Ryu (SSBU)

Ryu in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Street Fighter
Other playable appearance	in SSB4
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Shin Shoryuken / Shinku Hadoken
Tier	B+ (32)

Ryu (リュウ, Ryū) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He is the second fighter from Capcom after Mega Man. He was officially confirmed alongside Ganondorf and the rest of the returning roster on June 12th, 2018 during E3 2018. Ryu is classified as Fighter #60.

Ryu is once again voiced by Kyle Hebert in English and Hiroki Takahashi in Japanese, with their portrayals from Super Smash Bros. 4 being repurposed for the English and Japanese releases of Ultimate, respectively. In the Chinese and Korean versions, Ryu uses his English voice clips.

Ryu is ranked 32nd out of 82 on the current tier list, placing him in the B+ tier. This is a noticeable drop from his 11th/12th out of 54 placement in SSB4 where he was tied with Marth. Ryu has a strong combo game due to his auto turn around mechanic and ability to special cancel out of several of his moves. His multitude of combos gives him a strong advantage state and high damage output. His Hadouken (the Shakunetsu, in particular) is well-known for playing his neutral and suits his defensive playstyle. The rest of his specials all serve use as they are single hit moves that are good for KOs and combo finishers.

Despite these strengths, Ryu has some weaknesses. His mobility is subpar so his approach options are limited and it forces him to play more defensively. His recovery is also exploitable and linear with Tatsumaki Senpukyaku and Shoryuken traveling predictable distances for the opponent to edgeguard. Despite having a combo breaker in the form of Focus Attack, it can be broken through multi-hit moves making his disadvantage state below average. Ryu is also a difficult character to master due to his different playstyle with the special cancel and auto turnaround mechanic.

Ryu has seen some representation and strong results from players, such as Asimo and Ikan, doing well with him at majors and supermajors.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with Ryu being the 13th character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Yoshi or any character in his unlock tree, being the 3rd character unlocked after Marth.
• Have Ryu join the player's party in World of Light.

With the exception of the third method, Ryu must then be defeated on Battlefield. In World of Light, he is fought on the Ω form of Suzaku Castle.

Attributes

As the "all-rounder" of his home series, Ryu's overall attributes are mostly average. As a heavyweight with average mobility, Ryu has decent frame data and damage output, as well as a dependable ground game due to his decent traction and average dashing speed. However, his other attributes are polarized in an attempt to replicate the physics of Street Fighter. Ryu's walking speed is extremely slow, and while his air speed is slightly above-average, this is counteracted by his moderately high falling speed and extremely short jumps. Additionally, he has the 2nd-slowest air acceleration and his air friction is uniquely locked at 0 while jumping or double jumping, causing his jumps to follow a fixed "arc" unless the player steers them manually. Finally, Ryu's fast fall increases his falling speed by 40% instead of the usual 60%. Overall, this grants Ryu effective burst movement through dashing and jumping, but forces him to commit when approaching through the air and makes it difficult to land or move short distances.

Despite his average attributes, Ryu is one of the most unique fighters in Ultimate, as he has access to many variations of both his standard and special attacks. His jab and tilts can either be held or tapped; tapped attacks are faster and usually combo well into themselves, while held attacks have greater KO potential and can serve as combo finishers. This also applies to his special moves (other than Focus Attack), which gain different effects like increased power or altered hitboxes when the button is held; they also see an increase in power when used with the original Street Fighter inputs. This effectively gives Ryu two movesets, one for starting combos and racking up damage, and the other for scoring KOs. This versatility gives him access to potent true combos and mix-ups, leading to a strong punish game overall. His Collarbone Breaker (held forward tilt) deals immense shield damage, further complementing his ability to pressure and deplete shields.

Ryu's grounded moveset boasts considerable utility. His tapped jab and down tilt both hit on frame 3, making the former useful for relieving pressure, and the latter excellent for extending combos due to its launch trajectory being useful for followups, such as grabs. Tapped up tilt's low knockback, high speed and active frames make it effective for combos, either into itself, Shoryuken, or even down aerial at high percents near the ledge. Held down tilt can be canceled on a hit into a special move, making it effective for shield pressure and damage-racking even at high percents. Down smash is quite powerful for its speed, and up smash lowers Ryu's hurtbox while charging. Both tapped forward tilt and held jab are altered at close range, both becoming very potent at starting combos into his special moves. Additionally, Ryu will automatically face his opponent in 1-on-1 matches while standing on the ground, making it considerably easier to land his effective ground attacks.

Ryu's aerial moveset is effective as well. Neutral aerial is a sex kick with low knockback and has only five frames of landing lag, making it useful for combos and kill confirms even at high percents. Forward aerial is quick, highly damaging and has good range; it can be chained into itself through repeated jumps, and its sour spot deals high shield damage. Up aerial has fast startup and decently high reach, making it useful for juggling, and both it and down aerial can auto-cancel from a full hop.

Complementing Ryu's moveset and combo potential is his wide array of powerful finishers; some of his held tilts, smash attacks, and aerials are very capable KO moves due to their high speed. Held up tilt grants upper body intangibility on frames 4-10 while hitting on frame 7, making it deceptively safe for KOs when combined with its speed and tapped up tilt setups. Up smash makes an effective substitute for held up tilt as a finisher, and its wide hitbox can catch aerial approaches. While slow, Ryu's forward smash has long range and is his strongest standard ground attack, making it useful for hard punishes. Back aerial is Ryu's strongest aerial, and is fast and with good range. Forward and up aerial also serve as decent KO moves, enhancing their already impressive utility. Finally, down aerial is a powerful meteor smash with a fast start-up and long duration, making it a deadly edgeguarding tool. Combined with his excellent combo ability, Ryu's punish game is incredibly effective and versatile, being able to rack up damage or KO very easily after connecting with almost any attack.

Ryu's signature special moves are also effective in their own ways. Hadoken is a large ki projectile, with three distinct variations, each with a different travel speed, based on input method; the standard version is capable of locking, while the input and Shakunetsu Hadoken deal more damage (with the latter being a multi-hit flame projectile). Tatsumaki Senpukyaku propels Ryu forward and deals more damage after an initial travel distance, while the 7.0.0 update allows the move to have Ryu travel through certain projectiles and low hits. Ryu's signature Shoryuken serves as his main vertical recovery move, it is most well-known for its offensive utility, due to its sweet spot's high knockback and brief intangibility (frame 5). The input version of Shoryuken has increased KO power, even longer intangibility (frames 4-6, with arm intangibility, frames 1-14), and lower landing lag, and can easily be chained into from Ryu's other moves. Finally, Focus Attack grants Ryu heavy armor against a single hit, and incapacitates opponents when at least half-charged, allowing for followups. It can also be canceled on hit, after tanking a blow, or even while charging, allowing Ryu to fake out with a shuffle that also provides horizontal recovery distance. His close held neutral attack, first two hits of tapped neutral attack, close tapped forward tilt, held down tilt, and all aerials can be canceled into special moves, allowing Ryu to combo into Shoryuken or Tatsumaki for KOs, Hadoken for safety and damage racking, and Focus Attack for mixups and safety.

Lastly, Ryu has a long-distanced recovery and is surprisingly difficult to combo, traits not shared with most heavyweights. Tatsumaki Senpukyaku has large hitboxes and doesn't cause helplessness; this combined with canceled Focus Attack's armor and momentum boost grants surprisingly effective horizontal distance and protection. Shoryuken travels a good vertical distance, reaches above edges, and can stage spike reckless edge guarders. Focus Attack also serves as an effective combo breaker, and neutral aerial and input Shoryuken both grant high speed and intangibility and can even lead into combo or KO opportunities respectively. These traits allow Ryu to survive to very high percents when used effectively, which also allows him to take full advantage of rage.

Despite his abundance of strengths, Ryu has his weaknesses, some of which are exploitable. Despite his aforementioned recovery being very long-distanced overall, it is very short if many extendable elements, such as Tatsumaki Senpukyaku, are not utilized. Focus Attack still requires a brief charge before it can be canceled. Tatsumaki Senpukyaku's long duration makes it susceptible to being interrupted by long-ranged attacks during use, and he can only use it once if airborne without landing back on stage or taking hitstun. Ryu's falling speed, low jumps and very poor air acceleration causes his vertical recovery to suffer if he is constantly forced offstage at lower trajectories, which is exacerbated by Shoryuken's recovery being almost strictly vertical while also having very high aerial lag. As such, while Ryu has a manageable horizontal recovery, his vertical recovery is easy to predict and interrupt. Additionally, while Ryu excels at shield pressure, his grab game is otherwise poor. Although his throws have decent damage output, none of them have effective follow-up or KO potential due to them having too much knockback to combo, and too little to secure stocks. Down throw is his only combo throw, but only at very low percents, while the unique mechanics of his other throws only work in doubles and free-for-alls (down throw instantly breaking shields, and up throw being capable of KOing bystanders).

