‘MK 10’ Vs ‘Ultra Street Fighter 4’: Which Is The Better Fighter?

The latest round of fighting game battles has begun! It is time for MK 10 vs Ultra Street Fighter 4 in a battle for survival.

While Mortal Kombat 10 (or Mortal Kombat X) has barely even received a trailer, we can speculate based on what we saw in the trailer and how it might translate into the last game in the series. Ultra SF4 will be released in August, and it’s set to star at the upcoming EVO 2014 alongside all of the latest fighting games including Nintendo’s Smash Bros Melee. Based on what we know, or think we know, we’re going to decide which game is the better fighter before they are released, if we can.

Storyline

Mortal Kombat 10 follows the story of an invasion of other-wordly forces into Earthrealm, and only Liu Kang and his friends are able to stop the destruction from descending once again into Armageddon. Every character has their own motivation, but they all play a role in the bigger plot.

Ultra SF4 is a mash-up of several storylines, from Ryu’s never-ending quest for greater strength to Chun Li’s constant need to investigate tournaments and take down the game’s villain. Some of them seek only inspiration for new recipes (El Fuerte) while others obsess over series veterans and seek to beat them or get their attention (Sakura, Dan, Rufus).

Round one of MK 10 vs Ultra Street Fighter 4 goes to Mortal Kombat, because the storyline is more linear and less confusing from a larger perspective.

Graphics

Mortal Kombat 10 comes from roots of using actual actors supplying digitized photos for the characters and eventually evolving into a 3D render. In the end, Mortal Kombat ditched the 3D movement introduced in MK4 and went back to its roots in pure blood and gore gameplay. With X-Ray attacks, the game looked brutal even before it yelled “Finish him!” The latest game looks like it’s attempting to aim for ultra-realism once more, and uses the current gen processors to achieve fantastic results.

Ultra SF4 came from very simplistic 2D cartoon roots, and uses a softer and more animated style to achieve its appeal. The PC version of its predecessor uses particle and glow effects to their maximum potential, meaning it doesn’t really need to aim for realism as long as it has the flash Capcom loves to go for.

Round two of MK 10 vs Ultra Street Fighter 4 goes to Ultra SF4, because it doesn’t depend on next-generation graphics to capture the eye. It has enough flash even at its minimum settings to get fans excited.

Gameplay

When Mortal Kombat was first released in arcades, the controls were actually quite terrible. Some attacks were too powerful compared with others, and the boss characters were always cheap to the point of frustration. The series evolved and so did its controls, and now it feels much more like the controls do something every time you press a button. The special moves actually require more skill and timing to execute now, especially the series trademark fatalities. The series’ gameplay has improved a great deal over the decades, and it feels more natural now.

Ultra SF4 also came from roots of terrible controls, but quickly fixed them with the first real sequel (Street Fighter II). The controls never felt unresponsive after that, and as the game evolved, so did the controls. The controls are tight and precise to the point where your loss actually means you need practice. If you simply jump in and beat a veteran, that veteran may need to polish up their style. Often enough, if you can’t master the technical controls for counters and super attacks and the like, you will lose.

Round three of MK 10 vs Ultra Street Fighter 4 goes to Ultra SF4. Capcom’s fighting series always required a level of skill to overcome each challenge. You can’t just jump in and learn the controls in one session like you can with Mortal Kombat.

Replay Value

Mortal Kombat 10 comes from a long line of secrets. From figuring out how to fight Reptile, the series has always had a hidden fighter which required luck and determination to find, at least until later in the series. Eventually all you had to do was finish the story mode or buy DLC to unlock the full roster. MK 9 still had the “krypt” you could work your way through as you won coins to unlock more things like extra fatalities and outfits.

Ultra SF4‘s history didn’t originally use hidden characters. It wasn’t until Super SF2 Turbo that we finally got to face Akuma if we were good enough. Hidden fighters have not always been there, but the original Street Fighter 4 had the best replay value of the latest series, making you unlock over half of its roster by beating the game with every character available. Now there isn’t much to unlock, and unless you’re really into online fame and proverbial trophies, it really doesn’t have much replay value.

Round four of MK 10 vs Ultra Street Fighter 4 goes to Mortal Kombat, because of its long history of having a reason to play over and over to unlock everything long after you’ve beaten it.

Results

The end result is a tie. Neither game is really better than the other, and of course we haven’t even played Mortal Kombat 10 yet. Ultimately the decision is up to you, the gamer, which one you spend your money on, if not both.

Which one do you think is the better fighter?

[images via tecnoslave, joystiq, bubblews]