Fun Fact: both Ryu and Ken are actually inspired by real-life Karatekas. Ryu was inspired by Mas Oyama,the founder of Kyokushin Karate. Like Ryu,he also spend time on a reclusive mountain,training for 18 months and then travelled all over Japan,challenging famous Karate champions and Masters to full-contact sparring matches.He was known for wearing an old,wore down white Gi just like Ryu in these matches.The dude is a legend,who influenced even Bruce Lee (both believed in full-contact sparring under real conditions) and there are a shitload of movies,books and even mangas based on his life. And Ken is based on Joe Lewis,the legendary US full-contact Karate and Kickbox champion. The guy was a former Marine who learned Karate while serving in Okinawa,where he earned his black belt in 7 months! Undefeated champion,friend of Bruce Lee and he had a rivalry with Chuck Norris going on.(Chuck actually chickened out when Joe challenged him to a full-contact fight) He was known for wearing a red Karate Gi like Ken. Oh and Sagat is also based on a real-life,legendary Muay Thai champion, Sagat Petchyindee is his name. He's retired now and runs a Muay Thai academy in Thailand, where he trains young fighters.
A lot of people think that Ken is an English name. It's actually means "Fist" in Japanese and Ryu means "Dragon". That's why they share the same move with their names in it " Sho -RyuKen " The Dragon Fist
We always preferred Ken when we were kids because his moves felt flashier. Capcom took that difference and ran with it, increasing the separation between the two characters to where Ryu was generally selected by people with a balanced or defensive playstyle and Ken was chosen for aggressive/rush-down play.
@Zedrik Allen my first game didn't have Akuma as a playable character to my knowledge. By the time I got the later games I was already a Ken fan and I never got past Akuma's hit points issue.
RYU always felt stronger and slower to me where as Ken always felt faster with better agility. Even the way they move around feels felt that way for me from the start.
People disrespecting Ryu in the comments yes some see ken as more “successful” but Ryu has dedicated his life to self improvement and self discovery. Gotta respect him.
Too bad they don't have the characters physically interact anymore during the intro sequences. It would be nice to have Ken put Ryu in a headlock again. It was a good way to show both their differences in personality, and the brotherly bond that they have.
I want the fist bump when Ryu is on P1 side, and when Ken is on P1 side, Mel is throwing some punches, Ken turns around and he and Ryu smile at each other
@@sizzxrk akuma doesn't mind because he wants power and he thinks the only way is to give in to the satsui no hado.on the other hand ryu wants to help people and not kill anyone and his goal in the games is to get rid of it.
Ken has a girlfriend and a bunch of fans on a yacht cheering him on. Ryu lives alone in a dojo in the mountains eating Ramen Noodles and watching anime.
I've always wondered why Capcom pushed Ryu as the fireball guy and Ken as the dragon punch guy and not the other way around. In lore, Ryu's dragon punch was a huge deal in SF1 and the first iterations of SF2. He won the first tournament by hitting Sagat with a dragon punch (causing Sagat's chest scar) and his win quote even references the dragon punch.
It threw me through a loop growing up as well, but if I had to gues; later on someone decided that Ryu's name and demeanor favors a more spiritual style, and Ken favored a more rushdown style. It seems like a sort of, "Damn, why didn't I think of that sooner?" Type thing.
@@Mondragora99 Yeah in the anime Street Fighter 2 V, used a Dragon Punch vs Vegas claw dive and learned to infuse it with Hado when Bison captured them
I think it was down to the way they programed the a.i of SF2. Ken would always do a bunch of dragon punches while Ryu would throw lots of fire balls, I don't think at the time any thought went into it other than having the computer fight differently but I guess it grew into their identity.
By the last game, it seems pretty apparent that Ken is doing sport or Kyokushin karate and ryu is sticking with traditional Okinawa karate. Hence Ken’s using kaiten doumawashi, while Ryu uses deflections and otsuki.
These differences make Ryu a more patient and defensive character, while Ken is more aggressive and fast-paced. It's easy to see in gameplay, as Ryu throws more fireballs and approaches less, where Ken's doing whatever he can to get in and pressure.
*No character has one single playstyle (most of the time)* ^Most of the older SF games were like this until SF4? Where it became more of a flowchart B.S. way of playing to the frame data instead sadly! Most of these newer games i feel restrict the playstyles of the past.
It's true that Ryu CAN be agressive, and Ken CAN be defensive, but their movesets obviously compliment a specific style. The fun part of fighting games though, is that you can always play the character the way you want to, even if they weren't designed that way. Shotos are the best example, as their movesets are quite flexible. I mean, they ALL have the same three base moves, so you could make whatever style work.
Unless you're playing Dan in any one of the games of course? Lol, he's meant for a bit of a piss take at the KOF games by Capcom. But good luck trying to win any major tournaments with him in a serious manner!
@@MGSBigBoss77 Dan was made to make fun of Robert from King of fighters(really from Art of fighting) but if you go back before kof 96.In King of fighters 94, 95 and his 98 alternate form, Robert was a powerhouse and his fireball went all the way across the screen. He had a flying kick that went all the way across the screen and hit two times. And A dive kick that knocked down. Plus other badass moves. And Robert and Ryo could do a Huge super fire ball without meter in 94!
I still think it's so interesting that back in the day the thought of two players using the same character was sacrilege, thus Ryu and Ken were born as a way of allowing 2 people to play as the same style character
something that always bugged me was that Ryu had a winning quote talking about how powerful his dragon punch was...even though Ken ultimately became the dragon punch master lol.
Not exactly. He just said that his opponent must defeat his dragon punch to stand a chance. Doesn't necessarily mean that his dragon punch was the strongest move in his arsenal.
Ken's dragon punch is more flashy while setting your opponent ablaze looks awesome. But Ryu's dragon punch pretty much disfigure your face in mid flight. 😂
I played SF 4 quite seriously and competitively with my friends. I gotta say Ryu is more "basic" as in, if you understand the basic with Ryu, you'd do very well in SF in general. Not great, not much trick, but very powerful basic. As for Ken, he's rush down, more combo, more 'faint' and guessing games if you play against him. Ken is more my style, but I always have problem with strong Ryu player
Ryu's character was partly inspired by a real Korean-Japanese fighter named Mas Oyama, the founder of Kyokushin Karate. There's a great Korean martial arts movie about him called, Fighter in the Wind (2004). Highly recommend.
it really looks like as they get older and more experient they start to add and remove techs from their styles. they are two masters of ansatsuken building their own branches of the art
@@philithegamer8265 i wish ryu would look like how he looked in the alpha series again :,( like even in street fighter 3 he looks better than 4 and 5 imo
@@MiguelAviles175 Alpha style looks too Cartoony and the great shading is gone. Look how amazing the shading is on Ryu's level in the World Warrior with that sunset
If I'm not mistaken, in SF2 Ken's dragon punch also goes forward a tiny bit while Ryu's goes kinda straight up. We got a couple arcade versions where I work and my buddy pointed it out to me. After that, I always pick Ken. I always thought the back roll with the throw was cool since I was little.
Btw Jmcrofts, Ryus Vskill 2 in SFV is also a counter. If they hit while he is stepping in, he will counter their attack and deal damage. You can cancel it into dp if you have Vtrigger.
Apparently, the only problem with Ryu's VS2 is that the parry window isn't really active for a lot of frames, especially considering how long the startup is. I mean, sure, you get more damage in if you counter with it and you can combo into it, but how does one even combo out of it?
@@hyliandoctor VT2 is fun against low ranks but its a waste of VT at high level and is really hard to land. VT1 is superior and even more so in this season.
When they took away Ken's roundhouse kick I was devastated, it was one of my favorite to use against jumpers to knock them back along with a dragon punch
@@s1svegeta not really thatsxwhy you got the dragon punch,the high round house was easily very dodgable if you didn't jump in to deep,which I have done many times plus you can duck it
There are other diffirences between Ryu and Ken even in World Warrior. Ken's Shoryuken covers a longer horizontal distance, but if he misses, he falls in front of the opponent due to this extra reach. This makes Ken's a little more aggressive, Ryu more deffense oriented. Also, Ryu's punch has a very slightly longer reach, Kens kick has very slightly longer reach.
Ryu's backwards throw is the Tomoe Nage circle throw from Judo. Ken does an extra flip and calls it the hell wheel. Over the shoulder throw is ippon seio nage, also from Judo.
Ken has the Jigoku Gurama/Hell Wheel...which takes FAR more strength than any of Ryu's throws. Benefits of a home gym and daily training vs wandering around, doing useless kata, and getting into a fight every couple weeks.
Kind of late to the conversation here, but if you look at 1:54, it looks to me like Ken did almost twice as much damage with his special attack. The damage bar above RYU goes well past the 'U' but it doesn't get past the 'E' in KEN
Imagine being this wandering warrior seeking true enlightenment through battle, and this blonde, banana haired sob keeps up with you every step of the way while doing less than half the training you do?
