Street Fighter IV Character Guide Part 2: The Baddies

In this second part of our Street Fighter IV character guide we are going to take a look at the bad guys. These are the nasty evil scumbags that drive everyone to violence and block your route to ultimate victory. As well as the boss characters we will also take a look at a couple of hidden secret surprise characters as well.

First up is Balrog, the Mike Tyson clone. He is an American boxer who likes to punch, in fact that is all he does, swing away with his huge fists. He works for M. Bison and makes for a seriously tough henchman.

Balrog is an uncomplicated character. He can charge, throw and punch and he does a serious amount of damage. He also has a move called Buffalo Head which is a useful head butt manoeuvre. Balrog has no projectile attacks and his Super and Ultra Combos are both flurries of punching that can waste an opponent alarmingly quickly. He is fast and many of his moves allow him to dodge fireball attacks. This helps to make up for his lack of projectile attacks. He is tough but not very flexible.

click to enlarge

Vega can be frustratingly tough to fight against and he is extremely agile. He can bounce off the walls and has a range of devastating attacks in the air and on the ground. His fighting style is quite unique and he has a number of charge attacks and opener moves for combos like the Flying Barcelona Attack. He is very good against characters in the air with his Scarlet Terror kick and Sky High Claw and he can grab and throw with the Izuna Drop. His Super and Ultra Combos are not easy to pull off but he is a fast, versatile character and in the hands of a skilled player he can be a real nightmare.

Sagat used to be the boss, he was the last rival in the original Street Fighter game and he seems to have collected various injuries picking up a chest wound against Ryu and losing his eye to Dan’s father (he killed him in revenge). That doesn't prevent him from being one of the toughest baddies in Street Fighter IV.

Sagat is a Muay Thai specialist and an absolute giant with powerful kicks and knees. He has a long range High Step Kick which also knocks opponents out of the air. His Tiger Shot is a projectile and his Tiger Uppercut is devastating at close range. He isn’t the easiest character to master, he seems slow unless you combine his moves in the right order and his Super and Ultra Combos are not easy to pull off but they are seriously powerful.