FEATURE: Retro Showdown! - Mortal Kombat vs. Street Fighter II

Whilst both games offer players an incredible gaming experience, which will come out on top in this brutal bout?

VS.

Its safe to assume each of these games are well known for something that defines them both as different games, yet sit comfortably together within the fighting genre. Mortal Kombat (MK) impressed gamers back in 1992 with its real-life actors who were then digitized into the game itself, MK was also the first game ever to receive a mature rating by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), due to its generous amount of blood and violence.

Street Fighter II (SFII) on the other hand would expand on the core mechanics of the first Street Fighter, and improve them immensely offering one of the most memorable and unique fighting game experiences to date. During the early 90s, these two games stood as the biggest rivals within the fighting genre, and are still compared to this day, not just in terms of these older games, but new releases too.

Graphics

Please keep in mind this retro showdown is based on the console ports of these games, not the original arcade cabinets. 

Mortal Kombat features impressive sprites, which was due to the real-life actors who portrayed each fighter - as mentioned earlier, each character has been digitized into the game which was an astonishing thing to be able to pull of back then, especially on a home console such as the SNES. There is an old behind the scenes video showcasing the different actors performing their trademark moves, as well as demonstrations on how the digitizing process actually works. Check it out below.

A total of 7 stages make up for some very memorable environments, this game spawned the infamous 'Pit I' - the stage in which upon defeating an opponent, you can uppercut that fighter to a pit of spikes below, covered with blood and skeletons leftover from previous battles. 

Well, that actually depends on which version of the game you're playing - the SNES port got rid of all the blood to ensure the game would suit Nintendo's 'Family Friendly' policy, replacing blood with sweat. It wasn't all bad though - the MegaDrive/Genesis version would let players use a code to allow blood in the game, also known as Blood Mode.

Each stage had its own unique look, like most fighting games do, for example 'Warrior Shrine' - statues of all the fighters in the game could be seen in the background, reminding you that you'll have to defeat them all eventually, although neither of the statues look particularly intimidating, still an incredibly detailed and illustrative stage though.

Home console versions lacked much of the mature content
the original arcade cabinets contained.

Although SFII didn't use digitized fighters, it's graphics were nothing to be mocked - they were and still are quite impressive, considering the time it was released. Each fighter is highly detailed, creating a unique identity throughout the roster - all of the sprites are generally sharp and crisp, making for not only an enjoyable gaming experience but something that was really nice to look at - if you take the time to really observe a SFII character, you'll see the amount of sheer detail put into them.

Like MK, SFII had its fair amount of stages which were unique to a certain character's personality, narrative, and so forth - for example Dhalsim's stage was set in India, showcasing huge elephants and indian imagery on the walls in the background, things like this made for exceptional graphic design and shows Capcom put a lot of thought into how the game would look.

A perfect illustration of the graphics - vibrant with a lot of personality.

MK may have impressed us with the new technology of using real life actors, but the sheer charm of SFII's visuals take this one.

Mortal Kombat - 0 | Street Fighter II - 1

Music/Audio

Both games have their moments when it comes to the music used, MK had that memorable 'Select Your Fighter' track, which would set the tone for what the player could expect in the actual game, it was exciting and put you in the mood to beat down Johnny Cage over and over again. Of course, each fighter had their own respective themes, which were good enough and did the job at differentiating the roster, but in general these tracks always lacked energy and excitement. 

Select Your Fighter (SNES version)

As for the sounds, every attack would give off this certain noise letting you know that whatever move you just did definitely did some damage to the opponent, this combined with the fighters grunts and groans as they fight makes for an awesome fighting game, which really utilizes different sounds to give players full satisfaction during a battle. On the other hand, there's 'Guiles Theme' in SFII - there's just something about this track that instantly puts you in the mood to play SF, it sticks in your brain like a pop song (then again, is that a good thing?). Take a listen to the song below.

Guiles Theme (SNES version)

Just like MK, SFII had its fair share of sound effects which were used when beating down your opponent - whether it be a simple punch to Blanka's electric-fuelled attacks, no matter what you were doing, you'd always get this incredible audio to aid the game's entertainment value. The rest of the roster had their own songs too, and although Ryu was essentially the game's mascot, his music was not on par with Guiles in the slightest. 

SFII takes another point, the music is much better and enjoyable to listen to, its really as simple as that. 

