Street Fighter IV Character Guide: New Faces, Abel and Crimson Viper

Street Fighter IV Character Guide: New Faces, Abel and Crimson Viper
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New Street Fighter Characters

This is the final part in our Street Fighter IV character guide and it is time to have a look at the new player characters that have been included in the game. There are four completely new characters and they each offer something unique so let’s meet them.

Abel

Abel is a French mixed martial artist with memory problems. He is working with Chun-Li to try and uncover information about M. Bison’s shadowy evil organisation. Apparently his adoptive father let go of some secrets on his deathbed and Abel is now a man on a mission.

Abel is a character without any projectile attacks and so he has to get close to his opponent in order to emerge victorious. He may be lacking the flair of some of the other characters but he has a good solid range of kicks, punches and throws. He has a move called the Marseilles Roll which is really useful for avoiding enemy attacks and getting in behind them. He also has a fast Forward Kick and his Change of Direction punch sees him step forward and smash his fist down. His Wheel Kick can be used on aerial attacks and he has a Falling Sky Throw which allows him to grab opponents out of the air. His Tornado Throw is also surprisingly damaging and easy to master. His Super and Ultra moves unleash a flurry of punches and they aren’t too tricky to pull off either. He is quite a tough new character and the fact his Marseille roll renders him invincible as he moves makes him a match for anyone. He is often left open to counter attack though and a cautious approach suckering your opponent in is advised.

Crimson Viper

Crimson Viper

Stylish, emotionally cold and obsessed with technology Crimson Viper is an evil bitch. She works for S.I.N. and has constructed a Battlesuit which she is testing in the tournament. Electric gloves and flaming boots with long red hair, sunglasses and a curvy body makes for a deadly combination.

She has a Super Jump move and a number of effective air attacks but she doesn’t pack a weighty punch and her attacks do little damage. The Thunder Knuckle targets different points on the enemy depending on what type of punch you use and it electrifies her fist. She can also pull off a Burning Kick and an Aerial Burning Kick which can prove nasty. Her Seismic Hammer is an interesting one which causes a shockwave in a small radius and can be used to great effect. Her Super and Ultra Combos are electric fist and a series of fiery kicks but they are quite tough to pull off. She is a bit of a strange mixture with some great moves and some not so great. A lot of her moves stun the opponent setting them up for further combos but she can’t take much damage and if you miss with an attack you can find yourself out of it very quickly.

Rufus

Rufus

Rufus is an unusual new character and probably my least favourite of the bunch. He is a gigantic American martial artist with a hypnotic swaying belly which can make you feel seasick. He is aiming to show off his superiority to Ken and show he is the best American fighter in the world.

Rufus is a confusing mix of extremely big and strong but also very fast which sounds great but actually isn’t. He has no projectile ability so it is necessary to get up close and personal and he is constantly waving his arms around and swinging his massive girth. He has some great moves but it takes some practice to get used to him. He has some great high kicks like the Messiah Kick and can also pull off a Dive Kick. He has a Snake Strike attack which unleashes a whirlwind of palm strikes and his Tornado causes him to spin across the screen and strike hard and fast. His Super and Ultra Combos are quite tough to pull off but they both result in a range of attacks which leave the opponent flattened. He is very strong and very fast and yet difficult to get the hang of and visually intensely ugly.

El Fuerte

El Fuerte

The final new character in Street Fighter IV is the crazy Mexican wrestler who is also an aspiring chef and travelling the world in search of great recipes (seriously). He may have an amazingly daft back story but El Fuerte is the best new character in Street Fighter IV by a mile. He is comical, fast and possesses some great leaping wrestling moves and plenty of combo potential.

The Habanero Dash and Habanero Back Dash allow El Fuerte to sprint forwards or backwards and combine naturally with another move to start a combo. He can pull off an infinite combo loop, slide or spin kick and there are some great throw manoeuvres too. He can leap up and grab his opponent before throwing them with a Fajita Buster or body slam them with a Tostada Press. He can also pull off wall jumps and grab opponents out of the air with his Guacamole move. His Super and Ultra moves allow him to pin his opponents head between his thighs and slap him all over the arena. It is not easy to master El Fuerte. Early experimentation resulted in some great moves but it took time to build a consistent approach. He is very fast, naturally great for combos and you can avoid an enemy quite easily but he doesn’t do huge amounts of damage and he can’t take a lot of punishment before he hits the deck.

All of the new characters offer something a bit different and Capcom have obviously worked hard to create characters that genuinely add something to the game rather than throwing in more clones or hybrids of existing stars.

This post is part of the series: Street Fighter IV Character Guide

Guide to the characters of Street Fighter IV on the PC.

  1. Street Fighter IV Character Guide Part 1: The Original Player Characters
  2. Street Fighter IV Character Guide Part 3: Assorted Characters from the Sequels
  3. Street Fighter IV Character Guide Part 4: The New Faces