Last week we finished the NES debates with a monster of a matchup between Punch-Out!! and Bubble Bobble. As soon as the bell rang, NihonTiger90 started off swinging with a vote for P.O.!! I Bubbed, Bobbed, and weaved, throwing a counter punch for B.B., and that set the pace for the rest of the fight. Whenever one side got in a punch, the other side almost always countered with one of their own. It's been a long time since tallying the votes of a debate has been so much fun. The debate definitely went the distance, but towards the end one side began to grow tired and lost some ground that it just couldn't regain. Here are the results:
- Punch-Out!! (25 votes)
- Bubble Bobble (33 votes) -- Winner!
This week we move on to the SNES and Sega era of gaming, as we continue to go out of our way to discuss odd game debates that you'd never think to argue over because they're so hard to compare. For tonight's competition, we're visiting a famous film quote, and then slightly changing it to make for a more interesting debate. Here's the memorable conversation from the movie Billy Madison:
- Kid: Mortal Kombat, on Sega Genesis, is the best videogame ever.
- Billy Madison: I disagree, it's a very good game, but I think Donkey Kong is the best game ever.
- Kid: Donkey Kong sucks.
- Billy Madison: You know something? YOU SUCK!
As you can tell from the title of this post and the totally non-edited picture above, we're instead looking to find out whether Donkey Kong Country or Mortal Kombat II (for either Sega Genesis or SNES) was the better game. Don't forget, the point of these odd debates is not to just vote with your gut, it forces us to be more analytical and think like a game designer.
Which game do you think is better, and why? Give it some serious thought, get some friends to share their opinions as well, and check back next week for the results and a new round of odd SNES/Genesis debates.
Contest:
11:06 PM on 09.09.2008
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Donkey Kong Country wins.
Sorry, someone had to do it.
Oh and I don't mean DKC, even though it was a great game in my view.
Also, this was the SNES's first super violent game!!!
I vote for Mortal Kombat II.
OTOH, Donkey Kong Country was amazing, platforming gold. After the first sequal it started going downhill and I bailed out, but the first DKC is a classic that will be rightfully remembered among the mighty gods of te 16bit platforming era for so long as records of human accomplishment are kept.
One for DKC, in other words.
MK2 helped to rekindle the fighting genre, as well as continue to push games in mainstream media (even if for frowned upon reasons). With just as many fans as it has haters, you can't deny its popularity -- not to mention it has been involved with some of the largest debates on this site in the past. And hell, the MK series has a movie. Movies, even. Even if they sucked, that still says a lot.
(By the way, I plan on revisiting the MK vs SF series of debates next year, although much more briefly than before).
On the other hand (literally), DK Country is one of Rare's best games, and showed that Miyamoto wasn't the only clever devil making fun and memorable game characters in complex 2D platformer sidescrollers. The semi-interactive levels were a pleasure, the mounts gang-banged anything Yoshi had done back then, and Diddy Kong wasn't the failed piece of shit sidekick known as Luigi.
The downsides to DK Country would be a villain and string of bosses who weren't memorable, whereas MK2 baddies were and still are well known. Both games incorporate multiplayer aspects and plenty of replayability. In DKC you would continually discover new secret areas, and in MK2 you'd continually discover new Fatalities and such.
This is a very hard vote for me (which says a lot since I really dislike the fighting game genre), but in the end, my vote goes to Donkey Kong country, mainly just because it was far more clever and creative than a bunch of dudes and dudettes beating the shit out of each other.
VOTE: DKC
When this came out my jaw dropped and i was the happiest kid and the music was catchy as hell.
Mortal Kombat was another game in a lackluster series that, for no apparent reason, continues today.
DKC for the victory!
Mortal Kombat. I remember going to the mall as a youngin, looking up the fatality codes, and writing them down to try out later. I also made up a ton of characters and gave them all special moves and crap. yeah...I was one of those kids.
MK gets my vote
I don't really get the lasting appeal of fighting games.
If we were talking about DKC2, on the other hand....
christ that game looked good.
also @ fronz
there is no mk vs sf debate.
street fighter beats out mk any day of the week in gameplay.
hands down.
But in terms of games, MKII gave me a lot of laughs with all its ridiculous violence and fatalities. But I enjoy DKC much more, I'm a sucker for side scrollers and this was no exception. I enjoyed its 2-player mode more than Mario, because rather than taking turns playing a level, you tag-teamed it, allowing you to play more cooperatively. DKC was also pretty hard, but never impossible, while to this day I still can't beat the last guy or two in MKII (Maybe I just suck at it though?). DKC also had a sequel which in my mind was better than the first game.
My vote goes to Donkey Kong Country.
MKII is the best game ever.
yes I am a snes fanboy
MKII wins by multiplayer default. Even though I'm awful at MKII, at least I can destroy that little kid's extra lives and he won't complain more than usual.
FUCK NO mk2 isnt the best game ever. its not even up there in the top five hundred. buts its damn well better than donkey kong country. DKC always just had a wierd vibe to me. i didnt enjoy playing it.
what the fuck are you thinking
also, "Pineapple."
http://dkcdecade.ytmnd.com/
Donkey Kong Country is the GAME OF THE DECADE!
In the words of Hunter S Thompson:
"You'll have to stop here.
This is Donkey Kong Country."