The big question turns sibling against sibling, friend against friend. There will be rioting in the streets. Today’s question might seem a little stack in the favour of Street Fighter II, but I want you to go back. I want you to remember walking into the arcade and seeing Mortal Kombat for the first time. I want you to remember the forbidden fruit that was the fatality. Remember this and then make your decision.
Alright, now remember the first time you played Street Fighter II. The first time you did a Dragon Punch. The first time you actually pulled off a spinning piledriver.
Okay, now that you have those two very precise memories fighting for headspace… you must choose.
CHOOSE!
Comments
73 responses to “The Big Question: Street Fighter II Or Mortal Kombat?”
I think this just shows that not a lot of fighting game players are reading kotaku.
Street Fighters a much better game. Hell people STILL play SF2 at tournaments. Noone’s still playing the original Mortal Kombat.
I think this just shows that you have no idea what concept personal preference is.
Take the gimmicky blood and fatalities out and tell me which one you would rather play?
SFII is the much better game if you’re actually going to get stuck into it and play a tourament or something like that. I have a lot of fond memories of Mortal Komabt and played it more as a kid, but in my mind the gameplay hasn’t held up well at all.
It always bugs me when people use the argument “well if you take ‘x’ out…”
It’s completely besides the point and irrelevant – they are there to be used as a basis of comparison, gimmick or no gimmick.
Again. It comes down to personal preference – i don’t see why people feel the need to so actively defend their chosen outlet..
I think the point he was making is that things like blood & gore are gimmicks, things that are designed to pull people in, but have no lasting appeal. Tthus it still stands to reason that you could use the ‘take away x’ argument in this circumstance because people would get over it quickly and this would affect their overall view of the game and preference between the two.. This is not about first impressions of either game, it’s about them as a whole, and longevity is a big part of that.
Well the point of the post is kind of to havea debate about which game is better…. so thats why people feel the need to “actively defend their chosen outlet”.
I don’t have a problem with you prefering MK, when the games were at their most relevent (and I was very young) I would have agreed with you wholeheartedly.
When you get down to it though I think SFII shone in the actual battle, with differrng character styles and tight mechanics. MK was a ball for that 4 seconds after the second win when you got to smash in a code for a ridiculous finishing move and all have a good laugh.
Think of it like a well written political drama vs a teen comedy where you get to see a lot of boobs. Both fantasic in their own way, but once awards time comes around you have to objectivly assess them for what they bring to the table.
No problem with debating it. I was just saying that it’s a little pointless to use hypotheticals.
I think my biggest problem with SF2 was constantly having my butt kicked 😛 lol. More my fault for using dhalsim. “He has longer arms and legs – this should be easy” – WRONG!
I really like both… but I don’t know, MK just edges ahead for me, even if it is for the gimmick. No doubting SF2 was a great game, though.
I think it just hows that you have trouble reading.
To restate, verbatim: I think this just shows that not a lot of fighting game players are reading kotaku.
Because if there was, SF would be on top big time.
I’ve got nothing against personal preference. If you love MK, then good-o for you-o. That’s not what I was saying.
All those down-votes you’re acquiring would beg to differ in relation to your theory that I have a reading problem. In fact, by your logic it looks like a whole bunch of people have a reading problem.
Your initial and subsequent comments combined with your downvote of my reply to @foggy would imply that you are still struggling with the concept that people have a personal preference.
I really fail to understand how your having so much trouble comprehending that, especially when you just reposted what you initially said.
maybe you should release that bee from your bonnet? I’m sure he’d love to fly free.
Ummm… okay?
No bees in bonnets here man. Not going to repeat myself again. I’ve said what I think.
No, it just shows that lots of other people have trouble reading too, not that he’s wrong. Just because a lot of people misinterpret something, it doesn’t suddenly warp the english language to suit their mistake, it still means what it means regardless.
Hey thanks Roh! You’re alright!
Rowan the issue is you’re statement that fighting game players (ie people who play fighting games) don’t like MK as much as they do street fighter 2.
There’s several reasons why this is incorrect. I grant you that hardcore fighting game players who were of a teenage or adult age when MK and SF2 came out would, on average, probably prefer SF2, but that certainly isn’t ALL fighting game players.
Oh and I should state that I did in fact vote SF2 as my favourite amongst the two. SF2 has a lot more strategy and skill involved than MK1, but I think the votes here are going to be more about nostalgia than anything.
Yeah I’m with you that it’s about nostalgia, but you put this quiz on shoryuken.com and I bet you $1000 that streetfighter 2 will come out on top.
