Li's other fighting game appearances.
Chun-Li's name is Mandarin; chun 春 "spring", lì 麗 "beautiful", which means she is a young girl filled with the beauty of spring. She is the first female playable character to appear in a fighting game. Introduced in Street Fighter II, Chun-Li was the only female character in the game, and while not as physically powerful as the other characters, she was by far the quickest. Her most famous attack is the Hyakuretsukyaku (Hundred Rending Leg, commonly known as the Lightning Kick), where she repeatedly kicks her opponent from a tilted standing position with incredible speed.
Chun-Li is one of the earliest female video game protagonists to achieve widespread popularity. Prior to Street Fighter II being released in 1991, most female characters in games existed as objectives to be rescued or cast in the roles of other supporting characters, such as townspeople, girlfriends, the occasional opponent, or simply background decoration; as such, there were very few heroines in action-based video games. After the success of Street Fighter II and Chun-Li's popularity, female protagonists became increasingly common. Since then, in games with selectable characters, at least one of them will almost always be female; and a number of games released since that have placed a female character in the lead role.
Background
Chun-Li was an Interpol investigator who had been searching for clues to the recent death of her father. During a friendly spar with an old teacher of hers and friend of her father, Gen, she received a clue as to who may have been behind her father's death—the mysterious crime syndicate Shadoloo. Chun-Li tracked down the syndicate's leader, M. Bison, and demanded that he tell her what happened to her father. Bison attacked and defeated her, then flew away laughing, telling her that if she attacked him again he would kill her just like he did her father. With tears in her eyes, Chun-Li swore vengeance.
After the events depicted in the Street Fighter Alpha series, Chun-Li received an invitation to the second World Warrior tournament, and discovered that Bison had apparently survived his Thailand base's destruction. With this, she had the clear motive of destroying Shadoloo and avenging her father once again. The outcome of this tournament is not clear, but there are strong hints that Chun-Li earned the right to face Bison and possibly won the tournament, though Guile has also been suspected to have been the victor. There has been no definitive answer as of yet, although regardless of the outcome, Bison himself finally falls at the hands of Ryu's nemesis, Akuma.
HD Remix Alterations
Control Motion Changes
Super input window is larger and is a fixed size, rather than random size.
Aerial spinning bird kick can be done with +, so that you can do it after a Yousou Kyaku, like in Hyper Fighting.
Buffs
Removed + Kouhou Kaiten Kyaku move (it only ever got in the way, so removing it helps her).
Ground Spinning Bird Kick has a new parabolic arc. It can also air-juggle and deals a fair amount of dizzy.
Aerial Spinning Bird Kick travels more straight now, then falls in an arc at the end
Hyakuretsu Kyaku easier to execute (now requires 3 presses of a given kick button rather than 5 presses)
Nerfs
+ Kaku Kyaku Raku no longer crosses up, removing the loop of repeated knockdowns against some characters.
Hyakuretsu Kyaku does less damage and have barely worse priority in Chun Li's stomach area.
Chun-Li's super Senretsukayku can still be stored, but deals much less damage, and follow up with upkicks can get only one extra hit on some characters and usually misses against others.
Chun-Li's grace and agility give her the ability to jump back into a wall, and quickly push herself off of it, reaching higher distances from the floor, giving her a certain aerial advantage over many opponents.
In conjunction with the aerial superiority that the Sankaku Tobi ability gives her, Chun-Li can execute this attack by jumping into the air and pushing one leg down to the ground, literally stomping on her opponents as she lands. If she connects with this attack, she will bounce back up into the air where she can perform another attack, including an additional Yousou Kyaku.
With this move, Chun-Li raises her leg to kick her opponent, and then literally performs a backflip off of the opponents body. Once an automatic reaction to the proximity of her opponents, players gain the ability to perform this action on command in Super Street Fighter II Turbo.
To perform this move, Chun-Li jumps high into the air with a forward flip, intended to come down and land on top of an opponent with her falling heel. As with the Kouhou Kaiten Kyaku, players gain better control over the use of this move in Super Street Fighter II Turbo.
After years of training, Chun-Li has the ability to keep her balance on one foot while rapidly kicking into the air with the other. Chun-Li can kick so quickly, that the kicks appear as a giant blur of motion. While it can be used to keep ground opponents at bay, it is not very practical against airborne opponents.
