'Street Fighter' Vs. 'Mortal Kombat' - Which Franchise Has The Highest-Rated Movies?
In the world of fighting video games, two franchises reign supreme: Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. Since the ‘90s, these two franchises have shaped the genre, but for wildly different reasons. Street Fighter’s focus on a colorful, international cast of characters was beloved around the world, while Mortal Kombat’s brutality and bloodshed made its action a spectacle in the West.
The rivalry as to which franchise is better has been around for decades, and that feud will be reignited in 2026, thanks to the dual releases of Mortal Kombat II (2026) and Street Fighter (2026). Both series have had numerous film releases over the decades, many of which can be found on streamers like HBO Max, Prime Video, and even Crunchyroll, but which series has the better films? Looking at box office, critical and fan reception, as well as legacy, one franchise has undeniably had the stronger run.
The ‘90s Originals: ‘Mortal Kombat’ Wins
Released less than a year apart from one another, Street Fighter (1994) and Mortal Kombat (1995) are the poster children for ‘90s cheese. These live-action adaptations attempted to marry the games’ unrealistic nature with real actors, and the results are fun but definitely uneven.
Street Fighter relied on big names to get people to see the film, like action superstar Jean-Claude Van Damme. The problem was that the film became more of a Van Damme vehicle, like Universal Soldier (1992), than a Street Fighter movie. To make matters worse, because Van Damme was addicted to cocaine during filming, the final product struggled as a result. Audiences agreed, with the film being critically lambasted and sitting at 11% on Rotten Tomatoes, despite earning just under $100 million at the box office and somehow doing worse than Super Mario Bros (1993).
By comparison, Mortal Kombat fared much better. It didn’t bother casting huge names outside of Christopher Lambert, and didn’t shy away from being a silly video game adaptation with plenty of action. It didn’t have any of the gore that fans of the series would have expected from Mortal Kombat, but it made up for it with how fist-pumping the action was. Watching ninjas jump around with the film’s legendary OST blaring in the background gets the blood pumping! Say what you will about Paul W.S. Anderson and his Resident Evil films, but the man knows how to make an action scene. Critics and audiences agreed. While the film only has a 43% on Rotten Tomatoes, it made over $122 million on a far smaller budget than Street Fighter.
Both films have their charms, and Raul Julia truly is incredible in Street Fighter, but Mortal Kombat is the better film in every way.
The Sequels: ‘Mortal Kombat’ Still Wins… Barely
It’s not hard to find a gamer who likes the Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat films, but their sequels are an entirely different story. Both films got live-action sequels, and both films are considered absolute abominations when compared to their predecessors.
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997) is cheap by every definition of the word. The special effects of the first film were nothing to write home about, but Annihilation looks mediocre at best and incomplete at worst. Without the guiding hand of Paul W.S. Anderson, the sets and fights just look drab and uninteresting, and the focus to lean more into camp than the first film makes DOA: Dead or Alive (2006) look dignified. Annihilation was mauled at the box office, made $51 million on a budget of $30 million, and killed any interest in continuing the series for decades.
Yet, somehow, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009) is worse. It has a 3% on Rotten Tomatoes and made less than $13 million on a $50 million budget. While not technically a sequel to 1994’s Street Fighter, as the second live-action film, it technically fills the void, despite the 15-year gap in entries. The idea to make a film based on Chun-Li, one of the most popular characters in the series, makes sense, but the way the film misunderstands her, as well as all of the Street Fighter characters within it, is on the same level as how Dragon Ball: Evolution (2009) misunderstood its cast. The action has no sense of impact, and when an action movie fails to deliver satisfying fight scenes, then what’s the point in watching it?
Both movies are terrible, but Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li is considered one of the worst video game movies of all time.
The Animated Films: ‘Street Fighter’ Makes A Comeback
The Street Fighter movies may have failed when it comes to live-action, but the world of animation is where Street Fighter excels.
It’s no secret that Street Fighter owes a lot of its aesthetics to anime, so it makes sense that three anime films were produced by Capcom, the first of which is Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie (1994). While the film was never released in theaters in the West, it did remarkably well on home video and has an 80% on Rotten Tomatoes due to its slick animation, banging OST, and a solid plot that has weight and rarely feels melodramatic. It also had a hand in encouraging other fighting game franchises to receive anime adaptations, and helped spawn the Street Fighter Alpha subseries, with the two later films, Street Fighter Alpha: The Movie (1999) and Street Fighter Alpha: Generations (2005), continuing the franchise’s remarkably solid anime adaptations.
Mortal Kombat didn’t get as nice a transition to animated films. Warner Bros. decided to release a series of movies in the early 2020s under the “Mortal Kombat Legends” banner, which included films like Scorpion’s Revenge (2020), Battle of the Realms (2021), Snow Blind (2022), and Cage Match (2023). All of these films were essentially straight-to-DVD fare, and while they’re not bad by any means, they’re also not great. They exist in the same realm as DC animated movies like Batman: Soul of the Dragon (2021), where they exist to tell cool one-off stories of iconic characters, but that’s about it.
If you want some action, some blood, and some one-liners, the Legends subseries will more than suffice, but if you want some animated films that are great at what they do, Street Fighter is your best bet.
The Modern Movies: ‘Street Fighter’ Shows Promise, But It’s Anyone’s Game
Mortal Kombat II is set to continue the story of Mortal Kombat (2021), the series reboot that was met with mixed reception and a Rotten Tomatoes score of 55%. It had plenty of callbacks to the games, but since it prioritized special effect-laden fights like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), lovers of classic martial arts action were somewhat let down by it. Hardcore fans still loved the references and the plethora of characters in it (minus Cole), and Mortal Kombat II seems to be doubling down on the fan service, mostly thanks to fan-favorite actor Karl Urban playing Johnny Cage.
As for Street Fighter, its trailer promises a film that can only be described as completely unhinged. It’s a film bursting at the seams with character, personality, and a sense of enthusiasm that, like The Suicide Squad (2021), borders on gonzo. Is it accurate to the games? Probably not, but it at least seems to be more faithful than The Legend of Chun-Li was. It doesn’t bother taking itself seriously and seems to be even campier than the original live-action film, which is really saying something. Whether it can strike a balance between serious action and goofy comedy is another story entirely, but at the very least, Street Fighter seems to be grabbing more attention and enthusiasm than Mortal Kombat II.
