Street Fighter II by Capcom. Although it is not the first video game of one-on-one combat in encounters, the one created by Akira Nishitani and Akira Yasuda revolutionizes, or rather, defines the canons of the fighting genre.
Beyond an out-of-scale technical achievement for the time, the real strengths are two: the ability to perform, for the first time in history, a series of linked moves (the so-called combos) and that of being able to choose your character from a list of fighters characterized by a unique fighting style, a precise set of moves and even a small personal story. The union of these two aspects has transformed the simple “playing Street Fighter II” into a real art, where the symbiosis between player and character becomes a lethal dance, marked by a precise rhythm, which must be heard and learned to take advantage of game after game, with all due respect to the thousand lire bills to be converted into tokens, at least until the arrival, in 1992, of his splendid conversion for Super Nintendo.
The funniest aspect of the story is that the very concept of combo was born by chance, as a side effect of an attempt to make the execution of special moves easier (the Shoryuken , in this case, or Ryu’s jumping uppercut and Ken), considered too complicated by the players of the first Street Fighter. Nishitani, the game’s designer, argues that “it doesn’t have to be that way. If we make the special moves easier to perform, the game will seem better and less governed by luck ».
A brilliant intuition, given that by extending the tolerance time within which it is necessary to conclude the movement of the directional stick and the pressure of the keys, if you are good enough and precise it becomes possible to chain several moves in a row without having to wait for the end of the animations. A move that represents an epochal turning point for the genre, because from that moment on, the mastery of the moves of a single fighter becomes essential to defeat the opponents.
If in the first Street Fighter player 1 was always assigned Ryu and his friend / enemy Ken to the eventual challenger, in Street Fighter II choosing a fighter becomes a question of identity, as well as strategic, and the phrase “here comes a new challenger” ( here is a new challenger) that appears on the screen when player 2 presses the start button really takes on the value of a modern gauntlet.
In the choice a lot depends on where you play, on the quality of the controls available (at home or at the bar? Do all the keys work well? Joystick or joypad?), On personal taste and on your own technical qualities. It is a sacred moment, which often accompanies a player for months or years. Street Fighter II is in effect one of the first games designed to be competitive, perfect for measuring player skills and bringing to life a tournament scene long before the birth of esports.
One of the first Street Fighter II tournaments.
Capcom’s fighting game is one of the first video games to become a social phenomenon, and consequently fans and sides are created around individual wrestlers. Among the main merits of a title that is still one of the most balanced fighting games ever today, there is certainly its ability to push players to get out of their comfort zone and to be able to interpret each fight in the best possible way, exploiting the points of strength of the chosen character, loving and respecting him.
At the same time, knowing other fighters is also essential, because immediately recognizing opponents’ attack patterns and predicting their moves makes the difference between victory and defeat. Despite this it is impossible to avoid the fundamental question: “but is X or Y stronger?”. It is a question that sometimes goes beyond the specific skills of the fighters and that intertwines questions of taste, instinct and even the way in which the very concept of street fighting is understood. On the other hand, that of Capcom is also one of the first video games that try to combine different styles of martial arts in an eccentric combination of fantasy and verisimilitude.
This is why I picked up Street Fighter II to draw up a definitive – personal and questionable – power ranking of the roster of fighters. For convenience I have chosen my favorite version of the game, Super Street Fighter II – The New Challengers, partly because it is the one that contains the most characters and that has a more balanced pace of play, while maintaining the original spirit, a little bit because it is the easiest one to recover and play today.
16. Zangief
Origin : Soviet Union
Fighting style : American and Russian wrestling
Recommended for those who : want to lose, but with style
Zangief (whose correct pronunciation is zanghif , and not zangif ) is a nice big Russian man, who originally should have been called Vodka, only that in the course of construction the development team realized that it would have been an excessive choice even for the years’ 90, and opted for a variation of the surname of Victor Zangiev, one of the many Russian wrestlers who played in the Japanese professional league between the 80s and 90s. His physical appearance is also inspired by real wrestlers, such as Salman Hashimikov and Steve “Dr. Death ”Williams.
