Mortal Kombat -- The original game that started a saga
I watched as a yellow-clad ninja tossed a spear at his enemy and yell the never-dying order, "Get over here!!!" The opponent was a man in shorts with a red sash who had just been impaled by the projectile and pulled toward the enemy. The ninja sent the man flying with a bloody uppercut! After recovering, the man did a splits and punched the ninja where it hurt, which made me laugh. This game was the first fighter I saw that incorporated kool special moves. The roster was limited; only 7 fighters were selectable.
The graphics were real and the kombatants even more realistic. I learned that they used motion capture and sprites to get the human-like characters. The backgrounds were well-made with the Oriental feel.
The sound was expected during that era as MIDIs. Only these MIDIs were darker than others. They weren't like Super Mario with cutsie sounds. This was brutal, adrenaline-pumping stuff! The value was best because for a quarter, I could play a great game. Pretty good deal.