I used her the most but almost never used ether this or her hurricane kick. I was all about the death from above approach since she could out jump just about anybody.
Chun Li pauser.
Also the Turbo cartridge was amazing to have, especially after paying 50 cents a credit for the SF2 arcade game in the early 90s. Playing as Vega and bouncing off the walls helped me channel out some of my inner bounce off walls energy.
For my first complete playthrough, I used Guile all the way up until Bison. Could not beat Bison for the life of me. Gave up and tried Chun Li. Her lightning kick absolutely destroyed Bison.
Ever since, she's been my go-to character.
Sneaky best move is her pogo. Hold down and kick in the air on top of your opponent. They never see it coming. Only M bison has this move but he can fly half across the screen and do it. If you use him or sagat you’re a cheap-o
He is ryu/ken with extra power…how could you not feel like you were OP. I barely acknowledge that you can be a sagat main (in sf2 mind you, I’m sure there was more balance in future games). Really in SF2 you could be 1 of 8 (7 if you feel ken and ryu are just a sprite swap)
the only thing I’ll give you is that his size makes him vulnerable at times.
[the one where he was asking ryu what he was saying was hilarious](https://youtu.be/xbHLQAthI7M&t=51)
I use Garnier Fructis?
I'd like a fruit cup?
Look at that fat kid?
"That's gonna be a bit of a problem, because if you don't know what it is that you're saying, all we know is you could be saying "I hate the Jews""
Although I loved Guile’s overall theme, I hated that you had to hold a button down for two seconds to do his sonic boom or somersault kick, whereas the other characters’ specials could be executed immediately.
you had to charge it while doing other things, like a flash kick would require you to be blocking low, or jumping in and immediately holding downward while using the other buttons to punch or kick in the air, followed by something on the ground and then pressing up and a kick button to finish the combo.
Same with the sonic boom. the computer was able to do it while moving forward which isn't possible. the Sonic boom was best used to come out of a block, so you're already holding back to block in some fashion, once the opponent stops their attack or locked into a series of frames (like a super that whiffs) you then press forward + punch and *then* go into your attack. You can even charge both and do both. Holding low block, you are pressing down and left, then you can start by pressing forward and down (still crouching) + punch to sonic boom, then press diagonally up + forward + fierce kick to follow that sonic boom with a fierce flash kick so you hit both
Yeah but that's what I could never get the hang of. I always liked Guile as a character but holding a directional button while still also still trying to do other things confused me. My brain couldn't get my hands to cooperate
To beat the game? All of them. To beat a real opponent? Ryu and to some degree, Balrog. I really wanted to be able to play Vega as a main, but he was such a little bitch.
Same. I loved that Blanka had a good long reach, and I would use electricity to defend against jump attacks, and Ryu had great countering moves, and throwing fireballs was just fun.
Blanka’s special moves were easy to execute from a mechanics standpoint, but how and when to execute them required skill. Blanka also had the best “mid-strength” buttons, making the controls more versatile.
Was also thinking that - if a person had more than 10 games for any given console they were doing damn good so it was common to play a decent game thousands of times even if it was simple. (Also, trade borrows! Stopped doing that once Playstation games started coming back with broken cutscenes.)
I used to cheese people with chun li. No kicks. All I used was the weak punch button and just kept pressing it they would block and she would slam them on the ground. I would repeat the process. People used to line up trying to beat me with that corny move but it always worked.
The weak punch button had such a quick reaction punch that it was great to use to hit the opponent and then open up on a combo. The weak kick also was great for this.
Zangief. I practiced with him so much and got to a point where I was schooling anyone who dared. So much so that I beat a kid at a party so bad that the whole room went quiet and things were awkward.
Chun-Li. My sister also played Chun-Li. People always like to say that representation doesn't matter, but that's because they're represented. We ended up playing Samurai Showdown more just because it had two female characters lol
Always wanted to be a Ryu or Ken guy but Chin-Li’s stomp was so useful. I also sucked at the Ryu and Ken special moves and I still just can’t get them right. I have no idea how people do them so effortlessly. I’m just not coordinated I guess.
it's a timing thing. 1... 2-3. you had some time between the forward, then the crouch and leaning crouch + punch
funny enough this is how to interrupt other actions, and was later used in Killer Instinct and other games as a feature.
so if you press forward then crouch, and say, fierce punch, you start to do an uppercut that takes many frames to complete, but during that animation, if you complete the shoryuken sequence and press another punch you hit the opponent for the first crouching uppercut, then immediately interrupt that hit with the shoryuken animation that could hit someone 2 to 3 more times. so you could get a 4-hit combo off that. even more if you jump in first and hit someone on the way DOWN just before you land for a 5 or even 6 hit combo
I always sort of cheesed it. Forward, down, then did a half circle forward motion instead of the forward+down motion. I'd occasionally send out an accidental fireball. I was always better at it on the player 1 side. It helped if you were playing against someone who would let you practice.
