« 12 Groundbreaking Moments in Fighting Game History »

Dorkly.com put together a list of what they feel is 12 of the most groundbreaking moments in fighting game history. Of course, opinions will vary on this topic depending on if you're a casual or competitive player, but it's worth checking out for some of the videos alone.

Here is an excerpt on their bit out about Mortal Kombat including a video showing a number of old school fatalities!

7. Mortal Kombat As The First Truly Controversial Game 

Considering terrorizing innocent bystanders with stolen vehicles and submachine guns has become somewhat of a norm in today’s videogames, it’s hard to believe anyone ever had a problem with the content of the legendary fighting game, Mortal Kombat. But if it wasn’t for MK, we wouldn’t have games like Grand Theft Auto to live out our criminal aspirations. When the game came out in 1992, parents everywhere were outraged with the game’s gratuitous violence. Apparently they didn’t want their children ripping the skeletons out of their opponents before they were ready. The digitized blood and gore had people so up in arms that it led to the creation of the ESRB rating system. Luckily for the people at Midway and gamers everywhere, neither the negative publicity nor the rating system resulted in a fatality of the Mortal Kombat series. 

Thanks again to Ryukenden for the tip!