The Red Cyclone, Dominant Again

Street Fighter IV - Character Ranking (according to Tougeki)

SS: Sagat, C. Viper, Akuma, Zangief
S: Ryu, Balrog, (JPN M. Bison), Rufus, Blanka
A: Chun-Li, M. Bison (JPN Vega), Ken, Dhalsim, Abel, E. Honda, El Fuerte
B: Vega (JPN Balrog), Guile



Can't say that I'm surprised. I'd been using Zangief and Sagat as my mains, with Vega (Balrog) a distant third. It's been a while since Zangief has been this dominant and fun to use. Remember when people would groan when you chose Zangief and had a semblance of skill? The Red Cyclone is back, baby. And while we're at it, here are the latest Bloodline Rebellion tier lists:

Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion - Character Ranking

S: Steve
A: Lars, Lili, Lee, Law
B: Asuka, Armor King, Eddy, Ganryu, Xiaoyu, Julia, Jin, Devil Jin, Hwoarang, Feng Wei, Bryan, Bruce, Heihachi, Baek, Marduk, Roger Jr.
C: Anna, Alisa, Kazuya, King, Kuma/Panda, Christie, Jack-6, Dragunov, Nina, Paul, Bob, Lei, Leo, Wang
D: Zafina, Miguel, Yoshimitsu, Raven

Looks like Steve Fox is going to be sitting pretty at the top. I've yet to play the game, but I'm assuming that his priority is off the charts again. I'm glad that they seemed to have toned down Bob and Kaz, and really glad that Xiaoyu is at least in the middle of the pack. Can't wait for this thing to finally release on consoles later this year.

To close out all the talk about fighting games, I've been playing Soul Calibur IV during my free time. I was initially keen on the idea of having Vader in the game, but I haven't even used him yet because he just seems so damn out of place. I've actually been trying to recondition myself to use Ivy again. I did major damage with her in SCII, but I guess I just got frustrated with how different she handled in SCIII.



The overall game feels a bit too much like its predecessor (again), but that doesn't stop it from being a crazy good fighter.