There are many people who will argue that the golden age of arcades was back in the 80s or even 70s when there were real classics around such as Donkey Kong, Asteroids, Pac Man and similar titles. However, one has to acknowledge that with years came progress and that newer games definitely had more to offer to the average user who wanted something more awe-inspiring. In the late 80s and the early 90s the world saw a great rise in popularity of fighting games in which you would fight one-on-one either against the machine itself or against another player.
Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat franchises are definitely two of the most well-known among numerous similar franchises and while some people may argue that there are better games than these two, the SF and the MK series provided millions of kids and adults alike with hours of good old-fashioned ass-kicking fun. In this article we are going to compare two of the arguably best installments in these two franchises, Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat 3. While most people will agree that SFII is without a doubt the best installment in the SF franchise, some might argue about MK3 being the one from the MK franchise. However, we believe that these two are the best representatives of what these two great series of fighting video games are. And they are still among the most popular MAME ROMs being played.
SF II is a huge improvement over the first installment in which you could only play as Ryu. He makes a comeback in the second game, but you can now choose between seven more characters, all with very different styles of fighting and exciting new moves that made each fight a unique experience. Among the favorites are definitely Guile, an American marine, Chun-Li, a Chinese fighter who to this day remains one of the most beloved video games characters of all times, as well as Zangief and Dhalsim, with very unique fighting styles.
SF II has a truly one-of-a-kind feel to it, as all the punches and kicks feel really “meaty”. You can almost feel the impact of each of the moves on the opposing matchup. In single player, once you have beat the remaining seven playable characters, you would encounter Four Grand Masters, Balrog, a boxer, Vega, a Spanish cage fighter, Sagat, a Muay Thai master and finally M. Bison, the main antagonist and an all-round tough guy. SF II also has a perfect balance that ensures that the fights are not too easy, but that they are also not impossible to achieve. All in all, a marvelous game.
MK 3 continued in the same vein as the previous two Mortal Kombats. It is bloody, gory, balls-out fighting game in which gallons of blood are spilled and in which the final Finishing moves made it all the more fun to beat your opponent. This was particularly great when you played against a human opponent where you would additionally humiliate them by doing one of the numerous finishing moves all characters had in their repertoire. Today, when you play MK 3 as a MAME ROM, and when you can find all the finishing moves online, some of it is lost. Before, you had to learn these moves from different sources that you could find. Still, MK 3 is definitely a game worthy of everyone’s time, both thanks to the insanely involving gameplay and also thanks to the huge choice of very different characters.
Saying which of these two fighting MAME ROM games is better is something that everyone has to do on their own as no one has the right to make that choice but you. Give them both a try and find out which of these two classics you prefer.