Mortal Kombat - 0 | Street Fighter II - 2

Storyline

You could argue that games within the fighting genre don't really need to rely on a good storyline to make the game good, what with the often quick playthroughs of the typical arcade mode - you choose a character, fight numerous opponents and it's game over. However, the narratives in both MK and SFII are nothing to be brushed aside, each character has their own unique backstory which if properly looked into, should improve your overall experience of the game. 

Let's look at Scorpion for example - a resurrected Ninja who is now a hell-spawned undead who's goal is to avenge those who destroyed his clan and family members, things like this almost give you an extra reason to play the game as this certain character as you might want to find out more by beating the game to unlock further narrative.

The storyline throughout MK in general is that the original tournament named 'Shaolin Tournament' would promote healthy competition with the best fighters around, this was until the four-armed beast Goro invaded the tournament. From here, Goro would rule the competition for the next 500 years, not for bragging rights, but to aid Shang Tsung's thirst to conquer the Earth Realm.

The iconic logo symbolising the Mortal Kombat Tournament
as well as the Elder God's in their dragon form.

SFII however, didn't contain such an exciting story - there's the on going battle between Ryu and M. Bison which is medicore at best. Before the events of SFII, M. Bison was defeated in the headquarters of his own criminal organisation Shadaloo, which leads to much rage and a need for revenge, so Bison re-enters the tournament in order to defeat his enemies and possibly take on new members to rebuild Shadaloo. It's all a bit wishy washy and doesn't promote much imagination for players. It does the job fine, but that's all it does.

The game centres around a tournament simply known as 'Street Fighter Tournament' - similar to MK, participants would have to prove their strength and abilities through a number of battles, and whoever came out on top would be crowned the winner and the best fighter around.

Participants would travel around the world to take on various opponents.

MK takes the point here due to its ability to immerse players into each and every character's storylines, which are all extremely interesting and bring more life to the game, as well as an extra reason to finish the game with all the characters to reveal the complete story.

Mortal Kombat - 1 | Street Fighter II - 2

Gameplay

Like practically every fighting game, a player usually chooses their desired fighter and utilizes various moves to deplete the opponent's health bar, often with a timer included. SFII and MK did just that, however each are significantly different, both providing a unique sense of gameplay that would define these games to what they are today.

The overall style of MK was generally quite slow-paced, often allowing yourself to tactically decide what your next move will be - there wasn't much variation either, each fighter would all share the same standard moves such as the classic upper cut, high kick, and so forth.

Saying that, a special set of moves would be applied to each fighter too, whether it be Sub-Zero's 'Ice Ball' or Scorpion's simply named 'Spear', which would drag an opponent over in a dazed state, using a spear attached to a rope which would disperse from his hand.

Whilst these special moves were extremely inventive and imaginative, the real focus had to be on the game's Fatality system - at the end of a bout, players could input a combination of buttons which would perform the fighters ultimate finisher if you will

You might remember Raiden's fatality, in which he would electrocute the opponent, leading to their heads simply popping off through the extreme amounts of pressure applied, of course this was followed with a fountain of blood from the now headless corpse.

Who really likes Johnny Cage anyway? Raiden applying his

deadly thunder-based fatality.

There was also the Test Your Might mini-game, which would allow players to take a break from the tournament, and well, test their might. You would have to build up enough power before a timer ran in order to break various materials, including wood right up to ruby.

Now, SFII - also very much like MK, you'd pick your fighter and away you go, it even had mini-games throughout the game, but this time much more fun. These included literally beating up a car, the more it was damaged by end of the timer, the most points you'd receive, another was the pummeling of a pile of bricks, again the more you manage to break, the larger the bonus score will be.

The pace in SFII was incredibly exciting, you'd always have to think of what to do next in mere seconds as the opponent would often come back even with very little health, proving for intense fights which would really test your ability of the game, something MK lacked a lot.

Each character would have their own distinguishable move set, for example E. Honda's 'Hundred Hand Slap' or Blanka's 'Electric Thunder', these types of moves were often very deadly and would consume much of a players health bar.

E. Honda performing one of his signature

moves - arguably a cheap way for an easy win.

Whilst SFII didn't contain the illustrative and very entertaining move sets contained in MK, the gameplay was much more fierce and competitive, offering lots of replay value - things like mastering the perfect combo's to quickly defeat an opponent, and so on. SFII takes this point.

Mortal Kombat - 1 | Street Fighter II - 3

Winner! - Street Fighter II

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