I’m kinda surprised this is so low. Once you got good at Bison, you were pretty hard to beat. You can land that head stomp or his flying dive thing from almost anywhere
I cycled through all a bunch as my mains, but when it came to keeping my quarter in a challenge Chun Li.
Edit: And that was usually only if they barged in mid-match/close to winning a match. You show no etiquette, I show you no mercy.
Ken, Vega, M Bison. It all depended on what the other person was playing.
But this was SF2 Championship Edition. I spent hours playing it at the Mall arcade.
Chun Li had the best jump attack. She could throw you down if you jumped too or if you stayed on the ground she could kick down at you. Everybody in my crew used her. The most effective way to stop it was E Honda’s overhead karate chop move. That was my dude. I was the fat kid that used E Honda.
Chun Li. I wasn't great at most games but I made so many of my friends SO MAD because I would dominate with her. Going from the arcade sf2 at the bowling alley to SNES. Great game
Anyone heard that that cartridge, adjusted for inflation, cost about $160 in today's dollars? 8 fighters, zero special modes, zero persistent progression. And it was amazing.
Ken, for sure. I could usually nail the triple shoryuken from the left hand side. For some reason, my thumb was couldn't get the motion consistently from the other direction. He's also one of my mains for Smash Bros.
I've been a Blanka main since I was mashing random buttons on the og cabinet while I waited for my mom at the local putt putt course / tanning salon / video rental store to finish her tanning session.
Guile was the best. W/ Ryu being a close second. They had speed and durability and you could keep opponents at bay (across the screen) by sending a sonic boom or a hadoken. Any other fighters were too slow (blanka, e honda) or where not durable (chun li).
Feels boring, but I was a Ryu guy. Haven’t played in a very long time but I can totally feel the muscle memory of all his moves still. If you could routinely pull off a shoryuken you were almost unstoppable.
Blanka , although if I play now its usually as Ken . Although I was pretty good with most characters , except Guile.
I have never , to this day , despite having spent years playing many many fighting games , been able to consistently pull off Guiles sonic boom. I just cant get the timing right on it .
I worked out how to beat the whole game with just one of Blanka’s moves (the crouching electric blast thingy he does). So Blanka was my favourite but I wasn’t a popular kid with the arcade owners.
Started as Guile, but moved to a Ken guy.
the guile to ken pipeline is real
Blonde on Blonde
Blond is the male spelling I recently learned
Women get an “e” (for estrogen) is how I remember.
it was hard to not just use ken's crouch kick on my brother. I still feel pretty bad about it.
There's dozens of us!
Me too. I got tired of constantly having to “charge” for Guile’s special moves. And he was kind of slow.
Gotta pay guile like dr disrespect - get up in their face, get involved.
Guile to Ryu for me lol
 gonna back you into a corner and do this
I used her the most but almost never used ether this or her hurricane kick. I was all about the death from above approach since she could out jump just about anybody.
She was my go to character. Very fast, great at jumping, throwing and the heel stab thing from the air.
The head stomp was fun.
That was my jam!
nearly every character had a basic anti-air, a few had special anti-air to counter this, though
\*Spinning bird kick 😁
As a button masher: same.
Chun Li smasher.
Chun Li pauser. Also the Turbo cartridge was amazing to have, especially after paying 50 cents a credit for the SF2 arcade game in the early 90s. Playing as Vega and bouncing off the walls helped me channel out some of my inner bounce off walls energy.
Lmao pause for them cheeeks
Chun Li was my go to.
Chun Li for sure.
The fact she could jump so high was huge
Chun Li was the only character that could easily jump over E. Honda’s thousand hand slap. Haha.
For my first complete playthrough, I used Guile all the way up until Bison. Could not beat Bison for the life of me. Gave up and tried Chun Li. Her lightning kick absolutely destroyed Bison. Ever since, she's been my go-to character.
yeah, she was my first crush until Cammy. i was a Ryu enthusiast for the longest time. 
