Gouken Character Guide

This guide will show you the ins and outs of the character Gouken in the game Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition Ver.2012. This covers everything from beginners to advanced techniques!

About The Author

First of all, I am a SUPER PRO player at this game, not just a PRO player. I have made money playing this game. I bet my uncle once I could beat him. Everything that I list here is all of the knowledge of this character. If someone tells you otherwise they are wrong. If you do everything here you will win EVO.

Now that that's out of the way, I am a MID-LEVEL player always striving to get better. I mostly play with friends and attend local and out of state tournaments as often as I can.

By creating this guide I hope to ease the process of learning this character and to share the knowledge that I have gained from practicing, playing and competing. With more knowledge the fighting game community will be able to grow and we can all begin to be better players because of it.

If these tips do not work for you as a player then you shouldn't have to use them. Use whatever you are comfortable with but do remember that these techniques are out there and even if you do not use this character remember what setups they have so you may avoid them in the future.

HAPPY FIGHTING YA'LL!

Gouken Playstyle and Gameplay

Gouken is a powerhouse with a good amount of health and deals tremendous damage. He is exceptional at keep away and zoning with few bad matchups. Ever since AE 2012 Gouken has been given plenty of buffs to his normals and specials that make him excellent at a lot of matchups that people would find difficult or impossible for other characters.


Pros
- High Damage
- Good Health
- Great Priority Normals
- Great Anti-Air Game
- Keep Away and Zoning
- Excellent Mix-Up Game
- Easy To Confirm Into Ultras I & II

Cons
- Weak Wake-Up Game
- Lacks a Strong Reversal (Get Out Of Jail Free Card)
- Lacks Easily Recognizable Hit Confirms

Gouken is played at a high level in two ways. He is either a heavy zoner in which he never lets you in and frustrates you into making terrible mistakes. Or he is played in a very rushdown style where he tosses you around and scares you into pushing buttons. If you play either of these styles Gouken is a natural fit. But it takes a lot of training and experience in order to play any of these styles very well. Although Gouken has a medium level of health, he can sure lose a lot of it from being knocked down and having to play the guessing game on wakeup. Patience is key in getting out of a knock down safely.

FIREBALLS

A majority of Gouken's special moves have the property of "FLY AWAY" in which, on hit, they cause your opponent to "FLY AWAY" fullscreen and give Gouken some oppurtunities to setup another zoning game or safe jump setups. Unlike some characters all of Gouken's special moves have very profound uses and all are practical even at high level play. Learn these moves and learn their special properties.

FIREBALL
Gouken arguably has the best fireball in the game. Sure Guile has very little recovery on his Sonic Boom and Sagat's Tiger Shots are super fast but Gouken's fireballs have little recovery and fly at an amazing speed also. Mostly a mix between Guile's recovery and Sagat's spammability speed on his Tiger Shots.


LP FIREBALL
The Light Punch Fireball flies horizontally and parallel to the ground. They travel at one speed and he recovers very fast from them. This projectile gives Gouken a ton of frame advantage on hit or block and allows Gouken to do insane combos or do counter hit setups in the corner. I'll show you these later.


MP FIREBALL
The Medium Punch fireball is launched upwards at about a 30 degree angle from the ground. It is best used at fullscreen to predict neutral or forward jumps from your opponent. All of Gouken's fireballs setup a great juggle ability after hit so pay attention to see if they hit or not.


HP FIREBALL
The Hard Punch Fireball is shot upwards at a 45 degree angle to the ground and can catch neutral or forward jumping opponents at 3/4 to 1/2 screen away. If this hits, you will be able to follow up with either a rushing palm strike, demon flip slide kick, Ultra I or Ultra II depending on spacing.


EX FIREBALL
Gouken launches two fireballs. The first one like a Light Punch Fireball and the second like a Medium Punch Fireball. This is a great move to use in order to chip out opponents in which you do not want to guess if they will jump or not. The EX Fireball is also a great move to use in the corner to juggle opponents.

RUSHING PALM STRIKES & HURRICANE KICKS

RUSHING PALM STRIKE
Gouken rushes forward and hits his opponent in the chest with such a great force they are launched fullscreen away. This is one of Gouken's most damaging special move and is a great combo ender. You are also able to land an Ultra II on hit in the corner after any strength of Rushing Palm Strike. Also breaks armor.


LP RUSHING PALM STRIKE
This was a huge change going into Arcade Edition because this move used to take forever to come out. It wasn't a practical combo ender like it is now and is slightly safer on block. The LP version starts up super fast (considering the old version) and blows up crouch techs and focus attacks.


