Nothing goes along with controversy better than Mortal Kombat and in its time, Mortal Kombat II was one of the greatest fighting games ever to grace an arcade or any console for that matter. MK2 featured a cast of
twelve characters with five of the playable characters returning along with one of bosses from the original now be playable. What already had scared uptight mothers across the world had returned in a monstrous way. Besides the allure of the outright violence and chaos (which was expanded with the addition of more stage fatalities, normal fatalities and more finishing moves) that came along with the game, MK2 was an improvement over its predecessor. The game ran smoother and played faster than the original Mortal Kombat, which were both welcomed additions. Beyond all of the tactical and technical additions which made the game one of the best of its time, it was simply fun to play with a friend. Figuring out fatalities and investing endless nights playing the game truly captured the fun in fighting games which is usually lost in its competition.
Soul Calibur will go down in history as one of the greatest fighting games of all time and quite possibly the greatest 3D fighter every to be released. The game featured a revamp roster from its Soul Edge predecessor which came to numbered 19 selectable characters. While other games touted more characters, Soul Calibur's depth kept it afloat with relative ease. Each character was wildly unique, which was not the case for many games in which players could see up to four characters basically playing the exact same way. Soul Calibur's game play mechanics were also more forgiving than its 3D counterparts, giving it a relatively easy accessibility to casual and hardcore fighting games fans alike. The addition of the 8-way run was also extremely revolutionary and broadened the scope of 3D games that still felt relatively two dimensional.
Tekken 3 will be forever recognized as one of the greatest fighting games in history. Even with the release of the highly successful Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, Tekken 3 is still considered the height of the series. When released for the PlayStation, Tekken 3 went on to sell over six million copies, more than double what Tekken 2 managed to sell. The game was faster and more fluid than its predecessor along with being better looking. This was also the first Tekken to include side-stepping, which added depth to a 3D title that was still functioned 2 dimensionally. It featured the beat 'em up that was included in every subsequent Tekken title. The biggest addition was the revamped engine, which made Tekken the tactical and precise masterpiece it has become known as free games for in recent years.
