Imagine the surprise on Street Fighter's face when Mortal Kombat showed up, puffed up with true American bravado, dripping with blood and a reckless disregard for subtlety. Sub Zero, Raiden and the lads threw the gaming world into a frenzy, with parents and frumpy politicians calling for an outright ban on this horrific mess of a fighter. Back in the early nineties this level of ultraviolence was unheard of, and kids swarmed around the arcade cabinets like moths to a flame. Midway (now NetherRealm) did things very differently to Capcom, and gaming audiences responded to it with feverish excitement. Street Fighter II, at the time considered the epitome of one-on-one fighting excellence, was a more considered, more technical affair. Mortal Kombat was dumb and vicious. Midway took obvious queues from the Street Fighter playbook, but reworked it enough to give us a distinctly different kind of brawler. The two franchises have followed contrasting paths since then - Capcom has consistently improved and refined the Street Fighter experience, where Mortal Kombat suffered something of a midlife crisis during its lifetime. The beat-em-up landscape looks very different now, with NetherRealm really coming into their own since the 2011 franchise reboot. As we head towards Mortal Kombat X, it's safe to say that regardless of Street Fighter's slick, masterful gameplay, Mortal Kombat is the more relevant fighter right now.
Game-obsessed since the moment I could twiddle both thumbs independently. Equally enthralled by all the genres of music that your parents warned you about.