Ryu's strong combo potential is also held back by his neutral game, with several factors making it difficult for him to find openings. His very slow walking speed hinders the otherwise great utility of his tilt attacks, and his overall range is very short despite his good frame data (especially in regard to his tapped tilts and neutral aerial), giving him trouble with characters who possess disjointed hitboxes, especially when including his tall stature. His only projectile, Hadoken, is very easily telegraphed and punishable due to its sluggishness and lag. Overall, these two issues force him to play patiently and take advantage of any openings, due to his difficulty with contending against opposing camping and inability to force approaches. Despite the advantages granted by Focus Attack, Ryu's aerial approach is comparatively poor due to his fixed arc jumps and poor air acceleration, which forces him to commit with air attacks. Furthermore, the advantages offered by Focus Attack are match-up dependent; it is relatively ineffective against characters with several multiple hitting moves, with some characters being able to exploit it for a free hit. As Focus Attack is also one of Ryu's main methods of escaping combos against such characters, Ryu's high weight and rather quick falling speed leave him susceptible to some combos and juggles, and his slow fast-falling speed gives him occasional difficulty landing.

Notably, Ryu suffers from the inability to "force" KOs, as his KO potential relies heavily on stringing his aforementioned combo moves. While Ryu does possess some powerful moves, such as his sweetspotted forward smash and back aerial, those moves mostly require hard reads to land, while most of his other moves have low knockback scaling due to being tailored for combo use. Ryu's great combo ability compensates for this and often makes it less of a necessity for him to KO early; regardless, without the proper use of reads, setups, a heavy knowledge of Ryu's moveset, or a lack of compensating for an opponent's smash directional influence, Ryu can have a difficult time taking stocks from opponents due to his significant lack of moves that can KO without prior combos. Finally, the emphasis of using Ryu's unique button inputs cause his normal specials to have lower power without traditionally inputting them, and it is possible for a simple slip of the hand to use the wrong move at an essential time, most notoriously with him accidentally self-destructing while recovering.

Overall, Ryu is a combo-oriented fighter with a fearsome offensive ability, due to his unique mechanics deliberately giving him the true combos necessary for many characters' competitive success; his ability to overwhelm opponents by trapping them in hitstun/shield pressure, multiple options to negate and escape combos, along with his dependable recovery all tie in to him being very rewarding and unpredictable, with his strengths somewhat outweighing his weaknesses. However, unlike his Echo Fighter, Ken, Ryu is also capable of playing a more zoning-based playstyle, thanks in part to his more damaging Hadoken projectile and his command-input Shakunetsu Hadoken, which is in line with his playstyle in his home series. However, his polarized movement, mediocre vertical recovery, and lack of approach make him difficult to use optimally without mastering his options. Possibly his biggest issue is his notably high learning curve; much practice is generally required for his command specials in order to use them reliably and consistently rather than accidentally inputting the wrong move.

Due to his weaknesses and high learning curve, Ryu's results and representation have overall been very low so far, being one of the least used characters in competitive play. Much of his player base has either dropped him or instead use either his Echo Fighter, Ken, or DLC newcomer Terry, both of whom are somewhat similar to him overall. However, Ryu's copious buffs over the course of the game's lifespan have patched up many of his prior weaknesses at launch, though his current placing is still to be determined.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Ryu was previously considered a powerful character in SSB4, even consistently ranking in top tier in competitive play (being ranked 11th/12th out of 54 ranked characters near the end of the game's lifespan), thanks to a combination of an extremely powerful combo game and consistent KO potential, made better by his great endurance and the existence of rage. Likely due to some of these factors, Ryu was initially significantly nerfed in the transition to Ultimate, losing many of his options and being harmed by gameplay changes, though he has also received plenty of equally significant buffs from game updates that have alleviated his direct nerfs. Nonetheless, despite now being objectively buffed as a character, the changes to the engine's gameplay means Ryu is still considered to be slightly nerfed overall.

Ryu has received various nerfs to his most powerful options. Light up tilt and both versions of down tilt have smaller hitboxes, and the former sends aerial targets at a less favorable angle, making it less feasible to chain multiple tilt attacks in a row. Up aerial also possesses similarly shorter range. Neutral aerial possesses far more ending lag, and the changes to the Sakurai angle make it far harder to chain into itself or combo into down aerial. Shoryuken has more landing lag and less intangibility. Focus Attack also has a lower armor threshold, boasts less range and doesn't hit behind Ryu, making it less safe of a move to use.

Most of the changes to gameplay mechanics have been detrimental to Ryu. Most notably, the universal increase in mobility hurts him more than any other character; he is the only character whose walking, dashing and air speeds were all completely unchanged, thus providing no benefit to him and placing him at a greater disadvantage relative to the cast's faster mobility, and it exacerbates Ryu's already commital approach. While the reductions to landing lag benefit his own aerials, they already had among the lowest landing lag in SSB4, which benefits him less than most other returning veterans as it grants them combo potentials that are just as superior as Ryu's own. The toning down of rage is also harmful to Ryu, giving him more issues at KOing the opponent, most notably causing his Shoryuken to be much less threatening (though it still remains a highly powerful KO move if inputted). The changes to air dodges make Ryu far easier to edgeguard due to the limit to one air dodge per air time, while he also gains little benefit from the mechanic due to his lackluster edgeguarding potential. The changes to knockback and the universal nerfs to grabs hinder Ryu's already poor grab game even more, as it is riskier to grab an opponent and his down throw possesses lower combo potential. Finally, the changes to jostling make Tatsumaki Senpukyaku perfectly punishable on shield, removing a mix-up.

However, Ryu has also received predominantly more useful buffs to both his unique mechanics and individual moves. His special attack canceling has been significantly expanded upon, as many of Ryu's moves can now cancel into his special moves, such as his light neutral attack, down smash, and all of his aerials; down smash, in particular, can now special cancel during its first frames (even while charging). All of his attacks (except throws and getup/edge attacks) can also cancel into his Final Smash. This has opened several now routes in Ryu's already impressive combo game, and drastically buffs his shield pressuring ability to the point it is one of the most fearsome.

Ryu now possesses a new heavy neutral attack and light forward tilt, both of which are executed when close to an opponent and can still be special-canceled, further upping Ryu's repertoire of grounded moves and making his hit confirms easier. Hadoken has been strengthened to be notably stronger, having variable speeds and overall higher damage, which helps its utility as both a zoning option and an approaching tool. Tatsumaki Senpukyaku has seen a drastic increase in versatility through his pivoting leg gaining intengibility and the move itself dealing more knockback, making the move a much more useful burst and KO option, especially out of a hit confirm.

Ryu has received a new, unique trait that makes him always face his opponent in a 1v1. This brings both good and bad points; on one hand, this hinders his air game, as he is unable to perform a back aerial freely; he has to perform the move in a reverse aerial rush in order to do so. On the other hand, this change, combined with the changes to dash-dancing grants Ryu a very useful retreat option in the form of a "shimmy", allows him to create ledge-traps, and makes it easier to perform command inputs for his special attacks.

Overall, Ryu's most powerful options from the previous game have all been toned down, but he has seen a general compensation through his expanded combo game and own improved mechanics, as well as a more useful move for zoning, now granting Ryu a less polarized kit. However, his playstyle fares slightly worse despite the vast amount of buffs he has received, due to the noticeable universal gameplay changes working against him. Many of Ryu's buffs were received from game updates, which have helped him boost his reward and relieve his most troublesome points, though neither them nor his changes during the advent of the game have addressed his issues from SSB4, namely his prone recovery, linear approach, vulnerability to combos and necessity to force KOs. In bulk, Ryu performs worse than his previous iteration, but the vast amount of improvements he has received has allowed him to continue being an effective character.

Aesthetics

• Ryu's design has changed. His muscles and other physical features are more pronounced, his hair is spikier, and his skin tone is also slightly tanned. Additionally, his pupils are smaller. Lastly, the aesthetic used in Ultimate has resulted in Ryu's color scheme being more vibrant and his gi having subtle detailing. Altogether, these changes make him appear virtually identical to his appearance in Street Fighter V.
• Ryu's eighth alternate costume has been replaced with a costume based on his tenth color in Street Fighter V.
• Ryu's up taunt no longer has him turn around when tightening his headband, now more closely resembling the taunt it is based on from Street Fighter IV.
• Ryu's eyes are no longer fully closed during his clapping animation.
• The victory pose where Ryu throws a hook is slightly modified. He now closes his eyes and crosses his arms before winding the hook, with the camera coming in from the left, making the victory pose more resemble his Street Fighter IV pose.
• As with all previous downloadable fighters in SSB4, Ryu now has a unique Palutena's Guidance conversation.
• Ryu's Boxing Ring alias has been changed to "Eternal Wanderer", his official title as of Street Fighter V.