But that’s just the fighting gamers, and I have no idea why my statement generated so much contention. Like, I’m cool with people liking whatever, I liked MK and I really liked MK2, but there’s nowhere near the depth, balance or replayability of SF2. But that’s only of note to people who play the games for years.
When I was a kid it was a choice between one or the other because they were so damned expensive, and as if you were going to dismiss a game with freak fatalities!
While I do acknowledge that SF2 is the better game, I’ve been a Mortal Kombat man since day 1.
I believe if you actually use Mortal Kombat II as the comparison, rather than the original, it would be a lot closer. MKII is still considered one of the best 2D fighters ever made.
You are incorrect about one thing though: The original SF2 is not played at tournaments. What you’ll find is that some later variation of it, such as Super SF2: Turbo or Super SF2: Hyper Fighting is what is played at tournaments. Although even those aren’t seen much anymore these days…they were fairly popular in the mid 2000’s but not so much anymore. Evo dropped it from their game list years ago now (last variation they had was Super SF2: Turbo HD Remix).
We still have an arcade machine of SF2 at lansmash! Plus SF2: HD is pretty popular still.
WhitePointer you make a good point. This is about vanilla SF2 compared to MK1. Not one of the many, MANY variations.
SF2 still gets my vote though >_>
Ohhh mannn… Such a tough one.
I like the vanilla street fighter games.. but they always feel kind of lacking to me.
That said, the street fighter crossover games are far more entertaining than anything else.
So, if crossovers are alowed, street fighter.
If not – Mortal Kombat
For me it’s all about insane “wtf just happened” fun.
Heh see… now… for me? The way I see it, is you have to compare the first to the first and the second to the second otherwise its MK1 SF2 and MK2 SF3 which isn’t fair at all.
SF1 vs Mortal Kombat : Mortal Kombat (SF1 was a complete turd and a truly terrible game.) Both had stunted gameplay, shoddy controls and dodgy animation but MK wins due to the fatalities and originality in its execution.
SF2 vs Mortal Kombat 2 : An incredibly hard decision… SF2 was a complete redesign and such a brilliant game itself but overall… Mortal Kombat 2. So much goddamn fun. So controversial, so many secrets in it! So much to do!!!
Street Fighter 2 came out in 1991
Mortal Kombat came out in 1992
Street Fighter came out in the 80’s… It would be unfair to judge it against Mortal Kombat. Specially since Mortal Kombat would have used Street Fighter 2 as inspiration.
Oh man I remember going to a neighbours house in primary school and he had MK on the SNES and it was so bloody and amazing, then my friends brother got MK4 for his PC years later and we spent hours getting into the game because the Jerk put parental controls on it. Such good memories
You sure you weren’t playing the megadrive/genesis version of MK1? The SNES game was censored, it wasn’t until MK2 that they let them keep the blood/full fatalities.
I have fond memories of both, but to me Street Fighter 2 had more variety.
In Mortal Kombat all the characters had the same standard move set and the only differences were their special moves, now a lot of people say this was a great way to level the playing field, but to me I preferred how in Street Fighter II each character was different (apart from the obvious Ryu/Ken comparisons). They had different move sets, different specials, and even their walk speeds and jump heights differed from character to character.
Each fighter in Street Fighter II felt unique, and that went a long way to help players identify with their chosen character and choose a play style that best suited them.
*Puts on Mortal Kombat announcers voice*
“Street Fighter II Vs Mortal Kombat”
“Round one, fight!”
“GET OVER HERE!”
“FINISH HIM!”
“FATALITY”
“Mortal Kombat wins.”
But seriously, I’ve always liked both, and I remember playing both of them in the Arcades (lock-ins were awesome). But the first time I saw a Fatality (Sub Zero pulling off his opponents head, spinal cord and all), I was like daaaaaamn, this game rocks.
So yeah, Mortal Kombat by a nose (or spinal cord whichever you’d prefer).
Also, in the poll I accidentally voted for Street Fighter, so I quickly voted for Mortal Kombat as well.
I think I have to go mortal kombat, just for sub zero. The day I stumbled onto his fatality was amazing and always makes me smile.
Plus it was the game that forced most of the world to update their media classification system to ensure that adult games were not readily available to younglings
Yea for sure,
Subbie is the king. I loved his moves (pisses ice on floor) and fatalities and was the start of the fascination with games when I was younger. I remember going and putting 60 Cents into the SF2 machine on the way home from school regularly though, both great games. I love MK though, especially Sub. I even played that spin off side scrolling thing they released for Sub Zero. That was awful. But ye, MK all the way. I think Ultimate MK3 was my fav, still have to try the most recent one too…
Mortal Kombat Trilogy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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… You need more exclamation points
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Shiny, now everyone will now the precise level of excite you have
can I have some more please!!!!!
