GotG Round 1: Street Fighter IV vs. Mortal Kombat

I guess you can't edit the OP so here's my attempt at what would ostensibly the final paragraph of my imaginary SFIV user review:

"With Street Fighter IV, Capcom has managed to recapture the magic of this forgotten franchise and breathe new life into a long-stagnant genre. Whether you're a new player, a lapsed fan, or a die hard that has stuck with fighting games throughout the years, you owe it to yourself to dust off that old joystick (or pick up a shiny new one) and play this game. Striking that perfect balance between depth and accessibility that no game has been able to match since Street Fighter II, there can be no question: The king is back."

Street Fighter IV. It really revived the genre and is an incredible fighting game (particularly if we're counting SSFIV). Though Mortal Kombat is a worthy challenger, Netherrealm did an incredible job with a series I was never that into.

Street Fighter IV got me interested in fighting games again, but I enjoyed the kombat in Mortal Kombat more and its story mode is worth pointing out as really well done.

Street Fighter IV is thr objective choice here for what it did for the FGC however fuck Objectivity I spent in total like $400 on Mortal Kombat and put countless hours into it. That's my vote.

I'm going with SF4 for being that revolution I always wanted for almost 20 years, but man the story to MK, like wow, everything I always wanted for 20 years

@starvinggamer: This is vanilla Street Fighter IV.

@mracoon: Yeah that's what I went with. I updated my first comment with my blurb if you want it.

HADOUKEN!

I've never really been a fighting game person, but I really enjoyed the time I spent with Street Fighter 4.

@starvinggamer: Oh crap, I forgot you can't edit polls. Sorry about that.

Loved both these games, but I put more hours into SF IV, and got more out of that game. So, SF IV it is.

Dayumn how is this close. SSFIV revived the genre and is still the best fighting game on the market so many years later (only topped by newer versions of itself). MK does have a pretty big fanbase I guess but SSFIV is the better game.

Mortal Kombat, but mostly because of that Mortal Kombat Scrub League the guys had a few years back.

(both games are solid, but I just think MK is more fun)

It would be a real Injustice if Street Fighter doesn't win

SSFIV revived the entire genre. Without it nothing would have come after it.

I feel like Street Fighter IV is the more important game of the two. Mortal Kombat is pretty fun though...

I love both these games, but Street Fighter IV is not only one of the best this generation but ever made.

Street Fighter 4 no question about it. As many already said it revived the fighting game genre and is an incredible game overall. Mortal Kombat was still fun eventhough I don't care about the characters at all. The story mode was pretty good for a fighting game too.

Fuck you.

I know Street Fighter 4 revived the fighting game genre and all that but I just had more fun with MK9. I've always been a bigger MK fan since I love the origins and characters from MK. I also think the kombat in MK9 is the best in the series. Combine that with a great story mode and my vote has to go to MK9. SF4 is a great game in it's own right but I've always been a SF3: Third Strike kind of guy.

Street Fighter in general did more for the fighting genre than mortal kombat did even when it was actually a headline game. I don't know a single friend who went on online marathons of Mortal Kombat, I like like 5-6 who did with Street Fighter 4 plus myself. Obvious choice, surprised it is even this close.

SFIV for me too. I played my own 20+ hr marathon of it when it first came out. Lol after seeing all the fatalities, MK kind of did nothing for me.

I went with Mortal Kombat but I played the hell out of SFIV as well. I just feel that good stories were more important this generation than bringing back old school game play and MK had the only fighting game story that I would describe as amazing. I would never try to downplay Street Fighter IV's significance but I don't typically get hung up on getting super great at fighting games and the single player content really made MK a worthwhile product for me overall.

I think Mortal Kombat was one of the best fighting games to come out in a long time. Finally having a lot of content was a nice thing to finally see for a fighting game, as someone who enjoys them but isn't just jumping into the competitive scene.

SF IV missed that yet again for me. I hope they can learn something from MK.

Mortwl Kombat wouldn't exist as it does without Street Fighter IV. That the vote is this close is madness.

As much as I think Mortal Kombat is the better of these two games, there's really no denying that Street Fighter IV is kind of the singularity essential to the resurrection of the 2D fighting game genre.

OH MAN ITS A NAIL BITER

They've been making 3D MK games at a good clip for a while. Not sure what you're basing that on. Maybe the return to MK II roots a bit but who knows. MK was supposed to be a fresh take was always the story after they did Armageddon.