Chun-Li will jump into a handstand before pushing off the ground with her hands, twisting them as she leaves the ground. This gives her body enough rotational momentum to spin over the ground with both legs extended outwards for a short distance like a helicopter. Opponents who are caught within the range of her feet are frequently hit multiple times before being knocked down.
Beginning in Street Fighter II Turbo, Chun-Li gains access to a much-demanded projectile attack. Chun-Li summons all of her ki into her palms and pushes it outward with both hands, fingers lined up straight (as opposed to Ken and Ryu's curled fingers). Unlike the Hadouken, the Kikouken dissipates as it travels. The slower it travels, the longer it lasts. The motion needed to execute this move (as well as the animation associated with it) is changed in Super Street Fighter II.
Chun-Li gains an additional powerful attack in Super Street Fighter II Turbo. Intended as an anti-air attack, Chun-Li squats down before pushing herself off the ground and rising with a series of alternating kicks, each one taking her higher into the air.
Chun-Li's super move is an advanced version of her signature move. After storing up a lot of energy, she can release it by propelling herself forward with one kick, followed by another kick, before launching into a high-powered version of the Hyakuretsu Kyaku. If an opponent is hit by any part of this attack, they are almost always sucked in by the rest of it.
Click here for more information about Dhalsim's other fighting game appearances.
Dhalsim is the original long-range fighter of fighting games. Dhalsim's intense training has given him the ability to contort and extend his limbs into forms physically impossible in real life; he can project his arms, legs, chest and neck outward in order to deliver attacks that would be out of the range of normal limbs. Dhalsim's fighting style involves keeping the opponent at bay with distance attacks and projectiles, and optimally, only getting close to strike with a surprise aerial attack or sliding kick. Due to his reach advantage, Dhalsim has both very low offense and defense, making it vital for him to avoid sustaining too many blows from a strong fighter. Dhalsim's sprite, while standing, is actually quite a small target, due to the total number of pixels Dhalsim's sprite occupies while not attacking. Dhalsim becomes a much larger target while attacking. As of Super Street Fighter II Turbo, the player can make Dhalsim do only short range attacks by holding back on the joystick.
Background
Dhalsim is often depicted as having pupil-less eyes. His build is that of a normal man who exercises and weight trains regularly except for his abdomen and waist which appear much out of proportion and emaciated. He wears torn saffron shorts as his only clothing attire as well as saffron wristbands and anklebands. He has three coloured stripes adorning his head. The skulls he wears around his neck are those of village children that died during a plague. In palette swap renditions of Dhalsim, his skin is often dark blue or other unnatural colors. He is the oldest of the original World Warriors.
Generally a pacifist, Dhalsim fights to raise money for his village, but realizes that it might contradict his pacifist beliefs. The only significant part he played in the overall story of the series was to make Cammy self-aware.
Dhalsim has the power to suspend himself in mid-air, stretch his extremities in ways beyond the average human, read minds, and sense evil, the latter abilities he uses to locate the sinister M. Bison, and doing his part to aid those who can defeat the villain. He retired from fighting after the second World Warrior tournament, and continued to roam the world helping those in need. In many additional storylines, he aids Ryu in his quest to become stronger and defeat evildoers.
HD Remix Alterations
Control Motion Changes
Teleport command requires only or rather than 3 (old command input of or still works).
Yoga Flame changed to + rather than +.
Yoga Blast changed to + rather than +.
Yoga Inferno Super has been changed to + rather than +.
Yoga Inferno Super input window is larger and it is a fixed size, rather than random size.
Buffs
Yoga Blast now travels way up the screen with version to hit pesky off-the-wall Chun-Lis/Vegas.
Yoga Inferno Super can now be done as a reversal.
Nerfs
Teleport recovery is not longer, but the last 9 frames are vulnerable, rather than the last 3.
Yoga Inferno Super does less damage, around 50% rather than 60%.
Yoga Inferno Super is now more vulnerable around Dhalsim's head and throwable from behind.
Noogie hold has shorter range.
Crouching ranged punches no longer cleanly go under Guile's Sonic Booms.