The good Zangief shows up at World Warrior Tournament II, the tournament that is the background to the game’s plot, organized by the evil corporation Shadaloo of M. Bison, for pure patriotic spirit and because fighting with bare hands against the Siberian bears has become too simple . His nickname is “The Red Cyclone”, and is supported by the government, so much so that in the conclusion of his storyline to congratulate him is the president of the USSR, whose avatar looks a lot like Michail Gorbačëv.
The sequence in which Zangief dances with Gorbachev.
Although his background suggests the nature of a violent man, in reality Zangief is a mild character, who in the course of the thirty-year history of Street Fighter will be loved for his gentle soul, his conviviality and a great sense of honor. . Unfortunately, his slow and awkward fighting style collides with gameplay that makes control of space and distance from the enemy a crucial factor. Zangief is too bulky and not very mobile to be able to effectively avoid ranged attacks (such as fireballs and the like), and as much as his resistance allows him to be an excellent caster, it is all too easy to keep him at a distance.
A shame, as his close range attacks are devastating, the most powerful in the game for damage dealt. The other big drawback is that his most recognizable move, the Spinning Piledriver , a hold that turns a victim into a corkscrew by throwing him to the ground after a whirlwind twist, requires a full rotation of the directional stick. A very difficult gesture to do in the arcade, almost impossible to replicate at home with the directional cross of a joypad. In the Turbo version of Super Street Fighter II Zangief becomes faster and his moves a little easier to close, but he remains a complicated character to use at best and far too easy to neutralize.
15. T. Hawk
Origin: Mexico
Fighting style: Thunderfoot martial arts
Recommended for those who: would like to take Zangief, but do not have the patience to learn his moves
- Hawk is a Native American from the Thunderfoot tribe whose lands were expropriated by Shadaloo when he was a child. T-Hawk’s father, Arroyo Hawk, was killed by one of the criminal organization’s young generals, M. Bison, who is now its leader. T. Hawk is one of many characters whose main theme is revenge, and his participation in the martial arts tournament is purely personal.
He is one of the characters introduced in this version of Street Fighter II, and while not overly popular, he combines the charm of strong fighters with a rather unique style, a little urban and a little extravagant. His look, halfway between Ultimate Warrior and Parents in blue jeans, reflects both his nature as a good fighter and his partial predictability in combat.
Compared to Zangief, T. Hawk is a faster and stronger character in air strikes, which can make a difference in some games. The range of his flying kicks is quite wide, while his iconic Condor Dive , an aerial dive with which he dives into the enemy, is simple enough to perform (in-flight pressure of the three fist keys) and in case hits the opponent falls to the ground.
At that moment T. Hawk can go on the short-range offensive and try to unleash his grapples, but like Zangief, even his most powerful move requires a 360 ° movement which still makes it too difficult to make. Like all big characters, the real problem is that while offensively dangerous, he is very easy to keep at a safe distance, and once his attacks from above are neutralized he becomes without effective solutions.
14. Blanka
Origin: Brazil
Combat Style: Feral combat, electric attacks
Recommended for those who are inexperienced and want to try to survive
Although most of the world associates Blanka with the atrocious movie Street Fighter – Final Challenge with Van Damme as Guile and Robert Mammone as the Brazilian fighter, in the history of Street Fighter there is no soldier named Carlos Blanka subjected to strange experiments. In reality, the figure of the Brazilian wrestler was merged with that of Charlie, another character who will be introduced later in the saga, who really has a connection with Guile.