Ken trains just as hard tho. Probaly not 6 hrs a day like ryu does because he has a family to look after and a business to attend to. But Ken ain't no slouch
@@SanSolo22 I appreciate the Ken love, but Martial Arts was always Ken's hobby. But for Ryu it was his LIFE. He was raised into it by Gouken and fighting is incorporated into every philosophy in his life. Ryu is definitely the true warrior.
@@SanSolo22 Ken probably has a better fighting sense then Ryu innately. He is skilled enough to keep pace with Ryu even though their level of commitment is night and day, and Ken doesn't struggle the same way Ryu does with the Satsui no Hado. Strength is something Ryu craves, much like Akuma, but for Ken it's not the most important thing in his life. He has loved ones that keep him grounded and pushing himself to be a better man, not just a better fighter. Which also might be a factor as Ryu has to constantly hold himself back during fights whereas Ken can fight with all his strength and not lose himself to the dark hado. That's why Oro chose Ryu to be his Successor because he realized Ryu has a large amount of untapped potential he can't draw from and needs help fostering.
@@KaptainFalkon that could also be the factor. But ken is also known for holding back as well but it with Ken's level of concentration. Also like ryu, ken has hidden potential that he hasn't tapped into fully. You cant ignore the fact that ken won there first sparring encounter. Although not by much, the match stopped because of ryu blood spilling all over his face which is the reason why he wears that head band that was originally used for Ken's pony tail
@Cage Vs Cage i never played street fighter alpha 3 much due to worse musics of each characters. Also in end when Bison defeats us we loose the game and can't continue.😥
I agree with this..this is very evident in 3rd strike..also another notable difference between them in 3S is when you do jumps with these 2 ryu feels "heavy" while ken is noticeably "light"
@@rageflash9 while not cannon, this is totally true in smash ultimate, which I think they did because that's how they interpreted the difference between the characters in the actual Street Fighter series.
you forget about Ryu's Super Shoryuken in SF3. It's very different from the one we saw in SF Zero or Alpha. Here its always do a lot of damage. It was my favorite move in this game.
The amount of coins I spent in chip shops, taxi ranks, Chinese takeaways and arcades in the UK when I was a kid on The World Warrior and Champion Edition doesn't bare thinking about. Good days.
Wonder if SF6 would make them closer to their similarities or getting broad than ever. Also, Priest Ryu and Undercover Hobo on the Run Ken would be a great discussion on this.
I’ve always been more Ken-sided and preferred the longer reach of his dragon punch over Ryu’s. But both super iconic characters. U can’t ever think of one of them without also thinking of the other. Great vid!👍🏽
The issue in later Street Fighter games is that Ken's fierce DP can hit the opponent but actually be too far away to launch since it's a three-hit move. Many an online match has been lost because someone shoryuken'd a pixel too far away, connected with the first hit, but didn't catch the opponent and got punished. It's why the more vertical DP is actually a lot safer of a move.
World warrior differences were in their damages. Ryu’s shoulder throw does more damage than Ken’s, while Ken’s kick throw does more than Ryu’s. Same with their kicks/punches. Might only be their fierce and roundhouses. So Capcom just varied the damages.
If I recall correctly, in SF2T Ken's fireball was supposed to have less delay... Meaning, it still traveled at the same speed as in the 2 previous games but his recovery animation right after he threw them was shorter. Most people prolly never notice that, because the game was already sped-up and that made everybody's projectiles seem to move alot faster.
There's actually another difference in World Warrior: a single frame of Ryu's dizzy animation causes him to take double damage if hit during it. This is a leftover from when everyone would take double damage when dizzied (they'd forgotten to fix that one Ryu frame). For this reason, Ken is one place higher than Ryu on the tier list.
Since the early games has such subtle changes, you missed one key change. From CE Ken’s DP has more horizontal movement than Ryu’s and in ST it’s more noticeable.
Ryu's forward and backward movement speed are almost identical. Ken on the other hand has a faster forward movement speed and a slower backward movement speed. This is true for all Street Fighter games.
I always liked Ken a lot more in X-Men vs Street Fighter, which is one of my favorite versions of Street Fighter. I played that one a ton in the arcade. Usually I would play as Ken + Wolverine, or Ken + Gambit, or Ken + Ryu, or Ken + Akuma...
2:43 Ryu takes counter damage while dizzy in World Warrior whereas Ken doesn't. 3:39 Ryu's Tatsu is 100% invulnerable on startup and while landing, HUGE advantage.
Another interesting aspect of Third Strike is that Ken's hadoukens do slightly more damage than Ryus. In most games this is never the case. Ryu still appears to have better frames on his though.
Ryu hits harder, Ken is faster, more attack oriented and more aggressive. Ryu has developed his Hadoken, and uses shinku Hadoken, Kens shoyruken is more powerful, does 3 hits (4 if you can land a hard punch and progress to shoyruken) and sets enemies on fire. His hard kick eventually evolved into a mid round house kick
It's basically big combos and (canonically) strongest Shoryuken or big punishes and strongest Hadoken. Shinryuken is the best form of the Shoryuken one can develop and use (outside of using the Satsui no Hado), but Ryu's Shin (and Metsu) Shoryuken is, gameplay-wise, fucking broken. Like, why the fuck does it counter everything? LITERALLY EVERYTHING!
@@JJEHUTYY You can combo out of Shinku Tatsu in some situations and EX Joudan (donkey kick) like crazy, too! But it's still more read based. Ken just does it without a care.
Ryu shoryu and tatsu is stronger since it knocks you down with one hit and if u look closely he throws his hadoken faster than Ken but Ken shoryu and tatsu combos but slightly slower hadoken
@@Prodigal450 that's exactly the case... Me and my brother had an argument about whose tatsu was better and my brother said Ryu's is more powerful because he can knock you down with one hit... I didn't have an answer to this... Still remember this conversation clearly..
In SF2, Ryu's light kick and punch were WAAAY faster and could be used to stunlock opponents. Ken had the cornering advantage with the rolling throw, Ryu had the edge in speed. It was a way to showcase Ryu's dedication to his training and Ken's natural athleticism.
@@princeekeson12 Allen Schneider isn't a street fighter character, he's a Fighting Layer character. ARIKA did a cross game with Capcom, but Allen Schneider is not Capcom's.
There's another difference between Ken and Ryu in SFII Champions Edition that wasn't mentioned. Ken's uppercut (Shoryuken) covered some horizontal ground while going upwards unlike Ryu's uppercut which goes directly upwards with very little horizontal movement. This might sound trivial but just that little difference made a huge difference in gameplay between both characters so much so that gamers at the time favoured Ken because his uppercut had more lateral range than Ryu making it excellent for whiff punishes and wake ups.
Loved this since it came out. As soon as I could I became a Ken fighter. Ken is more aggressive and his dragon punch actually travels forward way more than Ryu.
👍🏼 Noticed that too. Ken’s shoryuken has more run than Ryu’s, which is just a vertical rise without noticeable horizontal travel. As a result, Ken’s uppercut draws a larger arc, which I find is more visually pleasing
A few things: at the end of SF4 ken is considered significantly stronger than ryu (although their match up is 50/50). In SF5 one very big part of ken is his ability to combo off of overhead.
Came here to also say this. After Arcade Edition, Ken started to shoot past Ryu, even at one point being arguably the 3rd best character in the game behind the Twins on their release. It slightly balanced towards Ultra SF4, but Ken was still probably top 10 in most player's opinions, and there was a handful of pro level Ken players winning majors with him. (Momochi, etc)
8:02 in this game you forgot to mention they have their own fighting stance.. you can see Ryu just go up and down... where as Ken does a little front to back... you have to really look to notice
Also, in SF4, there's a very slight difference in how their fireballs look. Ken's looks smoother and has a subtle "shiny" effect while Ryu's has a messier looking fireball trail. I think this is because Ryu is struggling with his evil side which is causing a disturbance in his ki, while Ken's ki is at peace because he's balling in life.
I have always been a Ken fan so thanks for the knowledge, O grew up on all of these and never realized when the change occurred but I always felt Ken was more in your face so this was nice to have a timeline to match when it ACTUALLY changed. Lol Great video!
I’ve always said that if Ryu spends all his life training, fighting, and denying himself pleasures, while Ken does not, and he’s only marginally better than Ken, then he’s doing something wrong.
From what i remember of SF2 Turbo - Ken has more reach with his dragonpunch, his hurricane kick hits multiple times, so more of a chance to dizzy opponents, so thats why i always picked Ken.
@@digitalintent The extra reach was definitely there in vanilla SF2 on the SNES (Championship Ed didn't come out on SNES). Suppose it could have been different on the arcade but that sounds highly unlikely.
Yeah jmcroft branching out is cool. That he bothered to collect all the information for this video is great stuff and very appreciated! Even though I knew that ryu and ken is different in the older different games, this in depth analysis is really nice and interesting.
In alpha 3 (in the Street Fighter 30th anniversary collection's command list), the Shin Shoryuken is called Metsu Shoryuken. Edit: according to Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, SFIII and SFIII 2nd Impact came out b4 Alpha 3. Edit 2: Metsu Shoryuken also changes to Shin Shoryuken when far enough away and does more damage (way more in later versions of A3).
