From: lhuynh@sloth.Reed.Edu (Falcon Feather)
Subject: Ken_ryu.txt
Organization: Reed College, Portland, OR
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 08:49:23 GMT
Reply-To: lhuynh@reed.edu



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=  ken/ryu  =
=============

ryu:           "you must defeat sheng long to stand a chance."
ken:           "attack me if you dare, i will crush you."


all opponents
(offensive)

against poor players, you may use the jump kick/sweep combo. being 
able to throw fireballs fast is great, because if your opponent jumps 
over your fireball, you should always be able to  dragon punch him.  
use offensive crouch to forward + punch buttons to fire for best speed.

the short sweep/throw combo [getting your opponent in the corner, 
after having knocked him down, crouch and hit the short sweep  once 
or twice and then stand up and throw him] is pretty effective but it 
can be countered.  to use this best you have to mix it up. sweep once, 
throw, or twice then throw, or don't throw at all  (just keep sweeping, 
and when he goes for the throw you will be hitting him a few times 
for some damage).  

other effective corner methods can be to look like you're going to 
do the above sequence, but then do a standing roundhouse  (which 
will hit twice).  a small dragon punch will work sometimes as well, 
but it depends on how your opponent defends his corner position.

once your opponent is starred, you should try to do a jab dragon 
punch on your opponent, making sure to hit the jab button early in 
your sequence, so that he gets off a jab and then a double hit dragon 
punch.  done correctly, and your opponent comes up stars again.  
easy victory.

the only other good way to knock your opponent down is to time your 
sweeps better than him.  and use of the middle sweep, which has 
longer range than the roundhouse one, can often be used  effectively.  
the other thing to try is to do short sweeps when your opponent goes 
for his longer one.

once you've knocked your opponent down, a *very* good tactic is to 
jump, from the right distance (practice a bit), and kick out, or 
knee if in closer, hitting your rising opponent as he (or she) stands 
up and then following with the throw, or short sweeps, if in close 
enough (and still then a throw, if they are blocked). a powerful 
combination, when done correctly.

(defensive)

ryu can play a good reactive game as he can defend from aerial and 
ground attacks well and is fast.  his dragon punch can be executed 
as fast as any kick or punch move, so is very effective to stop 
aerial attacks.  this move can be done from both a crouch or standing 
position, once mastered.

the only other important move to know defensively is the sacrifice 
throw.  every character has a "sac" throw, where you let the opponent 
(who is jumping in) hit you and then you go for the throw.  if done 
correctly (that is, timing your throw right) you will always win this.  
if, however, you go for the "sac"  throw every time, your opponent 
will adjust his attack accordingly and put you in stars (ex.:  blanka 
with his middle aerial kick followed by middle sweep kicks).

ken/ryu ---

ken can never effectively jump in.  a dragon punch is always fast 
enough to deter this.  the roundhouse button works exceptionally 
well, and the uppercut (either crouching or not) fierce is good too.

if ken jumps in with his knees, there are several things you can do 
(aside from dragon punch).  if you have time, the uppercut works 
well.  blocking is dangerous, since your opponent could then sweep 
or throw you.  better to let it hit and go for the throw yourself.  
you should win this almost every time.  if your timing isn't too 
good, try rapid firing your button right when the knees make contact.  
you'll win.

to avoid fireball wars, jump over one, or better, execute the jab 
dragon punch.  before he can fire again, his fireball will  have to 
leave the screen which at times can give you the edge.

since the characters are equal, you have to outguess, anticipate 
(jump in when you are almost sure your opponent is about to throw 
a fireball, for example) and press the attack when ken is down 
(with the kick/throw or knee/sweep/throw combo).

e. honda ---

an easy opponent to defeat!  e. honda is just too slow to be effective.
throw fireballs, and if he jumps towards you, you can either dragon 
punch or roundhouse if he's close, or sweep if he is further away 
(you may have to position yourself for the sweep, but with just a 
little practice it is easy). to avoid the flying headbutt, just block, 
dragon punch, or jump back and kick out.  if he tries to do the flying 
body slam/throw combo, use the jab button to counter the slam, dragon 
punch, block and reverse throw (that is, throw him instead), or take 
the hit and throw (sacrifice throw).  if you're having trouble beating 
e. honda to the throw, try hitting your button rapidly instead of 
timing it.