This does not mean that Blanka’s origins are still among the most fascinating and empathically effective among those of the characters. Its story, it seems, is inspired by Anabebe, a man raised by lions co-star of an anime of the 80s that took up the story of Tarzan (in Japan Tar-chan). In any case, little Jimmy, a frail and pale boy (“hombre blanco”, hence Blanka) is a survivor of a plane crash in the Amazon rainforest. Mysteriously surviving, Jimmy turns into a beastman in an unclear way, he learns to fight using his anger and new physical abilities, while a strange conflictual relationship develops between his human and the bestial side. He participates in the tournament to give vent to his ferality, but on TV he is recognized by his mother,
Given its origins, Blanka’s fighting style is the realm of improvisation and direct offensive. His best known special move, Electric Thunder, is one of the simplest to learn (i.e. repeatedly pressing one of the fist keys), it represents the entry move of all inexperienced Street Fighter players and in the first fights it can be surprising. Blanka’s body begins to produce an electrical discharge of over 150,000 volts, causing electric shocks to anyone who approaches him. Perfect for defending against the wall, unfortunately it becomes quite useless against characters with long-range attacks.
Fortunately, however, Blanka also has other weapons at his disposal: he is very mobile, his squatting posture allows him to always avoid high attacks from a distance, while he can roll to attack or avoid any type of projectile. His best moves are short range ones, mostly taken (very nice the one that culminates with a series of bites), but as spectacular as they are, they are also quite simple to avoid. Blanka is therefore a good character to start familiarizing with the game, but using it you often find yourself in the situation of defending to the bitter end without the possibility of inflicting effective counterattacks.
13. Fei Long
Origin : China
Fighting style : kung fu, jeet kune do
Recommended for those who : love Bruce Lee movies and want to have fun with combos
Fei Long is the inevitable Bruce Lee rip-off present in more or less every Japanese fighting game. Martial arts film actor and lover of the beauty of a good fight, in the western version of the game he really becomes an ideal pupil of master Bruce Lee and his son (who passed away shortly before the game’s release), so much so that in his epilogue he says : “There can never be another legend like the great one and his son”, refusing a millionaire contract as a movie star and preferring the path of teaching (a statue of Bruce Lee can also be seen in the background). It goes without saying that he takes part in the World Warrior Tournament to prove himself.
The tribute to Bruce Lee in the finale of the Fei Long story.
The desire to prove his worth is also reflected in his fighting style, one of the most martial of the sixteen protagonists, difficult to master and quite risky. Fei Long’s goal is to force opponents into one of the corners and finish them off with his quick and powerful hits. To make the most of Fei Long you have to follow his aggression, but also be aware that his resistance is not very high, so if you lose control of the fight it can end very badly.
As mobile and swift as it is, its limitation is that it does not have effective attacks at medium and long distances, while its most dominant move, the Shien Kyaku (a sort of Shoryuken with a fire kick) is a vertical jump in place, and it requires perfect timing to be effective. However, his basic moves are graceful and powerful and he is among the characters whose hits are best combined in combo, so much so as to still give extreme satisfaction and important physical feedback. Winning with Fei Long has the charm of underdog triumph, and this is certainly an element in its favor.
12. E. Honda
Origin : Japan
Fighting style : Sumo
Recommended for those who : love to provoke opponents
Edmond Honda is another of the most recognizable characters of Street Fighter II and in the gallery of ideal-typical models that make up the roster of fighters, he represents the classic burly and mighty sumo wrestler. It does not have a particularly elaborate origin story, while more fun are the little details that characterize it, such as the act of sprinkling salt before each fight, in honor of the sumo purification ritual (called Shubatsu ), or his love for the thermal baths, so much so that the scenario dedicated to him is that of the Edo baths of the Kapukon Yu, a fictional spa in Tokyo. Take part in the tournament to show the world that sumo is a serious discipline, capable of strengthening body and soul.
The Honda stage, one of the most characteristic of Street Fighter II.
As with all characters, his personality is well reproduced by his fighting style, which combines the sacredness of sumo with some very unique techniques, such as offensive throwing with flying butt and butt strikes. To these attacks is added the famous Hyakuretsu Harite , one of the most annoying moves in the game for those who suffer it: by pressing the punch button repeatedly, Honda begins to hit the opponent with the speed of many arms. The character’s good attack range and great stamina make him really lethal on medium range and it’s objectively difficult to break free from his grip in a corner (he also has a good grip).