Ryu represents the Old Japanese Way of achieving Mastery through discipline, focus and hard work and Ken represents the "Murican" definition of Success ( Being Rich, Loud and Flashy ). There you go.
"You guys were a little confused about my placement of Ryu and Ken in different tiers, so I spent about a dozen hours compiling why." We need more players like you, dude. Thank you for being the one that's up for putting the effort in.
When your video opened and discussed they were the same. I was shocked since only at the beginning were they the same. Thankfully you illustrated for us the differences. (:
@@Hammerhead1986 maybe...more like Japanese company has to make japanese flagship character who just wanders around missing meals, not hitting the weights, just doing kata, and maybe getting into a fight ever couple weeks SOMEHOW the physical equal of a guy with ROBUST european genes (Ken's dad was JACKED), who works out multiple times a week in his million-dollar home gym, spars with others and competes in way more tournaments (Ryu just gets into random street fights, and competes in the SF tourneys...that's about it). Ryu should have his Street Fighter 1 physique, while Ken's Street Fighter 5 physique is pretty accurate.
@@Rhiorrha you're forgetting ryu can channel his chi, shoot fireballs and has a powerful violent spirit inside of him giving him the ability to dodge bullets(sf4 movie) and set shit on fire 🤣
When Street Fighter 2 came out, people were just making up differences between the two pallet swaps, then in future games, Capcon made those differences reality. I thought that was neat.
Ryu is more defensive and zoning based, Ken is more offensive and rush down based. Also Ryu has more hard-resets to neutral, ken has more soft-resets to neutral.
@@aspreedacore you still have to take the fact that omega isnt regular story based gameplay mechanics lol Also omega is the most mugen shit that capcom has ever done next to marvelvscapcom lol
@@Rex-golf_player810 True but its still not fan made and most of the omega shyt got passed on to the SFV cast, so again have to hold dat xd. Ken didn't get the flame kicks but they gave it to Eliza "Lucia" Masters
Actually, I think that single original difference (the back-throw) in World Warrior is very illustrative of the fundamental problem with how they have developed the characters over the years, which has led to Ken being simply straight up better by a wide margin almost all of the time (with SF4 being the exception to this) ever since SF3. Here's the problem: when they make the two different, the majority of the time they do so by changing one of Ken's moves, giving Ryu the more "default" version and making Ken's "flashier" in some way. In theory there's no reason they couldn't do that and still keep it balanced, but the sum total of the changes hasn't been handled with that mentality, it seems generally prioritized towards "how can we make Ken flashy and interesting in this new game?" rather than "how can we keep the pair balanced while still unique?". Right from the start, the "flashier" back-throw gives Ken better screen positioning. I remember noticing this instinctively even as a kid, honestly. And everything since has for the most part followed this same pattern, with very clear results in 3 and especially 5. The initial balancing of their specials was fine, giving Ken the better DP and Ryu the better fireball, with the tatsus being nearly a wash, though probably also the single example of them actually succeeding in making a "flashier" version of a move worse, giving Ken multiple hits, but making Ryu's single hit knockdown tatsu just better in most situations, easier to get full damage out of. That of course went totally out the window in 5, with Ken now having a better DP and a tatsu that is not only flaming, not only nearly a divekick if used in the air now, but has a ton of combo potential?!?! Add that to all the just straight up better new normals (ie his low medium kick, and a million others) that Ken has accumulated over the games, while Ryu is always forced to retain the super old, and at this point simply inferior, moveset, always keep the most whiffable DP in the game while every new character is given a well designed DP with horizontal range.... Ryu is just completely screwed at this point, unless they are actually willing to ever give him the same amount of new, better-designed moves that Ken has.
This is really what it comes down to. Who you thought was coolest. I always played as Ryu, until Fei Long came out. He was essentially Bruce Lee, so I gravitated to him from there on. Lolz!
Lore wise I think Ken is actually stronger. Ryu works his ass off day and night to achieve his power, while Ken doesn't train 24/7, yet he's on Ryu's level while hardly trying his best, and even beats Ryu on occasion. So Ken is much more naturally gifted than Ryu, even though Ken has a wife, a son and has to handle a multibillion dollar business, he's still on par with Ryu, so if Ken trained as hard as Ryu does, Ken would actually surpass him easily.
It’s like what Ken said to Ryu before he fought Bison in SFV: “then I’m sure you’ll work twice as hard, right?” Ken is the more caring person and cares for others rather than his work. Ryu is the opposite.
That whole statement is based off Ken being "On Par" with Ryu. He's not. In all other media if Ryu gets serious he beats ken. Especially if Evil Ryu comes out. Ryu has the potential to be the next Akuma or worse. Ken is nowhere near that. If Ken trained as hard as Ryu then he'd actually be on par with Ryu.
Alpha 3 was my favorite street fighter game, I usually choose Ken or akuma 'cus they looked cool, Ryu for me was like the good boy who does his homework.
When Ken begins a Family, he falls off the record... He thus tells Ryu that hes lost his will, & Ryu is the strongest... It is also known that Ryu has always been Street Fighters sorta like Hero, kinda guy... He continues to prove things no one else can... The 4th Animated Movie states that Ryu was never interested in power, he wanted something even higher then that... While Seth just wanted power... & he fought in a whole other league then Ken... This also happens with SF2 Animated Series, but gets reversed by the SF2 Movie... So, I mean for the most part? I find Ryu & Ken the 2 Stars, but Ryu overall is more the Main Hero... In Game format? Ryu's Fireballs are the strongest in power, but he really only has the 1 Ultra which makes him great at long range. Ken on the other hand, has 2 Ultra's Flaming Uppercut, & Flaming Kicks, which makes him great at close Range, but over all? 2 Ultras are sorta starting to make Ken a better choice in Gameplay... Yes, Ryu has a 2nd Ultra, but it's not really all that Signature or famous as to his Hadoken, though... Where as Ken's 2 Ultras both feel much more Siganture like... This is just how I felt about them... Ryu is stronger, but in Gameplay Ken is starting to win popularity choice, no?
Arguable considering Shin Shoryuken does more damage than Shoryureppa or Shinryuken, and Ryu's Shoryuken has hard knockdown, while Ken's Shoryuken has a graze effect that can do minimum damage and leave an opponent standing.
Ken is a martial arts millionaire with a loving wife, 2 adorable kids and a Brazilian fan(Sean) Ryu is a martial arts hobo with split personality, an evil uncle figure chasing him down to just be the worst possible influence, and cute high school protege.
One difference you missed: Ryu's dragon punch is more vertical and Ken's is more diagonal. I used to prefer Ryu because of this because it left Ken too vulnerable. My best friend and I played SFII Turbo a lot and the only way he could best me with Ken was if I let him.
I know the title says street fighter but you should do an add on in non street fighter (correction) the other street fighter like street fighter capcom and maverl vs campom just to name a few. What about tekken series.
With their style I don’t think weight affects it much (well actually considering Sakura the less weight you have probably helps) Besides I see it as a reflection of their characters Ryu is methodical and against senseless acts Ken is more of a “heat of the moment” kinda guy kind of careless They were probably made this way to contrast each other
Sho Ryu Ken "Rising Dragon Fist." The Dragon spits fire at range, while the Fist deals major damage when up close. It's literally in their names, and I love it.
Nope. In Super SF2 is true but in SF2: World Warrior (the 1st one), SF2': Champion Edition and SF2 Turbo: Hyperfighting the one that makes the move later is the one that wins as in those games Ryu and Ken's Shoruyken makes them invulnerable while moving up so the one that performed it 1st starts to fall being vulnerable to the other's Shoruyken. If both are performed exactly at the same time no one gets hurt.
RYU : "you must defeat my dragon punch to stand a chance" In SF2 Ryu's shiryuken beat all special moves. Ryu's shiryuken vs ken's shiryuken casted at the same time, Ryu wins eventhou against ken's fire shiryuken.
Hi! Nice compilation. One thing you missed in ST was Ryu’s jumping medium punch juggle which introduced juggle combos for Ryu. Ken’s jumping medium kick was changed in ST snd was a crossup monster
Could have mentioned the difference between multi-hit Tstsu and single-hit+knock down. Single hit is more more reliable for solid damage. Knockdown better for spacing. Multi hit is not as reliable, but for some versions, you can combo from air tatsu, which increases it's damage potential. Non-knockdown tatsu resets the situation so that you are right in front of the opponent after the tatsu, allow you to continue pressure.
2:29 Dont ask me why... but we used to call, and SHOUT this Ken flip, "BOB BACKLUND!!" One of two of us would do it...and once the recipient's (and his boys lol) frustration would wear down, more and more people at the arcade would laugh...then more and more also called it/yelled BOB BACKLUND!... Eventually, hand to God, id say around a couple dozen or so "regulars" at the arcade would refer to it, to the point where we'd walk into the store, and before we even got to the back where the arcade game was, youd hear rando's yelling BOB BACKLUND!! Or, my personal favs, either "OH COME ON, I HAD THAT BOB BACKLUND ON YOU, DIDN'T GO," And,,of course... "OH STFU, AND STOP WITH THAT GODDAMN BOB BACKLUND!!!"
