Ono on Street Fighter vs. Mortal Kombat

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 5 August, 2011

"It's easier said than done."

Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono has explained why Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat are unlikely bedfellows.

"I actually get a lot of requests for Street Fighter vs. Mortal Kombat on my Twitter feed and elsewhere," Ono told the US PlayStation blog.

"I understand why people want it, but it's easier said than done. Having Chun Li getting her spine ripped out, or Ryu's head bouncing off the floor... it doesn't necessarily match."

Fighting game fans have wondered about a Street Fighter Mortal Kombat crossover game for years.

In 2008 Mortal Kombat chief Ed Boon revealed he tried to make Mortal Kombat vs. Street Fighter happen but "ran into a road block".

Boon contacted Street Fighter publisher Capcom in the past to try and get Sub Zero and co facing off against Ryu and Ken.

"We made phone calls," he said. "But Capcom is in Japan, and with the distance, there's communication gaps and what not. It just never panned out. It would have been very cool. I'm a fan of the other fighting genres and stuff like that. I just thought it would be a cool novelty to have.

"I've always wanted to cross MK over since about MK4, or something like that. I'm a big fan of all of the other fighting games, Street Fighter, Tekken. I always thought, wouldn't it be cool to have MK vs. SF and MK vs. Tekken? We pursued some of those ideas to the extent we could but we always ran into some kind of road block and couldn't do it."

More likely, perhaps, is Marvel vs. DC, which Ono described as a "dream project".

It "would be pretty damned cool if we could ever pull it off," Ono said. "I'm a big comic-book fan. Now if I can get the presidents of those two companies in the same room shaking hands, then we could get something started. I'd love to see that just as a fan!"

Until then, crossover fighting game fans will have to make do with Street Fighter x Tekken, due out next year.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (36) Latest comment 7 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Velios #1 10 months ago

    SF doesn't need crappy MK characters ruining it...

  • StolenGlory #2 10 months ago

    "SF doesn't need crappy MK characters ruining it..."

    You're completely right. It needs other more important stuff first like a solid, deep single-player offering.
    Edited by StolenGlory at 05/08/11 @ 14:37

  • AdamAsunder #3 10 months ago

    More the case is that we don't need that many more fighting games.

    This could work, they'd just have to cut the fatalities like they did with the MK vs DC game.

    Whether it would be any good or not, that's another question.

  • sega #4 10 months ago

    I'm not sure how Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat would mix. It's not just a lot more violent (as the article says, it'll probably be pretty unsettling to rip Chun Li's spine out) but they also play quite differently too. There's a lot more balance to the Street Fighter games and has more of a simplicity when it comes to executing special moves. Granted Tekken is a lot different from Street Fighter too, but their characters at least fit in to a similar style to Street Fighter's so there's something to work around.

    It's kind of like trying to mix a violent live action movie with an animated one, really. It can be done, but it'd need a lot of clever thinking to pull it off right.

  • GozuTennai #5 10 months ago

    Mortal kombat is not worthy.

  • Velios #6 10 months ago

    "You're completely right. It needs other more important stuff first like a solid, deep single-player offering."

    Who the hell plays SF as a single player game lol

  • Quak #7 10 months ago

    Marvel vs DC... is there any point? Unless every other character wore a suit made from kryptonite, Superman would win every time!

  • Machetazo #8 10 months ago

    It's a nice idea, and thanks for the intent, Ono - but I'm not sure MK needs it.
    /diplomat "I do not see how we would benefit from such a trade"
    /gives Civ II advisor his hat back.

  • Huxamalay #9 10 months ago

    Marvel vs DC would be awesome

    Justice League fighting The Avengers = uber win

  • Huxamalay #10 10 months ago

    @Quak

    What you talking about, Hulk would smash his stupid face in

  • sonicyoda #11 10 months ago

    How about a new sprited Street Fighter like III? So much prettier than the 3D models.

  • WinterSnowblind #12 10 months ago

    Lego now has the licence to make DC and Marvel toys, so it's at least possible we'll see a Marvel & DC Lego game. A versus fighting game can't be far off after that.