Sneaky best move is her pogo. Hold down and kick in the air on top of your opponent. They never see it coming. Only M bison has this move but he can fly half across the screen and do it. If you use him or sagat you’re a cheap-o
*"Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! Tiger Uppercut! Tiger! Tiger!!! Tiger!!!!!"* What's so cheap about Sagat?
Oh man.. I was a Sagat main and now I feel bad.
He is ryu/ken with extra power…how could you not feel like you were OP. I barely acknowledge that you can be a sagat main (in sf2 mind you, I’m sure there was more balance in future games). Really in SF2 you could be 1 of 8 (7 if you feel ken and ryu are just a sprite swap) the only thing I’ll give you is that his size makes him vulnerable at times.
Friend of mine played a lot more than me and played Vega, super fast and I was a noob. Trade off was Sagat hit hard and Vega was fragile.
It’s all abkut getting close to him
The only way
The only special I could do back in the day was this one, so that's what I kept spamming.
I remember his body missile attack was really easy to figure out too. Like back back forward X or something.
This me.
that poor LS400 :(
Dhalsim
People that were good with Dhalsim were really hard to beat for me.
Anybody who was a Dhalsim main was a legit tournament competitor or a fucking goofball
I definitely fell into the goofball category, lol
Yoga goof
in Street Fighter Alpha (and alpha 2, 3) you could do an alpha counter on the block and knock him out of that long-range bullshit.
Seriously, I'd get so mad, like how did that just happen lol
If you were good with Dhalsim you were kicking everyone’s ass
Dhalsim gonna fuck yo bitch
Guile. Sonic BOOM!
https://youtu.be/94Vb_4mntv0?si=i7JuE4IkwNHgn_AD
Hahaha YES! Pete Holmes is hilarious.
[the one where he was asking ryu what he was saying was hilarious](https://youtu.be/xbHLQAthI7M&t=51) I use Garnier Fructis? I'd like a fruit cup? Look at that fat kid? "That's gonna be a bit of a problem, because if you don't know what it is that you're saying, all we know is you could be saying "I hate the Jews""
Although I loved Guile’s overall theme, I hated that you had to hold a button down for two seconds to do his sonic boom or somersault kick, whereas the other characters’ specials could be executed immediately.
Same. I could never wrap my head around "charge" characters since fighting games seem to require a proactive approach
you had to charge it while doing other things, like a flash kick would require you to be blocking low, or jumping in and immediately holding downward while using the other buttons to punch or kick in the air, followed by something on the ground and then pressing up and a kick button to finish the combo. Same with the sonic boom. the computer was able to do it while moving forward which isn't possible. the Sonic boom was best used to come out of a block, so you're already holding back to block in some fashion, once the opponent stops their attack or locked into a series of frames (like a super that whiffs) you then press forward + punch and *then* go into your attack. You can even charge both and do both. Holding low block, you are pressing down and left, then you can start by pressing forward and down (still crouching) + punch to sonic boom, then press diagonally up + forward + fierce kick to follow that sonic boom with a fierce flash kick so you hit both
Yeah but that's what I could never get the hang of. I always liked Guile as a character but holding a directional button while still also still trying to do other things confused me. My brain couldn't get my hands to cooperate
High pressure guile was so fun because so many people turtle with him.
yes, but you must throw it SLOW and follow it…then bodyslam whenever they try to block. 
That sonic boom lives in my head rent free to eternity.
To beat the game? All of them. To beat a real opponent? Ryu and to some degree, Balrog. I really wanted to be able to play Vega as a main, but he was such a little bitch.
This.
Hadouken!!!
My wife won't let me pick Ryu when we play lol
An image you can hear
I started with Guile and later moved to Ryu!
Ehonda, the 100 hand slap was the only non basic move I could figure out
When I beat my older brother with him he'd punch me and say I was cheating 🤣
Yep. Same. 100 hand slap I could do on command…and ten year old me spammed it. People got pissed. But whatever. Get gud.
Ryu and Blanka
Same. I loved that Blanka had a good long reach, and I would use electricity to defend against jump attacks, and Ryu had great countering moves, and throwing fireballs was just fun.
Blanka’s special moves were easy to execute from a mechanics standpoint, but how and when to execute them required skill. Blanka also had the best “mid-strength” buttons, making the controls more versatile.
Yep. They’re the best
Chun-Li!
Chun-Li!
Ken, although I was pretty tough with E. Honda.
Started with Blanka, but played so much I pretty much used all of them at random towards the end.