Fun Fact: both Ryu and Ken are actually inspired by real-life Karatekas.
Ryu was inspired by Mas Oyama,the founder of Kyokushin Karate. Like Ryu,he also spend time on a reclusive mountain,training for 18 months and then travelled all over Japan,challenging famous Karate champions and Masters to full-contact sparring matches.He was known for wearing an old,wore down white Gi just like Ryu in these matches.The dude is a legend,who influenced even Bruce Lee (both believed in full-contact sparring under real conditions) and there are a shitload of movies,books and even mangas based on his life.
And Ken is based on Joe Lewis,the legendary US full-contact Karate and Kickbox champion. The guy was a former Marine who learned Karate while serving in Okinawa,where he earned his black belt in 7 months!
Undefeated champion,friend of Bruce Lee and he had a rivalry with Chuck Norris going on.(Chuck actually chickened out when Joe challenged him to a full-contact fight) He was known for wearing a red Karate Gi like Ken.
Oh and Sagat is also based on a real-life,legendary Muay Thai champion, Sagat Petchyindee is his name. He's retired now and runs a Muay Thai academy in Thailand, where he trains young fighters.
That's really interesting as a martial arts fan, thanks for sharing.
@@AG-ur1lj Everything on your second paragraph is confirmed though....
thanks for the info didnt even have to watch the dumbass in the video cheers brother
Source : dude, trust me.
@The Alpha and Omega i have a feeling Guile could be based on Dolph Lundgren. What do you think 🤔
A lot of people think that Ken is an English name. It's actually means "Fist" in Japanese and Ryu means "Dragon". That's why they share the same move with their names in it " Sho -RyuKen " The Dragon Fist
I’m know about the ken part because of hxh
Actually it translates to Rising Dragon Fist, further signifying why it’s an uppercut and not just a regular ole punch.
Petition to make sho a character
But he is american so it is an american name
Wow, u guys really know your stuff huh! 😲☺️
We always preferred Ken when we were kids because his moves felt flashier. Capcom took that difference and ran with it, increasing the separation between the two characters to where Ryu was generally selected by people with a balanced or defensive playstyle and Ken was chosen for aggressive/rush-down play.
I think universally Ryu was more popular and usually picked. Because he was a bad ass and the poster boy of the franchise
@@lightup6751 We picked Ken mostly because his dragon uppercut animation moved a lot more forward than Ryus, whos went straight up
@@forestcityfishing4749 We picked Ryu because his fireball recovery was better and he was the bad ass main character of the game
@@forestcityfishing4749 ken’s shoryu-ken is also faster
@Zedrik Allen my first game didn't have Akuma as a playable character to my knowledge. By the time I got the later games I was already a Ken fan and I never got past Akuma's hit points issue.
RYU always felt stronger and slower to me where as Ken always felt faster with better agility. Even the way they move around feels felt that way for me from the start.
Good point.
Ryu is more balanced when ken is more the aggressor.
I concur sir.
Ken has better throws in Street Fighter II
it's mostly true.
BRO. I love how Ryu and Ken do a fist bump before fighting in the older games
Me too
interaction rather than just talking to another would be pretty cool for 6
They still do that now
I think evil Ryu and gouki in Street Fighter zero 3 is cooler.
@@roxqu Nope not everything has to be sugar coated and clear cut ffs. Simple fist bump THAT'S ALL.
People disrespecting Ryu in the comments yes some see ken as more “successful” but Ryu has dedicated his life to self improvement and self discovery. Gotta respect him.
Maybe some of them are not disrespect but an explanation of why Ryu is stronger.
Not only is it respect worthy; it makes him more successful. Success is only about material possessions if you live a poor life.
@@erigor11 that's what losers everywhere say
Marshall Innocent 😂😂😂😂😂😂
@@marshallinnocent5275 Seems to be that my words hurt you. I wonder how close to home they landed.
Too bad they don't have the characters physically interact anymore during the intro sequences. It would be nice to have Ken put Ryu in a headlock again. It was a good way to show both their differences in personality, and the brotherly bond that they have.
I will always love that little touch from the older games :,)
I want the fist bump when Ryu is on P1 side, and when Ken is on P1 side, Mel is throwing some punches, Ken turns around and he and Ryu smile at each other
Good idea
The fist bumps are the best interactions, nothing says time for a friendly bout like fist bumps. Third strike ftw
They should do that with all the characters, not just Ryuken
I have always noticed Ryu is stronger, but Ken has way more of the technique and flashier moves as the series progress.
Ryu is living the life he wants
Ken is living the life he wants
Both of them are cool
I agree on both of them are cool but ryu isn't living the way he wants because nobody would like being possessed by a murderous demon
@@PremachandranEK I dunno, Akuma wouldn't mind would he?
@@sizzxrk akuma doesn't mind because he wants power and he thinks the only way is to give in to the satsui no hado.on the other hand ryu wants to help people and not kill anyone and his goal in the games is to get rid of it.
@@PremachandranEK So he would still like being possessed by a murderous demon then.
@@sizzxrk see,akuma kills people in order to get stronger.ryu doesn't want to kill anyone and only wants to seek strength in his opponents.
Ken has a girlfriend and a bunch of fans on a yacht cheering him on.
Ryu lives alone in a dojo in the mountains eating Ramen Noodles and watching anime.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Lowkey Ryu’s life is better.
then most of the people here on the internet will be able to relate to Ryu much more :p
Ryu has a lot of similarities in how he lives to the people who still play this game.
I want ryus life
I've always wondered why Capcom pushed Ryu as the fireball guy and Ken as the dragon punch guy and not the other way around. In lore, Ryu's dragon punch was a huge deal in SF1 and the first iterations of SF2. He won the first tournament by hitting Sagat with a dragon punch (causing Sagat's chest scar) and his win quote even references the dragon punch.
It threw me through a loop growing up as well, but if I had to gues; later on someone decided that Ryu's name and demeanor favors a more spiritual style, and Ken favored a more rushdown style.
It seems like a sort of, "Damn, why didn't I think of that sooner?" Type thing.
Maybe Im wrong but I think Ken invented the Shoryuken in lore.
Or was on The Animated Series.
@@Mondragora99 the animated series is not canon
@@Mondragora99 Yeah in the anime Street Fighter 2 V, used a Dragon Punch vs Vegas claw dive and learned to infuse it with Hado when Bison captured them
I think it was down to the way they programed the a.i of SF2. Ken would always do a bunch of dragon punches while Ryu would throw lots of fire balls, I don't think at the time any thought went into it other than having the computer fight differently but I guess it grew into their identity.
By the last game, it seems pretty apparent that Ken is doing sport or Kyokushin karate and ryu is sticking with traditional Okinawa karate. Hence Ken’s using kaiten doumawashi, while Ryu uses deflections and otsuki.
Can we get that in non weeb language for the English speakers?
@@TheRealMycanthrope there's this amazing thing called the search bar, really cool to know all sorts of things
@@TheRealMycanthrope no, you cant.
@@tillburr6799🗿
@@TheRealMycanthropejust Google the terms, this isn’t Wild West internet anymore dude
These differences make Ryu a more patient and defensive character, while Ken is more aggressive and fast-paced. It's easy to see in gameplay, as Ryu throws more fireballs and approaches less, where Ken's doing whatever he can to get in and pressure.
@Fwuffycodbunny then its safe to say there is no real definitive play style for them
*No character has one single playstyle (most of the time)*
^Most of the older SF games were like this until SF4? Where it became more of a flowchart B.S. way of playing to the frame data instead sadly! Most of these newer games i feel restrict the playstyles of the past.
It's true that Ryu CAN be agressive, and Ken CAN be defensive, but their movesets obviously compliment a specific style. The fun part of fighting games though, is that you can always play the character the way you want to, even if they weren't designed that way. Shotos are the best example, as their movesets are quite flexible. I mean, they ALL have the same three base moves, so you could make whatever style work.
Unless you're playing Dan in any one of the games of course? Lol, he's meant for a bit of a piss take at the KOF games by Capcom. But good luck trying to win any major tournaments with him in a serious manner!
@@MGSBigBoss77 Dan was made to make fun of Robert from King of fighters(really from Art of fighting) but if you go back before kof 96.In King of fighters 94, 95 and his 98 alternate form, Robert was a powerhouse and his fireball went all the way across the screen. He had a flying kick that went all the way across the screen and hit two times. And A dive kick that knocked down. Plus other badass moves. And Robert and Ryo could do a Huge super fire ball without meter in 94!
7:44 I mastered that technique in real life
🤣🤣
Same
I do it all the time. Sometime the kamehah mehahhhh
soriya yeah you just have to hold it for a little longer
Yes. Me too. I bait people with it. And they call the police on me...