Attributes

• Like all characters, Ryu's jumpsquat animation takes three frames to complete (down from 5).
• Being able to dash cancel his tilts greatly improves his approach, letting him threaten the opponent with his tapped tilts for combos, or space his smash attacks more safely.
• Ryu's initial dash is faster (1.6 → 1.76).
• Double jump is slightly higher.
• In matches where Ryu has only one opponent left to face, he will always face his opponent, similar to how he behaves in the Street Fighter series. Ryu can still have teammates left standing if Team Attack is off.
  • This makes it harder to be hit from behind by Back Slash or Nosferatu.
  • This makes it difficult to attack things behind Ryu, such as Luma, and makes him easier to be hit by Disable.
  • This makes it more difficult for Ryu to utilize his back aerial, as he will almost always have to perform a reverse aerial rush in order for it to connect.
  • This changes the application of his dash dance, as his initial dash does not turn him in the opposite direction. Instead, he performs a back dash similar to his home series, allowing him to perform an evasive "shimmy" to keep within an effective range while still facing the opponent. This potentially improves his punishes.
  • This makes his ledgetraps more efficient and allows him to punish rolls and cross ups much more easily.
  • This makes his command inputs easier to perform. For instance, it is now impossible to accidentally perform a Hadoken backwards when attempting to perform a Tatsumaki Senpukyaku, or accidentally perform a Tatsumaki Senpukyaku when trying to perform a Hadoken.
  • This makes it practically impossible for Ryu to be reversed by Cape/Super Sheet on the ground, as Ryu will immediately turn right back around.

Ground attacks

• Ryu now has proximity normals that change depending on his distance from the opponent. Tapped forward tilt changes from his standing medium kick to a new attack based off his Street Fighter II close medium punch, a right hook inwards. Held neutral attack changes from his Street Fighter II standing heavy kick to his close heavy punch, which has the same damage and animation to held up tilt, but doesn't launch the opponent away. Both attacks can be special cancelled on hit.
  • Proximity forward tilt is capable of locking while proximity held neutral attack deals 14% and cancels into Shoryuken's sweetspot reliably, which gives Ryu a stronger followup than most of his other options for a Focus Attack crumple punish. Two forward tilts locks into a held neutral attack deals 26%, turning missed techs into potential KOs.
• Neutral attack:
  • Tapped neutral attack can now jab reset.
  • Neutral attack launches opponents, making them easier to be hit.
  • Ryu can now also special cancel the second hit of his tapped neutral attack, rather than just the first.
  • Held neutral attack's hitbox has been moved inward (Z offset: 6.4-13.9 → 5.4-11.9), reducing its range.
  • First and second hit of neutral attack deal less damage (2% (first)/3% (second) → 1.5% (both).
  • First and second hit of neutral attack have reduced hitlag.
• Forward tilt:
  • Tapped forward tilt has less ending lag (FAF 28 → 24).
  • Held forward tilt has more startup (frame 13 → 15).
• Up tilt:
  • The outer hitboxes of tapped up tilt are located closer to Ryu (Z offset: 7.5 → 6.0), reducing its horizontal reach.
  • Tapped up tilt has a more horizontal angle on airborne opponents (84° → 75°).
• Down tilt:
  • Tapped down tilt has gained a hitstun modifier of 1.
  • Held down tilt has less startup lag (7 frames → 6).
  • Held down tilt deals less knockback (70 (base)/23 (scaling) → 66/16), allowing it to combo at a wider percent range.
  • Held down tilt has a lowered knockback angle (64 → 55). This makes it easier to combo into Tatsumaki Senpukyaku, but harder to combo into Shoryuken.
  • Light down tilt's outermost hitbox is smaller (3.5u → 2.5u), and all 3 of the hitboxes have lost their extensions, reducing the move's range.
  • Held down tilt's outer hitbox does not extend as far (Z offset: 7-17.2 → 7-15.7), noticeably reducing its range.
• Forward smash:
  • Forward smash deals more knockback (25 (base)/94 (scaling) → 26/98).
• Up smash:
  • Up smash deals more knockback (scaling 76 (clean)/81 (late) → 82/86).
  • Up smash grants intangibility on Ryu's arm on frames 3-6.
  • Up smash transitions to its late hit one frame earlier, reducing the clean hit's duration (frames 9-10 → 9).
• Down smash:
  • Down smash's sweetspot launches at a lower angle (45˚ → 35˚), with knockback scaling not fully compensated (50 → 47), improving its KO potential and turning it into a semi-spike.
  • Down smash can now be canceled into special moves.
  • Down smash's shield damage was reduced (0 → -8/-6), preventing Ryu from easily breaking shields by chaining down smash into special moves.
  • Down smash's outermost hitbox has been removed entirely, with no changes to the other hitboxes to compensate. As such, the move has considerably reduced range.

Aerial attacks

• Ryu can cancel all of his aerial attacks into special attacks in the same way he can cancel some of his ground attacks.
• All aerials have less landing lag (6 frames → 5 (neutral), 14 frames → 11 (forward), 12 frames → 10 (back), 14 frames → 11 (up), 18 frames → 15 (down)).
• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial's weak hitbox stays out much longer (frame 7-22 → 7-32).
  • Neutral aerial has more ending lag (FAF 28 → 36), making it much more difficult to start combos with it while airborne.
  • The late hit has smaller hitboxes (3.3u/3.3u → 3u/3u), further weakening its already very poor range.
  • Due to universal changes to the Sakurai angle (~45° → 38°), chaining neutral aerial into itself or down aerial is significantly harder, removing a major component of Ryu's combo and kill confirm game.
• Forward aerial:
  • Its sweetspot deals significantly more knockback (80 base/49 scaling → 82/56), boosting its KO potential.
    • This reduces its combo potential.
  • It auto-cancels earlier (frame 41 → 38), allowing it to autocancel from a rising full hop.
  • It has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 6-14 → 8-14).
  • It deals less damage on the sweetspots (15% (clean)/13% (late) → 14%/12%).
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial deals more base knockback (12 → 21).
  • Back aerial's outer hitbox does not extend as far (Z offset: 7.5-16 → 7.5-15), reducing its infamously large horizontal reach somewhat.
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial's hitboxes stay out longer (1 frame (both) → 2 frames (hit 1), 3 frames (hit 2)).
  • Up aerial grants intangibility on Ryu's arm on frames 6-11.
  • Up aerial has smaller hitboxes (6u (hit 1)/7u (hit 2) → 5.0u/6.0u), and they do not extend as far upwards (Y offset: 15-17 (hit 1)/17-19 (hit 2) → 15-16.5/17-18.5), significantly reducing its previously infamously large range above Ryu.

Throws and other attacks

• Grabs:
  • Dash and pivot grab have slightly more startup (frame 8 → 9 (dash), 9 → 10 (pivot).
  • All grabs have more ending lag (FAF 30 → 35 (standing), 37 → 43 (dash), 35 → 38 (pivot).
  • Standing grab extends slightly further (Z offset: 4-8.7 → 4-9.1), slightly improving its range
  • Dash grab does not extend as far (Z offset: 4-10.6 → 4-10), somewhat reducing its range.
  • Pivot grab extends a shorter distance (Z offset: 4-14.7 → 4-14.1), somewhat reducing its range. Combined with the new mechanic of Ryu facing his opponent, it has lost much of its utility.
• Pummel:
  • Pummel deals less damage (2% → 1.3%).
  • It deals more hitlag (4 frames → 12), but has less startup (frame 2 → 1) and much less ending lag (FAF 16 → 7). This overall makes Ryu's pummel slightly faster.
• Ryu's throws are no longer weight dependent.
• Down throw:
  • Down throw deals less damage (5% (hit 1)/4% (throw) → 3% (both)), although the throw's knockback scaling was compensated (137 → 157). In addition, Ultimate's front-loaded knockback results in this move having very little true followups.

Special moves

• Hadoken:
  • All variants of Hadoken have slightly less startup lag (frame 13 → 12).
  • All variants of Hadoken deal more damage (Hadoken: 6% (light)/6.5% (medium)/7% (heavy) → 9%/9.5%/10%, True Hadoken: 7.5%/8.1%/8.7% → 10.8%/11.4%/12%, Shakunetsu Hadoken: 5% → 9.3%).
  • All variants of Hadoken had their travel speeds adjusted, increasing their versatility (Light: 0.9 → 0.8, Medium: 1.2 → 1.3, Heavy: 1.5 → 1.8).
  • Hadoken and input Hadoken deals more shieldstun (multiplier: 0.29 → 1.06), improving its safety against shields.
  • Shakunetsu Hadoken's multi-hits have altered angles (60/0 → 366), now being an autolink, allowing them to link into later hits more consistently.
  • The design of Hadoken has been changed. It now more closely resembles its appearance in the Street Fighter series.
• Tatsumaki Senpukyaku:
  • The first hit of Tatsumaki Senpukyaku has a larger hitbox when used on the ground (3.5u → 4.5u).
  • Tatsumaki Senpukyaku's weak hitbox deals more damage and knockback.
  • Ryu's pivoting leg is now intangible during grounded Tatsumaki Senpukyaku in addition to his kicking leg. This prevents attacks that hit low to the ground from invalidating the move.
  • Tatsumaki Senpukyaku deals more damage overall and its strongest hit deals more knockback as a result.
  • The changes to jostling makes Tatsumaki Senpukyaku even more unsafe on shield, as Ryu can no longer cross up with the move.
• Shoryuken:
  • Shoryuken has more landing lag (18 frames (standard)/12 (input) → 22/15).
  • Shoryuken has less intangibility (frames 3-5 (standard)/1-6 (input) → 5/4-6), and the standard version no longer grants intangibility to Ryu's arm (outside of when Ryu is fully intangible).
  • Shoryuken cannot grab ledges as early (frame 15 → 20), hindering its recovery potential.
• Focus Attack:
  • Focus Attack's first stage of charge is harder to combo off of.
  • Focus Attack's hitbox does not extend as far backwards (Z offset: -3—11.5 → 2—11.5), no longer being able to hit opponents directly behind Ryu.
  • The maximum amount of damage Focus Attack's armor can sustain is lowered (22%-39% → 16.8%-33.6%).
• Final Smash:
  • During Shin Shoryuken, the opposing fighter has been given new animations while getting hit, somewhat inspired by animations from Street Fighter IV for the Metsu Shoryuken.
  • Ryu can cancel several standard attacks and any special move excluding Focus Attack into Shin Shoryuken or Shinku Hadoken.
  • Shin Shoryuken's final hit has significantly less knockback scaling (105 → 90), weakening its KO potential.

