title asks all, was it the competitive drive, love for a franchise, story, gameplay? share it here!
i love fighting games, KI, SF, and Tekken most preferably. the hype that surrounds this genre is so godlike, the daigo parry, beating the crap out of shadow jago on kyle!, doing that insane combo with numerous inputs. its so satisfying as hell
I was… so young. I can’t remember the age, but around 8 years old, perhaps maybe even younger than that. A friend of mine had Street Fighter 2 on the SNES. I remember clearly how we used to argue whether or not Vega was a boy or a girl (I ended up being right). XD
Then my cousin got Mortal Kombat on his SNES, and later Killer Instinct, which we played so much.
So I was hooked from a very early age.
We didn’t have Arcades where I come from (Denmark), except for a very few places, like some cafeterias, fairgrounds and bowling alleys, so I rarely got to experience that Arcade feel alot of people from the US (and other places) speak of from their childhood. I remember playing Mortal Kombat 3 and Virtua Fighter 3 in Arcade form, but otherwise I only played the home consol versions of fighting games.
One of my best memories was when Killer Instinct Gold was released for the Nintendo 64. The local toy shop had it set up for people to try it out, and after school my friends and I all went there to play it along with ALOT of other kids. I think the shop only had it up over a few days before realizing they had to take it down again, since we kinda took up all the space of the shop. XD
So yeah, that was my little story. 
Dad bought a used ps1 from a guy at his job, came with battle arena toshinden. He also bought mortal Kombat 3 from him as well . Those were the very first fighting games I’d ever played . Some highlights for me were playing MK 4 in an arcade in the basement of a restaurant we’d go to a lot , playing Tekken 3 all day every day, and getting hooked on Marvel vs capcom 1.
I had spent about a year and a half casually playing Street Fighter 2 in Arcades and on the SNES. I spent a little time playing Mortal Kombat, but thought it was goofy.
In 1993 Mortal Kombat II popped up in Arcades, and my 13yr old self was blown away. I played that game obsessively in Arcades and later on the SNES. It was also the first game where I was mentally capable enough to understand mechanics, pulling off technical combos, and playing mind games. So MKII is where I really learned to fight competitively and ravage people in the arcades.
Then the first Killer Instinct showed up at the arcade in 1994, and to me, it was MKII on steroids. So much more to learn and think about in match ups. KI became my new obsession, I never played much MK3, I always stuck to the KI and KI2 machines.
Arcades started to fizzle out in the late 90’s, towards the end the only 2D fighters around were Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and Street Fighter Alpha games. There were more 3D fighters to chose from at that time, and I favored Soul Calibur over all the others.
Then all the arcades around me died out 
What got me into fighting games was Injustice: Gods Among Us. Specifically the fact that they included Scorpion as a guest character, which got me interested in Mortal Kombat and lead me to purchase and enjoy Mortal Kombat 9 and Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. Learning about Mortal Kombat lead me to learn about Street Fighter, which lead to Tekken. I found out about Killer Instinct because of the Death Battle Riptor vs. Yoshi.
SF 2 in the Arcade. The whole idea of learning special moves was the craze and became even more a craze when MK1 and then MK2 came out. I remember carrying 3x5 cards with special move lists to the arcade. 
MK9 mostly
Max, Watching the trailers for Nash, M bison and Fulgore as well
Probably watching and playing MK and Primal Rage with my parents since I was 3/4 lol MK was my first video game ever, and we also had MK2, Primal Rage, Shaq Fu and SF2 Championship Edition so fighters have been a part of my life since the beginning. I never played competitively though, it was always causally at home or at a friends house. I don’t think I even knew there was a competitive scene for any kind of video games until like 2013 when I got back into gaming lol I recently decided to try and play seriously though, or I decided to with the announcement of MKX the June it was announced.
Played every mortal kombat except deception and armaggedon. First fighting game was Street Fighter 2 championship edition. My first competitive fighter was MKX.