Fun fact Ken and Guiles wives are sisters making them brothers in law
That's pretty neat
Is this true? Where u hear this?
True story
@SNES Nes I care
@SNES Nes oh god this is some god tier bait right here
I still think it's so interesting that back in the day the thought of two players using the same character was sacrilege, thus Ryu and Ken were born as a way of allowing 2 people to play as the same style character
Ha
I mean, OBVIOUSLY they can't play the same character. That makes no sense, there's only one of each person!
I still think it is. I HATE mirror-matches...
On the SNES there was a code for the original SFII for VS mode.
something that always bugged me was that Ryu had a winning quote talking about how powerful his dragon punch was...even though Ken ultimately became the dragon punch master lol.
While Ken has more variations, Ryu still has the single most powerful dragon punch super in the series.
He just wanted to gloat lmao 😂
Not exactly. He just said that his opponent must defeat his dragon punch to stand a chance. Doesn't necessarily mean that his dragon punch was the strongest move in his arsenal.
Kens looks better ryu one is just devastating the life it takes off is amazing i find ryu more defensive and ken more attacking for me anyways
Ken's dragon punch is more flashy while setting your opponent ablaze looks awesome. But Ryu's dragon punch pretty much disfigure your face in mid flight. 😂
I thought, historically speaking, Ryu has the strength advantage while Ken has the advantage of speed.
I think that Ryu's greatest strenght is his endurance.
same here
That's facts
I played SF 4 quite seriously and competitively with my friends. I gotta say Ryu is more "basic" as in, if you understand the basic with Ryu, you'd do very well in SF in general. Not great, not much trick, but very powerful basic. As for Ken, he's rush down, more combo, more 'faint' and guessing games if you play against him. Ken is more my style, but I always have problem with strong Ryu player
True. But when raw strength vs speed and agility, speedster always win.
Ryu sleeps in a racecar bed, Ken sleeps in a big bed with his wife.
I prefer the race car bed 🏎️
Yeah, but Chun Li pops in to that race car bed occasionally. Way better then a wife whos always there.
I still can't get over the fact Ryu is a Hobo LMAO
Didn't Ken's wife dumped him once?
@IceCat7 That´s not what I saw.
Ryu's character was partly inspired by a real Korean-Japanese fighter named Mas Oyama, the founder of Kyokushin Karate. There's a great Korean martial arts movie about him called, Fighter in the Wind (2004). Highly recommend.
Not many people kno about tht movie
Thanks for the info but I won't watch...
Signed, a Sagat main. ☝️😑🐯👍
it really looks like as they get older and more experient they start to add and remove techs from their styles. they are two masters of ansatsuken building their own branches of the art
Problem is that SF's chronology doesn't follow the games release order, SF3 is supposed to be set after SFV if im not mistaken
The current timeline goes Street Fighter 1 > Alpha series > Street Fighter 2 > Street Fighter 4 > Street Fighter 5 > Street Fighter 3...
@@philithegamer8265 that's insane
@@philithegamer8265 and then street fighter 6
@@philithegamer8265 i wish ryu would look like how he looked in the alpha series again :,( like even in street fighter 3 he looks better than 4 and 5 imo
Ryu: Speaks about the road of fighting
Ken: Speaks about funny fire
Ken: I'm hot
Ryu: which way?
Eliza: I think i know.
They had to change the artstyle... The animé style looked a lot better especially those smooth Animations in SF3 3rd Strike
You know what's worse than changing the art style?
Ruining the entire SF lore with retcons that shouldn't be canon.
@@KenMasters. what retcons? I'm new to the series and am curious
Street Fighter 2 art style is better than the Alpha Cartoon style imo. I miss the shading quality.
@@MiguelAviles175 Alpha style looks too Cartoony and the great shading is gone. Look how amazing the shading is on Ryu's level in the World Warrior with that sunset
@@MiguelAviles175 look up videos that compare the SNK style to Capcom on Street Fighter characters.
If I'm not mistaken, in SF2 Ken's dragon punch also goes forward a tiny bit while Ryu's goes kinda straight up. We got a couple arcade versions where I work and my buddy pointed it out to me. After that, I always pick Ken. I always thought the back roll with the throw was cool since I was little.
Btw Jmcrofts, Ryus Vskill 2 in SFV is also a counter. If they hit while he is stepping in, he will counter their attack and deal damage. You can cancel it into dp if you have Vtrigger.
also, for ken's Vtrigger 2 you have to mash buttons after activation to get the full thing
Apparently, the only problem with Ryu's VS2 is that the parry window isn't really active for a lot of frames, especially considering how long the startup is. I mean, sure, you get more damage in if you counter with it and you can combo into it, but how does one even combo out of it?
Ryu's vskill 2 and vtrigger 2 are trash
@@paorasimon4957 you can still get real good shit off of VT2, but VS2? Yeah. Rest in spaghetti.
@@hyliandoctor VT2 is fun against low ranks but its a waste of VT at high level and is really hard to land. VT1 is superior and even more so in this season.
I've always personally like Ken more. Has a swag to him. They eventually gave him his own fighting style which is dope.
Yes
Totally agree.
Fr
Ryu>
And now he's a bum in sf6
When they took away Ken's roundhouse kick I was devastated, it was one of my favorite to use against jumpers to knock them back along with a dragon punch
Cool move. I hate you, Capcom...
Hus mid level round house is a poke move,they did that to make the diffrence between the two noticable
@@ericbiggdogg7337 yeah I know but it sucks cuz it was very effective against jumpers
@@s1svegeta not really thatsxwhy you got the dragon punch,the high round house was easily very dodgable if you didn't jump in to deep,which I have done many times plus you can duck it
@@ericbiggdogg7337 bro I can tell you I've used it many times as a defensive move more than an offensive one, but to each their own.
There are other diffirences between Ryu and Ken even in World Warrior. Ken's Shoryuken covers a longer horizontal distance, but if he misses, he falls in front of the opponent due to this extra reach. This makes Ken's a little more aggressive, Ryu more deffense oriented.
Also, Ryu's punch has a very slightly longer reach, Kens kick has very slightly longer reach.
Ken is Guile's brother in law and Ryu likes water without ice, stale bread, and dirt.
Don’t forget the fact that ryu likes the newest seasons of the Simpsons
@@lestatcanada I just didn't want to bring whatever that is into my sentence.
and jumping into late fierce
And he's also from streets and will see everybody on street fighter five
@@idk72. Street Fighter 5 already released
Ryu's backwards throw is the Tomoe Nage circle throw from Judo. Ken does an extra flip and calls it the hell wheel. Over the shoulder throw is ippon seio nage, also from Judo.
Seoi nage
Sakura’s back throw is one of the realest throws in the game lol
Their fighting styles are weird. Both incorporate moves from various martial arts, even Taekwondo (axe kick/neryo chagi).
Ken has the Jigoku Gurama/Hell Wheel...which takes FAR more strength than any of Ryu's throws. Benefits of a home gym and daily training vs wandering around, doing useless kata, and getting into a fight every couple weeks.
@@Rhiorrha Kata is crap indeed.
Ryu’s play style is more reserved and balanced, Ken’s style demands being the offensive/aggressive player
Facts
I can play aggressive or defensive with ryu. Ken I have no choice but to be aggressive he got so much speed
@@SanSolo22 I play aggressive with Ryu as well and he's usually the stronger fighter. However, with Ken, it's all about aggressiveness.
GruntCannon it reflects Ken being an impatient American and Ryu a slow Japanese that takes forever but does things right
Yes, GruntCannon... except Ryu from SF III Third Strike with Super Art 3. (The electric hadouken).
Kind of late to the conversation here, but if you look at 1:54, it looks to me like Ken did almost twice as much damage with his special attack. The damage bar above RYU goes well past the 'U' but it doesn't get past the 'E' in KEN
In that game damage was more or less randomized
Imagine being this wandering warrior seeking true enlightenment through battle, and this blonde, banana haired sob keeps up with you every step of the way while doing less than half the training you do?
Ken trains just as hard tho. Probaly not 6 hrs a day like ryu does because he has a family to look after and a business to attend to. But Ken ain't no slouch
@@SanSolo22 I appreciate the Ken love, but Martial Arts was always Ken's hobby. But for Ryu it was his LIFE. He was raised into it by Gouken and fighting is incorporated into every philosophy in his life. Ryu is definitely the true warrior.
@@SanSolo22 Ken probably has a better fighting sense then Ryu innately. He is skilled enough to keep pace with Ryu even though their level of commitment is night and day, and Ken doesn't struggle the same way Ryu does with the Satsui no Hado. Strength is something Ryu craves, much like Akuma, but for Ken it's not the most important thing in his life. He has loved ones that keep him grounded and pushing himself to be a better man, not just a better fighter. Which also might be a factor as Ryu has to constantly hold himself back during fights whereas Ken can fight with all his strength and not lose himself to the dark hado. That's why Oro chose Ryu to be his Successor because he realized Ryu has a large amount of untapped potential he can't draw from and needs help fostering.