the best e. honda's will try to do a lot of long sweeps, since they 
outreach yours.  the best way to handle that is to block and then 
throw a fireball *right* afterwards, but don't become too predictable 
with this (in other words, don't do it every time or e. honda will jump 
in as you are shooting your fireball).  once e. honda is moved back far 
enough, simply throwing fireballs will get you to the position noted 
above.  another way to counter his sweep is to be backing up, and then 
move forward quickly and sweep (quickly means 1/2 second or less at 
least) to catch him off guard.  of course this is just a timing thing 
to see who gets the sweep off first.

jumping into e. honda is difficult and is just simply best avoided 
(except where noted in the "all opponents" tactics).


blanka ---

a very tough opponent!  if blanka uses his crouching uppercut  a lot, 
you can sweep his punch from a *long* ways away.  fireballs don't work 
well, because he jumps quickly and you cannot effectively defend in time.  
it is best to play defensive against him.  if he jumps a lot when in 
close, walk underneath him and turn around and throw him.  roundhouse 
is often (but not always) an effective way to kick him out of the air.  
the uppercut (both crouching and standing) works more often.  if you're 
just standing or crouching when he jumps, it is enough time for the dragon  
punch as well.

once knocked down, the short sweep/throw combo works very well  against 
him, especially when he is cornered.

*do not* jump into blanka.  he can always knock you out of the air with 
a variety of moves (claw uppercut, crouching uppercut, or spinning ball 
move).

your best overall tactic is to use only the long or middle sweeps  and 
to make him come after you (with fireballs to prompt a  reluctant blanka) 
and play reactionary.  once you've knocked him  down once, you may often 
be able to jump immediately in with the  roundhouse kick and then take 
a step towards him and throw (if he blocks the kick, he will not be able 
to attack again >immediately< allowing you just enough time to throw him, 
if you've timed your jump/kick correctly).  jumping in with the knee is 
generally ineffective against good blankas (who will simply come up with 
a crouching punch or ball to counter) since it takes just slightly longer 
than the jump kick.  when blanka jumps in, since he jumps with a short 
quick style, it is possible to position yourself to sweep as he lands 
(if he jumps from far enough away).

if you time your long sweep right when blanka tries his, you will do more 
damage to him than he to you (but this requires  very fast reactions -- 
practice)

to counter the roll attack, the roundhouse does the most damage, the jab 
is o.k. and the dragon punch excellent though hard to execute in time.

guile ---

the best guiles are very tough.  *i* don't believe guile can keep up with 
fireballs, but he can for a few throws.  if he does jump over your 
fireballs, it is enough time to dragon punch him, as he is a slow jumper 
(he hangs in the air).  of course, guile can throw a sonic boom and then 
jump right in afterwards, and if  you were throwing two fireballs in a 
row, you won't recover in  time before he hits you.  guile's middle sweep 
is faster and longer than any ryu sweep, so the best way to counter is 
to  either block and fireball, or use the short sweep which will tag  
him instead.

if guile fires a slow sonic boom and follows it in, there are a few options 
for you.  one is to time a short dragon punch to both avoid the hit and 
hit guile in turn.  i don't like this one since the dragon punch will 
most likely not knock guild off his feet and he will throw you afterwards.  
another is to fireball back, but this must be done fast or guile will 
be close enough to strike out after.  

another is to do the spinning kick at the last moment, which would catch 
a few guiles off guard.  yet another would be to jump backwards to buy 
yourself some extra time (guile is not  quite as fast as his slow sonic 
boom) and then react.

guile cannot effectively jump in with ryu's ability to kick,  uppercut, 
or dragon punch, so a good guile will remain on the ground.  on the other 
hand, although guile is a good aerial defender, it is possible to jump 
in on him with the roundhouse kick (aim for the head only -- too far or 
too close will allow him to defend easily) as long as he isn't ready for 
the razor kick

after guile has knocked you down and is in his short punch/throw combo, 
there are only a couple of counters to try.  one is to try to throw him 
as soon as you get up.  for this to work, guile will have to have been 
too close to begin with (you have to learn this distance with practice, 
often at great expense when you're  wrong).  the only other thing to try 
is to throw guile when he goes to throw you.  you can rapid fire while 
blocking when he's jabbing, and have a fairly good chance to counter.  
one other  would be to do the dragon punch at the right time, but you 
must be *very* good to do this!