Despite the size, the low posture and a certain speed make Honda a good balanced character to start getting used to the game and try to exhaust the opponents. Its biggest limitations are the inability to react to characters with a very wide attack range and, above all, to those able to hit with bullets from a distance, unfortunately for Honda the most used characters in the game.
11. Cammy
Origin : United Kingdom
Fighting style : Shadaloo, special forces techniques
Recommended for those who : love difficult challenges
Cammy is the second female character ever to appear in Street Fighter II, and has always been characterized by a degree of ambiguity, suspended between her dark past as a Shadaloo clone soldier and her present as an agent of Delta Red (a secret body of the ‘MI6). In contrast to her cold attitude to murder, Cammy is portrayed in everyday life as a kind and generous girl, and over the years she will become a great ally of Chun-Li and Guile in the fight against Shadaloo. In Street Fighter 2 she is still looking for herself, but her storyline culminates in a beautiful visual quote from Apocalypse Now, so it’s still worth finishing the game with her.
Very strong and fragile at the same time, Cammy is a character so unbalanced that he is really complex to dominate. His best moves are complicated to execute, but it is also true that he has many winning combinations and although he does not have projectile attacks, the range of his shots is remarkable. A bit like Fei Long, Cammy is an effective fighter also using the basic moves, offers a good balance between power and speed and has fantastic kicks. Unfortunately, only in later titles will he gain the ability to avoid enemy bullets with special moves, and in his basic version he is a character that requires out-of-the-ordinary skills to be able to exploit his full potential.
10. Dee Jay
Origin: Jamaica
Fighting style : Kick boxing
Recommended for those who : are hipsters and do not want to use the usual characters (but they are stronger)
Dee Jay is an atypical character for Street Fighter, because he is the only one in the entire main saga conceived and developed by an American designer. For this reason he is a bit of a fish out of water, and in a world full of existential conflicts and ambition he is content to put good music around the world, looking at fighting as a source of inspiration for his main occupation. . He’s a bit like the Bob Sinclair of the Street Fighter world, and he’s certainly not the first character to grab attention.
On the battlefield, however, it is surprisingly effective. With a good set of basic moves, solid and powerful, it combines a good balance. He has a ranged attack similar to Guile’s Sonic Boom, a powerful offensive throw, and also an uppercut that can withstand air strikes, and is a patchwork of other fighters’ techniques, adapted to his sly personality. He does not excel in anything and has no particular weaknesses, his only limitation is the lack of that pinch of madness that makes the other characters special. In short, there are no real reasons to use it, but not even to advise against its use.
9. Guile
Origin : United States
Fighting style : Mixed martial arts and wrestling
Recommended for those who : want to learn how to control space
Guile has been my favorite character for years, and I guess many others too. He is the prototype of the macho icon of American films seen by the Japanese eye, however, so he soon becomes such a grotesque figure that he goes around and ends up inspiring sympathy, especially to a seven-year-old boy who grew up with JI Joe. In addition to loving and carefully caring for his anti-gravity hair so that he carries a comb with him in every fight, Guile is one of the good guys, he fights Shadaloo to avenge his dear Charlie and all the lives broken by M. Bison. He’s the friend everyone would want, and he’s also the star of one of the first viral memes in history , as his score looks good on any epic scene.
The Guile’s theme meme is incredibly long-lived and its Game of Thrones declination could not be missing.
With Guile you enter the part of the ranking of the characters with which it is possible to get serious. Its combat strategy is basic and provides strong defense (its parry position is uncomfortable and beautiful among other things) and then unleashes Sonic Boom to hit from a distance, or Flash Kick if the opponent tries to jump the bullets. If with these two moves you can control space and break the opponent’s rhythm, Guile is very dangerous, but it is also true that this is the only applicable strategy to win. Although balanced, with an excellent and choreographic defensive posture and capable of unleashing medium-powerful attacks, in fact, his limit is not having weapons to overturn a fight in which the opponents command the pace.