Well, all Ryu's training and traveling expenses are likely paid by Ken as Ryu look like he has no job at all. Maybe Ken has Ryu endorse his dojo too?
@@KaptainFalkon that could also be the factor. But ken is also known for holding back as well but it with Ken's level of concentration. Also like ryu, ken has hidden potential that he hasn't tapped into fully. You cant ignore the fact that ken won there first sparring encounter. Although not by much, the match stopped because of ryu blood spilling all over his face which is the reason why he wears that head band that was originally used for Ken's pony tail
It seems with each installment Capcom was ironically making them more and more like Ryo and Robert. One is traditional, one is flashy.
If those SNK haters could read they would be pretty upset.
Didn't SNK and Capcom both make spoof characters over the other the past years?
Actually capcom made Dan a combination of Ryo and Robert but super dorky just to tease SNK for copying them
@@khaled3433 That makes sense
The Good times. SF Alpha 2 vs KOF 97.
I’ve always believed that Ken was faster and Ryu was stronger. Over time, Ryu focused on his Hadoken while Ken focused on his Shoryuken.
3:55 that flame animation honestly looks so good, im impressed
My mind is blown. Playing Street Fighter my whole life and I never knew Ryu can fake a hadoken in Alpha 3.
How much did you play alpha 3 ?
@Cage Vs Cage i never played street fighter alpha 3 much due to worse musics of each characters. Also in end when Bison defeats us we loose the game and can't continue.😥
Zia Khan fighting games are not meant for single player
Lmao!
@@yopeepthestyle8308 Yeah I remembered playing street fighter with my dad and brother. It was so cool 👍
Ken is the 1% while Ryu has to pay off his satsui student loans
That's funny and topical. Thank you. Very cool.
Lol
While everyone thinks he fights to get stronger lol
that why ryu can do the forbidden dark hadou but ken can't. ryu has lots to rage about
For years I've always told my friends that Ken leaned more towards speed where Ryu leaned more towards power.
I agree with this..this is very evident in 3rd strike..also another notable difference between them in 3S is when you do jumps with these 2 ryu feels "heavy" while ken is noticeably "light"
Neil Manila ken just has a higher and faster jump
@@ethangilworth7891Which would make Ryu feeling heavier than Ken, make sense?
Well I guess the guys who played champion edition in the arcade ftom the 90's figured it out
@@rageflash9 while not cannon, this is totally true in smash ultimate, which I think they did because that's how they interpreted the difference between the characters in the actual Street Fighter series.
you forget about Ryu's Super Shoryuken in SF3. It's very different from the one we saw in SF Zero or Alpha. Here its always do a lot of damage. It was my favorite move in this game.
I've always seen it as
Ryu is stronger and Ken is faster.
Until Ken's strong shoryuken hits up close
That’s basically it. Ryu also has mastered the basics which is key in martial arts 🥋
I grew up in the SF2 era where nobody wanted to fight a dragon punching Ken.
Exactly Miamed Fascia!!! Same here. I was just trying to explain that with my comment.
@@NinjaNezumi same here friend. He was a nightmare in those days.
The amount of coins I spent in chip shops, taxi ranks, Chinese takeaways and arcades in the UK when I was a kid on The World Warrior and Champion Edition doesn't bare thinking about. Good days.
Ken is the guy at the party that div s off the roof into a baby pool of beer. Ryu walks around, collecting car keys.
Lmao
nah kens a rich brat, ryu is a martial artist and grandmaster bad ass
Kens a rich brat that bought a yacht with his face and name on it XD
@@lightup6751 and yet he can keep up with Ryu
Yeah Ken is awesome
Wonder if SF6 would make them closer to their similarities or getting broad than ever.
Also, Priest Ryu and Undercover Hobo on the Run Ken would be a great discussion on this.
“Ryu has a shinko tatsumaki .”
That sounds delicious. I’ll order one of those for lunch.
Lmao 😂😂 .. ill have one too thanx 👍🏿🔥
Dont forget about that yoga fire curry and the sonic boom burger
Ken has shippu jinrai kyaku
Also it's "Shinku Tatsumaki"
You are thinking of "takoyaki" lmao
I’ve always been more Ken-sided and preferred the longer reach of his dragon punch over Ryu’s. But both super iconic characters. U can’t ever think of one of them without also thinking of the other. Great vid!👍🏽
The issue in later Street Fighter games is that Ken's fierce DP can hit the opponent but actually be too far away to launch since it's a three-hit move. Many an online match has been lost because someone shoryuken'd a pixel too far away, connected with the first hit, but didn't catch the opponent and got punished. It's why the more vertical DP is actually a lot safer of a move.
Shinku Quickman that’s true. It kind of happened at 0:50 in the video where Ken’s dp hit once and left him open.
Kens moves are more flashy and he's abit faster however ryu's moves cause more damage to opponents overall
World warrior differences were in their damages. Ryu’s shoulder throw does more damage than Ken’s, while Ken’s kick throw does more than Ryu’s. Same with their kicks/punches. Might only be their fierce and roundhouses. So Capcom just varied the damages.
If I recall correctly, in SF2T Ken's fireball was supposed to have less delay... Meaning, it still traveled at the same speed as in the 2 previous games but his recovery animation right after he threw them was shorter. Most people prolly never notice that, because the game was already sped-up and that made everybody's projectiles seem to move alot faster.
There's actually another difference in World Warrior: a single frame of Ryu's dizzy animation causes him to take double damage if hit during it. This is a leftover from when everyone would take double damage when dizzied (they'd forgotten to fix that one Ryu frame). For this reason, Ken is one place higher than Ryu on the tier list.
Since the early games has such subtle changes, you missed one key change.
From CE Ken’s DP has more horizontal movement than Ryu’s and in ST it’s more noticeable.
Ryu's forward and backward movement speed are almost identical. Ken on the other hand has a faster forward movement speed and a slower backward movement speed. This is true for all Street Fighter games.
Noel Villarin Is this... true?
@@normalpsychology Play the games and see for yourself.
Noel Villarin you still didn’t answer the question
@@marcoquiroz3893 I didn't need to. Please re-read my original post. I said "This is true for all Street Fighter games."
Noel Villarin true fact: out of the 8 basic players from street fighter are only 2.
1. Zangief. Super Suplexes
2. Guile. Invisible throw
I always liked Ken a lot more in X-Men vs Street Fighter, which is one of my favorite versions of Street Fighter. I played that one a ton in the arcade. Usually I would play as Ken + Wolverine, or Ken + Gambit, or Ken + Ryu, or Ken + Akuma...
2:43 Ryu takes counter damage while dizzy in World Warrior whereas Ken doesn't.
3:39 Ryu's Tatsu is 100% invulnerable on startup and while landing, HUGE advantage.
Another interesting aspect of Third Strike is that Ken's hadoukens do slightly more damage than Ryus. In most games this is never the case.
Ryu still appears to have better frames on his though.
Because Ryu is probably going to be throwing more hadokens
It should be faster and have a faster recovery than Ken’s. That’s also true that in most games, this isn’t true.
Ryu hits harder, Ken is faster, more attack oriented and more aggressive. Ryu has developed his Hadoken, and uses shinku Hadoken, Kens shoyruken is more powerful, does 3 hits (4 if you can land a hard punch and progress to shoyruken) and sets enemies on fire. His hard kick eventually evolved into a mid round house kick
It's basically big combos and (canonically) strongest Shoryuken or big punishes and strongest Hadoken.
Shinryuken is the best form of the Shoryuken one can develop and use (outside of using the Satsui no Hado), but Ryu's Shin (and Metsu) Shoryuken is, gameplay-wise, fucking broken. Like, why the fuck does it counter everything? LITERALLY EVERYTHING!
@@hyliandoctor lets not forget ryus shinku tatsumaki that creates a whirl wind
@@JJEHUTYY You can combo out of Shinku Tatsu in some situations and EX Joudan (donkey kick) like crazy, too! But it's still more read based. Ken just does it without a care.
Ryu shoryu and tatsu is stronger since it knocks you down with one hit and if u look closely he throws his hadoken faster than Ken but Ken shoryu and tatsu combos but slightly slower hadoken
@@Prodigal450 that's exactly the case... Me and my brother had an argument about whose tatsu was better and my brother said Ryu's is more powerful because he can knock you down with one hit... I didn't have an answer to this... Still remember this conversation clearly..
In SF2, Ryu's light kick and punch were WAAAY faster and could be used to stunlock opponents. Ken had the cornering advantage with the rolling throw, Ryu had the edge in speed. It was a way to showcase Ryu's dedication to his training and Ken's natural athleticism.
Yep
Ryu: Power
Ken: Speed
Yes and....Ryu got even buffed in SfV...now he is over OP. Even Sagat is less powerful in terms of damage! This has no sense!
Akuma > Ryu > Ken > Garbage > Dan
#Facts
@@Roasty420 Hahahahahahahahahahahaha. What about Sean? Sakura? Allen Scheinder?🤣
@@princeekeson12 Allen Schneider isn't a street fighter character, he's a Fighting Layer character. ARIKA did a cross game with Capcom, but Allen Schneider is not Capcom's.