so, overall, use a lot of fireballs.  guile cannot jump over them without 
getting tagged (most of the time, except as noted previously).  he cannot 
match the speed of fireballs if you're fast enough.  his only other 
recourse is his fast middle sweep, and that has been explained already.

chun li ---

the best chun li's stay on the ground almost all the time.  she attacks 
both with her longer reaching roundhouse sweep, her  fast middle sweep 
and her fast speed, with which she can walk in and throw you very quickly.

fireballs work well against her, since if she jumps in towards you, you 
ave enough time to dragon punch her.  if she simply jumps straight up 
over them, you can fire again (switching speeds  sometimes) or try 
something else.

if you execute your sweep *before* chun li begins hers, you can win.  
she defends aerial attacks well, but you can jump in on her with the 
roundhouse or middle kick to the face and then try to sweep or walk up 
and throw her, if your timing is right.  

by executing different length spin kicks, you can surprise her where you 
end up and short sweep her to stars often.  you can walk underneath her 
jumps (if she plays foolishly) and throw her.  the short sweep/throw combo 
works well on her.

chun li's ground throw combos (she has several that are slightly  different 
and work well) are hard but not impossible to counter. either you have to 
go for the throw the same time she does, or throw her as soon as you get 
up (if she is too close and does not effectively hit you).  again rapid 
firing the throw button can work if your timing is off.

chun li's other effective attacks are her aerial attacks, when you haven't 
had time for the dragon punch (like getting up from having been knocked 
down) or if she surprised you with the move. for both her long and middle 
kicks, you can jump back and kick out, or jump straight up and kick or 
punch to counter (jumping straight up requires that you jump at the same 
time or just right after she does -- jumping back can be done slightly 
later than  this, but if you're too late, jumping won't do any good at 
all).

to counter chun li's middle aerial kick/throw combo, it is easiest to 
take the sacrifice ("sac") throw.

zangief ---

zangief cannot effectively jump in, as the roundhouse is most effective 
to counter this (except for his body slam or knees if he's in close).  
his roundhouse sweep is longer and more  effective than ryu's.  it is 
best to counter this with a crouch  defense/fireball or short sweep 
(very effective).  if zangief is jumping in close with the knees, it 
is easiest to counter by taking the sacrifice throw, or walking underneath 
and turning around for countering.  ryu's middle sweeps, being long 
enough, can work effectively if not used too predictably (and not as a 
counter to zangiefs long sweep).

ryu can jump in on zangief, but only at the farthest of reach, otherwise 
zangief will do some throw move.  the spinning kick is useless.  fireballs 
work well, especially if zangief is walking towards ryu and is close -- 
he cannot jump them in time.

the best zangiefs will jump, roundhouse kick, land, and grab you for a 
spinning pile driver (the move has great reach).  to counter this, use 
the roundhouse kick, or if you have time or was just knocked down, use 
the dragon punch.  or jump clear!

and do not try the short sweep/throw combo on zangief.  it simply does 
not work.

overall, zangief is tough, but he has to come after ryu -- he has no 
distance attack.  so fight reactive and don't be over- aggressive as 
this will never work.

dhalsim ---

very, very tough!  be patient though.  if you just try to jump in, 
dhalsim will knock you out of the air every time.  use the dragon punch 
(short one) sometimes to try to hit dhalsim's kicks or punches when at 
a distance.  match fireballs with fireballs. the crouching uppercut will 
work against kicks.

fireballs from the right distance, if dhalsim slides underneath will not 
reach you, and you can jump in to get close.  jumps should be done only 
when your feet can reach him -- never  further away.

throws don't work too well.  dhalsim has high priority for these. do the 
roundhouse kicks, short sweeps, long sweeps -- all at various distances 
to try to get dhalsim in stars (the close double roundhouse kick is 
effective here).

dhalsims spinning aerial attacks are best countered by the dragon punch 
or jumping straight up or back and kicking out. the roundhouse kick will 
work, but you have to be in just the  right place to do so.

remember, once you have more health than dhalsim, he will have do something 
pretty aggressive to attack back -- defend a lot or you will find yourself 
behind again before you know it, and dhalsim is the best defender of all 
characters.  use the counter-moves above and you just might be able to 
beat this near  unbeatable character.


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Internet: lhuynh@reed.edu              
(503) 771-3747                             Hey man.....
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