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If you squint a little, it's the 1990s again – at least in terms of fighting games. Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and Tekken have all come out swinging in recent years, each reinventing themselves for a new generation with a series of hard-hitting titles.
But the real bruising encounter is yet to come: as Mortal Kombat hits cinemas, a new feud has emerged between the casts of Mortal Kombat 2 and Street Fighter, bubbling with light-hearted animosity and a desire to be top dog at the box office.
"We will dog-walk anyone from Mortal Kombat. Anybody. And I loved Mortal Kombat... but which movie is better in terms of fighting... Street Fighter dog-walks Mortal Kombat," Guile actor Cody Rhodes said during an appearance on The Brandon Davis Show.
Mortal Kombat breakout Lewis Tan, who plays Cole Young in the fighting franchise adaptation, quickly took to Twitter in reply: "Literally almost spilled his drink laughing" was the actor's acid-tongued response.
Short of a dream crossover filled with Fatalities and hadoukens, the social media shouting match is probably all that will come of the Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter rivalry.
Except, the tete-a-tete between the two iconic titans has only intensified my feeling that something else is missing out on a big-screen adaptation. We need a Tekken movie. Yes, 2009's awful Tekken movie and its middling animated efforts exist, but we need the big blockbuster treatment for Namco's series.
Emerging from humble PlayStation beginnings to quickly cement itself as PlayStation's fighting game supremo, Tekken excelled thanks to its quick, easy-to-pick-up controls, multiplayer mayhem, and formidable roster of fighters.
As each entry grew in scope, so, too, did the game's narrative ambitions – and it's here where the foundations for a Tekken movie were laid.
Centring around the drama of the Mishima clan, patriarch Heihachi enjoys a family history with his brood that would not only be perfect for the big screen, but could have stretched out to a full season of Jerry Springer if it so desired.
To recap: Heihachi once threw his son, Kazuya, off a cliff in perhaps the biggest case of tough love ever recorded. In Tekken 1, Kazuya responded in turn by dumping dear old daddy in a volcano. Things only got more dramatic with the arrival of Kazuya's son, Jin. Oh, and get this: each is imbued with the devil gene, meaning that they are pretty much the personification of evil. Naturally.
Ruling with an Iron Fist
Across several Tekken games and multiple decades, the domestic dramas made Invincible's issues with Omni-Man seem quaint and have raged on relentlessly. There have been more volcanoes, explosions, fake deaths, missing mothers, shocking relative reveals, and thong-wearing final bosses than, frankly, we know what to do with.
Where Mortal Kombat has its convoluted tournament structure and Street Fighter, frankly, has some cookie-cutter characters, Tekken feels tailor-made for a major movie with its melodrama and major set-pieces.
Of course, you could adapt any of the first two or three games in the series and triumph with a twisted take on Tekken's eternal Mishima conflict. But Tekken 7, turns its POV towards a reporter scrambling to uncover a conspiracy (with, ironically, an all-timer of a cameo from Street Fighter's Akuma). Not only does it have far-reaching consequences for Kazuya and Jin, it also feels like a solid way to introduce newcomers to the madness of the Mishimas.
That's without even looking at the rich cast beyond the main players. There are pro wrestlers (King), assassins (Nina), breakdancers (Eddy Gordo), Bruce Lee rip-offs (Marshall Law), androids (JACK), kangaroos (Roger), and even a wooden training dummy brought to life (Mokujin).
The entire cast is ripe to be deployed in a Tekken movie, complete with the sort of OTT fights and city-razing action that is normally only reserved for superhero movies.
Mortal Kombat may have the gore and guts and Street Fighter has the flair. But Tekken has a unique blend of a genuinely compelling – if utterly insane – story, true variety in its fighters, and a baked-in fanbase (over 60 million players can't be wrong).
As the video game movie gold rush goes on, it becomes harder and harder to justify why Tekken is being left in the cold.
Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat may be duking it out in cinemas, but why not make it a triple threat? After all, a whole generation of fans grew up with Tekken – and there's even a realistic possibility of a Tekken vs. Street Fighter movie, mirroring the clash they had on consoles. With apologies to the Mortal Kombat cast, that's one fight we really want to see.
Mortal Kombat 2 is now in cinemas, with Street Fighter not far behind on October 16.
For more, check out the upcoming video game movies currently in the works and our verdict on the latest kombatant with our Mortal Kombat 2 review.
