Rufus (Street Fighter) - Promotion and Reception

Promotion and Reception

To promote Street Fighter IV and the character, artwork of Rufus including hand-drawn sprites of the character is included in Xbox Live themes. Worldwide restaurants Wan Zhu Ji and Benitora Gyoza Bo offered four Street Fighter IV themed meals, which included a nimono meat dish named after the character. At organized events, Capcom distributed a limited series of Street Fighter IV cards to promote the arcade title, one of which features Rufus in a fighting stance.

Rufus has received mixed to positive reception since his debut. GameDaily named Rufus the strangest of the new characters introduced in Street Fighter IV, placing him 12th on their "Most Bizarre Fighting Characters" list and noting his high attack speed despite his weight. IGN described Rufus as one of the most interesting new characters introduced in the title, due to the "juxtaposition between his comical size and impressive speed" and added that his attack set "shows that if you can get past Rufus' comical exterior, a capable fighter hides within." IGN AU stated that while they felt the character was the ugliest in the game, they enjoyed his unpredictability and acrobatics, as well as his attitude. 1UP.com called Rufus a worthy addition to the series, "despite...outward, me-too appearances". Anime News Network described Rufus as well-designed and engaging, despite initial reservations regarding the character. VideoGamer.com praised Rufus as one of the game's better new characters in the title, in heavy contrast to other additions such as Crimson Viper. GameTrailers praised the character and noted he "definitely offered something different", adding "You may not have expected a game's most obvious jiggle physics to apply to a male character." Stars and Stripes noted the level of detail in Rufus's animations and movements, describing his mobility as "weirdly awesome".

In contrast, Doug Buel of The Tampa Tribune considered Rufus a character the game could have done without, describing him as "an obnoxious, overweight fighter with a big mouth", additionally citing the character as the game's worst feature. GameSpot described him as "a bit of a sight gag", though noting his speed as "deceptive". A reviewer for the New Straits Times felt that though the character stood out from the other newcomers, his play was too "lethargic". Giant Bomb's Jeff Gerstmann noted that the character was "a bit out of place" with the rest of the cast, describing him as a "big, bobbing belly with appendages", though he added that Rufus was feasible as a playable character.