Street Fighter 5 is just a few short weeks away, and with one more surprise beta coming this weekend, we thought now was a good time to discuss which character you should play first. Obviously if you’re a Street Fighter veteran, or you’ve been playing the beta since this past summer, you probably have a good idea which character you’re going to play first when the game releases on February 16, 2016. However, for those who have been away from Street Fighter or fighting games in general for some time, we’ve got some recommendations on who you should go for.
Keep in mind, there are a wide variety of play styles between the characters in Street Fighter 5. If one of these recommendations doesn’t fit your play style, choose a different character who does. For some people, it may not even be about play style. They may go for looks or perhaps they loved the Street Fighter Alpha series and want to use Nash, Karin or Rainbow Mika no matter what their play style is. Take this article as a recommendation for those newcomers who have no idea where they should start.
Ryu
It should go without saying that Ryu is one of the most basic characters for beginners to learn. That’s not to say he’s easy to master, but if you’re a novice player, learning Ryu should be your first step. You will learn how to zone whether you like it or not, and you’ll get the basic fireball, quarter-circle motions down pat. Of course, there’s a lot more to Street Fighter 5 than simply zoning and fireball motions, but Ryu is a great place to start and hone your skills before you move on to other characters.
Rashid
The newcomer is actually fairly easy to pick up. He has a lot of various cross-ups and other strategies that may seem difficult to learn on paper, but once you’ve spent a little bit of time in training mode, you’ll have these down pat. In addition, Rashid is a brand new character in the Street Fighter series, which means a lot of people won’t have much experience against him. This gives you a slight advantage, especially in the early days of the game.
Chun-Li
Chun-Li has been a staple in the Street Fighter series since Street Fighter 2. While she can be played at a very high level, her V-Trigger makes it a bit easier for novice players to get some good damage and keep other novice players at bay. By giving most of her attacks two hits instead of one, she can quickly build up stun and make it difficult for other novice players to attack or even begin their offense. She also has a projectile for zoning options and isn’t as hard to pick up as some of the other characters in the game.
Birdie
If you like big characters, Birdie is one of the easiest to play. He has easy combos that can lead to big damage, and good zoning options. He’s not the fastest character in the game, but some of his most basic strategies make it easy to not only keep your opponent out, but punish them for jumping or trying to force their way in. Once you learn a few combos and Birdie’s basic zoning options you should be taking down other novice players in no time.
Ken
We were hesitant to add Ken to this list. He was arguably the most popular online character in Street Fighter 4, but he’s changed a bit in Street Fighter 5. Like Ryu, he can stand across the screen and throw fireballs, then use a Dragon Punch to punish an opponent who tries to jump over those fireballs. However, with his new dash mechanic and V-Trigger he’s not as simple to pick up as he once was. We’re sure a lot of new players will still gravitate to Ken, but be warned that while you can play him in a very basic manner, you’d be better off selecting Ryu unless you want to learn the intricacies of Ken’s new Street Fighter 5 move set.
We’ll have more on Street Fighter 5 as the release date swiftly approaches. While you wait these final few weeks, decide between an arcade stick or a controller, and be sure to check out our beta tips for playing Ryu, Birdie and more!