Techniques
Name
Description
Drill Zutsuki/Yoga Mummy
The Drill Zutsuki/Yoga Mummy is performed when Dhalsim jumps into the air, straightens his body, and attacks opponents by diving into them head first. It is fast and powerful, but Dhalsim is very vulnerable when attempting this attack.
Drill Kick/Yoga Spear
With the Drill Kick/Yoga Spear Dhalsim jumps into the air and dives at his opponent feet first. In Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Dhalsim gains the ability to control the angle at which he performs this attack. With stronger kicks, the angle is much more shallow, and with weaker kicks, he travels a greater distance.
Yoga Fire
As a gift from Agni, the Indian god of fire, Dhalsim has gained the ability to blow blasts of flame from his mouth. Not one to take the gift lightly, he has learned how to manipulate it in many ways. With the Yoga Fire technique, he fires a small ball of flame across the screen, which he can do at three different speeds. The Light Punch Yoga Fire stuns opponents rather than knocking them down.
Yoga Flame
Dhalsim developed an alternate method of fire breathing in which he creates a large, but short ranged version of the fire. He sustains it in front of him by exhaling for an extended period of time, defending him from many oncoming attacks.
Yoga Blast
In Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Dhalsim gains the ability to turn the Yoga Flame attack into an anti-air attack move. Rather than blowing a cloud of flames immediately in front of him, he lifts his head back and fires a blast of flame into the air above him. Opponents jumping in to attack him are often helpless to avoid being burned.
Yoga Teleport
In Street Fighter II Turbo, Dhalsim was officially given the ability to Teleport himself around the screen. He can teleport forward or backward, and he can do so by traveling a large distance or a short distance. Dhalsim will jump up into the air, concentrate on the teleport, and fade out from one location, only to reappear somewhere else in the fight.
Yoga Inferno
Dhalsim's Super Move is an extreme version of the Yoga Flame. He rears back before exhaling an incredibly long and hot blast of fire breath, burning the opponent severely. This attack can strike an opponent up to five times before its effectiveness wears off.
Click here for more information about E. Honda's other fighting game appearances.
Edmond Honda, commonly known as E. Honda, has black hair in a chonmage and wears only a blue yukata. His face is painted in the kumadori style of makeup used in kabuki. E.Honda's signature move is the Hyaku Retsu Harite also known as the Hundred Hand Slap.
Background
E. Honda began his training as a child, singularly focused on becoming the greatest sumo wrestler of all time. He would eventually achieve the highly-revered titled of "Ōzeki" (in the English localization, he was incorrectly stated as having achieved the title, Yokozuna). E. Honda became upset that the rest of the world did not view sumo wrestling with the reverence of the Japanese. He entered into the second World Warrior tournament intent on showing everyone that sumo wrestlers rank among the greatest fighters in the world.
HD Remix Alterations
Better vs. Fireball Characters
Jump has higher priority, can hit sweeps.
Floating fierce punch move (+) can be steered farther left/right.
Short Super Zutsuki can destroy fireballs.
Oni Musou Super now knocks down and juggles.
Worse vs. Non Fireball Characters
and versions of Hyakuretsu Harite have much lower priority and all versions do a little less damage.
Ooichou Nage now bounces off the other way, preventing Honda from repeating it in the corner
Ooichou Nage now deals the same dizzy points as other throws rather than twice as much.
Misc
Hyakuretsu Harite easier to execute (now requires 3 presses of a given punch button rather than 4 presses).
Short Super Zutsuki travels shorter distance (so it can't hit Sagat's hands after a tiger shot from full screen.)
Oni Musou Super travels 10% slower before first hit, but travels faster after first hit.
Oni Musou Super can no longer be "stored."
Oni Musou Super input window is larger and is a fixed size, rather than random size.
Techniques
Name
Translation
Description
Hiza Geri
Knee Kick
E. Honda attacks his opponent with a quick knee thrust.
Harai Geri
Sweeping Kick
E. Honda extends his legs and performs a wide sweeping kick along the floor, tripping opponents.
Flying Sumo Press
After jumping up in the air, E. Honda attempts to land back down on the opponent with a belly flop.