8. Ryu
Origin : Japan
Fighting style : Karate
Recommended for those who : want to understand what Street Fighter is
Ryu is Street Fighter. Partly because he represents the character from which everything was born, partly because his image is that of the Japanese hero without blemish and without fear, a figure common to most of the anime of that period. Silent, extremely hard on himself and prone to moral masochism, his personality is perfectly captured by the Dhamm in the memorable theme song of the animated series that aired in 1995.
His goal is to become the strongest warrior of all time and fight the perfect battle, but his sense of justice always leads him to become entangled in matters greater than himself. In the Street Fighter II tournament she fights Shadaloo alongside Ken, her inseparable best friend, Guile, Chun-Li and Cammy. To understand his morality, just mention that in the crossovers between the Marvel world and Street Fighter, Captain America asks Ryu to join the Avengers, but his path to the supreme knowledge of martial arts (and the fact that there are no been multiple episodes of Marvel vs. Capcom) has deprived us of a timeline in which Thanos is fought (also) by Hadoken .
The theme song for the Italian version of the Street Fighter anime, performed by Dhamm, a Roman hair metal group.
It is precisely the fireball (actually ki energy) that is the most famous attack of the wandering karateka, and that is where every fight as Ryu starts. Effective against both foot and jump enemies, if you can alternate its use with the Tatsumaki Senpukyaku (the spinning kick commonly perceived as “attakensplugen” by vocal samples) and the Shoryuken (fiery punch), Ryu can become dominant , and that is the goal of every fight in which he wears the white kimono.
The reason he is in the middle of the table is because he is such a common character that everyone memorizes his moves, their timing and how to counter him correctly. Not being very fast, it offers the side for the fastest and the most refined characters, but still represents the starting point for any aspiring Street Fighter II player.
7. M. Bison (Vega)
Origin : Unknown
Fighting Style : Psychic Power
Recommended for those who : want the most offensively powerful character
- Bison is actually called Vega in the original version, but due to a problem related to the identity of Balrog, the main villain of the saga outside of Japan loses the name of the star and takes on more military connotations. He is the prototype of the evil egotistic megalomaniac psychopath, who desires absolute power and is determined to conquer it by any means. At his disposal he has a dark and mysterious power, a devastating psychic force that he can unleash at will and that in future episodes of the game (the Alpha series in particular) will intertwine the story of Bison with that of an Italian fighter, Rose.
At the time of Street Fighter II, however, the general staff of Shadaloo is only the fearsome, hated, final boss, who from his secret base in Thailand watches as a spectator the tournament organized to select the best fighter in the world. His plan is to seize his strength with psychic powers and dispose of the ultimate weapon. Later, again in the Alpha series, which will give depth to a character so far to be honest a bit flat, it turns out that the one that is fought in Street Fighter II is the second incarnation of Bison, and that also his it’s a story of revenge.
While facing M. Bison can be stressful, when you use it the music changes, because you have a huge source of power available. Bison is certainly the one that has the most powerful charged moves (that is, those that require you to move the directional stick to the opposite side to which the attack is facing for two seconds), as well as one of the best offensive fighters in the lot. His Psycho Crusher , his signature move, is a devastating frontal charge, and the psychic force that envelops his blows with shimmering auras allows him to bring opponents into a daze (where they become helpless for a few seconds) very quickly.
The weapons at his disposal are many, and although he is not among the fastest fighters, he offers a great variety of chains available. For this reason it has a very steep learning curve, but when used well it is devastating. The secret to harnessing its immense power is to launch into non-stop attacks and avoid being cornered, because in that case it becomes really problematic to defend yourself.