Either way, some people like MK more than SF. How is that madness?

@artisanbreads: It is madness to think MK would have gone the way it did without SF leading the way.

Yeah, don't really get the argument of this being a close race being madness. Both are great fighting games that have their own fans. Of course it's going to be close.

Close!

I've got to give it to Street Fighter IV. I loved the story mode in Mortal Kombat, but didn't touch the multiplayer. I played dozens of hours of Street Figher IV and while I was never playing at a particularly high level, I did have a ton of fun online and won a decent amount of matches.

...Kneel before my Psycho Power!

Some of its sales maybe. But MK is a very smart and very great game. There is a ton of content in it and it is very friendly to a wide range of players, especially people who play fighters single player (an audience which Capcom never caters to).

It is a great game in its own right. It'd be "madness" to think a game would sell as well as it did just because SF IV came before it.

I am shocked it's so close. SF4 is still huge on the competitive scene, but MK lasted less than a year.

@artisanbreads: I'm willjng to bet that without SFIV, Netherrealm would have just made another 3D MK that would have been unremarkable to most, save diehards like Jeff. SFIV gave them that kick in the pants to do something different.

Based entirely on the competitive scene of the two games, Street Fighter would most likely win, but Mortal Kombat had so many great features for someone like myself who doesn't really care about being competitive. So Mortal Kombat wins out for me.

What they did different was nothing like what SF IV was doing. It was all about the single player story, challenges, unlock features, and crazy stuff like the tag teams. I do think it's possible that it maybe inspired some of the idea to go back to an MK II style (which SF IV did with SF II) but I think MK did a lot of great things in its own right.

It's fine if you like SF more. It isn't madness to think the opposite. I definitely do like MK more.

But I'll take you up on that bet. Lets do that hypothetical bet.

Street Fighter IV revived the entire fighting game genre. Its a huge deal and its incredible.

I prefer playing MK but SFIV is probably more significant for the impact it had in reviving fighting games.

Without Street Fighter IV there wouldn't have been a Mortal Kombat 9. Think about that.

I'm not even good or a huge fan of Street Fighter, but I recognize that it is the better choice for what it did for the genre. Plus I feel like as a game, it's a better balanced and for better or worse, still evolving as they iterate on it.

I like SF4 more but neither are among the best fighting games of the gen, just most well known. Blazblue, King of Fighters 13 and Tekken Tag Tournament 2 are all better games. But as people have said SF4 deserves props for reviving a nearly dead genre.

I'll vote for the underdog. But this is a fairly hard choice.

Then again, SFIV is probably the right choice.

Street Fighter IV, no question.

Not that it matters though, because whatever wins is surely going to get fucked by Dark Souls in the next step of the bracket. I DEMAND A DOUBLE ELIM BRACKET.

For a vote like this it all comes down to personal preference for one fighting model or the other but anyone who steps back and look at the complete package of what is offered both online and in single player and MK becomes the clear winner. It's not even close. I'm more interested in the fighting in SF and pretty much any fighting games i played over MK but man do all these games feel so limited and empty in comparison to what they put in MK. I hope going forward more franchise will take a long hard look at what MK did.

I don't think this is a real contest. Street Fighter IV really revived the genre that had been stagnant for years and years, MK was a game put out in the wake of that.

I respect what SFIV did for the genre, but I got way more into MK and had more fun.

I know Street Fighter IV is easily the more important game, but I just like Mortal Kombat a lot more.

I traveled for MK and don't even play SFIV (despite having it on both 360 and PS3), but I still voted for SFIV. Despite handily beating SFIV in the content department, MK just has too many technical issues when it comes to the actual fighting to win.

Can't believe it's this close I thought SFIV would have run off with the votes. I voted for SF but MK was pretty good too, it just didn't have the staying power like SF.

god, this is the toughest one yet. but im happy if either one wins though.

arguably both games generally speaking have similarities to the older games,

i think id give it to MK though, it made the idea of story modes in a fighting game possible, even ono really liked MK

http://www.gamesradar.com/yoshinori-ono-digs-mortal-kombat-but-wouldnt-do-a-street-fighter-crossover/

Citing “a penchant for wacky, over-the-top games,” Ono admits he's been playing a fair bit of the rebooted Mortal Kombat lately: “they did such a good job with their Story mode and some of the other features that I feel like they kind of beat me.”

Shocked how close this is. I voted Street Fighter IV but they're both great.

Mortal Kombat because of THIS