Here's a better match up. The two sides are basically mirrors of each other. Thinking of Mr. Karate duking it out with Shin Gouki makes my blood boil. Here's the lineup:

Mr Karate vs. Shin Gouki
Ryo vs. Ryu
Robert vs. Ken
Yuri vs. Sakura

From a gamer's point of view...

Shin Gouki will win. He has higher priority, even though his vitality is crap.
Ryu will win without a doubt. Ryo has bad range.
Ken will win. Nuff said.
Sakura will win because of her standing roundhouse kick. Yuri is good but she doesn't have as much strength as Sakura.


Of course, SvC could change all of this. Dan is actually a mid-boss in the bloddy game.

I love KOF and Ryo is one of my main strengths and I reckon he can take on Ryu. When you say Ryo lacks range, that can only mean one thing, he's an in-fighter. Don't let the lack of range fool ya.

Shin Akuma and Mr. Karate are gods and I'll never be able to determine.

Not only does Ryo lack range, he lacks impact. Ryu is an overall better fighter. In the KOF series, Ryo was never one of the best. I believe Choi was top tier in the KOF series. Yes, Choi could rape Ryo in the ass easily.

Ryo's moves has very bad startup animation, especially the (f, b, f, punch) one. Take a look at that flying kick move he's got. I'm not too sure about his dragon uppercut, but Ryu's has a good number of invincibility frames.
Ryu is an overall good fighter because of all of his moves. By nature, he has little startup and little lag, with the exception of his shoryuken. His fierce punch has always been really good. He has links that do lots of damage.

Another thing to notice is that Ryo does not have, at least to my knowledge, rapid fire attacks. His jabs and shorts do not link into another, which means he's quite slow. Ryu on the other hand has these things. Whether these are traits of their respective martial art or just gaming flaws, one thing's for sure. Ryu WILL kick Ryo's ass anyday.

<!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->
Mr Karate vs. Shin Gouki
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->Mr Karate... but his "Honki ni nata no Mr. Karate" version. He can shoot 3 haoshokokens (that would destroy Shin Gouki's aerial Hadoukens) and other funny stuff.

<!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Ryo vs. Ryu<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->Ryu... just because of Shin Shoryuken. But Ryo IS top tier in KOF (I know that because in Mexico, KOF is one of the most popular arcade games).

<!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Robert vs. Ken<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->Ken would win... he has more style.

<!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Yuri vs. Sakura<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->Yuri... coz she's practically Ryu <!--emo&:P--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' /><!--endemo--> (she got the Shin Shoryuken and... in KOF 2k3, her LDM is the Deijin Haoshokoken <!--emo&:lol:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='laugh.gif' /><!--endemo--> )

I think you're all talking about the recent incarnations of Ryo. Ryo of KOF2K1 was the best Ryo ever (that's arguable after you've seen KOF'94-98 combo videos). Ryo is not all special moves. I also find Ryo faster than Ryu but that means nothing. You can do heaps of mind games with Ryo. Anyway don't take it personally, I'm just a KOF fan over SF. I don't like thinking of Ryo losing LOL. I too thought badly of Ryo a long time ago until I saw my friend play with him.

If you see the combo video for SVC Chaos, I don't blame you if you decide Shin Akuma is better than Mr. Karate. Absolutely devilish.

Oh and if you think Choi is an unlikely top tier character, think again. Wait till you see Bao. I was shocked :0

I think the best match up would be:
Shotokan of CVS2 vs. Kyokugen of 2K1.

Ryo's f, b, f move has autoguard at the beginning and is great at catching jumping attacks. Plus, his uppercut move has whoopass invincibility frames. Great for catching attacks.

As for Robert, his 98 version has unblockable attacks, and his 2001 version has guardcrush as well as critical wire. And the cancelling moves that goes with it makes him deadlier.

Yuri...I just love the fact that her 2003 version is able to launch fireballs while jumping at either direction.

Shin Akuma will beat everyone. Three haoshokens can't beat the damage one Blackout does. Not to mention he can shift all the way to the other side while Mr Karate's doing his stuff.
In storyline, I think SF has always had a better and bendible story than KOF since KOF is more of a tournament and SF is like a mega slug-it-out battle everywhere.
Ryu will own Ryo anytime. Ryo's good, Ryu's just way better.
Ken will also own Robert. I've seen some crazy stuff people do with Robert but you know what? Both Ken and Ryu can do something that makes them really dangerous.
Ryu can become Evil Ryu and Ken can become Violent Ken.
KOF's Iori Yagami and Kyo Kusanagi are the only challengers worthy for Ken and Ryu - although their berserk modes (don't know what it's called) originated from SF.