6. Balrog (M. Bison)
Origin : United States
Fighting style : boxing
Recommended for those who: want the perfect mix of power and speed
Balrog is the cause of the swirl of names in the Western version. His original name is Mike Bison, he is a boxer by profession and the reference is quite self-evident. With the title landing in the United States, Capcom is afraid of Tyson’s legal action and demands a name change. When it does, however, it’s too late to change the graphics, so the most logical solution is to swap the names of some characters. The result is that the perfidious ex-boxer loaned to the world of crime becomes Balrog, and effectively embodies the role of bodyguard of M. Bison. He is the character who has no qualms about getting his hands dirty, who has dishonored his sports career and is the fighter with the most negative personality in the whole game, the one for whom it is difficult to feel the slightest empathy.
His dark nature, however, makes him a perfect death machine, ideal for trying in every way to close opponents to the corner and unload all his violence against them. Despite his average size, he is the most violent and direct character in the game, as well as one of those with the most interesting animations. His way of moving is unique, thanks to his footwork with very short steps typical of boxing and the fact that he does not have kicks, but six different punches.
The variety of blows and the great reach of his arms make him threatening in all circumstances, but it is above all the head that offers him an additional weapon. Although it is forbidden to head-butt the opponent during boxing, Balrog flaunts his wickedness with his Buffalo Headbutt , a charge from below to be used in counterattack, and a grip that blocks the opponent and hits him repeatedly inflicting massive damage. The only way to defeat the former boxer is to keep him at a distance with bullets and attack him in the legs, high and often quite exposed during the charges. For the rest, it is a character that makes you feel a little dirty when used with skill, but it is also very effective.
5. Dhalsim
Origin : India
Fighting Style : Esoteric Yoga
Recommended for those who : hate violence (!!)
Despite his name being inspired by the Indian restaurant located next to Capcom’s Osaka offices, Dhalsim is one of the most charismatic and noble characters in the series. Inspired by the figure of Ganesha, whose effigy appears on the Indian level, Dhalism is a yoga master who has the gift of handling fire. The destructive nature of his power clashes with his pacifist creed, but the need to look for a way to support his family and village convinced him to travel the world and use his talents for good.
Become one of M. Bison’s greatest enemies and at the end of Street Fighter II he decides to retire from fighting to avoid causing more harm (he will return only in the definitive edition of Street Fighter IV) and devote himself only to helping those most in need.
Dhalsim’s withdrawal from the scene.
The calmness and harmony of his personality are reflected in a fighting style truly inspired by yoga. Dhalsim is slow, very slow, and has no combos to chain, since his animations are sharp, peremptory and, literally, dilated. One of its peculiarities is in fact the possibility of extending arms and legs in an unnatural way, with the result of threatening an almost immense area. No one is ever safe against Dhalsim and it is equally difficult to put him under pressure, also because in the worst case scenario he can also resort to a teleportation technique, not very easy to perform, but not impossible.
Rounding out the picture of one of the best characters ever are his signature special moves, Yoga Fire and Yoga Flame . These are two blasts of fire used to strike from a distance or at close range capable of incinerating the enemy, inflicting massive damage and buying time to move Dhalsim into an advantage. The only real weakness of the Indian wrestler is his lack of mobility, and to make the most of it one must necessarily enter into the perspective of his reflective nature.
4. Ken
Origin : United States
Fighting style : karate, ansatsuken
Recommended for those who : love Ryu, but want something more (or less)
Ken Masters is Ryu’s friend / sparring partner / cheerful version, and probably inspired by karate champion Joe Lewis. He has been the training partner of the protagonist of the series since he was a child, and together they discovered the secret techniques of ansatsuken (the art of the killer punch), the fighting style that combines karate, judo, shotokan and tae kwon do. Compared to Ryu, he is a more multifaceted and intriguing character, and behind his flowing blond hair he hides a less stoic temperament than his friend.
In the single fight he proves several times that he has greater potential than Ryu’s, but his emotionality makes him less focused on the goal. Before Street Fighter II, the love for a woman makes his devotion to combat falter, while after the tournament organized by M. Bison he will be seduced by the lure of darkness.