I do like this game.
SFII is the better game.
MK is a lot more fun.
I’d agree with this until recently, MK9 totally trumps the recent SF games.
As someone with a deep seeded dislike of 2D fighters, Street Fighter is CLEARLY the better game mechanics wise.
It’s one of the most playable games of that era and an absolute classic.
Mortal Kombat’s (substantial) appeal was all based on the gimmicky violence and the silly fatalities. That said, as a kid those gimmicks took preference over SFII’s gameplay.
In 2013 SFII gets my vote by a substantial margin.
It’s a tough call. But given the choice between Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter 2, I’d have to choose Virtua Fighter.
We should do Virtua Fighter vs Tekken.
I personally prefer Tekken but i’m not a huge fighting game fan (apart from Soul Caliber on the DC), so it may have something to do with it’s accessability.
VF is kinda dead now, surely there’s another 3D fighter that could be compared to Tekken….
*crickets*
I mean VF1 vs Tekken 1.
Honestly I kind of consider both games to be dead to some extent, along with a large portion of the fighting game genre. Lets face it we’re not exactly in the PS1/ Sega Saturn era when the major fighting games were huge boons for a console and there was probably half a dozen decent fighting series’ running concurrently.
I remember Tekken 2 and Soul Blade on the PS1 being massive deals when they came out, now they just come and go with their various iterations, I couldn’t tell you what number either series is up to as far as releases go. Even when the N64 came out i remember a lot of people were down on it for the lack of decent fighting games, sighting it as a major issue with the console (anyone remember Dark Rift or War Gods? YUCK!).
I think Soul Caliber on the Dreamcast was the last time a fighting game was a genuine ‘system-seller’.
Probably, but all the kids want these days is pew pew shot-em-ups and I ouldn’t think of anything more boring.
I was thinking within the genre rather than the industry as a whole.
VF1 was probably better than T1, even though I played T1 much more. I didn’t fall in love with Tekken until 2.
I then loved 3, played a fair bit of 4 and 5. I guess I did play a decent amount of 6, there was also that walk-along-beat-em-up built into 6 and I loved that.
I haven’t even touched Tekken tag 2, I wanna, but I’m scared if I buy it, they’ll do a version for Vita whhich is where I’d get more out of it :-/
TL:DR I still love Tekken
Hahaha!
Only one of the series got a good movie adaption. Just saying.
SF2 animated movie 😉
Good point. Seriously though, I like the Mortal Combat film, and not in an ironic way either.
Oh I love the MK film lol. Its fantastic. The new series by Tanchaeron was brilliant too, can’t wait for season 2!!!
I used to have a copy of the Street Fighter Anniversary Collection on XBox which had the movie on the disc, but me, like an idiot sold it along with all my other XBox games. 🙁
*GET OUT* *NOW*
Alright then, but I’ve learnt my lesson, honest. I swear I’ll never sell any games ever again.
You probably wont be able to, or want to, with the new consoles lol
Well I won’t be selling any Xbone games, seeing as how I won’t be getting one.
lol same. PS4 if anything, otherwise my PC looks like it’ll get some massive upgrades.
I’m a big SF2 Fan…I can still remember playing at an arcade and had some kid challenge me and then proceeded to drop about $10 worth of $1 dollar coins trying to beat me. The only rule I had was no mercy (usually if you win the first round, you normally would give mercy to exend it)…this would piss off the Asian kids (I’m Asain myself) because they would expect a mercy round only for me to tell them if you can beat then beat me…
MK was fun to play but SF2 was too popular
I thought the rule was still no mercy?
Fighting games are cruel. You get bodied. I very rarely expect or receive mercy from better players.
Games = Street Fighter
Movie = Mortal Kombat.
Movie Sequels = Street Fighter (because there was none)
Is that you in denial or are you unaware of Chun Li: Back In the Habit
Oh, I didn’t include that because it wasn’t related to the first movie..
Or the game.
Did they make a sequal to that movie? Actually I’d rather not know cause that movie was so bad it made Jean Claude Vandam’s Guile and Kylie Minogue as Cammy look good.
Yeah, I thought so, just checking.
My choice will always be Mortal Kombat. Even from an early age, the arguments over who was better was never “Ryu or Ken” it was always ” Scorpion or Subzero”.