Hyakuretsu Harite
Hundred Hand Slaps
E. Honda has mastered the art of the Sumo hand slap. He can do it so well and so quickly, that his hands appear as a blur. Starting in Champion Edition, Honda gains the ability to move while performing this technique. However, in Super Street Fighter II Turbo, the method was changed. Using Light Punch makes him stand still, using Medium Punch makes him move forward slowly, and using Hard Punch makes him move forward quickly.
Super Zutsuki
Sumo Headbutt
E. Honda charges up some energy before jumping off the ground and propelling his body head-first into his opponent. After colliding with them, he flips back over and lands on his feet.
Chou Hyakkan Otoshi
Super Hundred-Weight Drop
In Street Fighter II Turbo, Honda gains an additional move where he launches himself high into the air, and crashes back down to the ground, leading with his bottom. He attempts to crush his opponent by landing on them, and it serves as an overhead attack.
Ooichou Nage
Great Gingko Tree Throw
In Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Honda has a new throw move where he picks up the opponent, flips them onto the ground, and immediately jumps on top of them with a crushing hop. Being a throw move, it's unblockable.
Oni Musou
Super Killer Head Ram
E. Honda's super move is a powered-up version of the Super Zutsuki. E. Honda uses his stored up energy to execute two consecutive flying torpedo attacks back to back. This attack can hit opponents up to four times.
Click here for more information about Guile's other fighting game appearances.
Although Guile's role in the Street Fighter story is minimal, he is considered the third leading male character in the series, after Ryu and Ken, largely due to his effectiveness as a character and his popularity. Guile is the first of many characters to introduce the "charge" gameplay style, in that a player must hold in a direction for a few seconds and press in the other afterwards to pull off a special move. This type of gameplay makes Guile a defensive character. Guile wears Charlie's dog tag alongside his own, as he searches for M. Bison.
Early Street Fighter II sketches and notes suggest that Guile was developed specifically to appeal to American fans. His physical appearance is strikingly different from the many Asian characters in the Street Fighter series, with light blue eyes, a chiseled jaw, and a particularly tall flattop haircut. Capcom sourcebooks suggest that Guile's famous hairdo is styled with a special-order army hair spray to keep it up (though he ends up fixing it quickly after a match).
Another way Guile's image differs from the Asian combatants in the series is his Flag of the United States tattoos. Currently, he has one on each deltoid, which is a retcon from the initial one he had in Street Fighter II artwork (due to sprites in most videogames being forced to be symmetrical). Finally, Guile's Army fatigues complete his all-American look. The image of the uniformed American soldier is well known in Japan due to the number of United States Armed Forces bases present in that country.
Background
Holding Bison responsible for the death of his best friend, Guile seemingly dedicates his whole life to exact revenge on Bison, who had by then somehow survived the explosion. A court case against the Shadaloo dictator failed when Bison bribed all the judges to let him go free. Bison by this time wanted revenge on Guile, Chun-Li, and many other people who had hindered his syndicate's efforts. To this end, he set up the second World Warrior tournament to trap them.
When Guile was a Lieutenant in the United States Air Force, he befriended his superior officer, Charlie and asked Charlie to teach him his unique form of fighting, which Charlie agreed to do. Guile learned the style, but his hot temper caused him to be not as proficient in the moves as Charlie was (shown in how Charlie can shoot sonic booms with just one hand and Guile needs both).
Although the circumstances on how Guile approached Bison is sketchy, he managed to corner Bison and asked him if he remembered him or his friend Charlie. While Guile threatens the defeated Bison with the intent to kill him, he is stopped.
Guile's wife Julia, and daughter Amy, appear and urge him not to kill the psychotic dictator, claiming that such behavior could destroy him. They tell him that the past is in the past and that he doesn't have to give up his life of revenge. Realizing they are correct, he abandons his pursuit of Bison and retires happily to be with his family. Also, Julia and Eliza are actually sisters, making Ken and Guile brothers-in-law. However, this is not often discussed because Guile does not think very highly of Ken, believing him to be a spoiled rich kid.
HD Remix Alterations
Somersault Kick now travels forward rather than straight up and hitbox altered so that it whiffs against ducking opponents at long range.
Double Somersault Kick Super has easier motion: + (Old motion still works.)
