But a story doesn't make a good game. It helps flesh out the concept of the game, but it won't keep you playing if the game plays like crap.

MK will be in tournaments if A) it's good and B) if MK fans actually travel to tournaments. If nobody shows up, nobody will add MK to their tournaments.

I love both Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. I love them both for very different reasons though.

I love Street Fighter IV. That said, I have a lot of issues with SFIV as well. I'm not a fan of the art style and their disproportionate bodies (why are Ryu's feet so enormous?). The story is hilariously and badly told. The challenges are frustrating to the point of controller smashing. And, though I acknowledge the game is, yes, deep and accessible... I just haven't had much fun with it (unless I play as Dan.) Then there's the fact that so many characters play similarly (Ryu, Ken, Dan, Sagat, Sakura, Akuma, Gouken). It's hardly a bad game at all. It's a great one, really... but one that I just don't "feel". I vastly prefer Street Fighter II: HD Remix. Or Blazblue.

Mortal Kombat, however, is a game whose flaws are well documented. It's always had shallow depth, robotic animation, and some truly atrocious characters. But, it also had the most serious, grounded, vast universe of gods, demons, heroes, overlords, princesses, ninjas, robots, mutants, and sorcerers in the fighting genre. It's the only "epic" fighting game series, I think. Also, there's a nostalgic and irreplaceable charm of fighting with Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and other MK mainstays, coupled with the gore, violence, and overall dark approach that makes SF still seem childish by comparison. SFIV is a game that plays it insanely safe, while MK, even in their failures, has ventured into different territory and tried new things. I just "feel" the MK universe and games far more than the Street Fighter ones.

I have no idea, but I've never been a big fan of Street Fighter. Not that I think it's bad, but MK just appeals to me more. So to me, this will be far greater than SF4. But that's just me.

I finally bought SF4 and idk if I just suck at those games or what, but I wanted to break something after I was done playing it. When I finally made it to Seth, I beat him the first round but then I couldn't for the life of me beat him a second time. And that was on EASY!!

I personally found the game to be way to difficult but maybe that's just me. Say what you want but I have friends that have said the same thing. I guess I'm just a MK guy, Street Fighter has never really done it for me. I do see why people like it so much but I have always preferred MK and this new game is looking to be no exception.

So I pick MK hands down every time, even if I have to fight a few super heroes along the way.

We know from past experience that there are literally about only thirteen MK fans in the entire world who are willing to travel for tournaments these days. I think for MK to be considered for most tournies it's going to have to be deep enough for Street Fighter fans to love, because they're the only ones willing to travel.

I know the feeling but I wouldn't let that determine whether I like the game or not

Fighting games are much better played against a human opponent and with online play being a major feature of the current consoles there is no reason not to play against a real person.

The only reason i've played the arcade mode on SFIV was to get a little bit of practise with the game and get a few achievements, apart from that it's always with another player either online or someone with me.

I think part of the problem with MK is that you need to play the arcade or story mode as the storyline is a huge part that makes MK what it is. After that the only going for it is the gore and fatalities.

Exactly! I'm a huge fan of both series. you got the MK fans and the SF fans or you have the fans of both. all depends on which story, Characters, gameplay and feel that each have for each game.

I'd go, fuck SF.

But yes, for an MK tournament to work the game needs to require skill and there cant be any dial-a-combos or 100% combos.

I don't like Street Fighter IV, but for a serious fighting game fan, I highly doubt Mortal Kombat 9's gameplay is going to be anywhere near as fluid, smoothe, balanced, and pretty much perfect as Street Fighter IV's.

I completely agree. Could not have said it better myself.

Both series have their strengths and their weaknesses. But the reason that MK sticks out to me as the better franchise is because of one fundamental thing: SF hardly ever changes.

It's been the same (with tiny tweaks here and there, but nothing earth-shattering.) In a lot of ways it's become so boring to me. Now while MK has had a lot of mis-steps over the years, I at least give them props for having the balls to constantly re-invent themselves. Some things worked, some things didn't and some things could have been just a bit better. But at least they took the risks to try and make a better and more exciting game. I for one, liked the three fighting styles idea. If they had just put a little more effort into making the styles more distinguished ( e. i... not as many shared moves.)

When's the last time SF made a drastic/risky change to their game formula? Again, don't get me wrong, I do like SF. Their characters are some of the best.

Then there's the story. I know most folks say "It's gotta be gameplay over story!" But you know, I believe you need a successful merging of both gameplay and story to make the best (and most fun) experience. Kind of how like MK used to be before it got so out of control with all the rushing for deadlines leading to unfinished/halfassed story lines and epic plot holes. SF's story never was very strong or too compelling. They seemed to focus mainly on gameplay when they should have developed both.