Ken’s fallibility and humanity make him a more fun character to play than Ryu, albeit perhaps less balanced. In the shoes of the blond karateka you always risk everything for everything. His shots are on average less powerful than Ryu’s, but his Shoryuken’s range and showmanship are unmatched. Likewise, his spinning kick is faster and less powerful, and is great for disrupting opposing action.
His personality is reflected in the fighting style devoted to attack and the concatenation of moves. Despite having a good resistance, however, if the opponent manages to prevent and interrupt the execution of the combos, he reveals all the vulnerabilities. Despite this, Ken remains a versatile and complete character, who rewards those who choose to interpret the encounters while taking risks.
3. Vega (Balrog)
Origin : Spain
Fighting style : Spanish ninjutsu
Recommended for those who : love beauty and speed
Beautiful, selfish and self-confident, Vega represents one of the classic archetypes of anime and manga, namely the evil narcissist. Frivolous but lethal, it combines the typical fascination for the seductive elegance of the Western world by the Japanese with the characterization of the exponent of the Yakuza, represented by his tattoos. He is my favorite character by far, either because of his nature as a furious esthete worthy of a Brett Easton Ellis novel, or because of his ability to harmoniously unite different worlds.
Historically he is Shadaloo’s most ruthless killer, but his code of honor (which aims to preserve beauty) and his unbridled individualism make him a character that is sometimes inconsistent, often elusive and little entangled in the squabbles of the main storyline.
Vega is such an iconic character that in 2014 a short film was dedicated to him.
Agile and very fast, Vega is a complex fighter to use, but very spectacular. His style mixes the movements of a bullfighter (his costume sports a muleta tied at the waist), those of two ancient European noble martial arts, the zipota and the savate, and those of ninjutsu. The resulting mix is that of a lightning-fast syncopated dance, made lethal by the clawed glove he wears on his left hand. Although his agility and rapidity of his movements suggest an offensive style, to understand Vega one must use him as a defensive character.
The range of his kicks and claw allow him to keep opponents at a distance and make up for the lack of bullet attacks, while his powerful low sliding kick is a devastating weapon because it knocks the enemy down and gives Vega time to put himself in the position most congenial to him, that is not too far from the edge of the screen. His distinctive moves, in fact, are the so-called dive jumps , with which he uses the limit of the picture to give himself momentum and charge the enemy, hitting him directly or with the claw.
Mastering his techniques means making the clash unpredictable and in chaos the beauty of Vega almost always triumphs. On the other hand, in a very orderly fight, his lack of resistance and the possibility of being unarmed make him a little too vulnerable.
2. Chun-Li
Origin : China
Fighting style : Chinese martial arts
Recommended for those who: want a balanced character
Chun-Li is one of the protagonists of Street Fighter II, as well as the only female character on the original roster. Interpol agent, Chun-Li is the archetype of the strong woman, animated by a strong sense of justice and a great rationality. Even in her case, revenge is one of the recurring themes, as she fights to avenge the death of her father at the hands of Bison, which is why she teams up with Ryu and Guile to defeat the threat posed by Shadaloo.
More than her storyline itself, the characterization of the Chinese wrestler is interesting, which combines classic elements of the hyper sexualization of the female body with some other details taken from other contexts. Some are inspired by the Chinese tradition, such as the dress she wears (the qipao, traditional dress originating from Manchuria) or the hairstyle that refers to a classic hairstyle of Chinese girls, while others are borrowed from the typical manga topoi, such as the use of excess weight wristbands and accessories to improve endurance and physical strength.
The mash-up of traditional and popular culture also mirrors the fighting qualities of Chun-Li, who proves to be a versatile character, easy to use and potentially capable of defeating anyone. She is not a fighter much loved by the best players, who dispute her very generic nature, but she represents a threat with many strengths and very few defects. She is a fighter capable of firing fast and effective bullets, delivering an attack worthy of Ryu’s spinning kick (the iconic Spinning Bird Kick ), and has a remarkable attack range thanks to long and powerful levers, which transmit a sense of strength and impressive physicality.
