Street Fighter 1 MR/Retsu

Retsu's portrait art

Retsu's default and P2 alternate color

Background

Retsu is a previously ex-communicated martial artist who was banned from his dojo for using forbidden techniques. Retsu is much older and wiser than he looks, being one of Goutetsu's dojo assistants and watching Gouken and Akuma personally. He was tasked with locating the two of them as they trained elsewhere, under the request of Goutetsu. When Retsu found Gouken, he had been training in the mountains for 14 days without food or water, a feat only accomplished by Goutetsu before him. This meant that Gouken had reached enlightenment. Retsu gave him a final test by taking him to the village where his parents were murdered. Gouken said he had no intentions to fight them, proving to Retsu that he had passed and became enlightened.

Introduction

Retsu is an aggressive rushdown character, using his high damage and very plus normals and specials to force the opponent to block long chip strings and punishing them when they try to escape. His 4214K Incomplete Spin Kick makes for an amazing combo ender and is plus enough to true string into itself, allowing Retsu to essentially checkmate a round if it gets blocked. His buttons like 2C, 2B, 5C, and 5D all make for stellar close range brawling tools, and while he lacks any throw or overhead to mix with, he doesn't need them as much as other mixless characters do. 214P Retsu Reversal, while not a true reversal, allows him to call out bad pokes and repetitive pressure for big damage. His 236236K Shaolin Special super is amazing to end combos with, when it connects properly.

Retsu suffers from SF1MR system mechanics somewhat, as he has to contend with powerful zoning and superior buttons. While he can infinitely blockstring, it isn't easy or fast, and requires that he still gets in and lands a Tatsu. His 236P Hadouken and 236236P Hadouken x3 are pitiful fireballs, and only really exist to give Retsu an answer to zoning himself by allowing him to delete fireballs with his own. Shaolin Special is a great reversal, starting in 2 frames and being fully invincible for a large time, but it can drop hits or even fall out at longer ranges. This especially becomes an issue with his midscreen super combos, though in the corner this is less true. Retsu is a rushdown character with some decent tools for neutral and defense, but as a reference to the infamous joke character Dan, a few of his tools just don't work sometimes.

Playstyle

Pros	Cons
Simple and Consistent: Retsu is likely the easiest character to pick up and play, as nothing he does is necessarily complex and all of his best stuff is obvious Offense: Retsu is tied for the 2nd fastest character, and with various buttons for brawling and mashing, he can get in fast and abuse 4214K to close out rounds quick Damage: 2C links rack up damage quickly, and 4214D is a great and simple combo ender Chip: Thanks to his powerful infinite blockstring, Retsu can rack up chip or even kill the opponent for blocking a single Tatsu	No Mixup: Throws are not a universal concept in SF1MR, and Retsu lacks an overhead or a crossup. This forces him to rely on chip to make realistic comebacks Bad Fireball: Retsu's 236P fireball only travels about 1/3rd of the screen, and both versions disappear at the same spacing. Notably, the C fireball disappears before Retsu even recovers from his fireball animation. This hurts Retsu's zoning a lot, leaving his fireball to be more or less a pressure and anti-zoning tool alone Defense: 214P isn't a frame 1 counter, and loses to lows, projectiles, and the occasional throw. Since 236236P causes no knockdown, 236236K is his best reversal, and it costs meter and likes to drop hits

Character Summary

Move List

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Special Moves

236A/C - Hadouken: Counter-Zoning Tool

4214B/D - Incomplete Spin Kick: Combo Ender/Pressure Tool

2146A/C - Retsu Reversal: Counter

Supers

236236P - Hadouken x3: Anti-Zoning Super

236236K - Shaolin Special: Combo Ender/Reversal Super

Unique Attacks

N/A

Stats & vitals

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• Attack Rating = 100
• Armor Rating = 100
• Forward Walk Speed = 2.7
• Taunt = 30f

Quick Combo Reference

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Basic BNBs:

• 2A > 2C > 4214D = 227 Damage
• 2A > 2B, 2B > 4214D = 211 Damage
• 2C, 2C > 4214D = 266 Damage

Metered BNBs:

• 2A > 2C > 236236K = 308 Damage
• 2A > 2B, 2B > 236236P = 198 Damage

Normals

Standing Normals

Stand Light Punch 5A	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Cancels Adv on Hit Adv on Block 27 Mid 2 3 3 GA/SP/SU +7 +2

Stand Light Kick 5B	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Cancels Adv on Hit Adv on Block 27 Mid 4 5 5 GA/SP/SU +2 -3

Stand Heavy Punch 5C	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Cancels Adv on Hit Adv on Block 97 Mid 4 12 4 SP/SU +10 -2

Stand Heavy Kick 5D	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Cancels Adv on Hit Adv on Block 87 Mid 3 4 19 SP/SU -8 -7

Crouching Normals

Crouch Light Punch 2A	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Cancels Adv on Hit Adv on Block 23 Mid 2 3 3 GA/SP/SU +6 +3

Crouch Light Kick 2B	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Cancels Adv on Hit Adv on Block 23 Low 4 3 4 GA/SP/SU +6 +1

Crouch Heavy Punch 2C	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Cancels Adv on Hit Adv on Block 62 Mid 3 6 3 SP/SU +13 +14

Crouch Heavy Kick 2D	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Cancels Adv on Hit Adv on Block 78 Low 9 6 7 SP/SU KD +3

Jumping Normals

Jump Light Punch j.A	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Cancels Adv on Hit Adv on Block 27 High 2 Until Landing 2 N/A Varies Varies

Jump Light Kick j.B	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Cancels Adv on Hit Adv on Block 24 High 2 Until Landing 2 N/A Varies Varies

Jump Heavy Punch j.C	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Cancels Adv on Hit Adv on Block 70 High 2 8 2 N/A Varies Varies

Jump Heavy Kick j.D	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Cancels Adv on Hit Adv on Block 70 High 2 8 2 N/A Varies Varies

Taunt

Taunt A+B	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Cancels Adv on Hit Adv on Block - - 1 - 30 - - - Taunt builds 1 bar of meter instantly, regardless of if Retsu is hit out of it or not, hence the 1 frame startup.

Special Attacks

Hadouken 236A/C	Version Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Cancels Adv on Hit Adv on Block A 65 Mid 9 24 28 N/A -4 -5 C 65 Mid 9 13 28 N/A -4 -5

Retsu Reversal 214A/C	Version Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Cancels Adv on Hit Adv on Block B/D 150 - 4 50 4 N/A KD -

Incomplete Hurricane Kick 4214B/D	Version Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Cancels Adv on Hit Adv on Block B 37,35,35 Mid 4 3(16)5(10)5 11 N/A KD +8 D 37,35,35,35 Mid 4 3(16)5(10)5(10)5 11 N/A KD +8

Supers

Hadouken x3 236236P	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Cancels Adv on Hit Adv on Block 65,65,65 Mid 9 51 5 N/A -4 -5

Shaolin Special 236236K	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Cancels Adv on Hit Adv on Block 37,37,37,37,37,37,37,37,35 Mid 2 3(6)10(5)3(16)4(7)9(6)4(4)2(16)3(16)3 16 N/A KD 0