  • ZizouFC #13 10 months ago

    Marvel vs. DC would be amazing.

    Especially if it had a story mode like MK has.

  • OnlyMe #14 10 months ago

    Well, maybe fighting games would be even more popular than they are now if they offered a great single-player experience as well? A proper career mode for example, instead of a crappy "beat every character then a 'secret' boss at the end with every character to unlock a secret character and then beat every character with that character so that you can use wear different clothing for that secret character".

    I know I would buy more of them, at least. I wish we had something like Panza Kickboxing again (Best of the Best in some countries), making my own character, train his skills and choose your own moves from a big list. Now that was a fun fighting game with a brilliant singleplayer mode.

  • Machetazo #15 10 months ago

    good point, #18. It would also be the case that DC would be on far closer to home ground than they were in MKvDCU, if they clashed against Marvel in a video game. I'd really like to see it, and the roster I imagine (again, not being stretched and fitted around the needs of MK) would be more suited to fans in its reach, and so, have a stronger chance to interest people unfamiliar with all but the most cornerstone faces in those universes. I think they'd end up with a stronger game that would interest and satisfy more players.
    Edited by Machetazo at 05/08/11 @ 13:24

  • FenderMaster #16 10 months ago

    1. @ StolenGlory, You don't play fighting games for the single player.
    2.@ Introvertigo, Even though shotos are very overrepresented, they all play very differently (except Evil Ryu, he' sjust a shit Akuma)
    3. @ tjtj, Tekken is more technical than SF? The timing on combos in Tekken is nowhere near as strict, no kara throws, option selects, link combos. They're very different games, but its obvious you've never taken the time to learn the depths of the SFIV series.

  • WeakOrbit #17 10 months ago

    What no mention of Mortal Kombat versus Tekken?

  • Butr0sButr0s #18 10 months ago

    "What no mention of Mortal Kombat versus Tekken?"

    Actually, he specifically mentions mortal kombat vs tekken in the article. "I always thought, wouldn't it be cool to have MK vs. SF and MK vs. Tekken? We pursued some of those ideas to the extent we could but we always ran into some kind of road block and couldn't do it."

    Also, I think there can be a lot of life in single player portions of fighting games. Soul Calibur for dc had a great single player mode that mixed things up - you vs 3 enemies, fighting in quicksand, swapping weapons or no throws. It was sort of like a challenge mode mixed with a story mode and I certainly had fun with it for quite a while.
    Edited by Butr0sButr0s at 05/08/11 @ 13:54

  • StolenGlory #19 10 months ago

    @FenderMaster

    "1. @ StolenGlory, You don't play fighting games for the single player."

    You certainly wouldn't want to play Capcom fighting games for their single player at any rate, given how typically threadbare and painfully lacking they are. I agree though on the whole however; single-player is just the icing on the cake, a diversion from the multiplayer - but what happens if I get sick of the multiplayer and I want to be challenged on that same game in other ways - what do I do?

    Turn the game off if i'm playing SSFIV.

    Hit up the challenge tower if i'm playing Mortal Kombat, earn some Kurrency and unlock some fatalities for my characters.

    I can't help it - I just expect more from the fighting games that I play than a multiplayer lobby.

    "2.@ Introvertigo, Even though shotos are very overrepresented, they all play very differently (except Evil Ryu, he' sjust a shit Akuma) "

    Indeed they do - being a SFIII:3rd Strike/SSFIV/AE zealot myself, i've long since been able to appreciate the enormity of difference between Ryu/Ken/Dan/Akuma/Oni and so forth for the very reasons you suggested - the difference in timings, the link combos and so on and so forth. The same also applies to MK in that there are a whole bunch of characters who were pallete swaps in the original games (Smoke,Noob, Scorpion, Reptile, Ermac etc..) yet are fully represented in the newest games with totally different movesets, timings and combos.



    Edited by StolenGlory at 05/08/11 @ 13:59

  • AdamAsunder #20 10 months ago

    Xavier could have Superman, and he's in a wheelchair.

  • Gearskin #21 10 months ago

    There's plenty of cool SF vs MK stuff on youtube using the old sprites. Get your fix from those. No need for a whole game based on it.