Update history

Ryu has been significantly buffed overall through game updates, albeit not to the exact same extent as Ken. Patch 2.0.0 improved his neutral attack and allowed his forward air to autocancel from a full hop, but at the cost of down tilt no longer allowing Ryu to jump as fast after using it. Patch 3.1.0 gave the most changes, altering many of his core moves: jab 1, jab 2 and light (close) forward tilt have a wider window to followup with a special move, while heavy (close) neutral attack has been completely changed into a low-knockback combo tool, significantly improving its utility as it was previously a heavy up tilt with no followups. Light (far) forward tilt has more range, up aerial and early Tatsumaki Senpukyaku has a larger hitbox, light down tilt has more hitstun, and heavy down tilt has decreased knockback, allowing the latter two to combo more effectively. Finally, all versions of Hadoken travel slower if tapped and faster if held, allowing the player to control the projectile's use.

Patch 4.0.0 gave Ryu the ability to turn to opponents after parrying an attack, allowing for stronger punishes. Patch 7.0.0 further enhanced Ryu's combo game by allowing his down smash to cancel into special moves (though at the expense of lowered shield damage), and significantly improved held down tilt's combo strings into Hadoken and Tatsumaki Senpukyaku by altering its launch angle (allowing the former to lock even at very high percents, and the latter to KO at a higher percent range). Hadoken's variants were all improved: Hadoken's spacing ability was buffed by increasing its shieldstun multiplier, while Shakunetsu Hadoken's looping hits now uses the autolink angle, allowing its hits to connect more reliably. Tatsumaki Senpukyaku also deals more damage, and gained more safety due to both of Ryu's legs now being intangible during use.

Another buff to his down smash (that went undocumented) is that Ryu can now Kara Cancel during the move's charging animation. Ryu could already Kara Cancel his down smash, but it was only during the first four frames of the move. Thanks to this change, Kara Cancel is now much easier to pull off and greatly improves Ryu's combo game.

Patch 13.0.1 made his heavy forward tilt faster, gave all versions of Hadoken even more damage, and made all versions of Tatsumaki Senpukyaku safer to use on the ground. These changes significantly improve Ryu's shield pressure, as all attacks mentioned are typical frame trap combo enders that more often then not lead to either significant damage or a broken shield.

Overall, Ryu's renowned combo strings and patient playstyle have been significantly improved through game updates and he is now considered by most players to be more on par with his Echo Fighter, Ken.

2.0.0

• Neutral attack launches opponents, making them easier to be hit.
• Forward aerial auto-cancels earlier (frame 41 → 38), allowing to autocancel from a rising full hop.
• Can no longer jump immediately after using down tilt.

3.0.0

• Edge attack deals less hitlag (1.5× → 1.1×).
• Shoryuken's animation has been slightly altered.
• Focus Attack sliding has been removed.

3.1.0

• Neutral attack 1 and 2 can be canceled into a special move for a longer amount of time (1-7 → 1-11(jab 1)/1-12 (jab 2).
• Neutral attack (heavy, close) deals drastically less knockback (70 base/70 scaling → 25/15) and sends at a slightly more horizontal angle (85° → 80°), making it a much better combo starter even at high percents.
• Forward tilt (light, close) can be canceled into a special move for a longer amount of time (8-14 → 8-24).
• Forward tilt (light, far)'s sourspot has a smaller hitbox (Z offset: 9u-5u → 6.5u-5u), effectively giving the sweetspot more range.
• Up tilt (light) sends at more vertical angle when hitting airborne opponents, making it a better combo starter (66° → 75°).
• Down tilt (light) deals more hitstun (0 → 1).
• Down tilt (heavy) deals less knockback (70 base/23 scaling → 73/16), allowing it to combo at a wider percent range.
• Up aerial has a longer hitbox duration (6/10 → 6-7/9-11), with arm intangibility matching, and a larger hitbox (4.5u (hit 1)/5.5u (hit 2) → 5.0u/6.0u).
• Hadoken:
  • All variants of Hadoken have slightly less startup lag (frame 13 → 12) and ending lag (FAF 58 → 57).
  • All variants of Hadoken deal more damage (Hadoken: 6% (light)/6.5% (medium)/7% (heavy) → 7%/7.5%/8%, true Hadoken: 7.5%/8.1%/8.7% → 8.7%/9.3%/10%, Shakunetsu Hadoken hit 5: 5% → 7.3%, total: 9.4% → 11.7%).
  • Standard Hadoken deals more base knockback against grounded opponents (65/55 (clean/late) → 68/58).
  • All variants of Hadoken had their travel speeds adjusted, increasing their versatility (light: 0.9 → 0.8, medium: 1.2 → 1.3, heavy: 1.5 → 1.8).
  • Light normal Hadoken has a longer duration (normal: 75 frames → 82).
  • Heavy Hadoken and light Shakunetsu Hadoken have shorter durations (60 frames → 50 (regular), 60 → 55 (H. Shakunetsu), 75 → 68 (L. Shakunetsu)).
• The clean hit of Tatsumaki Senpukyaku has a larger hitbox when used on the ground (3.5u → 4.5u).

4.0.0

• Ryu now turns to face opponents after perfect shielding.

7.0.0

• Overall shield size has been increased by 1.125×.
• Held down tilt launches at a lower angle (64° → 55°) and has less base knockback (73 → 66). This makes it easier to combo into Tatsumaki Senpukyaku, but harder to combo into Shoryuken.
• Down smash can be canceled into special moves.
  • Kara Cancelling works even after charging down smash.
• Down smash has received negative shield damage (0 → -8/-6), preventing Ryu from easily breaking shields by chaining it into special moves.
• Hadoken has gained above-average shieldstun multipliers (1.2× (weak)/1.13× (medium)/1.06× (strong)), improving its safety against shields.
• Shakunetsu Hadoken's looping hits use the autolink angle (60°/0° → 366°), allowing them to connect more reliably.
• Ryu's pivoting leg is intangible during grounded Tatsumaki Senpukyaku in addition to his kicking leg. This allows it to beat out grounded attacks that hit low to the ground.
• Tatsumaki Senpukyaku deals more base damage (9%/10%/11% → 11%/12%/13% (grounded, front hit), 8%/9.5%/11% → 10%/11.5%/13% (grounded, back hit), 8%/9%/10% → 10%/11%/12% (aerial, front hit), 7%/8.5%/10% → 9%/10.5%/12% (aerial, back hit)), with only base knockback compensated on the heavy version's clean hit (75 → 71) and the late hits (50/57/65 → 42/49/56), strengthening the move overall.

12.0.0

• Shakunetsu Hadoken
  • Has a new, higher priority hitbox that only hits grounded opponents, making it easier to hit them multiple times.
  • Previous hitbox has lower priority (Clean ID 0 → 1, Late ID 0/1 → 3/1).
  • Late multihit hitbox is slightly further forward (Medium/Heavy ID 1: Z -0.2/-4.5 → 0.3/-4.5, Medium ID 3: Z -2.5/-2.5 → -2.0/-2.0, Heavy ID 3: Z -3.0/-3.0 → -2.0/-2.0).
  • Multihit has more base knockback (11 (light)/14 (medium)/17 (heavy) → 40 (all)).
  • Clean multihit has a higher hitstun modifier (4 → 10).

13.0.1

• Both hits of forward tilt (heavy) have less startup (frames 16 (hit 1)/18-19 (hit 2) → 15/17-18).
• Hadoken:
  • Hadoken, and in turn True Hadoken, deal more damage (7% (light)/7.5% (medium)/8% (heavy) → 9%/9.5%/10%).
  • Shakunetsu Hadoken's last hit deals more damage (7.3% → 9.3%).
  • Input multiplier reduced, but overall damage is still higher due to the base damage increase (1.25× → 1.2×).
  • All variants have less base knockback (Hadoken: 68/68/67 → 67/67/66, 58 → 57 (late, light and medium), 58/68/58 → 57/67/57 (late, heavy), Shakunetsu Hadoken: 60 → 58 (last hit)).
• Grounded Tatsumaki Senpukyaku has less ending lag (FAF 31 → 27).

Moveset

• Ryu always faces his opponent when one is left standing, counting teammates as opponents if Team Attack is on.
• A small flash will appear whenever Ryu does the input command version of one of his Special Moves instead of the standard B input.
• Sound effects from the Street Fighter II series, albeit heavily modified, are used when Ryu hits an opponent instead of the standard knockback sound effects. The intensity of the sound depends on the power of the move. Ryu also uses a unique sound effect when he performs a parry, which is based on the parry sound effect from the Street Fighter III series. Ryu shares these traits with Ken.

