[quote name='kainzero']Ryu is one of the simplest conceptual characters... time your fireballs right, shoryuken any jump in attempts, hurricane kick through the right projectiles, and know how to cancel your sweep into a fireball.
Knowing and perfecting that is good enough to get through most (if not all) players. Easier said than done, though. You don't need to learn anything complex like comboing f+fierce - c.mk - super to stay competitive.
I think that's why I like SF2 a lot. It's amazingly conceptually simple.[/quote]
^That's pretty much Ryu's strategy, tried and true.
Really though, Darth, you gotta start with the basics. Combos are cool and all, but I feel they are nothing without a good head on your shoulders.
I personally think throws and projectiles in this game are immense, a huge part of the game. Therefore, you should practice on those (timing and execution). After you learn these, I'm sure the rest will follow.
With Ryu, the projectile dept. is easily taken care of. What usually augments the fireball game are zoning and spacing. Which I really think can only be learnt from practice against other people. These two things delve into reading the opponent and controlling space.
If you just shoot fireballs all the time, the opponent will most likely catch onto your rhythm and just jump over when you are unable to retaliate. So you just gotta mix it up and at the same time predict what your opponent will do.
However before all this Jedi mind reading stuff, you should be able to execute moves easily. Instead of thinking, "ok, now I have to do a qcf+p to do a fireball", you should work up to the point where you think "now I have to do a fireball." Basically, make excecution second nature. If you're already past this point, disregard it.
Really though, try not to complicate things, rather simplify them. Take it bit by bit. (ironically look at my post...)
Being very good at a game doesn't appear over night, it takes time. I sure as hell have a long way to go. Personally I haven't played sf2 as a kid, so it's a new thing to me. Whereas many others, both in the FGT and SF community have been playing this shit for years.