I find when I take too many days off I get a bit rusty for the first hour of playing, but when I warm up I feel more confident trying new things.
If I play continuously for several days I tend to use the same tactics over and over again.
I like to play Gouken as a mixture of a rushdown character and a defensive character. Obviously against characters like Zangief you’re going to be defensive and just use fireballs to keep that beast away. However i find myself playing characters like guile who i play defensively just throwing fireballs since they can only defend themselves unless they have an ex meter. I find characters like Ryu and Guile trying to pressure and trap me in the corner.
Every now and again i like to go on a rush down since they arent expecting a Gouken to do that. When you rush down we Gouken you just have to use his demon flip or ex focus cancell out of your attacks or you wont get anywhere. Most the time these characters expect me to grab at any oppertunity i get which you can use agaiinst them. I use a mixture of cross ups, empty jumps, low kicks into demon flips then grab, kick or sometimes parry. Sometimes i just back and you see that character low crouching in the corner for over a second. then i juse use an ex fireball.
Gouken has a lot of options guy. Gouken maynot be able to rush down like and akuma but he has a lot of options, just not on wake up _.
ps. i just pressured and destroyed Ryu in the corner because he kept doing empty jumps and pokes into shryoukens because he was scared that i would parry him. Though if he attacked i would’ve probably took a hit hehehe
I think Gouken can only for full offensive when he has the enemy cornered. There you can mix up anything out of cr.mp, lp palm, flip, ex palm,lp and fp fb. I love to first lock them in the corner with fb, them just mix up some of those options, and quite frequently I get some nice damage reward from it.
Besides nobody expects Gouken to be very aggressive, so when you go full offensive in the corner many times you take them off guard.
Out of the corner, I don’t think you can. Almost everything Gouken can do is unsafe if abused, and you can be punished a lot.
He is defensive, Pressure can be done and should be done at times(obviously).
Gouken has shenaniggans that can lead to dizzy and annoying situations, I for one have 3 pressure tactics that I find useful and Id like you guys to debate on.
For me he plays like a mix of a shoto(ryu, akuma) and dhalsim.
His hp and mp fireballs work like dhalsims st. roundhouse, his st. mk works like dhalsims st. mk.
normal fireball would be dhalsims st. hp.
cr. HP work like dhalsims knee(but much better imo.
the differences is that he has demon flip and rush punch to substitute dhalsims tele and j. HP, and he has crossup mk.
Here are the shenaniggans I use to pressure with him:
opponent cornered, half screen away:
1 - cr.mp, go hadouken:
2- st. mk in case they jump or do something without much priority. if they crouch it will whiff but youll be safe much like sim after his st. mk.
from there you can, on hit or block(kinda)
1 - cr.mp, go hadouken:
2- st. mk in case they jump or do something without much priority. if they crouch it will whiff but youll be safe much like sim after his st. mk.
3 - overhead if they crouch,
4 - dash and throw
5- wait and punish something big
6 - HK demon flip for crossups
7 - focus
and the repeat. spam st. mk though because its fast and has good priority.
Another thing you can do:
(block or hit) close st. HP, mk demon flip(crosses-up),close st. HP, into combo or repeat if youre feeling lucky.
in case they start walking forward, lk demon flip into mix-up will hit them.
Mind you guys its of course mostly just to give ideas, and it of course has flaws, but its worth a try at least.
Siyko, Id like your special attention and comments on this 
Are you suggesting that a more offensive minded Gouken is correct?
I think you guys with a fixation on defensive play (that is justifiable by Gouken’s obvious tools) are cutting a substantial amount of potential out of your game.
While I’m certainly not advocating jumping in like an aggressive retard and getting the old man knocked out in mere seconds, I am suggesting you consider the wealth of damage output Gouken can unleash when he’s applied aggressively within reason.
Its been mentioned that he’s only effective aggressively when in the corner. I disagree with this completely. Thats like saying a Dragon Punch is ONLY any good as an anti air. Many, if not all of Gouken’s B&B combos work fine when kicked off from outside of the corner and in the process they work your opponent TOWARDS the corner which further expands your options. They’re not going to get there by themselves most of the time. You need to take things into your own hands and get them there and keep that momentum going.
I understand that everyone has their own playstyles and so on, but I think its also important to remember that Gouken has arguably some of the most punishing and damaging combos in the game and is capable of horrendous damage output with two EX stocks. Yes, these combos bode well as mistake punishers, but you can double your odds if you take these tools TO your opponent rather than waiting for them to come to you.
I can’t say enough about the merits of practicing your aggression game.
I really think its balance, if you go either all defense or all offense then you are probably gonna get manhandled.
The way I play him is the way I play most characters. A mix of the two, often in the same round. Play as offensively as the situation will let you. Most situations will not let Gouken be offensive as he is just not capable of it.
Play defensively until you gain momentum, and rush them down with demon flips and palms. When you’ve lost your favor, play defensively again. If they’re on the ground or in the corner, you have the advantage and can play whatever your opponent will let you. There’s no reason to play 100% defensively or 100% offensively.
I probably spend 60%-70% of my time being defensive.
Gouken’s fireball followed up with a demon flip is a very good tool for offensive pressure.
If i’m fighting a blanka or balrog, 2 guys that can beat the hell out of my parry, it’s all about throwin a fireball as a sort of “deal with that while I come with my real attack” technique, then start my demon flip.
The great thing about the kick on a demon flip is that depending on when you throw it, it can land as a low attack(not counting the sweep)
But as a general comment, gouken is a char that’s all about figuring your opponent out with, he’s not like a ken where you can just rush in scrapping it out and rely on speed and reaction time to win.
If your plan goes wrong with gouken, your pretty much going to get force fed a knuckle sandwich.