For a gallery of Ryu's hitboxes, see here.

Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		Jab (ジャブ) / Body Blow (ボディーブロー) / Hook (フック) Mawashi Geri[1] (回し蹴り) (Held-Far) Upper (アッパー) (Held-Close)	1.5%	Tapped: A jab, followed by a short straight-punch, followed by a hook. The first two hits can lock. It is based on his standing light punch from Street Fighter II (albeit with its animation from Street Fighter III), close standing medium punch from Street Fighter III, and standing hard punch from Street Fighter III, respectively. The first and second hits can be special-cancelled; this is recommended due to the third hit dealing comparatively low damage. At low percents, Shakunetsu Hadoken can effectively rack up damage, while at high percents, Shoryuken will act as a KO combo. Held (Far): A spinning hook kick. It is based on his standing heavy kick in Street Fighter II. Unlike many of his other moves, it cannot be special-cancelled, though it deals enough knockback to KO at high percents and possesses good range, allowing it to act as a poking/KO option from a distance. However, Ryu's leg is positioned high during the move, allowing even medium-sized characters like Mario to duck under it while using certain moves, or even during their landing animation after jumping. Held (Close): An uppercut similar to his held up tilt, but with significantly different properties, doing virtually no knockback and being special-cancelable. This makes it extremely potent for combos, reliably cancelling into Shoryuken's sweetspot well past realistic percentages on any character.
			1.5%
			5%
			10% (held-far), 12% (held-close)
Forward tilt		Side Kick (横蹴り) (Tapped-Far) Hook (フック) (Tapped-Close) Collarbone Breaker (鎖骨割り) (Held)	6.8% (tapped- far), 6% (tapped- close), 3% (hit 1, held), 6% (hit 2, held)	Tapped (Far): The yoko geri, a kick used in traditional karate. It launches the opponent diagonally upward, and grants intangibility on Ryu's leg from frames 7-12. Good for following with a dash attack or forward aerial at low percents. It is based on his standing medium kick in Street Fighter III. Cannot be special-cancelled. Tapped (Close): An inward hook. based off his Street Fighter II close medium punch. This move causes the opponent to slightly shift towards Ryu, allowing it to combo into any of his special moves. Even at 999%, this move is incapable of KO'ing. This move can also lock, which grants Ryu a potent combo on missed techs: floored opponents can be hit by two light forward tilts, a held neutral attack, then true Shoryuken, which will deal around 50% and act as a guaranteed KO as early as 60%. Held: The overhead of the same name that debuted in Super Street Fighter II Turbo. Ryu draws his fist back over his shoulder before thrusting it forward and down. Despite its appearance, it hits twice much like the original version. Deals very high shield damage, but its start-up makes it difficult to use on quick opponents. It is best used after conditioning an opponent to shield, or while they are trapped shielding near a ledge, where Ryu can use his tilts to potentially lead into a shield break.
Up tilt		Elbow Strike (肘打ち) (Tapped) Upper (アッパー) (Held)	2% (tapped), 12% (held)	Tapped: The sok ngat[2], an uppercut-style elbow strike used in Muay Thai. It can be used repeatedly as fast as the player can press the attack button. It has lost its misleadingly large hitbox, making it less reliable as an all-purpose move, though it is still effective at chaining into itself, leading into many of Ryu's moves for a quick finisher, or forcing opponents to hold their shield long enough to use a held forward tilt for a shield break. At high percents near the ledge, light up tilt can lead into down aerial as a powerful KO option. It is based on his close standing light punch in Street Fighter II. Held: An uppercut. Strong for its speed and grants his upper body intangibility from frames 4-10, making it a surprisingly effective anti-air attack and KO move. If it connects, it can instantly be canceled into any version of Shoryuken. A reliable finisher for his tapped up tilt. KOs at 152%. It is based on his close standing heavy punch in Street Fighter III.
Down tilt		Light Ankle Kick (キック, Kick)(Tapped) Heavy Ankle Kick (くるぶしキック, Ankle Kick) (Held)	1.6% (tapped); 7% (leg, held), 5.5% (foot, held)	Tapped: A crouching, Hapkido-style shin kick. It can be repeated as fast as the player can press, similar to his light up tilt. If used on a prone opponent, they will be lightly launched back onto their feet, allowing Ryu to continue combos on them for extended periods of time. Ryu is unable to jump immediately after using down tilt, making special moves the most effective followup, though a forward aerial can catch a jumping opponent. It is based on his crouching light kick in Street Fighter II. Held: A lunging, Hapkido-style shin kick. Like the light version, Ryu is unable to jump immediately after using this move. Despite having low power, it can be immediately canceled into a special move if Ryu hits the opponent or their shield, allowing Ryu to pressure his opponent. As of update 7.0.0, the move's changed angle allows effective combos from held down tilt even past 180%, with Hadoken allowing a free lock at high percents, and Tatsumaki Senpukyaku being a dependable KO combo. It is based on his crouching medium kick in Street Fighter II.
Dash attack		Tobisokuto[3] (跳び足刀)	12% (clean), 8% (late)	A flying kick. Possesses high base knockback for a dash attack and it can reliably combo into many of his tapped attacks as a finisher. KOs at 150%. Based on his original jumping medium and heavy kicks in the Street Fighter Alpha/Zero games.
Forward smash		Joudan Sokutogeri[4] (上段足刀蹴り)	16% (leg), 17.5% (foot)	The side kick of the same name from Street Fighter III. Moves him slightly forward and has the highest range of all his standard attacks, as it is able to hit opponents two character lengths away from him. However, it has noticeable ending lag. Deals slightly more damage and knockback when hit with Ryu's heel, and is Ryu's strongest standard attack if his heel connects. KOs at 110% with his heel and 120% anywhere else. Can cancel into his Final Smash upon hit.
Up smash		Thrust Upper (突き上げアッパー)	17% (clean), 13.5% (late)	Squats and then rises up to throw an uppercut. Makes his hurtbox smaller while attacking, making this a good anti-air attack. Slight ending lag and does not have much horizontal range, though it is the highest hitting of all his standing attacks, being the only one able to hit an opponent on a Battlefield platform. His arm becomes intangible on frames 3-6. A good finisher for his tap combos. KOs at 130%. Can cancel into his Final Smash upon hit. It is based on his crouching heavy punch in Street Fighter, albeit with its animation from Street Fighter III.
Down smash		Kaiten Ashibarai[5] (回転足払い)	16%	A legsweep. Launches opponents at a diagonal angle and unlike most down smashes, it only hits in one direction. Has the fastest start-up of all of his smash attacks, with more range than his up smash but less than his forward smash, making it a comparably safe option. However, it has below average knockback for a smash attack, which makes it unreliable as a KOing option. Instead, it functions better as a spacing and anti-pressure option. As of update 7.0.0, down smash now deals less shield damage, but can be special-canceled just like most of his moves, repurposing it into a capable combo starter at low percents. Can cancel into his Final Smash upon hit. It is based on his crouching heavy kick in Street Fighter II.
Neutral aerial		Knee Kick (膝蹴り)	8% (clean), 4.5% (late)	A downward angled knee strike. Its limited range is compensated by its sex kick properties and low ending lag. Can cancel into any of his special moves upon hit. The late hit is capable of locking. Overall, this is one of Ryu's best combo starters/breakers, as it allows him to transition to the ground and pressure opponents into shielding, or start tilt combos. It is based on his diagonal jumping light kick in Street Fighter II.
Forward aerial		Tobigeri[6] (飛び蹴り)	15% (clean sweetspot), 13% (late sweetspot), 9% (clean sourspot), 8% (late sourspot)	A flying kick. Ryu's foot has high launching power, while his upper leg has a sourspot and deals less damage. Despite this, the sourspot deals high shield damage. A good combo move and very damaging for its speed, but lacks KO power due to its knockback growth, making it more suitable for damage racking unless near the side blast lines. Can cancel into any of his special moves upon hit, though this is most effective when using the sourspot, which has low enough knockback to effectively combo. It is based on his diagonal jumping medium and heavy kick animation in Street Fighter II.
Back aerial		Senpukyaku (旋風脚)	16% (leg), 13% (foot)	An outside crescent kick. It has very good reach, and its strength and fast start-up make it Ryu's most powerful aerial and a viable KOing option, able to KO at 115%. Due to Ryu always facing his opponent in one-on-one matches, it is difficult to use for edgeguarding: one must perform a reverse aerial rush, which takes longer to perform as Ryu, as he will only pivot around as part of his turnaround, and not in a dash dance (without performing a reverse aerial rush, it is impossible to jump offstage while facing towards it if the opponent is offstage). It is based on his vertical jumping heavy kick from Street Fighter II, which in some sources also doubled as his Senpukyaku (旋風脚, "Whirlwind Leg") command normal/unique art from other games.
Up aerial		Sukui Tsuki[7] (すくい突き)	5% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2)	An uppercut. Despite its appearance, it hits twice, has good vertical range, and is reliable at catching opponents above Ryu. His arm becomes intangible on frames 6-10. KOs at 155%. It is also effective as a landing option, as the first hitbox starts low enough to pressure shields and start combos; it can also extend into Shoryuken in the air as a KO combo. It is based on his diagonal jumping medium punch in Super Street Fighter II Turbo.
Down aerial		Straight Punch (ストレート, Straight)	12% (grounded opponent), 15% (aerial opponent sweetspot), 11% (aerial opponent sourspot)	A downward angled cross. Hitting an airborne opponent with the attack's sweetspot (his fist as it comes down) results in a meteor smash that powerfully sends opponents diagonally downward, while hitting an airborne opponent with the sourspot launches the opponent diagonally upward with high knockback. Hitting a grounded opponent, however, results in extremely low knockback that will not KO even at 300%, but nonetheless possesses the ability to start combos. Can cancel into any of his special moves upon hit, with Shoryuken being especially useful across all percent ranges. It is based on his jumping medium and heavy punch in Street Fighter II, albeit at an emphasized downward angle.