Double Somersault Kick Super does less damage but juggles better, so it ends up doing a little more damage versus jumping opponents and less versus standing opponents.
Reverse Spin Kick is an overhead
Reverse Spin Kick slowed down slightly (20 frames of startup; for comparison Ryu's overhead is 16 frames, Fei Long's is 22 frames.)
Reverse Spin Kick can be performed at any range, not just closer range, by holding +.
Reverse Spin Kick has much lower priority because it can be used as a poke at any range now.
Techniques
Name
Description
Knee Bazooka
Guile launches himself forward, leading with his knee. He attempts to hit his opponent with his knee, while at the same time closing a lot of distance between him and his opponent, even if he is retreating at the time.
Rolling Sobat
Guile leaps in to the air, spinning around and extending his leg out to kick the opponent before the spin finishes.
Reverse Spin Kick
When Guile is close to an opponent, he can perform a forward flip, kicking the opponent in the head with an outstretched foot, and using the impact to right his orientation back down to the ground. This move literally takes Guile off the ground even though it is not a jump-attack.
Spinning Bare Knuckle
Guile turns his back to his opponent before he whips his body around with an extended fist. He strikes the opponent backhanded. Guile can use this to attack from a distance, but it is slow to execute.
Sonic Boom
Guile focuses his fighting energy into his arms, and rips them through the air together at nearly the speed of sound. The resulting motion, along with his shout creates a coupled wave of compressed air that he can launch forward at three different speeds.
Somersault Kick
Guile crouches to the ground, and gathers the energy he needs to perform a lightning-quick backflip, with both feet extended out towards the opponent. The speed of the flip is so quick that it creates a blade-like crescent through the air that can cut opponents who are caught by Guile's kick.
Double Somersault Kick
Guile harnesses all of the energy that he has into performing two consecutive somersault kicks, back to back. The first one is lower to the ground, but the second one is the highest somersault kick that Guile can perform.
SF2 Glitch Moves
Magic Throw
Charge as you would for the Sonic Boom except you need to press Roundhouse Kick and Fierce Punch at the same time. It works better if Roundhouse kick is pressed a fraction of a second before Punch. There is also a delay between you moving the joystick forward and pressing the buttons of about .5 of a second. You must be within throw distance for it to work however this move will throw the enemy no matter what they are doing at the time e.g. Vega on the fence. You can also repeat this move as many times as you like as long as you were charging for the required 1.5 seconds.
Click here for more information about Ken's other fighting game appearances.
While Ryu and Ken follow the same martial arts discipline, as the Street Fighter series evolved, the differences between the two characters was portrayed by their attacks: Ryu focused on technique while Ken opted for stylish unpredictability. Ken mainly focuses on the Shoryuken move, to the point where his Shoryukens set the opponent on fire. Ken's Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku does not allow him to dodge projectiles at the start of the spin, but spins faster, allows him to hit his opponent up to five times. Ken's Hadouken attacks are less concentrated than Ryu's, but Ken's Shoryuken is more powerful.
Background
When Ken was about 12 years old, his father, a rich hotel tycoon, thought that his son needed to learn about discipline, lest his son become a spoiled brat all of his life and try to leech onto the Masters' family fortune. In order to do so, the elder Masters sent Ken to Japan to train under his best friend, the mysterious karate master Gouken. At first, Ken was very hesitant to learn from Gouken, wanting to go back to the United States, but later began to respect his master. He even enjoyed the company of Gouken's adopted son, Ryu, since he had a foil to finally pull pranks on, although this got Ken into a lot of trouble. Ryu and Ken would later become best friends and each other's principal rivals.
When Ryu was 23, Gouken decided that both of his pupils had grown up to be fine fighters and decided that their training was over and they could now leave the dojo. Ryu decided to travel the world in order to continue his training, whereas Ken was finally happy to be going back home to the United States after his years of straining his back for master Gouken and finally learning the meaning of humility. After coming home, Ken competed in many different Martial Arts tournaments held in the United States, winning most of them.
