Street Fighter IV Character Guide: Balrog, Vega, Sagat

Street Fighter IV Character Guide: Balrog, Vega, Sagat
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Street Fighter IV Bosses and Hidden

In this second part of our Street Fighter IV character guide we are going to take a look at the bad guys. These are the nasty evil scumbags that drive everyone to violence and block your route to ultimate victory. As well as the boss characters we will also take a look at a couple of hidden secret surprise characters as well.

Balrog

First up is Balrog, the Mike Tyson clone. He is an American boxer who likes to punch, in fact that is all he does, swing away with his huge fists. He works for M. Bison and makes for a seriously tough henchman.

Balrog is an uncomplicated character. He can charge, throw and punch and he does a serious amount of damage. He also has a move called Buffalo Head which is a useful head butt manoeuvre. Balrog has no projectile attacks and his Super and Ultra Combos are both flurries of punching that can waste an opponent alarmingly quickly. He is fast and many of his moves allow him to dodge fireball attacks. This helps to make up for his lack of projectile attacks. He is tough but not very flexible.

Vega

The narcissistic Vega is a Spanish bullfighter turned ninja and he makes for a serious challenge. He wears a mask to protect his beautiful face and is also equipped with a claw. He turned evil after his stepfather killed his mother and he took revenge. M. Bison saw potential and snapped him up for his evil organisation.

Vega can be frustratingly tough to fight against and he is extremely agile. He can bounce off the walls and has a range of devastating attacks in the air and on the ground. His fighting style is quite unique and he has a number of charge attacks and opener moves for combos like the Flying Barcelona Attack. He is very good against characters in the air with his Scarlet Terror kick and Sky High Claw and he can grab and throw with the Izuna Drop. His Super and Ultra Combos are not easy to pull off but he is a fast, versatile character and in the hands of a skilled player he can be a real nightmare.

Sagat

Sagat used to be the boss, he was the last rival in the original Street Fighter game and he seems to have collected various injuries picking up a chest wound against Ryu and losing his eye to Dan’s father (he killed him in revenge). That doesn’t prevent him from being one of the toughest baddies in Street Fighter IV.

Sagat is a Muay Thai specialist and an absolute giant with powerful kicks and knees. He has a long range High Step Kick which also knocks opponents out of the air. His Tiger Shot is a projectile and his Tiger Uppercut is devastating at close range. He isn’t the easiest character to master, he seems slow unless you combine his moves in the right order and his Super and Ultra Combos are not easy to pull off but they are seriously powerful.

M. Bison

Bison

Bison is the big bad boss consumed by Psycho power and unpleasant in the extreme. He was supposedly killed off but evil never dies and he has returned in a newly fashioned body to wreak yet more havoc on anyone who dares to face him.

Bison is really tough and although he doesn’t have any projectiles he is very versatile and dangerous. He can fly across the screen with Psycho Crusher, pound on his opponent’s face with Head Press and even teleport. He is quick to counter and his basic moves are easy to pull off, he also has a very annoying slide kick manoeuvre. He is great in the air and does a lot of damage but he is also a classic counter attack character and not easy to use if you intend to go on the offensive.

Gouken

The master of Ryu and Ken is resurrected from the dead here and can be unlocked as a playable character. He is supposed to have been killed by his brother Akuma but he inexplicably pops up here.

Gouken is really tough combining some of the elements of Ryu and Ken with a fireball projectile, a spinning kick attack and even a multiple projectile attack. He also has sliding and flying charge attacks and a seemingly limitless range of combos. He is, as you might expect, extremely tough.

Akuma

The evil brother of Gouken he turned to the dark side and mastered all sorts of evil fighting techniques before being beaten in combat by Gouken. He later returned for revenge and killed his brother. Ken and Ryu have tried to avenge their master and failed because Akuma is seriously badass.

He is very fast and very powerful with turbo charged versions of the fireball, spinning kick and dragon punch. He can also teleport and his Super and Ultra Combos are really punishing. It is easy to string together combination attacks with Akuma and he has no obvious weakness. He is very versatile and dangerous from any range.

Seth

Seth

The head of the weapons corporation S.I.N. Seth is the top baddie. He utilises advanced technology to gather information on his opponents and has a spinning core in his torso.

Seth is one of those boss baddies with a mixture of abilities. He can pull off an array of the best attacks in the game stolen from the top fighters which makes him a complete nightmare to fight. He has the Sonic Boom, Shoryuken, Spinning Piledriver and the Yoga Teleport. He can pull off all sorts of horrifying combos juggling your body in the air until you die. He can also wall jump out of tight spots and his Super and Ultra Combos are seriously damaging. If you master Seth you will be near impossible to beat.