Kamehamehadou-ken! Ken! Ken! Ken..
There's another difference between Ken and Ryu in SFII Champions Edition that wasn't mentioned.
Ken's uppercut (Shoryuken) covered some horizontal ground while going upwards unlike Ryu's uppercut which goes directly upwards with very little horizontal movement.
This might sound trivial but just that little difference made a huge difference in gameplay between both characters so much so that gamers at the time favoured Ken because his uppercut had more lateral range than Ryu making it excellent for whiff punishes and wake ups.
Great for corner pushing and punishing
The real question I need to know is do they differ in Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game?
That game is basically just a presentation swap of Super Turbo, so the differences are pretty much identical to that.
lol I remember that crap game when I was a kid, never played it though
Asking the real questions
Lol that would be good to know
Loved this since it came out. As soon as I could I became a Ken fighter. Ken is more aggressive and his dragon punch actually travels forward way more than Ryu.
👍🏼 Noticed that too. Ken’s shoryuken has more run than Ryu’s, which is just a vertical rise without noticeable horizontal travel. As a result, Ken’s uppercut draws a larger arc, which I find is more visually pleasing
A few things: at the end of SF4 ken is considered significantly stronger than ryu (although their match up is 50/50).
In SF5 one very big part of ken is his ability to combo off of overhead.
Came here to also say this. After Arcade Edition, Ken started to shoot past Ryu, even at one point being arguably the 3rd best character in the game behind the Twins on their release. It slightly balanced towards Ultra SF4, but Ken was still probably top 10 in most player's opinions, and there was a handful of pro level Ken players winning majors with him. (Momochi, etc)
Turtlehoop 2015 Evo was sooooo hype!
8:02 in this game you forgot to mention they have their own fighting stance.. you can see Ryu just go up and down... where as Ken does a little front to back... you have to really look to notice
Also, in SF4, there's a very slight difference in how their fireballs look. Ken's looks smoother and has a subtle "shiny" effect while Ryu's has a messier looking fireball trail. I think this is because Ryu is struggling with his evil side which is causing a disturbance in his ki, while Ken's ki is at peace because he's balling in life.
xElementZ GAMING yes!!! I noticed Ken’s more back and forth faster stance. Ryu’s is steady up and down and slightly slower.
liquidpersuasion that is actually a pretty deep perspective that is extremely possible. Good eye and theory on that!👍🏽👍🏽
I have always been a Ken fan so thanks for the knowledge, O grew up on all of these and never realized when the change occurred but I always felt Ken was more in your face so this was nice to have a timeline to match when it ACTUALLY changed. Lol Great video!
I’ve always said that if Ryu spends all his life training, fighting, and denying himself pleasures, while Ken does not, and he’s only marginally better than Ken, then he’s doing something wrong.
Ken has always been regarded as a prodigy. There’s nothing wrong with that.
From what i remember of SF2 Turbo - Ken has more reach with his dragonpunch, his hurricane kick hits multiple times, so more of a chance to dizzy opponents, so thats why i always picked Ken.
Yep, Ken had that extra reach with his DP ever since vanilla SF2
vanilla sf2??
@@djpheeze The extra reach came about in Champion Edition.
thanks but i watched the video
@@digitalintent The extra reach was definitely there in vanilla SF2 on the SNES (Championship Ed didn't come out on SNES). Suppose it could have been different on the arcade but that sounds highly unlikely.
Really digging the variety in these videos.
Yeah jmcroft branching out is cool. That he bothered to collect all the information for this video is great stuff and very appreciated! Even though I knew that ryu and ken is different in the older different games, this in depth analysis is really nice and interesting.
Ken is Barbie's boyfriend and Ryu just walks around the woods arguing with hiself
hahahhaa epic
@@patricknelson1471 😝🤟
My girlfriend is Barbie to.
In alpha 3 (in the Street Fighter 30th anniversary collection's command list), the Shin Shoryuken is called Metsu Shoryuken.
Edit: according to Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, SFIII and SFIII 2nd Impact came out b4 Alpha 3.
Edit 2: Metsu Shoryuken also changes to Shin Shoryuken when far enough away and does more damage (way more in later versions of A3).
Ryu represents the Old Japanese Way of achieving Mastery through discipline, focus and hard work and Ken represents the "Murican" definition of Success ( Being Rich, Loud and Flashy ). There you go.
So it’s basically Japanese martial arts vs American martial arts
@@lll.24601 both of them still use japanese martial arts tho
Why did you have to call out my people like that.
@@lll.24601 big facts!
"You guys were a little confused about my placement of Ryu and Ken in different tiers, so I spent about a dozen hours compiling why."
We need more players like you, dude. Thank you for being the one that's up for putting the effort in.
Speed > strength....unless the slower character ends up having broken hit boxes. Ken was perfected in Capcom vs SNK 2.
Definitely
When your video opened and discussed they were the same. I was shocked since only at the beginning were they the same. Thankfully you illustrated for us the differences. (:
Ryu is more on the spiritual while Ken focuses on the physical
I'd say Ryu has a pretty severe steroid problem
@@Hammerhead1986 maybe...more like Japanese company has to make japanese flagship character who just wanders around missing meals, not hitting the weights, just doing kata, and maybe getting into a fight ever couple weeks SOMEHOW the physical equal of a guy with ROBUST european genes (Ken's dad was JACKED), who works out multiple times a week in his million-dollar home gym, spars with others and competes in way more tournaments (Ryu just gets into random street fights, and competes in the SF tourneys...that's about it). Ryu should have his Street Fighter 1 physique, while Ken's Street Fighter 5 physique is pretty accurate.
@@Rhiorrha you're forgetting ryu can channel his chi, shoot fireballs and has a powerful violent spirit inside of him giving him the ability to dodge bullets(sf4 movie) and set shit on fire 🤣
Ryu: Wandering forever alone
Ken: The family man
Guile "go home and be a family man"
Ryu with them introvert vibes
@@sridrawings4510 she's married to ehonda
Lol yea
@Kevin Byrnes it was stated that Ken wins too, it just that Ryu has the better record
When Street Fighter 2 came out, people were just making up differences between the two pallet swaps, then in future games, Capcon made those differences reality. I thought that was neat.
Reminds me of how Mortal Kombat turned rumors into characters
That's how it really went down
@@nathanhertsel5298 isn't that also how Akuma and Gouken were created? Via the infamous Sheng Long hoax?
@@paperluigi6132 no
Epic classic battles with my friends back in the day.... fun to watch..great video
The dragon punch in SFII is also different. Ken's travels further forward, whereas Ryus is almost straight up.
I believe that started in SFII: CE.
That wasn't true in the original SF2: WW. That started with Champion Edition.
This is why I always chose Ken!!!!!!
It's a HUGE difference in CE and he missed it. Come on!
@@MikeBrownLegend Agreed. The OGs know this.
I always kept it simple: Ryu is stronger while Ken is faster. This was an interesting in depth take.
Agree. When I was younger I always thought, Ryu was stronger, and Ken is faster.
Those Ryu fireballs were faster than Ken in street fighter 5
@@kratosgow2 i was under that exact same impression when i was younger. and playing having played with both ry and ken i preferred ryu.
@@derek-64 Me too. I always prefer Ryu over Ken too
Ryu is more defensive and zoning based, Ken is more offensive and rush down based.
Also Ryu has more hard-resets to neutral, ken has more soft-resets to neutral.
In Street Fighter 4 Omega, Ken could throw hadoukens from his feet which he could also throw in an angle.
Just make Lucia his wife already lol, Eliza "Lucia" Masters
Omega doesn't count
@@y4oihands capcom made it, so its not a fanmade or mod so you have to hold dat.
@@aspreedacore you still have to take the fact that omega isnt regular story based gameplay mechanics lol
Also omega is the most mugen shit that capcom has ever done next to marvelvscapcom lol
@@Rex-golf_player810 True but its still not fan made and most of the omega shyt got passed on to the SFV cast, so again have to hold dat xd. Ken didn't get the flame kicks but they gave it to Eliza "Lucia" Masters
Actually, I think that single original difference (the back-throw) in World Warrior is very illustrative of the fundamental problem with how they have developed the characters over the years, which has led to Ken being simply straight up better by a wide margin almost all of the time (with SF4 being the exception to this) ever since SF3. Here's the problem: when they make the two different, the majority of the time they do so by changing one of Ken's moves, giving Ryu the more "default" version and making Ken's "flashier" in some way. In theory there's no reason they couldn't do that and still keep it balanced, but the sum total of the changes hasn't been handled with that mentality, it seems generally prioritized towards "how can we make Ken flashy and interesting in this new game?" rather than "how can we keep the pair balanced while still unique?". Right from the start, the "flashier" back-throw gives Ken better screen positioning. I remember noticing this instinctively even as a kid, honestly. And everything since has for the most part followed this same pattern, with very clear results in 3 and especially 5.
