Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat devs FIGHT

By Johnny Minkley Published 31 July, 2008

Contenders, ready!

It's 1992 all over again. Two of gaming's greatest pugilists have revived their long-standing rivalry, with Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon claiming his new game will "kick" Street Fighter IV's "ass", while Capcom has accused Midway of still "riding the coattails" of its brawler.

Eurogamer caught up with both camps last week in San Diego, where SFIV and Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe were on show at Comic Con 2008.

Asked whether he still felt competitive with Street Fighter after so many years, Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon told us: "I think just from the history we do," bluntly adding: "I think we'll kick their ass."

While conceding he was "looking forward to" Street Fighter IV as a fighting fan, Boon insisted, "We're a wilder ride - a big rollercoaster ride - and they're a little bit tamer." Ouch.

When we put these comments to Capcom on the show floor senior community manager and former SF champ Seth Killian immediately hit back, claiming: "You can't touch the mechanics of Street Fighter, and [SFIV] is really channelling back the classic mechanics that ignited the world."

He added, in the manner of a Guile four-hit re-dizzy, "Mortal Kombat was riding the coattails of Street Fighter then, and I think Mortal Kombat may be riding the tails of Street Fighter as we move into 2009."

Zangief and Sub-Zero were unavailable for comment at the time of writing.

Midway showed off its new title in playable form at a dedicated event off-site last Thursday evening, 24th July, with Ed Boon and writer Jimmy Palmiotti hosting a panel at the show the following day. A series of Street Fighter IV cabinets, meanwhile, took pride of place on the Capcom stand, with tournaments running for the duration of the convention.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe is out on 360 and PS3 later this year. Street Fighter IV released in Japanese arcades earlier this month, with 360, PS3 and PC versions on the way.

Picture of Johnny.

About Johnny Minkley

Eurogamer TV's Johnny Minkley is a veteran journalist with a lifelong passion for games and the games industry. He uses Twitter more than most people use air.

Read more articles from Johnny by visiting the Johnny Minkley archive page.

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Comments (24) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • bdc #1 4 years ago

    I loooove it!

    Back to the bad old days!

  • Turambar #2 4 years ago

    @evilfoxhound

    "SF2 was WAY better then MK back in the day. MK just had the gore gimmik. I can't see anything changing in 2009."

    Things have changed. MK doesn't have the gore gimmick anymore.

  • Santino #3 4 years ago

    what an insult to capcom this is. this was never a competition to begin with if you want to talk about the actual games themselves. mortal kombat gained success through being controversial and nothing more. the series is poor.

  • carrotcake #4 4 years ago

    I wish MK vs DC looked better. I don't like the art style much, and the animation looks crap, rigid, sometimes odd. When you plow opponents through walls you end up in an area identical to the one you started in. Armageddon was the first MK game that made me sit back and think this stuff isn't very good any more.

  • aldo_14 #5 4 years ago

    Bollockspeak:"We're a wilder ride - a big rollercoaster ride - and they're a little bit tamer."
    English: "We have blood and guts and stuff. Oh, look there - a cat!"

  • frostcircus #6 4 years ago

    Hooray! This is what competition in the gaming world is supposed to be like. The fun was kind of sucked out of console wars a long time ago.

  • LunatikCajun #7 4 years ago

    @frostcircus

    +1

  • stepneg #8 4 years ago

    MK has fatalities and thats it, as fun as they are SF2 pissed on it from a great height, we always used to go back to SF after a couple of rounds just didn't feel right playing MK.

  • hiddenranbir #9 4 years ago

    Gosh, when are they just going to get it over with and have sex.

  • Machetazo #10 4 years ago

    On video evidence, so far, Capcom wins, hands down.
    Edited by 1 at 31/07/08 @ 15:16

  • andywilkie35 #11 4 years ago

    i think its a shame that there is even a "rivalry" between these. Mortal Kombat always has and always will be shit. the fact its against DC Universe is a terrible terrible concept. Street Fighter making a comeback with its first proper sequel in years is going to absolutely destroy it

    saying that, i don't like beat em ups. can't evolve, won't evolve, still play the same as they did 15 years ago, except maybe a little faster. i'll still get SFIV tho because I liked SFII Turbo or whatever it was on the snes when i was a young'un

  • Greychapter #12 4 years ago

    Eurogamer has some videos of the Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe somewhere. After watching those I don't think that the new version will even be a decent game, let alone a good game, and even more so against Street Fighter.

  • Redeye #13 4 years ago

    Pair of big girl's blouses...stick them in a locked room with chainsaws.

    Yes, I know I've suggested it before, but it'll still be entertaining.

  • asphaltcowboy #14 4 years ago

    Despite the fondness I have for MK2 and 3, everyone knows that SF is and will always be the king. The mechanics are just too good...

  • jamespo #15 4 years ago

    both for wimps compared to VF

  • McFly55 #16 4 years ago

    At least everyone is in agreement for once:)

  • Totoriko #17 4 years ago

    That MK v DC gameplay footage shows that the game will be crap. Can't believe this is even being discussed.

  • Colin8703 #18 4 years ago

    This is hilarious, DC has always been inferior to Marvel and MK has always been inferior to SF.

    If i wanted a super hero fighting game, i'd go back to Marvel vs Capcom or X-men Vs SF which will still be better than Ed Boon's new piece of shit despite being about 10 years old or something.
    Edited by 1 at 31/07/08 @ 17:12

  • Robyrt #19 4 years ago

    Mortal Kombat back then had three things going for it:
    1. Great sound and voice acting
    2. Dark, edgy 90s feel, with gore and whatnot.
    3. Street Fighter was already popular.

    These days, #2 and #3 have largely fallen out of fashion. MK vs DC is a logical attempt to recapture #3 by using another, more popular franchise instead - whether they'll succeed is up for question.

    Street Fighter 4 has the potential to be amazing or just an expensive cult classic. The control scheme (especially in the American market, chock full of 360 and Wii controllers that do not do shoryukens well) will be key.

  • FenderMaster #20 4 years ago

    Mortal Kombat sucks

    Street Fighter 4-EVER!!!

    WOOOO!!!!!

  • Ryze #21 4 years ago

    Here we go!

    Can't wait for them to use the SFIV engine for a new X-Men Vs Streetfighter.

  • Pastici #22 4 years ago

    Or Marvel Vs Capcom 3, that would be the don mega of 2D fighting games.

  • Vordred #23 4 years ago

    well although i have played every street fighter game, including the original im not all that interested in SF4, im sure it will be good, but im just bored of SF and KoF, feels like i have been playing the same game for 20 years.

    and although i was never liked MK much atleast MK is trying something new and rebuilding the fighting engine from scratch. which was what i was hoping capcom were going to do, only to find out they just want to remake SF2 (yet again)

    always been a beat 'em up fan, but they have all got so stale i rarely bother anymore, and SF is practicly mouldy these days (albeit still fun)

    about time some one reinvented the wheel when it comes to the beat 'em up.

    i wish Square soft would have another go, i liked Bushido Blade (although it was flawed) and thought Tobal No1 was great. though both bushido blade 2 and tobal no2 where not so good. Ehrgeiz was a nice try but didn't turn out so well. still atleast they were trying.

  • Ranger101 #24 4 years ago

    Vordred, you totally need to (re)visit SNK's The Last Blade 2. Astoundingly awesome, and I'm still trying to workout whether SNK ripped off SF3 fighting mechanics, or SF3 ripped LB2 off. Whatever the way, when you play LB2 it becomes prominently obvious that Soul Calibur took all it's ideas, including the button mappings from LB2.