So my answer to this thread:

With MK seemingly on the right track again (as far as look, moves, fighting goes... not positive about story yet cause little is known... but they've been doing a fantastic job with everything else, I'm going to trust the story will be great as well.) MK will kick SF's ass, then Mileena will chew it up and spit it out.

Look at the end of the day we can say this and that but street fighter proved that they dont need to make drastic changes to still get the job done.And
to be honest Mk probably did'nt have to either.Thier is no point on mentioning story we all know mk has the best story out of all fighting games.I can't even suggest who would be a close second.
SSF4 is king right now thats it no more to it,and again to be honest
mk is doing what street fighter did going back to what worked for them.
I do believe when mk comes out that it will challenge for the #1 spot
but again we have to wait and see.

I'm sure MK9 will be better than SF4.

First, MK9's gameplay looks better. The combo system looks crazy and much smoother than SF4. In MK9 you can do custon combos AND ground chain combos. The game looks more violent and more serious. The X-Ray moves are just awesome + Fatalities.Also a badass tag mode. Sf4 don't have any true storyline and lacks offline content. I really liked SF2 and SF3 3rd strike but I just don't like SSF4, I bought it because I tought it would be funny but the game just look the same as before. No new outfits, boring game modes...

How much I hate this SF vs MK shit...

Both are/will be great games but are totally different. And as much as you may hate SF cuz of the lack of story and the goofy characters.

In terms of gameplay no MK comes even near to it. Maybe MK9 will get close or on the same level but SF is really on the top of fighting games.

Don't get me wrong I love Mortal Kombat and the whole story and all... But SF was always more fun in terms of gameplay.

It has a reason why MK 9 is now going the same way as SFIV in 2 D, proper Combos and a gauge for powering up some special moves similar to EX moves

In terms of story and characters MK is owning SF pretty hard.

Well thats not a bad thing. SFIV is the best fighting game we've seen since, I dunno, SFIII?

Capcom knows how to make fighters

I am glad I'm glad MK is back to it's 2D roots. When Mk was in 3D it doesn't even stand a chance to rival any of the 3D fighters. However, in 2D it seems like it has a good chance to be a contender to Street Fighter and Blazblue. I think once the game comes out hardcore 2D fighting fans will respect the game, but will ultimately stick to SF as their primary.

To me it isn't a big deal that it won't make it to tournaments either. The MK fans will now have a game we've been wanting for a long time, and it should only meet our approval. I will probably like this game better than SF4, because on top of the good fighting it will also have

I totally agree with you on MK and SF. To Me both games earn my respect in different ways.

For SF, the fast pacing gameplay is what makes SF so interesting to me. The movies and anime and even the USA cartoon made me more interesting in SF because it was so popular that it had to make it. But here's why I don't like SF much, since SF4, I critize it as a crazy ass cartoon mainly because just by looking at SF, it's way more cartoony than MK will ever be. The story's not so new. It's been mainly about Ryu, I was kinda glad that SF3 picked a new hero (Alex), but didn't work out so well. And also, did you guys ever notice that most of the characters have been wearing the same clothes since SF2 was release? Mainly Street Fighter hasn't been new to me because gameplay and character design never changed much.

As for Mortal Kombat, IMO, My most favorite fighting game of all time, I see Mortal Kombat as the best American Made Fighting Game ever because the gameplay is easy to learn and can be hard to master in a matter of weeks. I'm sure I would say the same thing about SF, but it never specifically showed me what buttons I should press. I really love the look of Mortal Kombat. It's completely different from SF for it's dark, gritty, serious, and epic setting. You have a tournament to determind the fate of the worlds, you fight as a ruler of worlds, beat him twice, and make things so interesting. Mortal Kombat makes story telling interesting. The characters are really amazing, you didn't see anymore clones since MKT again. And also, MK makes adventure games, something SF never ever did. Shaolin Monks is now the best MK adventure game with it's simple yet interesting controls to make players customize moves like no other. The cons about MK however for me are that it's always been about juggling, I think that's one reason why MK hasn't been tournament quality and the fact that many glitches and infinites can be discover. Hopefully MK9 will fix that.

Overall, although SF has won many fans respect as a 2D fighter and although it is more older yet faster than MK will ever been, I still see Mortal Kombat a much more interesting fighting game. It doesn't really have that anime-ish feeling like I have with many fighting games. Boy I'm sure glad I'm a MK fan

The Comparison doesn't matter to me. I haven't liked any SF after SFII

Be fair, Tekken 5 was aces.