Ken did not participate in the first Street Fighter tournament; instead, he fought in (and won) the premiere U.S. Martial Arts tournament that had been previously won by Charlie, as well as meeting a very attractive girl named Eliza, who became his girlfriend. After winning the U.S. martial arts tournament, Ken returned to his training ground to tell his master Gouken the good news. There he witnessed his master's death at the hands of Akuma. Enraged and grief stricken, he attacked Akuma, only to be defeated.
Ken received an invitation to the second Street Fighter tournament, but since his last U.S. Martial Arts tournament, he had let himself spend too much time with his girlfriend, Eliza, rather than training. Only Ryu's personal challenge rekindled Ken's fighting spirit and persuaded him to enter the second World Warrior tournament. After the events of Street Fighter II, Ken is married to Eliza, something he vowed only to do after winning a decisive victory against Ryu. However it is unknown if the two fought during the tournament, or if Ken actually won. No details have been stated.
HD Remix Alterations
Main Changes
Shoryuken is invulnerable on the way up, exactly like Old Ken's, and also always knocks down. It's now a 1-hit move, not 2-hit. This move takes off massive energy if you use it correctly.
Shoryuken has bigger arc, always knocks down, juggles against jump-ins, but no additional invulnerability.
Kama Barai Geri have simplified joystick motions: and or or for each different kick.
Shoryureppa Super can be used as a reversal.
Small Changes
Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku has shorter duration.
Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku goes slightly farther.
Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku goes farther and faster.
Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku does less dizzy (about half as much).
Range of knee bash hold reduced by a small amount.
Techniques
Name
Translation
Description
Hadouken
Surge Fist
Ken gathers all of his ki into his fists, and releases it by pushing it forward through the air. He can release it at three different speeds. Ken's Hadouken, though quite effective, isn't as concentrated as Ryu's.
Shouryuken
Rising Dragon Punch
Ken crouches down low to the ground, before springing off the ground, leading with his fist. The force of the jump causes Ken to rise off the ground, performing a ground to air uppercut. Ken has practiced this move to the point where, at its strongest, Ken can summon a field of flames around his fist, setting opponents on fire if it connects. Ken performs the Shoryuken in such a way that it allows him to connect with the opponent three times before knocking them down or back. He also leaps forward a lot farther then Ryu when performing them.
Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku
Tornado Whirlwind Kick
Ken leaps off the ground, twisting his feet as he does. Then, extending one leg out, he approaches the opponent spinning around as if in a whirlwind. Ken can spin his body so quickly, that it allows him to hit opponents with this attack up to five times without knocking them down. Starting in Street Fighter II Turbo, Ken gains the ability to initiate this move while in mid-air.
Nata Otoshi Geri
Falling Hatchet Kick
In Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Ken is given the ability to try out many of the new styles of kicks that he has been practicing and incorporating into his fighting style. They are all different varieties of roundhouses, designed to inflict a lot of damage through the momentum of the kick. This can be used to change up traditional attack routines and surprise opponents with unique two-hit combo kicks.
Kama Barai Geri
Sweeping Scythe Kick
Oosoto Mawashi Geri
Great Outer Spinning Kick
Inazuma Kakato Wari
"Flash of Lightning" Heel Splitter
In addition to the three new kick attacks, Ken can choose to alter these attacks at the last moment. In the middle of the attack, he can bring his leg up high, and perform an ax kick that acts as an overhead attack, and so must be blocked high.
Shouryuu Reppa
Rising Dragon Renderer
After many years spent focusing on the strength of his rising dragon uppercut, Ken has gained the ability to perform two of them back to back as his super move. He will perform a low Shoryuken, followed immediately by a high Shoryuken. Ken has limited invulnerability at the start of this move.
Click here for more information about Ryu's other fighting game appearances.
Ryu was an orphaned child, with no knowledge of who his parents were or if they are still alive. When Ryu was a young child, he was adopted by a man named Gouken and began living with him as well as learning a mysterious martial art. Gouken would later train his best friend's bratty son, Ken Masters, who served not only as a sparring partner for Ryu, but also to give Ryu some company since Gouken was the only person Ryu had seen in a long time due to the seclusion of Gouken's dojo. Ryu looked up to Gouken as a father figure during his early years and Ken as a best friend and surrogate brother, which is how their relationship remains to this day.
