Ryu (Street Fighter) - Promotion and Reception

Promotion and Reception

Ryu artwork was featured on an officially licenced animated Nubytech/UDON joypad for the PlayStation 2, and a Mad Catz wireless joypad for the PlayStation 3.

Ryu is consistently ranked as one of the most popular and memorable characters from the Street Fighter franchise as well as gaming in general among critics. GameSpot featured him in their article "All Time Greatest Game Hero". He additionally ranked number seventy-one on UGO Networks's "Top 100 Heroes of All Time" article. UGO also placed him at #2 on their list of "Top 50 Street Fighter Characters", stating "Whereas Ken is flashy, Ryu is contemplative, tortured and driven." IGN ranked him first in their "Top 25 Street Fighter Characters" article, stating "Ryu is a testament to the virtue of simplicity in character design. White gi, dark gloves, red headband for a little touch of color, and that is it. It's rare, when you think about it, to see too many fancy pieces go into the making of an icon". GameDaily listed him at number two in their "Top 20 Street Fighter Characters of All Time" article, stating "He always seeks a bigger challenge, and that determination makes him one of our favorites"; in a later character profile article for Ryu, they stated "Ryu is a formidable fighter that gets the job done.... Bottom line, you can't go wrong with Street Fighter's most iconic character." The same site ranked him sixth along with Ken in the Top 25 Capcom Characters of All Time with editor Robert Workman saying "It was just impossible to choose between one of these world warriors". He has also been recognized as on of the best gaming characters from all time. He was voted as one of the best fifty characters in both a Famitsu issue and the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition from 2011. In the February 1992 issue of Gamest magazine in Japan Ryu ranked third Best Character of 1991. In the January 30, 1997 issue Ryu ranked number thirteen in Top 50 Characters of 1996.

GamesRadar writer Tyler Wilde published an article focusing on Ken's and Ryu's development across the franchise under the title of "The evolution of Ken and Ryu". The Guardian recommended Ryu and Ken for beginners in Street Fighter IV with the former being better at fights from distances as a result of his projectiles moves. In GameSpot's "Great Loves" article Ryu was described as "one of the most independent men in the world of video games" as he is only interested in training to become stronger fighter in contrast to other Street Fighter characters who have romantic interests. UGO listed Ryu's headband twenty-sixth on their list of "The Coolest Helmets and Headgear in Video Games". In GamesRadar's article "The 56 characters of Marvel vs Capcom 2", Ryu was described as "The heart and soul of the Street Fighter series" and "probably the most well known fighting game character in the world".

Evil Ryu was noted to be a stereotype of protagonist gaming characters who reveal an evil alter-ego ruining the character's appealing traits. UGO Networks editor Paul Furfari chose him as one of the top 50 best Street Fighter characters, commenting that despite being a "what if" form from Ryu, it made the Street Fighter Alpha series more entertaining due to the potential his moves had. Such form shown in Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition was noted to share traits from both Ryu and Akuma. GameSpot stated that since he uses modified versions from known techniques, he was one of the least interesting additions to the game. His stronger damage executed have been commented to the point Game Informer mentioned he was even stronger than Seth, the Street Fighter IV boss. In a GamesRadar article by Michael Grimm, a fight between Evil Ryu and Devil Jin was written as one of the ones players wanted to see in Street Fighter X Tekken as the two are evil alter egos from two existing characters sharing also similar designs and movesets to their original forms.

One of Ryu's quotes from Street Fighter II stated "You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance." Such quote caused controversy within gamers who wondered whether there was actually a character named Sheng Long. Although the quote was actually a mistranslation, it was exploited as an April Fool's various times by gaming magazines. Nevertheless, the character was referred in the video games based on live-action films as Ryu's teacher. Moreover, the fans' request to include Sheng Long, led to Gouken's inclusion in Street Fighter IV.