To those who do not know me well, my favorite genre of video games is fighting games, and my extensive history with the genre is the reason for my fondness. I would cite the release of “Super Smash Bros. Brawl” back in 2008 as my first memorable moment with fighting games as I remember going to Best Buy to buy the game and rushing home to play it. For those unaware of the “Super Smash Bros.” franchise it is a series of fighting games spanning multiple decades and multiple iterations with an emphasis on combining various Nintendo and other gaming franchises to create a fun fighting game for many to enjoy, the game introduced me to many franchises I wouldn’t have known about had it not been for their inclusion and even shined light on dormant franchises. 

 The franchise is a love letter to all those who love Nintendo games and allows for crossovers with franchises from Sega, Sony and even Disney.  Every game in the series is a lot of fun to play and I recommend it to all who have not had the pleasure of playing it.  

Although Super Smash Bros. had a impactful presence on my childhood I’d say the most impactful fighting game franchise I have had the pleasure of playing is the “Mortal Kombat” series, back in high school I was introduced to the franchise properly due to some of my friends at the time being real big fans of the game at the time specifically the tenth installment in the franchise, “Mortal Kombat X.” The franchise admittedly is very gory and violent but there is a lot more going on with the franchise then the excessive gore and violence, the game displays good story telling and deep character lore and relationships.  

 I immediately became a fan of the franchise due to the high paced and fun gameplay, great characters, lore, and awesome guest characters. Guest characters in fighting games consist of characters from franchises suited to fit the gory gameplay of Mortal Kombat such as Jason Voorhees from the “Friday the 13th “franchise and a Xenomorph from the “Aliens” franchise to name a few. The implementation of guest characters is refreshing and exciting especially to those who are fans of the guests or those who are requesting their favorite characters join the roster.  

Guest characters are a fun addition to any fighting game and crossovers in general are just a fun concept that I enjoy seeing in any franchise, but especially fighting games because for heavily debate character matchups to be showcased in one game, in Mortal Kombat X, The Predator and Alien are guests and you can relive the iconic battle of Alien vs Predator in Mortal Kombat which is just a fun bonus for a game to offer.