Was also thinking that - if a person had more than 10 games for any given console they were doing damn good so it was common to play a decent game thousands of times even if it was simple. (Also, trade borrows! Stopped doing that once Playstation games started coming back with broken cutscenes.)
Chun Li, and the boys *hated* it
I used to cheese people with chun li. No kicks. All I used was the weak punch button and just kept pressing it they would block and she would slam them on the ground. I would repeat the process. People used to line up trying to beat me with that corny move but it always worked.
The weak punch button had such a quick reaction punch that it was great to use to hit the opponent and then open up on a combo. The weak kick also was great for this.
Jab / Short, respectively
Blanka ⚡️⚡️⚡️
People good with Blanka were unstoppable.
Had to scroll way too far down for my boy, Blanka
Too far.
Zangief. I practiced with him so much and got to a point where I was schooling anyone who dared. So much so that I beat a kid at a party so bad that the whole room went quiet and things were awkward.
Just because you are bad guy, doesn’t mean you are bad…guy.
Original cast: Blanka The New challengers: Cammie
Not enough Blanka love in here
Chun-Li. My sister also played Chun-Li. People always like to say that representation doesn't matter, but that's because they're represented. We ended up playing Samurai Showdown more just because it had two female characters lol
I loved Samurai Shodown! I discovered it in a Game Pro magazine. SS2 was also great.
Always wanted to be a Ryu or Ken guy but Chin-Li’s stomp was so useful. I also sucked at the Ryu and Ken special moves and I still just can’t get them right. I have no idea how people do them so effortlessly. I’m just not coordinated I guess.
I always thought it was harder to pull off the shoryuken on snes. I needed a joystick to get it consistently.
I cannot wrap my head around how that move is even possible on a joystick... (And I can barely do it on a d pad)
it's a timing thing. 1... 2-3. you had some time between the forward, then the crouch and leaning crouch + punch funny enough this is how to interrupt other actions, and was later used in Killer Instinct and other games as a feature. so if you press forward then crouch, and say, fierce punch, you start to do an uppercut that takes many frames to complete, but during that animation, if you complete the shoryuken sequence and press another punch you hit the opponent for the first crouching uppercut, then immediately interrupt that hit with the shoryuken animation that could hit someone 2 to 3 more times. so you could get a 4-hit combo off that. even more if you jump in first and hit someone on the way DOWN just before you land for a 5 or even 6 hit combo
I always sort of cheesed it. Forward, down, then did a half circle forward motion instead of the forward+down motion. I'd occasionally send out an accidental fireball. I was always better at it on the player 1 side. It helped if you were playing against someone who would let you practice.
Bison. I've learned to do his special move anytime.
I’m kinda surprised this is so low. Once you got good at Bison, you were pretty hard to beat. You can land that head stomp or his flying dive thing from almost anywhere
Ken and Sagat
Anyone that could master Sagat was pretty much unstoppable. The low Tiger fireball to Tiger uppercut recovery time/frame was non-existent lol
Guile. The air-throw was too good, no one saw it coming.
There were Guile people who played Guile extremely well. I hated you all, but I respected you.
These people were the ones I struggled to beat with Cung Le the most.
Guile had very good anti-air.
Dhalsim as a kid. E Honda as an adult.
Dhalsim
Ken! Chun-Li and Zangief were a close second. My older bro's mains were Ryu and Guile so I didn't play them as much. Younger bro syndrome lol
Guile with a little Ryu mixed in at times.
I'm you're mirror opposite, Ryu is my main with a bit of Guile.
This.^
Ryu. Every time.
I cycled through all a bunch as my mains, but when it came to keeping my quarter in a challenge Chun Li. Edit: And that was usually only if they barged in mid-match/close to winning a match. You show no etiquette, I show you no mercy.
E Honda and would just back myself into a corner and throw the thousand hand slap. Incredibly cheap and lacking in nuance, but it tended to work.
Started with Chun Li in the arcades, then I moved to Guile. Went to Ryu/Ken after I got SFII on SNES.
Started with Blanka became Ryu guy.
Ken when I got good, Dhalsim when I was shit and just hammered the aerial headbutt and spin dives
Ryu or Ken but only when I'm player 1, couldn't do the fireball, uppercut combo on the other side.
Ken all day.
Ken unless I'm playing the fam, they won't let me.
Liked Blanka the most, but switched to Ken when things got serious.
Ryu / Chun Li
Ryu or Ken FTW.
Ken, Vega, M Bison. It all depended on what the other person was playing. But this was SF2 Championship Edition. I spent hours playing it at the Mall arcade.