I started with Street Fighter 2: The New Challengers on my old Sega Genesis, which was quickly followed by the ever-violoent Mortal Kombat. I had a brief stint in Killer Instinct, where I learned about combos, and had a bit of a hiatus until the likes of other fighters came around - Soul Calibur, Super Smash Bros., Virtua Fighter, Dead or Alive, Marvel vs. Capcom 2. I never liked (and still don’t) or ever got into Tekken or the many Japanese-style fighting games like Blaze Blue - they’re too flashy and fast (which is ironic, 'cause that’s sort of what Killer Instinct is, when you really think about it) and often had, in my opinion, either weird mechanics (Tekken’s knockdown mechanics come to mind) or simply too many of them to warrant bothering to learn them.
It was at about the time that Capcom released Street Fighter 4 and Netherrealm Studios released Mortal Kombat (9) that I really started to understand the core mechanics to fighting games though, like with crossups, block and hit-stun, counters, etc. Once I figured that stuff out, everything just fell into place and I actually started placing on leaderboards.
At some point in time, I held the #49 spot for best Dhalsim player in the U.S. for Super Street Fighter 4; was in the top 200 for Mortal Kombat (9) overall, using Baraka and Sheeva (my Outworld thugs duo) of all characters; was in the top 150 overall for Injustice: Gods Among Us while using Solomon Grundy and Lex Luthor (my brain and brawn duo), while also being in the top 5 for best Lex Luthor players in that game for a time; and am now happy to report that I have, in 1 season, reached the #95 spot in Killer Instinct. So, while I’m by no means the best (and I do still lose quite frequently, as many on these forums have witnessed), I’m almost certainly top shelf, and getting better (and learning more) by the day.
I was a small child when I first played Mortal Kombat on the arcade machine. After losing against Sub-Zero and seeing him rip Raiden’s spine out as if it were a push up drinking straw, I guess I instantly liked Mortal Kombat. Although if I can really recall, I did play Killer Instinct 2 on the arcade machine at least once as TJ Combo.
I must say. Those two games came along way.
My first fighting game was SSB on N64 when I was 6 or 7. My first traditional 2d fighter was MK9 but I did not actually get decent at fighting games until Injustice. Since then I have only played a few, but the ones I do play I get WAY into (such as KI).
MK3/Trilogy
KI GOLD
SF2
Smash Malee
Soul Calibur 2
Tekken
All of those made me fall in love with the genre, and if it weren’t for those I wouldn’t be interested in the today. Each had their up and downs like every other game put on the market, but they were unique in the own way and there’s nothing that could stop me from loving their series as I’m always look forward to their expanding.
Soul Calibur II
Ironically, Killer Instinct. I mean, I played MK: Deadly Alliance on the Xbox, but I never really got into it the way I’ve gotten into KI.
I’d actually written off non-MK fighting games since I really only cared for the gore at the time.
Now that I’ve been knee deep in this game for the last 2-3 years I’ve actually developed a much greater interest in fighting games, even on a competitive level.
The cool animations drove me. Not only seeing moves but figuring out what special moves could be done before the guides even existed.
Dark Rift on N64 was my first game ever, and even if fighting games aren’t my favorite genre, that sole title paved the way.
Then, Street Fighter 4 was the modern love of fighting games as we know it, with their spectacular ink art style. Finally, Killer Instinct and the new additions of Ultras combined with musical keys was amazing.
Last but not least, this wonderful community. The peeps here made me push out of single player and learn how to truly play fighting games and value the history of fighting games. Don’t want to get sentimental but thanks for making it a heck of a ride guys and gals!
Playing Killer Instinct as a kid on the SNES lol
Didn’t really get super in to them in general until around late 2012 though. Mostly due to my brother’s increasing interest in them, but I found myself drawn to the characters in games. I like seeing different types of characters and the cool ways they can fight. Once I actually started playing them, I of course was just drawn in by how fun they were to play.