And Yuri vs Sakura, I'd have to say Yuri - just cause she's so darn annoying in the arcades, slightly tougher than Sakura.

Meh... Kyo and Iori... the stupid charas that SNK had to impose as their "mascots" because they didn't want an American chara (Terry, Geese, anyone? <!--emo&:o--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ohmy.gif' /><!--endemo-->! ). They're two of the lamest main charas I've seen in a VG (Iori Yagami... Yagami... Yagami... Imagay... I'm a gay... lol).

Of course Shin Akuma will beat everyone, that's why I matched him up with Mr. Karate - an opponent who I think can definately hold up to Shin Akuma.

Evil Ryu? C'mon, Ryo doesn't have a an evil form so it's not fair to bring in Evil Ryu. Violent Ken? His opposite is Riot of Blood Iori.

Iori and Kyo are the only competitors against Shotokan. Uh uh. Kyokugen is SNKs answer to Capcom's Shotokan. And no, the Kyokugen team cannot be labelled as mere "imitations". They definately have the ability to beat Shotokan.

Kyokugen was always capable of pummeling Shotokan. Shotokan only became mighty during and after the Super SF2T phase. If you've seen the combos vids for SSF2T then you'll know what I mean. Kyokugen was already great starting from KOF '94.

The new CVS2 Shotokans are incredible.

... Shin Akuma can't beat Gill :bounce:

... and if we talk about OROCHI... O_O

<!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Meh... Kyo and Iori... the stupid charas that SNK had to impose as their \"mascots\" because they didn't want an American chara (Terry, Geese, anyone? <!--emo&:o--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ohmy.gif' /><!--endemo-->! ). They're two of the lamest main charas I've seen in a VG (Iori Yagami... Yagami... Yagami... Imagay... I'm a gay... lol).<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->That's because Terry is a mascot for another SNK game (Fatal Fury). And I think the new mascot for SNK is now K'. Look at how much is revolving around this new character.

Kyo and Iori are the mascots of KoF and it just happened that it is SNK's most played arcade game. They might seem lame in the games but their history goes deep and happened to be very interesting. And in the comics, they are the coolest characters there ever is. They have superb battle scenes and get to fight the coolest villians (Orochi, Goenitz and Rugal). The Iori-Kyo battle in KoF 2002 comic is totally dazzling. Same goes with the Kyo-K999 battle.

That is not to say that K' is any less better. His battle with Original Zero is cool and the K'/K9999/Kula vs Igniz battle is well fought out (although I didn't like the way the comic creators ended the fight with K' using his KoF2002 HSDM).

Anyway, the original Kyo is back (the ones you see in KoF 2000 - 2001 are actually his clone while the real Kyo was being held in stasis by NEST) and the Orochi underlings are back. I look forward to the story progression both in the comic and the game.

Too bad Whip always get the short end of the stick. She doesn't fight much and her battles are so short (less than 1 page long). Ah well....at least I get to see Shermie, Yashiro and Chris (normal and Orochi version) back in action.

Orochi...he's the coolest boss/ bad guy in the KoF universe. Much cooler than Igniz. :bounce:

Koko desu ka...

Someone who is familiar with both sides of the debate is needed. Autoguard certainly isn't in CvS2. Perhaps in KoF, but the fight's gotta be on someone's turf.

Well... Dias, a lot of your info. about KOF is wrong... the Kyo that appears in KOF 2k and 2k1 is the same old Kyo we know from KOF 94... the only Kyo clones that existed in the KOF saga were Kyo-1 and Kyo-2 from KOF 99.

And... meh, KOF's new mascot is NOT K'... it's the metrosexual idol Ash Crimson, lol (we need a trannie smiley :bounce: )... and he's kinda evil.

I started off at KoF 96, so I'm not too familiar with Ryo's history.

And regarding the Kyo clones, there are actually more. There's a team called Force-X (all made up of Kyo clones captured after Krizalid was defeated and then brainwashed) working under Heidern (you'll only see them in the comics though). And the Kyo that appeared in KoF 2k and 2k1 is actually a clone. The real Kyo only appears after Igniz was defeated. He was found in a NEST base in some desert while the Kyo clone ran away. That's why you see the real Kyo and the clone version in 2k3 game (comic tournaments and game tournaments do not always match but the story does). The emergence of the real Kyo marked the return of the Orochi and the upgraded Rugal (hence the appearance of all the 8 Orochi members and Rugal in KoF 2k2).

I'm using the KoF comics as a marker of events, so my info is not necessarily wrong. Unofficial canon maybe.

And I don't consider Ash to be mascot material. He's to gay.