One of my favorite matches from SF4. Shine (Gouken) vs Sanford Kelly (Akuma) at Battlefield Arcadia #9, December 2009.
Now, this match is good for a few reasons. Up until this match, virtually no one had ever heard of Shine. Shine was, at this point, a 15 year old kid playing on a 360 controller, and he placed second in a monthly NYC tournament that would often have some of the best EC players in it. In addition to playing at such a high level at such a young age, he was suing a standard 360 controller, widely thought of being the worst thing to use for competitive fighting games. Obviously, this is no small feat.
What else makes this match so amazing is that up until this point, there was very little play of Gouken seen or heard of. No one really played him competitively, and not many people seemed to stick with him long enough to care until this video came out. Although there aren’t a ton of Gouken players now, there are definitely more, a few of which inspired by this video to give the character a chance.
Both players exhibit a very good amount of skill and knowledge of game mechanics and theory, such as spacing, pressure, and execution. Although this version of the game is no longer played, this remains one of my favorite matches. The video is a bit long, but it’s worth watching for a very intense match.
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