  • Ranger101 #22 10 months ago

    @StolenGlory - you're not quite the right crowd for Street Fighter - that's cool - it's just that Street Fighter's essence has always been about multiplayer and always will be. It's the analogous to Battlefield/Bad Company; no one plays it for the single player, and it's never the goal.

    Thankfully, Mortal Kombat 9 has proven that there is scope for excellent Single-Player campaigns in fighting games, and I do look forward to non-Street Fighter offerings that follow suit.

    Street Fighter's appeal and longevity lies in the excellent multiplayer experience it offers and has offered for the last 20 years - most people don't remember Ryu's ending from Street Fighter 2, but they do remember the fun they had kicking people's arses on the arcade and rinsing their precious pocket money.
    Edited by Ranger101 at 05/08/11 @ 14:22

  • A_Nonny #23 10 months ago

    Tekken is my fighter of choice, but even I know that SF is the more technically demanding of the two. Tekken's technical requirements are all about movement.

  • StolenGlory #24 10 months ago

    "@StolenGlory - you're not quite the right crowd for Street Fighter - that's cool - it's just that Street Fighter's essence has always been about multiplayer and always will be. It's the analogous to Battlefield/Bad Company; no one plays it for the single player, and it's never the goal."

    I would say that the sheer amount of competitive time I have plunged into every significant entry in the series pretty much makes me 'in the crowd' and if you're saying that i'm not based on the perception that i'm somehow missing the point in regards to the need for decent single-player in a Capcom fighting game, then I must say that you are mistaken.

    I'm well aware that Street Fighter has long been an experience best (and only) enjoyed in multiplayer but is it wrong to want that little bit extra from a Capcom fighting title?



    Edited by StolenGlory at 05/08/11 @ 15:55

  • SpaceMonkey77 #25 10 months ago

    I like the idea, but MKs universe is too strong for Capcom's SF. The only way I'd like to see it done, is if Warner were to give Capcom carte blanche on their MK characters, which we all know are poorly designed anyway, and let Capcom run with the ball.

    Perhaps, then well get better designed MK characters, and perhaps some better moves, that don't rely on visceral fatality action.

  • DrStrangelove #26 10 months ago

    "I understand why people want it, but it's easier said than done. Having Chun Li getting her spine ripped out, or Ryu's head bouncing off the floor... it doesn't necessarily match."

    I, for one, think that would be absolutely marvellous.

  • Stompy #27 10 months ago

    Post deleted at 23:13:35 17-04-2012

  • Stompy #28 10 months ago

    Post deleted at 23:13:35 17-04-2012

  • Bander #29 10 months ago

    So, there's demand out there for a fighting game with Capcom characters, that's a bit more bloody and gruesome eh?

    FUCKING DARKSTALKERS 4 ALREADY!

  • Nevflinn #30 10 months ago

    Ono is spot-on with his concerns. While they're both technically excellent fighting games, the feel of Street Fighter just doesn't match with that of Mortal Kombat. Ryu makes a big deal about fighting to communicate and achieve a higher level of being - seeing him jump at the chance to do a fatality would just be wrong.

    You can make a case for one or two characters fitting, like Akuma or Vega...but they're far too few to justify a whole game.
    Edited by Nevflinn at 05/08/11 @ 18:21

  • othelaatko #31 10 months ago

    I prefer Virtua Fighter. Any other game copycats its leveling system - including Tekken.

  • radioactive_bumfluff #32 10 months ago

    If they ever do a MK vs SF I want it to be like this: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/37...

  • puddleduck #33 10 months ago

    AdamAsunder, you made me laugh out loud, thank you :) Also clearly true.
    Edited by puddleduck at 05/08/11 @ 23:22

  • Toothball #34 10 months ago

    Usually suggestions like this end up with pornographic fan fiction rather than games.

  • TenMinJoe #35 10 months ago

    Toothball - wait, what did YOU think "Xavier could have Superman" meant?

  • SlumpJunk #36 7 months ago

    MK is fun, but a far more shallow game than SF. I think it would be a huge compromise for the SF team to make.