When Ryu was about 23 years old, Gouken thought that Ryu was ready to travel the world in order to test his skills against the best fighters in the world. With this, Ryu leaves Gouken and Ken, and heads to fight in the first World Warrior tournament. After defeating all challengers, his skills earn him the right to fight its host, Sagat. Despite nearly losing against the "Dark Emperor of Muay Thai," Ryu secures a difficult victory, and is crowned champion. Years later, after the events depicted in the Street Fighter Alpha series, Ryu enters the second World Warrior tournament to test his skills again.
Fighting Style
Both Ryu and Ken are practitioners of a nameless martial art, which incorporated the most violent techniques from a blend of four styles of martial arts, alongside a mysterious sure-killing technique called Shun Goku Satsu. Both Ryu and Ken learned their art from Gouken, who vowed to teach a less violent variation of the art created by his master Goutetsu which does not include the discipline's life-threatening techniques such as the Shun Goku Satsu.
While Ryu and Ken follow the same martial arts discipline, as the Street Fighter series evolved, the differences between the two characters was portrayed by their attacks: Ryu focused on technique while Ken opted for stylish unpredictability.
Ryu's normal attacks are slightly slower than Ken's, albeit straightforward. His special moves are more focused; Ryu inflicts damage with individual strikes rather than combinations. His Shoryuken does only one hit, so Ryu can effectively use this move at full power against airborne opponents, although Ken's is still much stronger since he follows the Shoryuu principle. Ryu can dodge projectiles at the start of his Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku maneuver and knocks an opponent down with one hit.
Ryu focuses more on the Hadou principle of his fighting styles, which translates to him being very skilled with his usage of ki - Ryu has the most concentrated Hadouken amongst all fighters of the same style, and only Akuma can match and/or surpass Ryu's Hadouken in both gauge and concentrate in certain instances. Ryu is capable of using the Shakunetsu Hadouken with the greatest of care—ensuring that the surge still burns bright with flames, but won't result in immolation.
Ryu gathers all of his ki into his fists, and releases it by pushing it forward through the air. He can release it at three different speeds. Opponents who do not block or dodge the resulting energy experience the same force as if Ryu had punched them himself.
Starting in Super Street Fighter II, Ryu gains the ability to add thermal energy to his ki. The resulting burst will light an opponent on fire if they are struck by it. The opponent will be knocked down if hit from up close, and stunned if hit from far away. It has the ability to do more damage than a normal Hadouken, but it takes Ryu more time to recover from this technique, making him more vulnerable to counter-attack.
Ryu leaps off the ground, twisting his feet as he does. Then, extending one leg out, he approaches the opponent spinning around as if in a whirlwind. Since Ryu puts all of his ki into the attack, it immediately knocks down the opponent on the first hit. Starting in Street Fighter II Turbo, Ryu gains the ability to initiate this move while in mid-air.
Ryu crouches down low to the ground, before springing off the ground, leading with his fist. The force of the jump causes Ryu to rise off the ground, performing a ground to air uppercut. Ryu can rarely strike his opponent more than once before knocking them to the ground, but it can happen depending on the distance to the opponent and the level of strength used.
Beginning in Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Ryu has access to an overhead punch. He rushes forward with a high fist than he eventually turns downward, striking opponents on the head. Opponents must block high in order to avoid taking damage from this attack.
Also in Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Ryu gains a rushing punch move that attacks an opponents mid-section. The force of the punch brings Ryu closer to his opponent by a small distance.
Ryu's super move is a special version of the Hadouken. The excess energy gathered throughout the fight is gathered into a single burst of energy before Ryu releases it all at once. This compressed Hadouken has the ability to strike an opponent five times before dissipating. It also has the ability to cancel out, and pass through, oncoming projectiles.
Click here for more information about Zangief's other fighting game appearances.
Zangief is a close range character as he is a wrestling type. Many of his moves are more complicated to pull off due to the 360 motions input required to perform the moves, making him a character for advanced players. Zangief is one of the slowest of all characters in Street Fighter yet is still one of the most effective. His "spinning piledriver" is the single most damaging regular move in the series. Zangief's Flying Stomach block attack is the only standard move capable of dizzying a character in one hit.
