CvS Ryu Expert Link Combos Guide

Game Version: Capcom vs SNK / Dreamcast / Japan / 2000

Ryu has a surprisingly large arsenal of combos at his disposal in CvS, Despite the game's relatively basic combo system. Many of these are reminiscent of Ryu's old school links and meaty combos. All combos were performed in Versus Mode on a standard Dreamcast pad without any assistance.

Ryu/Mai combo
This combo is very basic. The third hit of the combo only works on the taller characters in the game. Nonetheless, the air Hurricane Kick must be performed very quickly in order for it to connect.

Ryu/Chun Li combo
Ryu's far s.LK attack gives him enough frame advantage to follow it up with a linked s.LP attack. However, getting the far version of the s.LK to come out requires as much delay as possible between the first three hits of this combo. Therefore, this five-hit combo is made up of four very tricky links. Using Ryu's j.HP attack as a crossup makes this combo even trickier, requiring very precise spacing.

Ryu/Kyo combo
Unlike CvS2, Ryu's far s.HK attack canceled into his fireball combos very cleanly in this game. The result is a very basic but stylish combo for Ryu to use in a number of situations. Check out the CvS MC getting all crazy with the colorful language during this short clip.

Ryu/Morrigan combo
Both combos in this clip focus on Ryu's ability to follow up his LP fireballs and both emphasize exact spacing over difficult timing. The first combo requires full meter, while any super fireball will work in the second. By far the harder of the two is the second combo, especially because the four-button layout of CvS makes it very easy to accidentally perform Ryu's c.HK sweep when attempting his DB+HK attack buffered into a super fireball.

Ryu/Ken combo
This combo is about nothing other than getting as many LP attacks as possible before linking into Ryu's s.HP attack, which is canceled into his lvl3 super fireball. Whether Zangief is standing or ducking, the maximum number of LP attacks possible in this combo is four. A fifth LP attack does connect against crouching Zangief, but pushes him outside s.HP range.

Ryu/Nakoruru combo
Shown here is the standard SNK Groove Ryu corner combo, utilizing his lvl3 super fireball to set the opponent up for a lvl1 super Hurricane Kick juggle. The jump-in attack must be performed as early as possible in order to squeeze in a two-hit link before the lvl3 super fireball. Otherwise, the lvl1 super Hurricane Kick will whiff.

Ryu/Iori combo
Vega is one of the thinnest characters in CvS, even while he's falling. This makes him one of the most difficult targets for this combo. It's more a question of spacing than timing, as the air Hurriane Kick must hit Vega in a very specific manner in order for Ryu to land in time to juggle with his lvl3 Shin Shoryuken. Special thanks to ALTANertive for this combo.

Ryu/Terry combo
In contrast to Vega, Honda is one of the easiest characters in CvS to juggle with the Shin Shoryuken. However, Ryu can in fact juggle all but the thinnest characters in CvS with a Shin Shoryuken following a midscreen LP Shoryuken. This combo gives Ryu plenty of time to set up a meaty DB+HK attack, which can be followed by his c.LP attack linked into another DB+HK for the final lvl1 super fireball.

Ryu/Guile combo
This 100% damage "Touch Of Death" combo kills almost any Ratio 1 character, but requires Ryu to perform his j.HK attack very early in order for the LP Shoryuken to connect. Once that's taken care of, Ryu can follow up with his lvl3 Shin Shoryuken with ease, resulting in a very painful combo for any unfortunate opponent. See if you can notice what's really bizarre about this clip. Hint: This combo had to be performed twice, perfectly in sync, in order to achieve the desired effect. Special thanks to jchensor, tragic, and Mouko for the crazy editing idea.