As if that were not enough, the rapid movements allow her to pursue the enemy and close him in the corner, targeting him with kicks with the Hyakuretsu Kyaku technique (a blow that is carried out by continuously pressing one of the football keys) or with a very effective game of projections. typical of judo, lethal if done on the edge of the screen Limits of the picture that are friends even in the defensive phase, since it is one of the few characters able to make a double jump using the black border, to wriggle even in the worst situations. There is never a moment when Chun-Li is completely at a disadvantage, and that is his real strength: always offering the player a possible weapon to counterattack and reverse the clashes.
1. Sagat
Origin: Thailand
Fighting style: muay thai
Recommended for those who: want to dominate fights
Sagat is the noble villain of Street Fighter II, Ryu’s true nemesis since the first chapter of the saga, of which he was the final boss. To develop it, Capcom’s designers are inspired by the brutal style of muay thai fighters, linking, as usual, real and imaginative references, including Thai fighter Sagat Petchyindee (13 wins and 2 losses between 1977 and 1988) and Reiba, character from a popular 1970s manga, Karate Baka Ichidai (Karate Master in the West).
As often happens in Street Fighter, aesthetics, temperament and fighting style are the result of a coherent characterization, and Sagat appears as a very violent fighter with a rigorous and powerful appearance. On his body he flaunts two battle wounds, recalled by a black patch on his right eye (at least in the original drawing, but for a mere technical question, in the game the patch changes eye according to the orientation of the character), lost during the fight with Go Hibiki, father of Dan, another character from the Capcom universe, and a scar on his chest, an indelible mark of the Metsu Shoryuken , the destructive fist of the rising dragon with which Ryu defeats him in the first World Warrior Tournament.
Needless to say, Sagat seeks his revenge in Street Fighter II, animated by the same spirit of perfection as the karateka, but without the protagonist’s scruples.
Even at the end of the tournament Sagat renews the rivalry with Ryu.
Sagat has on his side a higher power than Ryu’s, as well as some important physical qualities, such as height and leg length, which allow him to carry powerful attacks very deep. Although, like all tall characters, the Thai boxer is rather slow, he has a remarkable versatility of attacks, and combines the effectiveness of some typical muay thai techniques (knees and elbows) with the channeling of ki force.
Like Ryu and Ken, Sagat can throw fireballs, but he contrasts the power of the dragon with that of the tiger. This is not a random choice, since symbolically the tiger and the dragon are the two animals that represent yin and yang, the concept of complementary opposites at the base of Chinese philosophy, and which also in the world of Street Fighter describe in a synthetic rivalries and the need for fighting.
In Sagat’s case, the bond with the tiger allows him to unleash two different types of bullet shots: the Tiger Shot and the Ground Tiger Shot , the equivalent of the Hadoken. The difference between the two is only the height at which it travels: the normal one, given Sagat’s bulk, is easy to avoid by lowering, while the second flies slightly lower than a normal energy projectile. The result, however, is that in combat at a distance Sagat can alternate high and low fireballs at different speeds, managing rhythm and distance from the opponent, up to bring him into the open and then knock him out with the Tiger Uppercut or the Tiger Knee. Crush, the other two, very powerful, signature moves. The first, in particular, is his response to Shoryuken, and is the secret technique Sagat learned after being defeated by Ryu.
To this not numerous but very varied arsenal, the Thai fighter also adds a good reserve of combinations of basic moves. His real big problem is a not excessive reactivity, especially in the footwork and in the execution of special moves such as the uppercut. Wrong timing of execution means offering the flank to the opponent, and irreparably compromising the match, given its poor ability to defend the blows on the limbs. Despite this, with the right practice, Sagat is a dominant character, able to satisfy the three basic requirements to win a fight, namely control the space, strike from a distance and have strong and rather simple special moves to do.
