It's everybody's favorite, lovable demon of death and destruction. Sort of like if you joined Ryu and Ken together and gave them a funky hairdo. If you are an old school Street Fighter, then you will be familiar with his Shotokan moves. You can play him just like you would Ryu or Ken but a bit more pumped up. He dominates the air with his large assortment of air specials and he can be relentless on the ground with his multiple comboes and two in ones. Devastating in the hands of experts and beginners alike. Don't let anyone pull off any big comboes though cause he doesn't take abuse very well. With the exception of maybe Dan, he loses the most life out of all the Shotokaners. Too bad he's not the all powerful, god-like secret character that he used to be, but I guess that's why they made Cyber Akuma. Oh and by the way, quit asking me for Cyber Akuma codes cause there is none. Face it people! Wait for the home version, maybe they'll put one in like they did for Thanos and Doc Doom from MSH.

Gou Hadoken +P
The second smallest Shotokan fireball next to Dan but far more effective. It goes all the way across the screen, is quite fast, comboable and it does a lot of damage. His air version goes diagonally downwards and several can be thrown at one time while he is super jumping. Use this move often if you're some distance from your opponent. Akuma could even be considered a keep away character because of the speed of these little puppies.

Gou Shoryuken +P
The best Shotokan Dragon Punch except for Ken's. Akuma sets his opponent on flame when they are hit...black flames in fact. It hits multiple times and each hit is quite powerful. It combos after most of his normal moves and is quite fast. It works effectively as air defense so use it to counter people who like to jump in. Watch out though, cause like all other Dragon Punches, it has horrible recovery time and your opponent might trick you into pulling it off so that they can block and then make Akuma eat a super.

Gou Tatsumaki Senpukyaku +K
Ok ok so I guess Ryu got THE Fireball and Ken got THE Dragon Punch so Akuma got THE Hurricane kick. It's fast, it hits multiple times, it hurts and it also makes the opponent all electrified. Akuma can even OTG his opponent after this move because he recovers before they can get up. For some reason, it is very hard for the opponent to counter attack if they get hit, so cheap players can throw immediately after this move is blocked. Also, this is a setup for the Raging Demon, because it will knock them down after a while. Good Akuma players should learn how to time the Demon to come out just when they're getting back up.

Diving Demon Kick (air) +K
While in the air, Akuma will suddenly come down at a sixty degree angle and hit his opponent multiple times. A useful move for confusing your opponent and for quickly getting down to the floor if you wanna avoid something in the air. It's difficult to counter if blocked so you can pull it off without fear of getting hit. However, he is extremely vulnerable to beam supers while doing it, so don't try it if you're fighting someone with a beam and you're not directly on top of them. Also, he is not invincible during this move so air defenders and Dragon Punch type moves will easily knock him out of it. Don't get too predictable with this move.

Teleport or +3P or 3K
A useful tactic for confusing your opponent or getting out of tight situations, such as corners. He slides along the ground in a funky stance and he is totally invincible while doing this. However, he pauses quickly while recovering from this move so wise opponents can usually counter if they see it coming. The direction of the motion determines the direction that he slides in. Also, using the punches make him go further than the kicks do.

Messatsu Gou Shoryu +2P(Level One)
Akuma mimics Ken exactly and does a sort of Shoryu Reppa kinda move. I do believe that this hurts less than Ken's but like the Shoryu Reppa, it's easy to combo and it comes out very very fast. It rivals the Berserker Barrage X as fastest super. It also has great range so use it to punish opponents for stupidity. However, it also has the Shoryu Reppa's tragic flaw. If it's done on a heavy character such as Hulk, then you're just asking for a world of hurt because the big guys will land first and be able to counter with anything that they want. I wonder if the same goes for Cyber Akuma? Yeah I guess...but that's only if you survive it!

Tenma Gou Zankyu (air)+2P(Level One)
Akuma opens up his palms and releases 20+ air fireballs at his opponent. This move has been greatly improved since the previous game cause he doesn't have that delay that he had in both the Alpha games and X-men vs. SF. You can even do a Ryu-like air combo with this move as a finisher. They do good block damage and can OTG opponents. This is an extremely useful moves against characters like Ryu, Cyclops and Dark Sakura cause you can jump over their beams and hit em with it.

