I’m a lucky guy. Last week I got to spend a couple of hours with my game press cohorts play testing Street Fighter V. You’re lucky as well, because I’m also pretty obsessed over Street Fighter. So much so that I tend to note down a lot of details about this king of fighters that others may not have noticed.
In my other article I explained how the overall system of Street Fighter V works. Now I am going to go in-depth about what I discovered about the four main characters.
Ryu
Compared to every other character I played during the session, Ryu has the least noteworthy changes compared to his Street Fighter IV version. Low Medium Kick (Forward) is still the money poking normal for sneaking in 2-in-1 fireballs, while Low Hard Kick (Roundhouse) still doesn’t cancel into any specials. That’s something every Ryu player checks for in every new Street Fighter.
His variable Medium Punch (Strong) and Hard Punch (Fierce) are the same as well. Toward and Medium Punch (Strong) performs his two-hit overhead punch. Toward and Hard Punch (Fierce) executes his two-hit advancing punch. He still doesn’t have his Alpha/Super Turbo Toward + Medium Kick (Forward) “hop kick” overhead.
Ryu has always been, and is in Street Fighter V, the base character. Every playstyle I can plug into him works comfortably toward building to an endgame that features either a big Super move finish or a V-Trigger (the latter being an easy and quick meter to fill for Ryu). His V-Skill acts like a weak parry, which is a good tool for occasionally sucking up projectiles or momentarily halting a upclose offensive. When in V-Trigger mode, he is an absolute beast. His projectile game in particular becomes ridiculous, with fireballs that travel almost twice as fast, contain armor, and electrify. If you’re not in V-Trigger mode, then your priority should be to get into V-Trigger mode as soon as possible.
V-Gauge Blocks: 2
Special Moves
Hadoken: Down, Down + Forward, Forward + Punch
The classic Street Fighter II fireball. Light punch (Jab) version goes slowest across the screen yet has quicker recovery. Hard punch (Fierce) version is quickest yet has longest recovery. EX version gains armor and does multiple hits.
Shoryuken: Forward, Down, Down + Forward, Forward + Punch
Ryu’s jumping uppercut antiair special. A simplified input of this move uses down + forward, down + forward + punch. Light punch (Jab) version has the least range but quickest recovery. Hard punch (Fierce) version has more range but least recovery. EX version gains armor and multiple hits.
Tatsumaki Senpukyaku: Down, Down + Back, Back + Kick
AKA Hurricane Kick. Ryu spins towards his opponent, kicking several times. Can also be performed in the air. Light Kick (Short) version travels the least, Hard Kick (Roundhouse) version goes the furthest out. EX version has armor and multiple hits.
Shinku Hadoken: Down, Down + Forward, Forward, Down, Down + Forward, Forward + Punch
This is Ryu’s Super move, which requires a full EX-Gauge to perform. It’s essentially a huge fireball attack.
Hashogeki: Forward + All three punches (while in block)
This is Ryu’s V-Reversal.
Denjin Hadoken: Down, Down + Forward, Forward, Down, Down + Forward, Forward + Punch
This is a modified version of Ryu’s Super move, which requires both a full EX-Gauge and being in V-Trigger mode.
Mind’s Eye: Medium Punch (Strong) + Medium Kick (Forward)
This is Ryu’s V-Skill, which essentially acts as a one-hit parry. Useful for gaining a slight edge when defending against an offensive or nullifying projectile attacks.
Denjin Renki: Hard Punch (Fierce) + Hard Kick (Roundhouse)
Ryu’s V-Trigger is stupid-good, and you should activate it as soon as possible. If not, Ryu players need to prioritize getting that V-Gauge filled. He gains a huge boost in damage output and certain moves get a significant speed upgrade. Normal fireballs in particular come out ridiculously fast, have EX-like properties, and electrocute.
Chun-Li
Like Ryu, Chun-Li’s normal moveset from Street Fighter IV to Street Fighter V doesn’t seem to have changed much, if at all. This means she is a gawd-damned beast at the mid-range mind game, with enough solid poking tools to terrorize people who are horrible at making good guesses.
Her big changes are in her specials. Her flip kick has been changed to down + forward + Medium Kick (Forward), but I could only get that to come out occasionally. I get the feeling that the designers aren’t sure if they want that move implemented or not. She has no diagonal up kick anti-air special. Yet she still has her Spinning Bird Kick, which I guess still works as an anti-air if all else fails.
Her lightning legs, aka “masher’s best friend,” is now a command special (quarter circle forward + kick). I think this is an odd decision, because the nature of “mash” specials, where you need to input multiple button presses, is that there is a skill at high levels to know how and when to press buttons to turn the move on or off. When I execute something like lightning legs without being in control of when it shuts off, I lose a piece of that move’s mind game potential. I can’t trick my opponent into letting go of block too soon anymore. See Street Fighter IV Blanka’s Electricity pressure game for another example of what I am talking about. I really hope they reconsider going back to the mash execution of this move in a later build.
V-Gauge Blocks: 2
Special Moves
Kikoken: Charge back, Forward + Punch
Chun-Li’s fireball. Light Punch (Jab) version doesn’t make it across the screen. EX version gains armor.
Hyakuretsukyaku — Down, Down + Forward, Forward + Kick
Aka Lightning legs. Longtime Chun-Li players will be a bit thrown off by this not being a “mash” executed move. Light Kick (short) version is slower and has fewer hits. Speed and hits increase with higher version of kick. EX version gains armor.
Spinning Bird Kick: Charge Down, Up + Kick
The original spread legs spinning kick. Acts pretty well as a wake up anti-air. Light Kick (short) version goes a shorter distance. Distance increases with harder kicks.
Hoyokusen: Down, Down + Forward, Forward, Down, Down + Forward, Forward + Kick
Her Critical Art (Super Move).
Rankyaku: Medium Punch (Strong) + Medium Kick (Forward)
This is one of the few V-Skills in the current build of the game that is an offensive, forward momentum attack. Chun-Li does a sort of dash at an up and forward angle, acting like an anti-air. It can also be used as a low angle jump against grounded opponents. There may be some cross up shenanigans going on here, but it requires a lot more testing to be sure.
Renkiko: Hard Punch (Fierce) + Hard Kick (Roundhouse)
Like Ryu and M.Bison’s V-Triggers, Chun-Li’s moveset gains a speed and damage boost.
Sohatsukei — Forward + All three punches (while in block)
Chun-Li’s V-Reversal