Grab		Grab (つかみ)	—	Reaches out. Ryu's overall grab range is short. It is based on his grab animation in Street Fighter III.
Pummel		Hizageri[8] (ひざ蹴り)	1.3%	A knee strike while holding the opponent in the collar-and-elbow position. It is based on Ken's Tsukami Hizageri (つかみ膝蹴り, "Grasping Knee Kick") throw in the Street Fighter Alpha/Zero games.
Forward throw		Seoi Throw (背負い投げ)	9%	The seoi nage[9] (a Judo throw). If the opponent does not react or jumps, this throw can lead into a down aerial meteor smash at medium percentages. It is based on his punch throw in Street Fighter II, where it had the same name in most in-depth sources.
Back throw		Somersault Throw (巴投げ)	12%	The tomoe nage[10] (a Judo throw). Heavy opponents can be knocked back onto their feet with a tapped down tilt, then thrown again. It is based on his kick throw in Street Fighter II, where it had the same name in most in-depth sources.
Up throw		Heel Drop (かかと落とし)	8% (throw), 15% (kick)	A stretch kick transitioned into an axe kick. It can combo into an aerial attack at low percents. While the axe kick cannot hit the thrown opponent, it can nevertheless hit another opponent that is too close to Ryu. Unlike the stretch kick, the axe kick deals much more damage and has high knockback (KO's Mario starting at 77% from the edge of Final Destination). Ryu's leg becomes intangible during the axe kick (frames 25-30). It is based on his close heavy kick in Street Fighter II.
Down throw		Tile Breaker (瓦割り)	5% (hit), 4% (throw)	Pins the opponent to the ground and performs a knifehand strike. Its angle allows it to combo into held neutral attack at 0%, which can be extended into any special move. It also combos well into aerial attacks and Shoryuken until 30%, where thrown opponents are launched too high to get hit. Deals immense shield damage, enough to instantly break the shield of opponents that are right next to Ryu. Its shield-breaking properties and animation are based on the brick breaking bonus game in Street Fighter, though it also resembles Akuma's Shurettō (朱裂刀, "Vermilion Rending Blade") throw in Street Fighter IV.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Kicks behind himself and then in front of himself before getting up. The front hit is based on his crouching heavy kick in Street Fighter III.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Kicks around himself before getting up.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Kicks behind himself and then in front of himself before getting up.
Edge attack Edge getups			7%	Performs a crouching shin kick while climbing up.
Neutral special		Hadoken	Standard: 9%, 9.5%, 10% Input: 10.8%, 11.4%, 12% Shakunetsu Hadoken: 1.1% (hits 1-4), 9.3% (hit 5)	Quickly cups his hands to his side and then thrusts them forward to launch a blue ki blast from his cupped hands that deals decent damage and low knockback, is capable of locking, and may cause tripping at low percents. Using it in the air stalls Ryu and allows him to control his aerial momentum a bit, allowing him to mix up his linear recovery. Only one Hadoken can be active, as attempting to shoot another results in a puff of smoke emitting from his hands. Holding down the special button greatly increases the blast's speed and slightly increases damage output. Three versions of the move can be performed, two of which have directional inputs: a small blue Hadoken (special button only), a slighty stronger (1.2× damage) and larger inputted Hadoken (↓ ↘ → + attack/special/side taunt), and the red flaming Shakunetsu Hadoken that hits multiple times (← ↙ ↓ ↘ → + attack/special/side taunt). Combos well out of his tapped tilt attacks and aerials, and is mainly used to rack up damage and control space due to its low knockback. The light version travels extremely slowly and can be used to control space and even start combos while approaching, while the heavy version is extremely fast and is useful for zoning. Shakunetsu Hadoken deals some shield damage, though not to the extent of his Collarbone Breaker. However, the Hadoken and its variants should be used wisely due to its low priority. All variants can cancel into his Final Smash.
Side special		Tatsumaki Senpukyaku	Standard: 11%, 12%, 13% (front grounded) 10%, 11.5%, 13% (back grounded) 10%, 11%, 12% (front aerial) 9%, 10.5%, 12% (back aerial) Input: 12.76%, 13.92%, 15.08% (front grounded) 11.6%, 13.34%, 15.08% (back grounded) 11.6%, 12.76%, 13.92% (front aerial) 10.44%, 12.18%, 13.92% (back aerial)	A jumping, spinning crescent kick. Ryu moves in the given direction he is facing. Has sex kick properties, grants intangibility on Ryu's legs for the whole duration the hitbox is active, and deals more damage and knockback after the first few frames. Holding down the special button increases damage dealt, distance traveled, and the move's duration, also giving the attack additional knockback. Using an inputted Tatsumaki Senpukyaku (↓ ↙ ← + attack/special/side taunt) sees Ryu announce the move by name and results in it dealing 1.16× damage, covering more distance, and granting it better KOing potential. It is an almost guaranteed KO move at very high percents if held down tilt connects, can extend aerial combos on opponents that are hit horizontally, and can be used to prevent Shoryuken from getting stale as a KO option. The move can be used as a good horizontal recovery while not causing helplessness, but it can only be used once in the air without touching the ground or taking hitstun. It also cannot be canceled once used, and its slow spinning hitbox makes it very easy to punish offstage. Can cancel into his Final Smash.
Up special		Shoryuken	Standard: 13%, 14%, 15% (grounded) 12%, 13%, 14% (early air) 7% (late air) Input: 15.6%, 16.8%, 18% (grounded) 14.4%, 15.6%, 16.8% (early air) 8.4% (late air)	Ryu's signature leaping uppercut, with him announcing the move's name while propelling his fist into the air at high speed. Holding the special button increases damage and height traveled. An inputted Shoryuken (→ ↓ ↘ + attack/special/side taunt) deals even more knockback, deals 1.2× more damage, has 2/3rds the landing lag, and grants Ryu both slightly more intangibility (frames 1-14 versus frame 5) and lower landing lag (16 frames versus 23 frames). Aside from being his main vertical recovery move, Shoryuken is also a viable KOing option due to its fast start-up, especially when used in conjunction with Focus Attack. In comparison, an inputted Shoryuken is Ryu's most powerful vertical KOing option overall and has the highest growth in his entire standard moveset, and can be also used as a risky method to escape combos due to its intangibility. However, it has heavy aerial lag as, alongside his low air acceleration, Ryu cannot alter his aerial drift for around two seconds after he attacks, and he becoming helpless once he descends. It is also unable to sweetspot ledges until the end, making it mandatory for Ryu to gauge his travel distance. Can cancel into his Final Smash.
Down special		Focus Attack	12% (Level 1), 10% (Level 2), 17% (Level 3)	Assumes a focused stance while emitting a black ink-like aura, and then throws a short straight-punch. Crumples opponents where they stand with a lengthy stun animation if charged for more than half a second, which can allow for follow-ups. Ryu gains damage-based armor that can withstand a single hit below 7%-14% (scaling linearly based on number of frames charged) while charging. Ryu takes 0.5× damage during the move, effectively doubling his damage-based armor to 14%-28%. When fully charged, the attack becomes unblockable and will pierce through counterattacks. Peculiarly, if a fully charged focus attack hits a shield at any distance it will still crumple even if the shielding opponent is out of range, essentially making the move more effective on shielding enemies. The move's charge is indicated by Ryu flashing during its start-up. Level 1 is performed immediately and slightly launches an opponent. Level 2 is performed after half a second and crumples an opponent, but deals the least amount of damage. Level 3 is performed after a whole second, can block any normal single hit attack, crumples the opponent for a much longer time and deals the most amount of damage. Ryu can also perform a technique called the Focus Attack Dash Cancel. This is performed by tapping left or right twice, which cancels Focus Attack and instead propels Ryu a set distance depending on where the control stick was tapped. However if the punch misses, Ryu will be unable to cancel the move. If the move hits an airborne opponent, they will instead by launched with heavy hitlag. Although Focus Attack cannot block grabs and is countered by multiple hit attacks, it is a useful tool for baiting opponents and punishing, while its Dash Cancel can function as a horizontal recovery option while offstage.
Final Smash		Shin Shoryuken / Shinku Hadoken	Shin Shoryuken: 1% (initial hit), 10% (hits 1 and 2), 20% (last hit) Forbidden Shoryuken: 2% (multihits), 5% (last hit) Shinku Hadoken: 1.5% (center multihits), 1% (edge multihits), 10% (explosion)	A Final Smash that varies depending on range. At point-blank range, Ryu traps the opponent with the Shin Shoryuken, a three-hit combo that launches the opponent with an even stronger Shoryuken. Begins KOing at specific percentages for every character, much like KO Uppercut and Finishing Touch. At any other range, Ryu performs the Shinku Hadoken, a much larger Hadoken that vacuums opponents within a 35 unit (roughly the length of a Battlefield platform) radius into it before dragging them a distance across the screen and exploding. Shin Shoryuken has much higher KO potential against a single opponent, whereas Shinku Hadoken has more range, reliably affects multiple opponents, and is capable of bypassing walls. Shin Shoryuken can be cancelled into from Ryu's neutral attacks (both tapped and held variants), tilts, smash attacks, aerials, and special moves (for the variants of Hadoken, it must be at point blank range). In particular situations (such as precise spacing or suddenly becoming intangible or invincible), it is possible for an opponent to be in range for a Shin Shoryuken but not get hit, resulting in Ryu performing the Forbidden Shoryuken—a significantly weaker failsafe—from Street Fighter Alpha 3.