Messatsu Gou Hado+2P(Level One)
Akuma reaches back and releases a......well, not a very impressive Shinkuu Hadoken. It's a good super because of the fact that it hits almost instantly and goes all the way across the screen, but the damage that it does is pitifully less than what Ryu can inflict with his version. Whatever happened to Akuma being the supreme Shotokaner? Regardless of it's flaws, tt's a great move for tagging opponents who screw up and are a whole screen away.. Besides, I think that he looks the coolest while gathering the energy for this move.

Shun Goku Satsu (The Raging Demon!) JP, JP, , SK, FP (Level Three)
This has gotta be my most favorite move in the entire friggin game, even though it does take three levels super meter. Do the motion and Akuma slides along the floor with his hands in a grabbing pose. If he touches his opponent, the screen goes white and he pummels the living crap out of them. After fifteen hits, they reappear with the opponent on the ground and Akuma with his back facing the screen. This move hurts! It takes off at least a third to a half of an opponents life bar instantly. It is unblockable so sitting there and blocking will not save you from it. The only escape is to jump out of the way or to throw Akuma before he can grab. A definite crowd pleaser and the mark of a master. Save up your super meter to do it, cause it's definitely worth it if it connects. Too bad the big Jap symbol is now gone if you finish a match with it.... :(

Gou Tatsumaki Senpukyaku MP+MK
This is one of the best team moves because if he connects, he hits your opponent several times very, very slowly. This gives your other character time to do whatever he wants with your hapless opponent. Anything that will connect horizontally can be comboed after this move. From Beam Supers like Shinkuu Hadoken, Mega Optic Blast, Yoga Inferno to Rushing Supers such as Berserker Barrage X, Crawler Assault, Hyper Charging Stars to Combo Supers like Weapon X, Final Justice, Cross Shadow Blitz and yes even grab supers like Chaos Dimension(ouch!) and the Final Atomic Buster (double ouch!), almost anything will connect after this move. Dragon Punch supers might not be that great cause they'll hit three or four times at most and your opponent will fall to the ground while your character is left vulnerable. Akuma is one of the best partners to have because of this fact. Use it and use it often, but don't get predictable or both your characters will be eating super.

Gou Shoryuken HP+HK
This is an ideal counter because of the speed and the invulnerability that he has while pulling it off. Just don't try to counter any beam supers with this cause both your guys will get trashed.

Messatsu Gou Hado HP+HK (Level Two)
This is a good super to use as a team attack because it complements just about every other move. Honestly though, I'd rather save up my meter for a Raging Demon....it's cooler and more impressive.

Akuma is very well balanced but that means that he doesn't excel at anything really. He's not as fast as Ken or Sakura and he's not as strong as Ryu or Dan, so the other Shotokaners can all give him a difficult time if they exploit their stronger points.

Against Dan and Ryu, stay offensive on them and don't let up. Akuma's speed will let him win out against the powerhouse Shotokans. Though neither Ryu nor Dan could actually be considered slow, Akuma still has the speed advantage. Use the hurricane kick when you are on the ground and the air fireball if you're in the air. Keep hitting them with something at all times. I've found that his S.FD.Forward hop kick is a great move to use if you find yourself too far from your opponent after a series of blocked moves. Do the hop and you'll be close to them again and you can continue hammering away. If they turtle, use his guard break chop thingie to teach them to fight like men.

Sakura and Ken might be give him a hard time because of their speed advantage. Also, they are very tough to jump in on cause they both have supers and specials that are excellent air defense. If you get too predictable, you might find yourself on the painful side of a Shinryuken or Haru Ichiban. This is definitely not a good idea since Akuma loses life very easily and getting hit by one of these powerful supers will really really hurt. However, the upside is that Ken and Sakura's supers have horrible recovery time and can be easily countered by any of Akuma's long range supers.

You should resort to playing keep away against most of the power characters such as Zangief and Hulk. Stay away and when they least expect it, come in with a big combo, preferably a super jumping air combo or one that will knock them down to the ground. Don't use the Shoryu Reppa unless you are sure that it will kill them though. That is just asking for trouble. They will always land before you and you'll have to go exchange some more tokens cause you'll die either from a Gamma Wave, Gamma Crush or Final Atomic Buster. Watch his life bar and switch wisely.

Like all the other characters, you should be careful against Wolverine and Spiderman cause of their speed and the fact that any missed moves or supers by you can be countered with a Maximum Spider or Weapon X. His C.Fierce is awesome for defending from jump ins. Trust me, this move works. It has excellent speed and priority. Though it's not impenetrable, it does have more of a margin for error than Chun-Li's S.Roundhouse. The worst case scenario is that you'll trade hits with your opponent.