Over the top gore.
Fatalities
Ninjas
Cyborgs
Hidden Characters
It was , and still is amazing.
By the way, Ryu is better, I never liked Ken.
Yeah , you are right. Long live Akuma!
LONG LIVE EVIL RYU!
SHIN AKUMA FOR PRESIDENT.
Can’t top that. lol.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t Akuma the brother of Gouken, Ken and Ryu’s master.
I thought Akuma was just a demon? I’ve never looked into it that deeply though.
Taken from the Street Fighter Wikia. “he is Gouken’s younger brother and Ryu’s adoptive uncle.”
http://streetfighter.wikia.com/wiki/Akuma
Ryu is boring and has no personality.
I’m a fan of both games but am a BIGGER fan of MK! 😀 so MORTAL KOMBAT wins this one! Fatalities and all….. it’s better for me! FINISH HIM!!!
This is a tough one… :/
http://i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/538/731/0fc.gif
Personally, I’d choose King of Fighters/Fatal Fury but that wasn’t an option, so SF2.
I think my favourite cross over game is still Capcom Vs SNK 2. Still plays soooo well. And I use all SNK Characters usually too, Rock, Terry, Mai or Geese, Rock, Joe.
Easy, both!
I played em both, a lot.
I loved Mortal Kombat, I remember the legends of the Arcade that could finish it on a single play, personally never made it to that level, but was always very satisfied when I performed Scorpion or Sub Zero’s fatality 🙂
Street Fighter also holds fond memories however they were more around sitting up to all hours playing with a mate on his PC using hold school joysticks
lol mortal kombat was and never will be as good as street fighter. Everybody knows violence is a gimmick. I wont go into detail about how every aspect of sf is better then mk.
Mortal Kombat was probably one of the first games I got on PC, but I have such fond memories of hiring a SNES2 and Street Fighter 2 while staying at my Nans and playing it all school holidays.
Killer Instinct!
i liked mk 1/2/3, but after that i think it went nuts.
I loved SF2 (didnt like alpha, 3d or 3) and now 4 – i feel it is a much better game of skill where your feints, parries and counterattacks actually mean something – mk is more of an (enjoyable) button masher for me (like soul calibur). while their are combos, they are nowhere near as fluid or easy to pull off as sf.
I’ve played (and liked) almost every iteration of both of the series, however Street Fighter is (for me) the far surperior game overall. I loved the fatalities in MK (I rang up quite a phone bill calling the pre internet sega hotline trying to get all the fatalities) and the gore etc, but most of the games feel so wooden and stiff, and I always feel like i’m just rushing to get to the fatality.
Street Fighter (and all it’s iterations) are always so fun and in a way more rewarding to play, as it’s the entire match that is the focus, not whether I can get to the end just to perform the fatality. I still play a variety of Street Fighter games on and off like SSF2:HD, Capcom Vs SNK2, SF3:TTS, SSS4, X-Men Vs SF, MvsC2, MvsC3:UE and love every minute.
Mortal Kombat was my first fighting game so… I voted Mortal Kombat
I was the proud owner of a Mega Drive back in the day, but can recall 1 summer holidays begging my mum to hire a SNES consol just so I could play SF II. This was all because every time the family went to the local Movieland to hire a VHS, a SF II arcade machine there and if someone was playing I wouldn’t care about the movie about to be hired by my 4yo sister (normally Bethoven or Look Who’s Talking that would be played back to back to back to back, until the last moment it had to be returned). I would spend those 20 or so minutes blissfully watching someone mash those 6 buttons… WOW 6 buttons!!!!!! Still blows my mind!
get Mugen and make your own MK vs SF 😀
Fondest memory of my arcade years is still Streetfighter II, but for totally different reasons.
In the Netherlands, Arcades were few except in Amsterdam. And they never really stocked
4 to 5 machines of the same game like in the US or Japan. It was 1 game per genre only.
When Final Fight came out, it was almost impossible for you to get onto the machine because
of the waiting line. It was like waiting for 2 hours to go on a ride at Disney.
Then Streetfighter II came out, and the ENTIRE waiting line shifted from Final Fight to Streetfighter II. I was so freaking happy! I could finally drown all my quarters (guilders) into
the Final Fight machine! Then later, arcades in NL changed their acts and got multiple machines finally, and I went on to play Street Fighter II turbo, King Of Fighters, and eventually
the first and 2nd Mortal Kombat. The 3rd one however I played to DEATH!
So both great games, but I voted Streetfighter II because of the above memory!