Canceling

Ryu can perform a special move out of certain normal attacks, a mechanic known in his home series as special-cancelling. By pressing the special button or doing the command input after connecting with a normal attack on hit or on shield, Ryu will cancel the endlag of the normal attack and perform the move. The normal attacks that can be canceled include the first two hits of neutral attack, tapped and held down-tilt, tapped up-tilt, held up tilt, proximity forward-tilt, proximity held neutral attack and down smash. He is also capable of doing so with his aerials. Special-cancelling allows Ryu to perform blockstrings and hit confirms into Shoryuken for a kill, Tatsumaki Senpukyaku for a combo, or Hadoken or Shakunetsu Hadoken for safety and pressure. He can also bait the opponent out with a special cancel into a Focus Attack, further increasing mixup potential.

Stats

Stats	Weight	Dash speed	Walk speed	Traction	Air friction	Air speed	Air acceleration	Gravity	Falling speed	Jumpsquat	Jump height	Double jump height
Value	103	1.76 – Initial dash 1.6 – Run	0.75	0.11	0.015	1.12	0.01 – Base 0.025 – Additional	0.12	1.6 – Base 2.24 – Fast-fall	3	26 - Base 15 - Short hop	29.5

Announcer call

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• English/Japanese/Chinese

On-screen appearance

• Walks onto the stage from some mist in the background, then gets into a fighting stance.

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  Ryu's on-screen appearance

Taunts

• Up Taunt: Pulls his headband ends taut while stating "Come on!" (かかってこい！, Come on!) Unlike in Smash 4, Ryu does not turn around during the taunt. This is one of his taunts from Street Fighter IV.
• Side Taunt: Holds his fist forwards and declares "Talk is cheap!" (拳で語り合おう！, Let your fists talk!) This is one of his taunts from Street Fighter IV. Nearly identical to Ken's side taunt.
• Down Taunt: Stomps on the ground and grunts, causing the screen to briefly shake. This is his taunt from the Street Fighter III series.

*Interestingly, the two taunts from Street Fighter IV have their quotes reversed in Ultimate.

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  Ryu's up taunt.

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  Ryu's side taunt.

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  Ryu's down taunt.

Idle poses

• Adjusts his gloves. Resembles his character select pose from Street Fighter Alpha 2.
• Wriggles the fingers on both hands, then crosses his arms and pumps them.

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  Ryu's first idle pose.

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  Ryu's second idle pose.

Crowd cheer

	Cheer (English)	Cheer (Japanese/Chinese)	Cheer (Italian)	Cheer (Dutch)	Cheer (French)
Cheer
Description	Ryu Ryu Ryu!	Ryu! Ryu! Ryu!	Forza Ryu! *claps 5 times*	Ry - u!	Ry - u!

	Cheer (German)	Cheer (Spanish)	Cheer (Russian)	Cheer (Korean)
Cheer
Description	Ry - u!	Ryu! Ryu! Ryu!	Ryu! *claps 3 times*	Ryu! Ryu! Ryu!

Victory poses

• Left: Crosses his arms, then winds back and performs a right hook with his fist facing the camera; his victory pose from Street Fighter IV, saying "Give it your all!" ("必殺のタイミングを計れ!", Gauge the timing of your special moves!), one of his victory quotes from Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike.
• Up: Slings his bag over his shoulder while saying "The journey has just begun." ("旅はまだ…始まったばかりだ", Yet the journey... has just begun.). This is one of his victory quotes from Street Fighter Alpha 3.
• Right: Punches once before raising his fist in the air, referencing one of his more recurring win poses while saying "Your range is one fist short." ("その間合いじゃ、拳半分届かない!", That range doesn't reach half a fist!). This is another one of his victory quotes from Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike.

A remix of the victory theme from Street Fighter II.

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In competitive play

Tier placement and history

After Ultimate's launch, Ryu was met with a negative reception. Many players immediately noticed the severe amount of nerfs from Smash 4, and regarded him as a "high risk, low reward" fighter. He was also significantly overshadowed by his own Echo Fighter Ken, who is faster on the ground and has a more extensive combo game with two exclusive command moves, though Ken himself was also poorly regarded at launch. The perception of both fighters began to turn around with updates 3.1.0 and 7.0.0, which significantly buffed both. However, Ryu, though considered to be significantly improved on his own, was still regarded as inferior to Ken (now generally seen as a high tier character) and therefore rarely seen in tournament play.

Ryu's representation began to improve gradually as players took notice of his unique perks over Ken; most notably, his Shakunetsu Hadoken granting him a more reliable neutral game. In update 13.0.1, Ryu got some buffs exclusive to him, including to the aforementioned Shakunetsu Hadoken, which once again boosted his perception. Currently, Ryu has a decent amount of players and results; however, there is a very large overlap with Ken's playerbase, and dedicated Ryu mains remain rare. Many top players, such as AndresFn, Vendetta, Venom, Maeda and Munekin, main both characters in order to leverage their unique advantages in different matchups. Overall, Ryu's reputation has significantly improved since the game's launch, and he is no longer believed to be significantly outclassed by Ken. Most players now rank them very close, with some believing he is in fact slightly better. The latter belief is supported by some of the best "shoto" placements being achieved by solo Ryu players, such as Asimo finishing 2nd at Kagaribi 7 and Ikan finishing 9th at GENESIS 8. Regardless, both fighters are considered to be high-tier characters at minimum, with Ryu ranked 36th on the first tier list, and later ranked higher than Ken on the second and current tier list at 32nd.

Most historically significant players

See also: Category:Ryu players (SSBU)

•  Asimo - The best Ryu player in the world. Placed 2nd at Seibugeki 10, Kagaribi 7, and Kagaribi 9, 3rd at Sumabato SP 26, and 5th at The Gimvitational with wins over players such as Light, Tea, and ProtoBanham.
•  Ikan - The best Ryu player in the United States. Placed 2nd at Regen 2023, 5th at Ignition 300, 7th at Frosty Faustings XV 2023, 9th at GENESIS 8, and 17th at Collision 2023 with wins over players such as Bloom4Eva, Cosmos, and MVD. Ranked top 120 on the LumiRank Mid-Year 2023.
•  Maeda - Co-mains Ryu with Ken and is considered the best Ryu player in France. Placed 9th at Smash4Glory - Ultimate Edition, 25th at Ultimate WANTED 3, and 33rd at Syndicate 2019 with wins over AndresFn, Manda and Greward. Currently ranked 45th on the European Smash Rankings.
•  Munekin - Co-mains Ryu with Ken and is one of the best Ryu players in Japan. Placed 3rd at Maesuma TOP 2, 9th at Umebura SP 6, 17th at Sumabato SP 6, 25th at EVO Japan 2020, and 33rd at Umebura Japan Major 2019 with wins over Etsuji, Rizeasu, and Shuton. Currently ranked 83rd on the Japan Player Rankings.
•  Sandstorm - Co-mains Ryu with Ken and is one of the best Ryu players in the United States. Placed 1st at DreamHack Rotterdam 2019, 9th at Low Tier City 7, 13th at Final Round 2019, and 25th at DreamHack Dallas 2019 with wins over Azrael, ESAM, and Myran. Currently ranked 1st on the Central Pennsylvania Power Rankings.
•  Venom - Tri-mains Ryu with Ken and Kazuya and is considered the best Ryu player in Canada. Placed 1st at LAN ETS 2020, 17th at Defend the North 2019, and 33rd at Shine 2019 with wins over players like Ally, Blacktwins13, and Soar. Currently ranked 9th on the Smash Canada Rankings Ultimate.

Classic Mode: Seeking a Challenge

Ryu's congratulations screen.

