Street Fighter's cartoon graphics sit in direct contrast with the more realistic characters found on Mortal Kombat. However, both games are fantasy-based with characters displaying amazing powers and special moves. Both games involved the player selecting a character to fight his or her way to the final and win the tournament.

Fundamentally, the two games are extremely similar and follow the same rules, style and very similar button and joystick control. With individual buttons for high and low kicks, punches and blocks, the games revolutionised fighting games and took them to a new level.

Street Fighter promoted a cartoon fighting game that would perhaps suit children, while Mortal Kombat opted for a movie-like realism with gruesome deaths and plenty of blood. Street Fighter had made such an impact on the fighting game genre that Mortal Kombat was almost a direct reaction and attempt to replicate its success.

Characters within the games also bore similarities, with appearance and fighting styles seemingly replicating each other. As Street Fighter was the first to emerge, it would seem that Mortal Kombat borrowed certain stylings and ideas from the Capcom game.

The two characters of Ken and Ryu, from Street Fighter, are best friends, rivals and look very similar despite different coloured hair and karate costumes. This idea is used also by Mortal Kombat with Scorpion, Sub Zero and in later games Reptile. They all appear almost identical, with parts of their costumes in alternate blue, yellow and red to help differentiate them.

Mortal Kombat's characters are played by real-life actors and so the game offers more realism in its fight scenes. Both games use special moves, where characters perform powerful attacks after the player presses specific button combinations. Street Fighter's Chun Li can perform a Spinning Bird Kick while Mortal Kombat's Sonya Blade opts for the similar Vertical Bicycle Kick.

With similar characters performing similar moves, how does the player decide which game they prefer? The cartoon versus realism argument seems to be the key factor when selecting a favourite. However, fighting game fans will undoubtedly play both and attempt to perfect their skills in each game without discrimination.

Whether you like the fun-factor attached with the Street Fighter game series, or you enjoy the brutality, blood and realism of Mortal Kombat - both games appeal to fighting fans. With so many other games joining the battle, see Tekken and Soulcalibur, these games may be the classics but there is always a young pretender ready to take the title away.