Zangief's name is possibly based on real-life pro wrestler Victor Zangiev, a former Soviet amateur who trained as a professional in NJPW, and who also competed in WCW and UWF International. Zangief is still listed as being from the Soviet Union in all Street Fighter games, even those produced after the fall of the Soviet Union. This may be due to the fact that the majority of games he appears in take place at a time before the Soviet Union's fall. Zangief's prototypical name was Vodka Gobalsky.
Background
Zangief is said to have trained by wrestling polar bears in Siberia, on which he practiced his trademark Screw Piledriver after being picked up by a cyclone while performing a piledriver on a bear. The scars covering his body are said to have been the results of wrestling with bears.
As the greatest professional wrestler in the Soviet Union, Zangief was contacted by a man named Erai Hito (Great Man) to represent his country in the second World Warrior tournament. Zangief agreed and began training in the extreme climates of Siberia, determined to demonstrate Russia's magnificent power to all of the world. With the assistance of his government, Zangief emerged from his training as "The Red Cyclone."
In his ending in the Street Fighter II series, Zangief is congratulated by someone who greatly resembles former Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev and dances with him. He is referred to as erai hito (or "great man") in the Japanese version. In later versions of the Street Fighter II series, Zangief calls him "Mr. Ex-President".
HD Remix Alterations
Control Motion Changes
Banishing Flat command changed to + (used to be +)
Quick Lariat can now be done with + as well as original command.
Double Lariat can now be done with + or + as well as original command.
Screw Piledriver command easier: + OR +. (Original command still works)
Flying Powerbomb (and Atomic Suplex) command is now + OR +.
Super command easier, + OR +.
Buffs
Banishing Flat has 4 frames better recovery.
Flying Powerbomb runs faster.
Quick Lariat has invulnerable feet during Zangief's first rotation, but vulnerable feet after that.
Double Lariat's initial hitframe now extends down to the floor so it can hit Dhalsim's or sometimes Guile's low . As before, this hitbox is only active for 6 frames out of the entire lariat.
Hop move can only be done with +. No longer possible with +, +, or +.
Hop travels farther forward, higher, and has much better recovery.
Jumping (forward/away) has hitbox that reaches slightly farther forward. (This was mainly to hit air Vega air-to-air, but hardly helps).
Low has slightly higher hit box, mainly to hit Vega's off-the-wall attacks.
Nerfs
Quick Lariat has a different sound effect on startup than Double Lariat to help opponents distinguish the two.
Techniques
Name
Description
Spinning Clothesline
Using Zangiefs great weight and proportions, Zangief spins around like a top with his fist extended in either direction. He strikes any opponent who gets in the way of his fists. In Champion Edition, Zangief gains the ability to move left or right while spinning. Beginning in Street Fighter II Turbo, he also gains the ability to control the focus of his spin, making either his upper body or lower body invulnerable to attacks or projectiles. It also lets him move past projectiles.
Screw Piledriver
A devastating move in which Zangief lifts his opponent off the ground, puts them in a piledriving position, and leaps off the ground in a spinning motion. The move ends with Zangief pile driving the opponent into the ground for tremendous damage.
Flying Powerbomb
Zangief gains two new attacks in Super Street Fighter II that perform differently based on how close he is to his opponent when attempting them. When Zangief executes this move, he runs forward at the opponent. If he makes contact with the opponent, he grabs then and leaps into the air, slamming them down into the ground in a power bomb position. Zangief is vulnerable to attack while running at the opponent, and will end up confused if the opponent moves out of the way of the attack.
Atomic Suplex
When attempting the Flying Powerbomb motion, but up close, Zangief performs two Suplexes on his opponent, with a small jump in between each one. He is far less likely to miss with this attack, but it does less damage.
Banishing Flat
By Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Zangief was in bad need of a way to protect his large size from projectile attacks which he had a hard time avoiding. He gains the Banishing Flat move, where he side steps a projectile while holding his hand out. His hand turns green to indicate that he can cancel the projectile out, while at the same time, getting closer to the opponent for a counter attack.
Final Atomic Buster
In this tremendously damaging Super Move, Zangief rushes to grab the opponent. If he connects, he picks them up and performs a German Suplex on them before setting them back up for a very high Spinning Piledriver. Like all of Zangief's throws, this move is unblockable.
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