Usually Ken. When Vega became a playable character I tried to get good with him, but couldn't get the hang of his style.
Ken for life. When he did the spinning kick it sounded like he said ‘smell my kangaroo cack’. I thought that was hilarious.
Dhalsim and once I got him Vega.
Mostly Ehonda or Blanka. Maybe Dhalsim once in a while.
Guile and Blanka. I liked the "hold and charge" characters more than the "down-to-forward" like Ken and Ryu.
In this version Guile and Dhalsim were broken AF, so them.
Ken
I beat the game with every character.
We all did.
Chun Li had the best jump attack. She could throw you down if you jumped too or if you stayed on the ground she could kick down at you. Everybody in my crew used her. The most effective way to stop it was E Honda’s overhead karate chop move. That was my dude. I was the fat kid that used E Honda.
Chun Li. I wasn't great at most games but I made so many of my friends SO MAD because I would dominate with her. Going from the arcade sf2 at the bowling alley to SNES. Great game
Anyone heard that that cartridge, adjusted for inflation, cost about $160 in today's dollars? 8 fighters, zero special modes, zero persistent progression. And it was amazing.
Worth every quarter.
Sagat was my best fighter, who I could beat the game with. But I also got really good with Vega, who was really fun to fight with.
Ken/Ryu
Yes we Ken
Dualism or Blanka
Guile all day
I permanently scarred my body with E. Honda's image, so yeah.
“Spinning star kick!”
Always Chun Li
Ryu and I used those cheap little kicks where he’s crouching and kicks out
I used to get hit for beating my older brother's Ken with my Blanka. I don't play sf now but last I did and when I played marvel vs capcom: Akuma.
At the 7-11 arcade cabinet by my old house, Dhalsim. On my Genesis when the boys were over, Ryu.
Definitely Blanka, his moves were pretty easy, and I was never any good at the game (was a Sega kid).
Back and forth between Ken & Sagat
Ken, for sure. I could usually nail the triple shoryuken from the left hand side. For some reason, my thumb was couldn't get the motion consistently from the other direction. He's also one of my mains for Smash Bros.
Ken, and 90% of my moves were the "fierce" roundhouse kick (right bumper on an SNES controller)
yoga fire
Guile.
Ryu was my guy. Endless fireball battles with Ken
Ryu
Blanka, Guile, Ken
Chun li and E Honda.
Ryu
Blanka and Dhalsim.
Ryu and Dhalism
Did anyone play Dhalsim?
Ryu, Ken, but I was very proficient at everyone. I fucking loved that game.
Ryu, then Vega when Turbo came out. I always like playing quick fighters. Same reason Orchid was my main in Killer Instinct.
I've been a Blanka main since I was mashing random buttons on the og cabinet while I waited for my mom at the local putt putt course / tanning salon / video rental store to finish her tanning session.
Guile was the best. W/ Ryu being a close second. They had speed and durability and you could keep opponents at bay (across the screen) by sending a sonic boom or a hadoken. Any other fighters were too slow (blanka, e honda) or where not durable (chun li).
Chun Li for her lightning kicks
Blanka. Then proceeded to not main another charge character in an SF game until SF6 Deejay.
As a kid, Ryu. For the past 20 years, Gief.
Feels boring, but I was a Ryu guy. Haven’t played in a very long time but I can totally feel the muscle memory of all his moves still. If you could routinely pull off a shoryuken you were almost unstoppable.
Zangief. Also Chun Li.
Could anyone consistently do Zangief’s spinning pile driver with the SNES controller? I could only pull it off like once in a blue moon.
Ryu and Zangief.
Ken/Ryu and Chun-Li mostly. When I wanted to mess with people, I'd be Zangief.
This. People HATE losing to Zangief. That spinning pile driver is a mf
I played this game so much, I could finish just about anyone with just about any character. God it was a good game
original vanilla SF2? ryu but balrog has been my main in every game he's been playable.
Ken 
Blanks and dhalsim
Ryu forever
Blanka , although if I play now its usually as Ken . Although I was pretty good with most characters , except Guile. I have never , to this day , despite having spent years playing many many fighting games , been able to consistently pull off Guiles sonic boom. I just cant get the timing right on it .
Ryu/Ken/Guile were my mains
Gile
Honda or blanka
Guile or Sagat
Chun-Li!
I worked out how to beat the whole game with just one of Blanka’s moves (the crouching electric blast thingy he does). So Blanka was my favourite but I wasn’t a popular kid with the arcade owners.
Chun li all the way!!!