It certainly looks like it can hit low, but I’m quite sure that this has been proven to be just looks?
^^ That thing hits low. If you hit knees or toes that counts as a low it has happened to me on numerous occasions and it happened to me and addy when we played a lot as well. Dive kick is beast as shit.
I set a training mode dummy to all block and tested out max range toe-hitting demon flip kick to see if he’d have to block low, but he didn’t. I think it just hits because the opponent doesn’t think it has that much range.
Gouken has a good zoning game, but he doesn’t get much damage out of it, and if he lets the opponent in on him he can be in pretty big trouble. By contrast, he gets lots and lots of damage out of things that can really only be done when he’s played offensively, and while he’s on offense the opponent has a harder time putting him in a bad situation. Imo, in lots of matchups Gouken should be played with an emphasis on offense and mixups. Obviously there are some matchups where you want to be a defensive zoner (Honda, Gief, etc), but in general I’d rather keep up the pressure.
this is how i feel as well.
gouken’s combos are so powerful that you can gamble a few times with him, give up some damage and still win the exchange.
gouken’s demonflip is one of the best jumpins i have ever used in a streetfighter game.
I agree, i usually play defense for the first bit of the 1st round or hell maybe even the entire first round with the odd pressure ill throw in to just size up what my opponent is all about. then i pore on the pressure. i was playing a local player here who is in my opinion better then me when it comes to basics in street fighter but he recently posted that my gouken has him completely mind fucked
Bwahahahaha 
I play a mixed Gouken with slightly more weight on the offensive side. (because his combos are godly) I firmly believe he has some of the best ex moves in the game.
Gamogo’s experiment has piqued my interest as far as Gouken on offense goes. I’ll try out this type of play and see where it takes me.
Eh, it’ll be hard, given I’m still trying to get used to stick, still, too.
yes you can
In short… you can play any character as rush down… as long as you are aware of the penalty and how you’d like/can be punished…
In long… LOL
you can rush down with almost any of goukens moves besides the dreadful tatsu… (if you miss this against a good player, you will be punished…)
Know the safe distances of the Palm Strike… for the most part you will be using LP… not unless you are countering a jumping opponent from 3/4’s away…
you CAN- fireball and palm strike combo with the correct timing and distance… if they block it is good chip damage as well (plus the palm strike will be safe)… if you happen to hit, it will set up any of your wake up options… everyone plays wake up differently… the safest way to play is to throw hadokens. for the chip damage… if you can charge for the 2 hits… you can demon flip in or just repeat the process to annoy the hell out of your opponent.
The biggest part of goukens rush down, is you have to know when and what moves you can throw your opponent out of and/or counter… For example… you can counter the second sweep or Guiles HK, back throw Balrog out of turn punches, and throw Cammy out of the Cannon Drill before she get’s a chance to Cannon Spike…
Most people end up playing footsies with you… so if you do a far CR. HK… you will have enough frame advantage to counter before your opponent can hit you with their own cr. HK… (gotta be fast almost like a combo… you just have to judge if you have a passive or agressive opponent…
You also have to get better at Anti Air defense/offense… because Gouken is prob the worst character on the game in this department… Cr. HP is probably your best bet, if you aren’t sure that you can counter. … The Tatsu is an option… but if you miss… then you better get ready for the next round.
Mix up FA’s as well… Gouken does a lot of damage with 1 ex BAR… You can FA… St. HP, EX Palm Strike, Forward Dash- (Tatsu, Palm Strike, Hadoken, or HP demon Flip reset) As much as I hate them b/c they make shitty players somehow decent… I love them for agressive players who love to jump in… (beware of the cross up tho)…
Remember that the Palm Strike can be used to close the gap between you and your opponent, and you can slide through fireballs for punishment…
Demon Flip Resets- Go to practice mode… learn them.
The last and most important thing to remember when playing Gouken is… if he doesn’t have you trapped in the corner he doesn’t have any combo’s that link you to a special move after the 2nd. standing lp or lk) so anyalyze the frame advantages… and set your gimmicks up from there
Hope this helps your rush down…
gouken’s rush down only works against the cast that has no srk or command throw, he has few tools for it. by few tools, i mean no safe on block moves at all. to have a strong rushdown you need some safe moves to get in like viper’s thunder knuckles. sagat for instance, can crush gouken’s rush down simply by playing reactionary. once you get inside with demon flip shenanigans things get interesting but srk breaks nearly all of gouken’s options except…blocking and waiting.
anyway, even if gouken does get in, his fastest move is a crap 4 frame jab and the only moves with invul are his super and a 11 startup frame ultra and a completely unsafe ex-tatsu that hits high.
Wrong… Palm Strike is safe on block from correct distance. You can also combo/counter after a hadoken if done properly…
You can pretty much crush anyone by playing reactionary with Sagat. he has so many tools… given that… at the end of the day. it depends on your skill…
Gouken has plenty of tools to set up his rush down…
You can hadoken… if you are playing Sagat for example. if he tiger shots back. you can pass through the fireball… or you can demon flip… once you are in close quarters… it’s skill vs. skill
You are right about his lp lp lp lp combo. it’s sucks ass… that’s why you if you play gouken as a main. you need to hit confirm on reaction and use his other combos…
You must have not played a good Gouken before, because every player in the game has a rush down strategy… whether it’s FADC towards your opponent… or jumping over fireballs…
the command throw is some straight up bullshit… but hey it’s in the game. For E Honda and Abel… just backdash and punish… Gouken is a very versatile character and you have to have certain set up’s for each player type… exploit the weaknesses and when you see and opening… make them pay… I haven’t had too much trouble with Sagats… the charge characters… well that’s another story