Street Fighter IV Updated Hands-on: Getting to Grips With Gouken

By Randolph Ramsay, GameSpot AUPosted Nov 19, 2008 8:09 pm PT

We take control of Ken and Ryu's master in this latest hands-on with the PS3 version of the upcoming brawler.

Gouken in action

See Ken and Ryu's master kick butt in this clip.

Street Fighter fanatics will probably know the story behind Sheng Long, Ken and Ryu's supposed master who was apparently a hidden boss character in Street Fighter II. Sheng Long, of course, never actually existed, but was instead an April Fool's Prank started by EGM which many took as true, making him the most famous fake character in the series' history. Now Ken and Ryu's true master has finally emerged--no, it's not Sheng Long, but Gouken, one of the new playable characters coming to the console versions of the upcoming Street Fighter IV.

Both the PS3 and 360 versions of Street Fighter IV will contain more playable characters and modes than what's available in arcades, with arcade boss Seth, Akuma, Sakura, and now Gouken confirmed as joining the roster thus far (with more due to be officially announced by Capcom soon). We've played Akuma and Sakura in our previous previews, so we focused on the powerful Gouken in our most recent hands-on session with a PS3 build of the game. In terms of narrative, Gouken is indeed the trainer of both Ryu and Ken, as well as being the brother of the evil Akuma.

As you'd expect from the master of the two most popular characters in the Street Fighter universe, Gouken has a similar move set to both Ken and Ryu, but is significantly different enough to make him much more than a mere clone. Gouken does have a hadoken "fireball" move which he performs using only one hand, but unlike Ken or Ryu, he can send his projectiles out on an angle to strike airborne foes. Performing a light punch hadoken sends one straight across the screen, using a medium punch sends one on a slight angle upwards, while hard punch sends one on a steeper incline. Gouken can also charge his hadokens--holding down the punch button will delay the hadoken and transform them into double-hit projectiles. Gouken also has a variation of the hurricane kick, which goes vertically as opposed to horizontally as is the case with Ryu or Ken.

His two other special moves are different to what Ryu or Ken sport in Street Fighter IV. Performing the shoryuken (dragon punch) move on the controller with one of the punch buttons sends Gouken into a dashing attack which ends with a powerful palm strike move which can knock down opponents. Performing the same move but using one of the kick buttons results in Gouken doing a forward flip that lands into a strong single-leg sweep, which once again can knock down enemies flat. And while the character doesn't have a shoryuken as a standard special move, his super combo is essentially a souped-up dragon punch which deals a ton of damage.

On a control note, our play session with Street Fighter IV session this time around was done using DualShock controllers. In the past, we've never been fans of using controller analog sticks on any home version of Street Fighter, but the system seems to have been impressively tweaked this time around to be more responsive. We had no problem performing hadokens, shoryukens, or any of the other circular-based movements on Street Fighter IV using analog sticks. Bottom line is even without full arcade-style controllers, it looks like Street Fighter IV will be a blast to play using regular 360 or PS3 pads.

From our short play time with Gouken, we're willing to predict that he'll quickly become a fan fave thanks to his strong offensive skills (particularly the ability to send angled hadokens, which makes him a tough opponent to approach via the air). Keep it tuned to GameSpot for more information on new characters and modes soon.

54 Comments

  • Penguisher

    Posted Feb 10, 2009 9:31 pm PT

    This doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, considering that Gouken died when he was still fairly young, when Ken and Ryu were just teens. Dey got a lot o' 'splainin' ta do, 'f they wan' me to unnastan' wha's goin' on roun' hea'. Gouki (Akuma) killed him, and Ryu learned the Dark Hadou from Gouki (Akuma). I don' get it.

  • ga_ko129

    Posted Feb 4, 2009 10:55 am PT

    awesome, can't wait for ths game ^_^

  • ChristianKiss

    Posted Jan 7, 2009 7:43 pm PT

    Let's see if SF4 will make me stop playing Hyper SF2 (it's sad, but I can't play HD Remix). I'll probably play the PC version of SF4 using an arcade stick, since this game definitely looks worth. Thankfully Capcom didn't recycle those bizarre characters from SF3 (not Alpha 3, which is a great game).

  • cool_modine

    Posted Dec 16, 2008 10:40 am PT

    D-Pad > Any Arcade stick.

  • radwana

    Posted Dec 13, 2008 2:33 am PT

    thank you or
    thanks

  • neobita

    Posted Dec 8, 2008 7:33 pm PT

    in ssf2 hd remix, ryu is given the fake hadouken in which pokes opponent to jump and then shoryuken!
    this time around, his master just hadouken his opponents straight away while they jump and that truly adds a fresh element in the game. can't wait for it, just pre-ordered it last month... hehe

  • ZeCalcinha

    Posted Dec 8, 2008 9:40 am PT

    Feb !

    COME FAST PLZ ! I BAG !

    ^^

  • penguin_kicker

    Posted Dec 5, 2008 6:16 pm PT

    looks pretty sweet

  • coolblackrain

    Posted Dec 2, 2008 9:40 am PT

    street fighter, this new 3Dness, this games going to kick ass!!!

  • alfaomega

    Posted Dec 1, 2008 6:28 pm PT

    XD cant wait

  • Ramadear

    Posted Dec 1, 2008 4:17 pm PT

    Platforms are PS3, 360 and PC. PC comes out later than the consoles though. If you noticed Capcom has been heavily supporting the PC. Has it paid off? There must be a reason that they have put yet another game on PC.

  • broca

    Posted Dec 1, 2008 6:38 am PT

    It IS coming out for PC.....

  • jointgica

    Posted Dec 1, 2008 6:37 am PT

    hey heyyyyyyyyyy ..this is ps3 version ..... gamespot gone crazy =))))))

  • henek

    Posted Nov 30, 2008 12:24 pm PT

    Ermm..If i may ask. Waht exactly is SFIV doing in the PC page? If it not coming out for the PC what is it doing here. I feel like i'm being teased.

  • lionheart234

    Posted Nov 27, 2008 1:18 pm PT

    bought a 360 today.... xD
    cant wait for this to come out now!

  • drugsrgood06

    Posted Nov 26, 2008 12:38 pm PT

    You should shut up loser! Woo Hoo Street Fighter IV Life

  • Ze_das_coves

    Posted Nov 26, 2008 8:26 am PT

    GS could put better informed staff writing previews. It is pretty much confirmed that Dan, Fei-Long and Gen will be in the game (you even have pics of the first two in the gallery, and I saw pics of Gen elsewhere). Cammy and Rose are confirmed too, but we still have to see pics with them.
    Btw, this game keeps looking better and better. If it indeed turns out great it will be the first fighting game I buy in years. It seems February is going to be a good month indeed! And costly...

  • BontraXenderKyl

    Posted Nov 26, 2008 5:12 am PT

    I can't wait, Street Fighter 2 in 1992 was great

  • Alizerothree

    Posted Nov 25, 2008 5:34 pm PT

    RYU : "Hey Ken, may I have some cookies?"
    KEN : "SHORYUKEN!"

  • xche78x

    Posted Nov 25, 2008 5:28 am PT

    i have played this in the arcades and it is much harder to judge the distances, blanka is a very cheap character if used cheesily.
    guile is much more powerful than previous games but is a lil slower and kick range becomes a little shorter.
    i hope most of the imbalances in arcade would be fixed in the home iterations.

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