Ryu's opponents are all references to characters that appear in Street Fighter II and are stamina battles with all of the stages being in Ω form. The Bonus Stage also comes earlier, similar to the car mini-game from said title. Items are disabled throughout the route. The final boss fight also includes Ken as a teammate. Both Ryu and his opponent always start with 150 HP, as well as his ally, Ken, in the final round.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	Ken	Suzaku Castle (Ω form)	Ken Stage Type A
2	Zero Suit Samus	Onett (Ω form)	Chun-Li Stage Type A	Zero Suit Samus represents Chun-Li.
3	Incineroar	Boxing Ring (Ω form)	Zangief Stage Type A	Incineroar represents Zangief.
4	Donkey Kong	Kongo Falls (Ω form)	Blanka Stage Type A	Donkey Kong represents Blanka.
Bonus Stage
5	Giant Little Mac	Boxing Ring (Ω form)	Balrog Stage Type A	Little Mac represents Balrog.
6	Meta Knight	Arena Ferox (Ω form)	Vega Stage Type A	Meta Knight represents Vega.
Final	Master Hand and Crazy Hand	Final Destination	M. Bison Stage Type A	References M. Bison in the artwork of Street Fighter II: Champion Edition, while Ken appears as a CPU ally, which represents the final battle against M. Bison in Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie.

Note: All of the matches play music from Street Fighter II regardless of the stage.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Ryu has Ryu Stage accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light

Finding Ryu in World of Light

Although Ryu does not appear in the World of Light opening cutscene, he was vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (except for Kirby) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light.

Ryu only appears after the player clears the World Tour sub-area reminiscent of Street Fighter II by beating every spirit.

Fighter Battle

No.	Image	Name	Type	Power	Stage	Music
60		Ryu	Attack	9,000	Suzaku Castle (Ω form)	Ryu Stage

Spirits

Ryu's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Ryu has been unlocked. Unlocking Ryu in World of Light allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. His fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces it with his artwork in Ultimate.

Additionally, Evil Ryu was added as a primary spirit via the spirit board event, "Street Fighter 35th Anniversary".

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  977. Ryu

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  1,513. Evil Ryu

In Spirit Battles

As the main opponent

Spirit				Battle parameters
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music
170		Karate Kong	Donkey Kong Jungle Beat	•Ryu (160 HP)		9,500	Kongo Falls (Ω form)	•Hard to Launch •Hazard: High Gravity	•The enemy's physical attacks have increased power •Timed stamina battle (1:30) •All fighters have reduced jump ability	Battle for Storm Hill
379		Knuckle Joe	Kirby Series	•Ryu		9,100	Find Mii (Ω form)	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Knuckle Joe)	•The enemy's punches and elbow strikes have increased power •The enemy's kicks and knee strikes have increased power •The enemy's physical attacks have increased power	Butter Building (Brawl)
574		Poo	EarthBound Series	•Ryu		9,400	Skyworld (Battlefield form)	N/A	•The enemy's punches and elbow strikes have increased power •The enemy's kicks and knee strikes have increased power •The enemy has increased move speed	Smiles and Tears
954		Reyn	Xenoblade Chronicles Series	•Ryu (150 HP)		4,300	Gaur Plain (Battlefield form)	N/A	•The enemy has super armor but moves slower •Timed stamina battle (2:00) •The enemy loves to taunt	Time to Fight! - Xenoblade Chronicles
988		Sagat	Street Fighter Series	•Ryu (160 HP)		9,300	Coliseum (Ω form)	•Jump Power ↓	•The enemy has super armor and is hard to launch or make flinch •The enemy's physical attacks have increased power •Stamina battle	Sagat Stage Type A
994		Akuma	Street Fighter Series	•Ryu (180 HP)		13,700	Suzaku Castle (Ω form)	•Defense ↓ •Jump Power ↓	•The enemy's special moves have increased power •Stamina battle •All fighters have reduced jump power	M. Bison Stage Type B
997		Sakura (Street Fighter)	Street Fighter Series	•Ryu (160 HP)		9,300	Suzaku Castle (Ω form)	•Jump Power ↓	•The enemy's neutral special has increased power •Stamina battle •The enemy favors neutral specials	Ryu Stage
1,192		Karate Joe	Rhythm Heaven Series Rhythm Paradise Series	•Ryu		9,200	Suzaku Castle (Ω form)	•Item Tidal Wave	•The enemy's punches and elbow strikes have increased power •The enemy's kicks and knee strikes have increased power •The enemy favors smash attacks	Rhythm Boxing
1,217		Ouendan	Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan Series	•Ryu ×3		3,700	Tomodachi Life	•Attack Power ↑	•The enemy has increased attack power after a little while •The enemy favors down specials	Filled with Hope
1,294		Akira	Virtua Fighter Series	•Ryu (180 HP)		13,800	Coliseum (Ω form)	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Akira) •Hazard: High Gravity	•The enemy's smash attacks have increased power •The enemy's physical attacks have increased power •Stamina battle	Cruel Smash
1,397		Ryuichi & Ryuji	River City Series	•Ryu ×2		9,300	Wrecking Crew (Battlefield form)	•Item: Killing Edge	•The enemy's side special has increased power •The enemy favors side specials	Flash in the Dark (Dr. Wily Stage 1)
1,513		Evil Ryu	Street Fighter Series	•Ryu (150 HP)		13,700	Suzaku Castle (Ω form)	•Attack Power ↑ •Sudden Final Smash	•The enemy will suddenly have a Final Smash •The enemy's special moves have increased power •Stamina battle	M. Bison Stage Type B

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Ryu's fighter card.

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  Ryu's unlock notice.

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  Taunting on Kongo Falls.

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  Charging his Focus Attack on Wily Castle.

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  Ryu using his forward aerial on a bike-riding Wario on Suzaku Castle.

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  With Knuckle Joe on Princess Peach's Castle.

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  Ryu charging his Shinku Hadoken.

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  Failing to perform a Hadoken on Tortimer Island, with Pichu taunting.

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  Fighting Greninja on Suzaku Castle.

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  Ryu getting attacked by Ike on Boxing Ring.

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  Ryu using his forward aerial on Mr. Game & Watch on Suzaku Castle.

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  Ryu getting launched by Villager's neutral finisher on Coliseum.

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  Performing a Hadoken near Sukapon on Wrecking Crew.

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  Ryu fighting against Terry and Ken alongside Kazuya on Mishima Dojo.

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  Ryu fighting Terry and Kazuya on Boxing Ring.

Trivia

• Ryu and Wii Fit Trainer are the only two characters whose full renders are not on the official Super Smash Bros. Ultimate website. In this case, the picture stops around his ankles.
• Ryu's artwork pose resembles a pose from his official artwork for Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, as well as the promotional poster for the original arcade release of Street Fighter IV.
• Ryu is the only fighter who was introduced in Super Smash Bros. 4 to have an Echo Fighter, that being Ken.
  • This also makes him the only character introduced as a newcomer through downloadable content to have an Echo Fighter.
• Ryu is one of the five veterans from Smash 4 to have their Boxing Ring alias changed in Ultimate, the others being Link, Kirby, King Dedede, and Mega Man.
• Ryu, Ivysaur, Olimar, Little Mac, Greninja and Ken are the only base game characters to never appear as minions in any Spirit battles.
• Ryu's Classic Mode has numerous references to Street Fighter II:
  • Each stage represents an opponent from the franchise: Ken (Ken), Zero Suit Samus (Chun-Li), Incineroar (Zangief), Donkey Kong (Blanka), Giant Little Mac (Boxer/Balrog), and Meta Knight (Vega/Claw). Each character's theme plays during these fights on stages that resemble their Street Fighter II home stages.
    • These fights are near identical to their Spirit Battles with only Blanka and Balrog being fought on different stages.
  • Ryu's bonus stage is in the middle, referencing Street Fighter's tendency to have bonus stages as midway points.
  • The final two opponents before the final boss are a reference to the "Four Heavenly Kings" who must be fought as the last fighters before M. Bison, in this case, Balrog and Vega (minus Sagat) with Bison being the fourth king.
  • Ryu's final stage in Classic Mode is a reference to the artwork used for Street Fighter II: Champion Edition, which features a giant M. Bison towering over Ryu (represented in the game as both Master Hand and Crazy Hand) and the finale of Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, where Ryu and Ken double team against M. Bison. Additionally, M. Bison's theme plays in the background during the final battle.
  • As a reference to the health bars of not just Street Fighter II but the whole Street Fighter series, Ryu uses stamina battles in his Classic Mode route.
  • Ryu's route has no items, similar to how the Street Fighter series also features no items.
• Ryu's held forward tilt (Collarbone Breaker) and the sourspot of his forward air (Tobigeri) dealing high shield damage is a reference to how overhead attacks and cross-ups are a common way to open an opponent's defense in traditional fighting games.
• If Ryu is set as a CPU opponent in Training Mode, all three CPUs will always face the player, much like on 1-on-1 matches. He shares this distinction with Ken, Terry, and Kazuya.
  • This also happens if Ryu faces a single opponent in a team consisting of two or more characters in Team Battles with Team Attack off, and in All-Star Mode when he appears.

Notes

1.^ translates to "Roundhouse Kick"

2.^ translates to "Toe Kick"

3.^ translates to "Uppercut Elbow"

4.^ translates to "Flying Front Foot Edge

5.^ translates to "High-Level Foot Edge Kick"

6.^ translates to "Rotating Leg Sweep"

7.^ translates to "Front Kick"

8.^ translates to "Scooping Punch"

9.^ translates to "Knee Kick"

10.^ translates to "Shoulder Throw"

11.^ translates to "Circle Throw"