From: alex@crystal.ipac.caltech.edu (Alex Werner)
Subject: Re: Comparisons and Overview
Organization: California Institute of Technology
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1992 08:31:54 GMT

Ken:
good all around character, no real weaknesses. His dragon punch, during which
he is invulnerable, is probably the single best move in the game, as well
as being a universal defense. In champion edition, particularly, his 
triple uppercut combinations are absolutely deadly. Good for aggressive playres.
One problem with him is that he is vulnerable after throwing fireballs. Another
weakness is that _everyone_ who knows how to play SF2 know how to play against
Ken, so nothing you do will ever really be a surprise... Another problem is
that the dragon punch requires an absolutely perfect joystick, which means
that if you are playing on an old or otherwise messed up machine, you will
have problems...

Ryu:
exactly the same as Ken in SF2... in champion edition, he is more of a
defensive character. his fireballs are faster and deadlier, and his
hurricane kick is better (particularly against guile) but his dragon punch
combos are _much_ weaker

Chun Li:
Very very fast. However, most of her moves do only a little damage, and she
has no real combos to speak of... excellent against Zangief and Dhalsim...
Not a very strong character in general though, since most good players
have fast enough reflexes that her speed doesn't help too much

Guile:
A _very_ strong character... probably the strongest on old streetfighter
and among the strongest on CE... no real weaknesses... great combos...
his power moves (sonic boom and flash kick) are easy to do even for novices
(compared to fireballs and dragon punches, that is :) ) 
Guile is best when defensive... 

Blanka:
Another strong character.... his ball attack is extermely fast and versatile
and his jumping fierce and roundhouse attacks hit almost anything...
on old edition he is very vulnerable because he takes double damage while
in the ball.... a very aggressive character in general. One of the
easiest characters to get started with

E. Honda:
Similar to blanka, but not as good.... on champion edition his moving
sumo hands are tricky, but he is basically too slow and weak to really 
beat anyone good... the only real advantages he has are that most people
aren't used to fighting him, and that his moves do a lot of damage...

Zangief:
A very strong character, but among the hardest to use, because he is so
slow.... you shouldn't play Zangief until you're very familiar with the
game. His spinning pile driver is absolutely deadly, and in old edition
(in particular) he can stick people in patterns with it...  however, aside
from that, his moves are basically weak, and he is slow as hell

Dhalsim:
Another tricky character. He is very slow, but his stretchy extremities
give him great range... however, he doesn't have much power... playing him
requires a _lot_ of patience... also, on old edition he is _great_ for
sticking people into cheap patterns involving throwing fireballs
and then grabbing them.... he has gotten weaker in champion edition,
imho. The hardest of the original 8 to beat the computer with...

Balrog:
Sucks! The weakest character all around, I'd say.... he looks cool, but 
basically the only reason you'd ever beat anyone with him is because so
few people play him that no one knows how to fight against him....
basically helpless and useless, though

Vega: 
Like Chun-Li, has great speed... his flying attacks are extremely
devestating, at least against people who don't know how to defend against them.
Howver, he doesn't do much damage with anything... not one of the strongest
characters, but not too weak... his claw gives him excellent range, and
of course his speed is an advantage

Sagat:
Similar to Ken and Ryu.... his uppercut does more damage than a dragon 
punch, most of the time, but he isn't invulnerable when doing it, and
it can't double hit so his combos are much weaker.... not a bad character
but not the greatest...


Bison:
One of the most deadly characters, particularly if you don't mind being 
cheap and doing nothing but flaming torpedos, which will beat 95% of
SF2 players... he has a good variety of moves, inlcluding his flying
head stomp and great forward kicks... he also has good combos



IF you are just starting out on SF2 I would recommend playing Ken, Ryu,
or Guile.... you don't want to play someone like bison or blanka and
depend totally on one move or one pattern, because you won't really 
learn hwo the game works.... imho, of course