MP RUSHING PALM STRIKE
This one is more like his Vanilla SFIV LP Rushing Palm Strike. Does decent damage and is great for using after an anti air fireball hits. He travels about 1/3 of the screen and has fireball invincibility in the middle of the animation. This is the one you want to use when going toe to toe in a fireball war to get them to question throwing another fireball.


HP RUSHING PALM STRIKE
This one does the most damage without meter and goes the furthest up to 3/4 screen. Definitely use this one against Sagat and Ryu's fireball game. Fireball invincibility is only in the middle of the animation so try to time it so that you pass through their fireball in the middle of your opponent and where you were standing.


EX RUSHING PALM STRIKE
This is definitely the "go-to" move to end combos with Gouken. His first hit is similar to his regular HP Rushing Palm Strike but there is a second hit that knocks your opponent upwards into a high juggle-able state. You can practically use any of Gouken's moves to follow up. In the corner, this sets up some of the most damaging practical combos in all of Super Street Fighter IV.


HURRICANE KICK (TATSUMAKI-GORAI-SEN)
A highly damaging move in which Gouken swings his foot upwards in a round fashion launching his opponent up into the air. Gouken then continues to spin and follows up with more kicks then finally with the last kick sends his opponent flying away. There is not much to say about these moves other than to use as punishes or setups for his Ultras. They do not offer a lot of invincibility and there is a tendency for your opponents to "fall out" of this move. I do not recommend using this move very often with the exception of the EX-version. If you miss with this move or if your opponent falls out then be ready to eat a lot of damage. Gouken's recovery on this move is horrendous and probably the worst in the game. Your opponent will see that you missed it, walk to the kitchen to get another beverage for the one that has gotten warm, come back, pick up their stick, think about how to punish you, then finally hit you with everything they have. It's bad.


EX TATSU
This move does a ton of damage and sends your opponents flying. Has great invincibility, range and quick startup. Even catches opponents jumping in empty at 3/4 screen. EX Tatsu is a great corner combo ender. Definitely keep this move in mind.

DEMON FLIP/VARIANTS & COUNTERS

DEMON FLIP
This is a great move with many different follow-ups. The only variations on this move depending on the button/buttons pushed are the distances it goes. This move is great at punishing bad projectiles during a fireball war and for setting up safe jump and abiguous crossups. The EX version is homing and has tons of invincibility on startup.


DEMON FLIP DIVE KICK
This move gives a great amount of frame advantage on hit and allows you to punish hard. A great way to start a combo.


DEMON FLIP SLIDE
Gouken flips upwards and when he land does a sweep. The least useful of the Demon Flip variants, this move should only be used to trick opponents who are unfamiliar with the setups. If used at max range it should be relatively safe depending on your opponent. On block it is extremely punishable.


DEMON FLIP THROW
Gouken homes in on his opponent then flip-kicks them and then chops their neck as they are rearing backward. This move is great when your opponent becomes defensive against the Demon Flips. It also sets up an untechable knockdown in which Gouken can safely setup new attacks.


DEMON FLIP COUNTER
Gouken is the only character capable of having hyper armor in the air. If used correctly, it can stop non-armor breaking anti-air/air-air moves. He usually recovers faster so that he is at a frame advantage on recovery. Definitely use this move against those who are great at anti-airs.






COUNTERS
The counters are great moves for anti-airs, crouch tech-ers, obvious pokers and generally for getting people off your back. Once your opponent understands the counter move though, you should be less inclined to use it because they may bait you to do it so they are able to throw you. The LP version counters low attack, MP version counters mid attacks, HP version counters high attacks and EX counters every move that isn't a throw/armor breaker regardless of where it hits you. Once you counter a move, Gouken slams the ground knocking your opponent fullscreen away.

SUPERS & ULTRAS

FORBIDDEN SHORYUKEN
Gouken's Super is the Forbidden Shoryuken in which he pulls his arm back and then launches himself and his fist upwards attacking in front and above him juggling his opponent. The Forbidden Shoryuken has a tremendous amount of invincibility and a decent startup. It also has armor breaking ability and multi-hit. Gouken's EX moves are much more important to his game than his Super so your meter should be used for EX moves. Gouken does build up meter quickly and maybe allow him to get a lead at the beginning of a round and then build enough meter throughout the fight in order to have more meter. Although it looks very stylish to super cancel from a counter/rush palm.




SHIN SHORYUKEN
This is the Shin Shoryuken also known as the "TRUE" Shoryuken. Gouken punches his opponent in the stomach and as they are rearing forward, he slams the other fist into his opponent's chin launching them upwards. This is a very damaging Ultra and super easy to land anywhere. This Ultra allows Gouken to have the fear of eating a back throw into this very powerful Ultra.




