The argument between whether Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter were the king of 2D fighters has raged since 1992 and now it is time for me to put it to rest. Even though I did not grow up during the time both these games were hot in the arcades the argument over which is better has continued into my generation. The games I will be covering are Mortal Kombat II and Super Street Fighter II because they were released the same year (1993) and I have personal experience playing both games.

Characters:

If you are a huge fighting game buff like me you know that the characters are one of the most important parts of the game. In fact alot of the appeal of the very popular Marvel vs Capcom series is the fact you get to play your favorite Marvel characters. When it come to characters I have to say I like the cast of character sin both games. Every character in each game are excellent designs and none fall into the category of never picked because of their looks. Of course when it comes to the moves of these characters it is a different story. Super Street Fighter II outclasses Mortal Kombat II because every character has more unique moves. In Mortal Kombat II characters share the same body types and all non-special moves are the same for each character. In Super Street Fighter II none of the non-special moves are shared between characters giving every character truly exclusive move sets. Super Street Fighter II also has a larger roster of characters which helps it earn the win in this category.

Presentation:

These video games both use very different visual styles. Super Street Fighter II goes with a traditional animated cartoon graphics while Mortal Kombat II goes with digitized sprites based on actors. I must say both visual styles are appealing to the eye as Super Street Fighter II is the vibrant visual style you expect from a Capcom fighting game while Mortal Kombat II is completely original and depicts very realistic animations. One of the many appeals of the Mortal Kombat series is the large amounts of blood that would shower out of your opponent when you hit them which was absent from other fighters during this time. Ordinarily this would give the win to Mortal Kombat II but, since the music in Super Street Fighter II is way more catchy I will call this category a tie.

Game System:

Both games have the basic premise you would expect from a 2-D fighter, fight your opponent in a one on one fight and deplete their health bar. However, both games have something that distinguishes them from each other. Both games have very strong attacks that a character can use that serve different functions. In Mortal Kombat II we have Fatalities, Babalities, and Friendships which act as finishing moves after you have defeated your opponent. In Super Street Fighter II we get Supers which are strong attacks that can be used during the fight in a way to gain the upper hand. I have to give the win to Mortal Kombat II as the Fatalites, Babalities, and Friendships show alot more originality than the Supers in Super Street Fighter II. Most of the Supers in Super Street Fighter II were either bigger forms of special moves or they were just an extended combo.

Verdict:

My allegiance in this case goes to Super Street Fighter II. While Mortal Kombat II is bursting with personality when it comes to which is better for me the winner is obviously Super Street Fighter II.