There are 25 characters in Street Fighter 4. Most of the characters return from the original Street Fighter II game, but there are also a handful of brand-new characters. Some of the classic characters that are playable include Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li and Guile. The console version of Street Fighter 4 will have four new characters that did not appear in the arcade version.

Street Fighter 4 is designed to appeal to fans of the classic Street Fighter II games as well as attract newcomers and appeal to hardcore series fans. The characters that were in the old games, like Ryu, Ken and Chun-Li, play in essentially the same way as they always have. Ryu has a fireball and a dragon uppercut, and you do these moves using the same commands as before.

There are a handful of new characters that bring some new fighting styles to the game, as well.

Abel is a MMA fighter who uses throws like Zangief, but can also do quick combos that are designed to confuse his opponent.

C.Viper is a spy that uses fire and electric attacks. She has a fire kick that can be used in the air, a shock punch that can be used on the ground, and ground slam that will knockdown opponents if they're standing on a certain part of the stage.

El Fuerte is a Mexican pro wrestler who is the fastest character in the game. He can dash forward and transition that into a number of moves, like a body slam. He can also jump off walls and move around a stage quickly. His moves do very little damage on their own, though, and have to be used in combos to do effective damage.

Rufus is an obese American who is actually one of the fastest and most powerful characters in the game. He uses an aggressive style focused on overpowering opponents with non-stop offense, but he has a number of useful defensive techniques as well. His dive kick can be used off the ground and has an adjustable trajectory.