Street Tactics

Published March 3, 2009

For the competitive fighting fan, there are few games that rival the balanced combination of pure timing and chess-like tactics of Street Fighter® IV. While experts who've followed and dedicated themselves to the series over the years can pick up Capcom's latest confident in their abilities, there are legions of new Street Fighter fans for which we offer this helping hand.

Abel's roll will evade fireballs.

Detailed tactical guides could be written for every fighter, so instead, we've provided some general tactics that work well across the board. Get your thumbs ready!

Character Unlocks
No one wants all those empty slots on the character selection screen mocking them, so before we get to the tips, let us show you how to unlock each and every secret Street Fighter IV character.

• Cammy: Complete Arcade Mode with Crimson Viper.
• Sakura: Complete Arcade Mode with Ryu.
• Fei Long: Complete Arcade Mode with Abel.
• Gen: Complete Arcade Mode with Chun Li.
• Rose: Complete Arcade Mode with M. Bison.
• Dan: Complete Arcade Mode with Sakura.
• Akuma: You must first unlock Sakura, Dan, Cammy, Fei Long, Gen, and Rose. Then, play through Arcade Mode once more with any character with which you've already beaten the game. During this run, you'll need to score at least one Perfect Victory, provided you've set Arcade Mode to one-round-battles. You must also defeat each fighter without dying. No continues allowed.
• Gouken: You must unlock all the preceding characters, Akuma included. Then, play through Arcade Mode with Akuma. Next, play through Arcade Mode with any character you've previously beaten the game with. Again, set the number of rounds per battle to one. Then, you must achieve at least one Perfect Victory, execute three Super/Ultra Combo Finishes as well as earn five First Strikes (hit your opponent before they hit you). This should unlock access to Gouken. Defeat him and he's yours.
• Seth: Complete Arcade Mode with every fighter, including unlockable characters.

Please note that you can unlock every character playing on Easiest difficulty.

Focus Attacks make a world of difference.

Trial Dedication
Learning each fighter's basic move-set, including Specials and Super/Ultra Combos shouldn't take long at all. However, executing each move on its own, while useful, pales in comparison to understanding how to combo those moves together as well as how to cancel out of moves and into more appropriate attacks, depending on the situation.

This is where Challenge Mode's Trials come into play. Complete each Trial for a character (on Normal and Hard) and you should have a firm grasp on how to use them in combat. Don't stop there though. Simply completing Trials isn't enough for you to seamlessly integrate those techniques in battle. Instead, focus on one Trial's suite of challenges and try to incorporate those moves into your everyday gameplay. Once you're confident you've mastered those attacks, move onto the next Trial and repeat the process.

Don't Jump
A common failing of so many Street Fighter IV players is jumping without purpose. Every fighter has a worthwhile anti-aerial attack or two, and if you find yourself hopping all about the arena, a skilled player or unforgiving A.I. will make short work of you. Jump only for a specific purpose, such as avoiding a fireball, making up ground on a faraway opponent, or to counter an opponent's jump.

Ultra time!

Anti-Air
Speaking of jumping, make it a point early on to master your own fighter's anti-air maneuvers. Whether it's Ryu and Ken's Dragon Punch, Guile and El Fuerte's air-grabs or Abel's ground-based anti-air throw, every character has something in their repertoire to put a stop to an opponent's wayward jumping.

Focus Dash
The Focus Attack system may be the most powerful tool at your disposal. When used properly, it often spells the difference between victory and defeat, particularly with similarly skilled players, as you absorb damage, counter, and armor break opponents with this attack. While there are enough uses for the Focus Attack to fill an entire article, perhaps the most important is the Focus Attack, dash technique.

Once you've successfully landed a charged Focus Attack, you have a split second to dash forward by rapidly tapping in your opponent's direction twice. Once you've successfully dashed, unleash any sequence of attacks you desire. If you're fast enough, you can even execute your Super or Ultra Combo. Mastering this technique is an absolute must if you hope to compete with friends and online over Xbox LIVE®.

Good old anti-air attacks.

Don't Bet on Heavy
Many Street Fighter players work on their opponents almost exclusively with Heavy Punch and Heavy Kick attacks in addition to their Specials. Don't fall into this trap. Light and Medium attacks may not do as much damage, but they'll almost always beat an opponent's Heavy attacks. Mix these in as much as your Heavy attacks and you'll go a long way toward confusing your opponent.

Never Down
While there are occasions where you might want to stay prone when knocked down (such as when setting up a Super or Ultra), you can often gain the advantage by surprising your opponent with a quick Recovery. Tap down just as you're hitting the ground and you should pop right back to your feet, enabling you to immediately launch a surprise offensive.

Beware the Prone
Every character can power up and execute their Super or Ultra Combos when lying prone on the ground, so be very careful advancing on any fighter you've just knocked down. Additionally, many characters can unleash any number of their Special attacks when getting up.

However, you can use this to your advantage by baiting a player into using a Special, Super or Ultra upon getting up. Stand on top of their body and hold block the moment they begin to get up. If, say, you're playing against Sagat and he tries his Tiger Uppercut in this situation and you successfully block it, he'll be entirely vulnerable to your next attack.

Time to dash.

Super/Ultra Setups
Against Novice Players or on one of the easier difficulty settings, you can probably get away with landing your Super or Ultra Combo on the fly, but against anyone else, you really to need to work to set up an opening for your Super or Ultra Combo.

Take the time to really learn which moves can lead into your Super or Ultra. Typically, after performing a single move or short combo, only a very skilled opponent would expect you to unleash your finishing Combo. For example, Abel can execute his Super/Ultra out of a simple two-hit Medium Punch combo. Likewise, Balrog can come up out of a crouched attack and into his finishing move.

Similarly, look for your opponent to open themselves up to attack. For example, if you spot your opponent attempting a fireball as you're landing at their feet, you have a split second to crank out your Super or Ultra while they're vulnerable. Of course, there's the Focus Attack, dash, Super/Ultra Combo as previously mentioned as well.

The dedicated Street Fighter IV player will find an endless stream of possible tactics, and therein lies the beauty of the game. If you're just starting out though, the previous tips should put you in mind of a few necessary do's and don'ts as you begin mastering your fighter(s) of choice.

Article by Ryan Treit