DENJIN HADOKEN
Gouken charges up a fireball in both hands and launches it at his opponent. This move is very similar to other fireball ultras such as Ryu and Sagat's but with very special properties. Gouken is able to HOLD this ULTRA to deal much MUCH more damage and a ton of stun. You can also rotate the joystick up to 3 times in order to increase the speed in which the fireball flies across the screen.

ANTI-AIR

Gouken has a great set of Anti-Air normals which all are medium to high priority which at worst will trade when timed correctly. All of these normals have a very specific use/range. So pay attention to how your opponent wants to jump.


Far Standing Medium Kick
This move is great for people who jump from 3/4 screen away. You want to time this move so that you hit your opponent right when they are starting to come down from the arc of their jump. It's great at keeping people out of your zone and allows you to keep fireball pressure up.


Far Standing Hard Punch
This move is great when your opponent is jumping outside of your crouching hard punch range. Does a ton of damage and stun on counter hit.


Crouching Hard Punch
This is certainly your go to anti-air 8 out of 10 times. This move hits hard and if hit in the first part of the animation you can cancel into a fireball to push your opponent back or cancel it into a counter attack so that you can recover faster.


Crouching Medium Kick
Use this anti-air when your opponent jumps right in front of you. He rears backward and puts his foot up. This has a pretty great hitbox and priority. The only downside is that it doesn't really setup the opponent safely away from you.


Close Standing Hard Kick
This is an excellent move with extremely high priority when used correctly. Close Standing Hard Kick should be used when you play opponents and characters which like to neutral jump or jump in right above your head. Gouken lifts his foot above his head and knocks them out of the air. This great move starts in 4 frames. Excellent move.


EX-HURRICANE KICK
This is an extremely fast move with high invincibility that reaches very far forward. Definitely use this move to scare your opponent into double thinking about jumping over a fireball.

There are many more moves in which you can use as an anti-air but these are my personal favorites.

Punishes/Corner Combos/Ultra Setups

There are millions of combos in Super Street Fighter IV AE 2012 and I could't possibly be able to include all of them. But here are some bread and butter combos that I use in all of my matches.

PUNISHERS - Use These To Punish Whiffed or Blocked Moves!!

CORNER COMBOS - Use These With Your Opponent In The Corner To Maximize Damage!

ULTRA Setups - Use These When You Have Ultra To Guarantee A Hit!

RESETS

RESETS
Due to the damage scaling in the Street Fighter IV engine, very long combos do much much less damage towards the end of the combo. Because of this fact, advance players will use "RESETS" to reset their combo counter. This is a very risky move because you could give up guaranteed damage just to screw up or to be read. But if the reset hits then you potentially have a huge possibility to take off way more damage and possibly dizzy your opponent. Trust me, if you reset with Gouken, very few characters will not get stunned. These are just a few that I use and I will be adding more to this list soon.

COUNTER HIT SETUPS

A Counter Hit is when you strike an opponent before their attack comes out. The benefits to getting a counter hit on your opponent are extra damage, extra stun and extra frame advantage.

Counter Hit Setups are used in order to "open up" your opponent. Typically most opponents are crouch tech-ing in order to avoid being thrown while also having the ability to block incoming attacks and possibly stuffing their opponent's block string using a fast hitting move. But by purposely creating a window of oppurtunity for your opponent to push a button you can hit them before their attack becomes active.

As powerful as this technique is, it is extremely dangerous to use against an opponent who depends on using invincible reversals to get some breathing room. So if you are playing against an opponent who mashes Dragon Punch with Ryu during block strings do not use counter hit setups on him until you condition him to stop mashing invincible reversals.

There are a ton of counter hit setups with each character but these are the ones that I prefer to use with Gouken because they are "safer" and you are able to hit confirm with these.

CROUCHING LIGHT PUNCH linked into CROUCHING HARD PUNCH

STANDING MEDIUM PUNCH linked into CROUCHING HARD PUNCH

CROUCHING LIGHT PUNCH linked into STANDING MEDIUM PUNCH

JUMPING LIGHT PUNCH/LIGHT KICK linked into STANDING HARD PUNCH

[ThisIsTheRun]

I'm excited to try some of this!

[envoy168]

lol the intro. awesome guide thanks!

[Monk]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY5EfuICq4o THAT IS NOT ME!!

[Dennes_]

nice guide

[Chipslight's kinda gay]

And now I main Gouken. Thanks man.

[hachiii]

how does one throw i firerball i am very new what keys do i have to hit please msg me! D:

[¤Sm0Q¤ Barakuda ¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

thx!

[ᵐᶦᶰᶦ]

Not a Gouken player (I play Rufus and guile) but still, a great guide. :D

[RONIMASTER]

GOUKEN ULTRA THE BEST STREET FIGHTER FOREVER WINS

[Hugodzilla]

Brilliant mate. Really useful info!