New Moves for Ryu, Ken and Co. in Street Fighter 4 Omega

Parries and double-EX specials added; Red focus and ultra combo doubles removed.

A tranche of new special moves and EX-attacks for Street Fighter 4 have been detailed by Capcom.

The Omega Mode, which is expected to launch in a matter of months if not weeks, is a free update that tweaks the playing style and adds many new manoeuvres to the game. Some of the major changes include the removal of red focus attacks and ultra combo doubles, both of which were introduced in Ultra Street Fighter 4. However, Omega mode is an optional extra, with players free to switch back to the Ultra version of the game, or indeed the original version, at any time.

New details on character-specific changes have begun to emerge, with the Capcom blog outlining new moves for Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Guile, Zangief, E. Honda, Blanka and Dhalsim.

Ryu's Hanagashi move will be a familiar feature among hardcore fans of the series. By pressing forward, hard-punch and hard-kick simultaneously, Ryu is able to parry incoming attacks.

The parry system was a defining manoeuvre in the cult title Street Fighter 3: Third Strike. The famous "Diago comeback", filmed at Evolution 2004 fighting tournament, popularised the use of parries due to how one contestant, Daigo Umehara, managed to use them to dramatically escape near-certain death and win the match:

Elsewhere in the Capcom blog, it's revealed that both Chun-Li and Ken will be given kick combo special attacks that cost two EX bars. E. Honda, meanwhile, will be given a sumo wrestling-style throw, and Guile can now fire more than one Sonic Boom at the cost of an EX bar.

There is no release date available yet for the Street Fighter Omega update. For more thorough details on the new character moves, visit the Capcom Blog.