The initial balancing of their specials was fine, giving Ken the better DP and Ryu the better fireball, with the tatsus being nearly a wash, though probably also the single example of them actually succeeding in making a "flashier" version of a move worse, giving Ken multiple hits, but making Ryu's single hit knockdown tatsu just better in most situations, easier to get full damage out of. That of course went totally out the window in 5, with Ken now having a better DP and a tatsu that is not only flaming, not only nearly a divekick if used in the air now, but has a ton of combo potential?!?! Add that to all the just straight up better new normals (ie his low medium kick, and a million others) that Ken has accumulated over the games, while Ryu is always forced to retain the super old, and at this point simply inferior, moveset, always keep the most whiffable DP in the game while every new character is given a well designed DP with horizontal range.... Ryu is just completely screwed at this point, unless they are actually willing to ever give him the same amount of new, better-designed moves that Ken has.
I've always been a Kenboi and I think the perfect Ken came when SF3 3rd Strike gave him that stepping forward straight kick (forward + medium kick).
I always played ken, I thought he was cooler
Shadow Spider41 yup me too
His shoryuken is coolest.
His combo is OP.. like jump punch+straight punch+low kick+hadouken+tornado kick+suryuken=stunned enemy.. you cant stop him once the combo begins 😆😆😆
This is really what it comes down to. Who you thought was coolest. I always played as Ryu, until Fei Long came out. He was essentially Bruce Lee, so I gravitated to him from there on. Lolz!
Psychological, red draws attention
Lore wise I think Ken is actually stronger. Ryu works his ass off day and night to achieve his power, while Ken doesn't train 24/7, yet he's on Ryu's level while hardly trying his best, and even beats Ryu on occasion. So Ken is much more naturally gifted than Ryu, even though Ken has a wife, a son and has to handle a multibillion dollar business, he's still on par with Ryu, so if Ken trained as hard as Ryu does, Ken would actually surpass him easily.
Thats makes it impossible for Ken to surpass ryu
Cos Kens personality wouldn't allow him to train like ryu does. So it becomes impossibility
It’s like what Ken said to Ryu before he fought Bison in SFV: “then I’m sure you’ll work twice as hard, right?”
Ken is the more caring person and cares for others rather than his work. Ryu is the opposite.
That whole statement is based off Ken being "On Par" with Ryu. He's not. In all other media if Ryu gets serious he beats ken. Especially if Evil Ryu comes out. Ryu has the potential to be the next Akuma or worse. Ken is nowhere near that. If Ken trained as hard as Ryu then he'd actually be on par with Ryu.
@Sea Litch Your*
Wasn't Ken's story In SFIV all about him searching the world for Ryu to know if he got stronger than him?
Thanks for the great sound quality. Listening with headphones. It makes a difference.
Alpha 3 was my favorite street fighter game, I usually choose Ken or akuma 'cus they looked cool, Ryu for me was like the good boy who does his homework.
I agree alpha 3 is sick. It feels like the capcom vs games my favourite is Akuma in that game
"You mastered the Hadouken, and I mastered the Shoryuken." - Ken
Where is that from?
True but Ken is more dynamic than Ryu and hits less hard whereas Ryu is slower than Ken but he hits harder .
@@keidasshu6209 That comes later but generally yes.
When Ken begins a Family, he falls off the record...
He thus tells Ryu that hes lost his will, & Ryu is the strongest...
It is also known that Ryu has always been Street Fighters
sorta like Hero, kinda guy... He continues to prove things no one else can...
The 4th Animated Movie states that Ryu was never interested in power,
he wanted something even higher then that... While Seth just wanted power...
& he fought in a whole other league then Ken...
This also happens with SF2 Animated Series, but gets reversed by the SF2 Movie...
So, I mean for the most part? I find Ryu & Ken the 2 Stars, but Ryu overall is more the Main Hero...
In Game format? Ryu's Fireballs are the strongest in power, but he
really only has the 1 Ultra which makes him great at long range.
Ken on the other hand, has 2 Ultra's Flaming Uppercut, & Flaming Kicks,
which makes him great at close Range, but over all? 2 Ultras are sorta
starting to make Ken a better choice in Gameplay...
Yes, Ryu has a 2nd Ultra, but it's not really all that Signature or famous as to his Hadoken, though...
Where as Ken's 2 Ultras both feel much more Siganture like...
This is just how I felt about them... Ryu is stronger, but in Gameplay Ken is starting to win popularity choice, no?
Arguable considering Shin Shoryuken does more damage than Shoryureppa or Shinryuken, and Ryu's Shoryuken has hard knockdown, while Ken's Shoryuken has a graze effect that can do minimum damage and leave an opponent standing.
Ken is a martial arts millionaire with a loving wife, 2 adorable kids and a Brazilian fan(Sean)
Ryu is a martial arts hobo with split personality, an evil uncle figure chasing him down to just be the worst possible influence, and cute high school protege.
Now i'm imagining Akuma hiding behind a tree while Ryu goes to take a walk
Ken is a dudebro.
Ryu just plain nice.
Eh sakura isn't a protege anymore
@@captainpancake8177 Fine. 'And had a cute high-school junior.'
@@rusdanibudiwicaksono1879 that's one way to call her lmao
One difference you missed: Ryu's dragon punch is more vertical and Ken's is more diagonal. I used to prefer Ryu because of this because it left Ken too vulnerable. My best friend and I played SFII Turbo a lot and the only way he could best me with Ken was if I let him.
Dang my age is showing I remember all of these especially when the arcade was the place to be man I'm about download street fighter and play.
I know the title says street fighter but you should do an add on in non street fighter (correction) the other street fighter like street fighter capcom and maverl vs campom just to name a few. What about tekken series.
My take was always
Ryu: Slower but stronger than Ken
Ken: faster but weaker than Ryu
Exactly!!!
But Ken weigh more than Ryu, doesn't make any difference but just saying...
With their style I don’t think weight affects it much (well actually considering Sakura the less weight you have probably helps)
Besides I see it as a reflection of their characters
Ryu is methodical and against senseless acts
Ken is more of a “heat of the moment” kinda guy kind of careless
They were probably made this way to contrast each other
No lies detected
Mine was always one had better punches and the other kicks
One big difference you missed in Super SF2: Ken's meaty forward jumping middle kick which gives insane jump-in priority over air counters.
Sho Ryu Ken
"Rising Dragon Fist."
The Dragon spits fire at range, while the Fist deals major damage when up close. It's literally in their names, and I love it.
in SF2, ken's shoryuken wins ryu when they execute it at the same time.
Nope. In Super SF2 is true but in SF2: World Warrior (the 1st one), SF2': Champion Edition and SF2 Turbo: Hyperfighting the one that makes the move later is the one that wins as in those games Ryu and Ken's Shoruyken makes them invulnerable while moving up so the one that performed it 1st starts to fall being vulnerable to the other's Shoruyken. If both are performed exactly at the same time no one gets hurt.
Such a creative video topic, only a minute in and I know it's going to be enjoyable.
RYU : "you must defeat my dragon punch to stand a chance"
In SF2 Ryu's shiryuken beat all special moves. Ryu's shiryuken vs ken's shiryuken casted at the same time, Ryu wins eventhou against ken's fire shiryuken.
"shiryuken" ? you mean sho-ryu-ken ? also which ver of sf are you referring to?
No fire dragon punch until super streetfighter
@@dullaf4099 I think that's what the super is called.
At least I think so from my SFIV days
Hi! Nice compilation.
One thing you missed in ST was Ryu’s jumping medium punch juggle which introduced juggle combos for Ryu. Ken’s jumping medium kick was changed in ST snd was a crossup monster
Ken: I'm successful
Ryu: I'm vibin'
Could have mentioned the difference between multi-hit Tstsu and single-hit+knock down.
Single hit is more more reliable for solid damage. Knockdown better for spacing.
Multi hit is not as reliable, but for some versions, you can combo from air tatsu, which increases it's damage potential. Non-knockdown tatsu resets the situation so that you are right in front of the opponent after the tatsu, allow you to continue pressure.
The fact that this video was watched a million times is a good sign that civilization is going to be okay.
Oh I get it you were being sarcastic
@@electricshrapnel4368 no I was serious
@@mypaldan oh yeah because this video was watched wars,racism and world hunger was solved right?
@@phoenixc6812 No. But alas it seems cool arcade games keep being a thing which is good
2:29
Dont ask me why... but we used to call, and SHOUT this Ken flip, "BOB BACKLUND!!"
One of two of us would do it...and once the recipient's (and his boys lol) frustration would wear down, more and more people at the arcade would laugh...then more and more also called it/yelled BOB BACKLUND!...
Eventually, hand to God, id say around a couple dozen or so "regulars" at the arcade would refer to it, to the point where we'd walk into the store, and before we even got to the back where the arcade game was, youd hear rando's yelling BOB BACKLUND!!
Or, my personal favs, either "OH COME ON, I HAD THAT BOB BACKLUND ON YOU, DIDN'T GO,"
And,,of course...
"OH STFU, AND STOP WITH THAT GODDAMN BOB BACKLUND!!!"