List of media in the Mortal Kombat franchise
| Mortal Kombat | |
| Screenshot List of media in the Mortal Kombat franchise | |
| Developer: | Midway Games |
| Publisher: | Midway Games |
| Release date: | 1992 |
| Genre: | Fighting |
| Game modes: | Up to 2 players simultaneously |
| Cabinet: | Standard |
| Controls: | Joystick, 5 buttons |
| Monitor | |
| Orientation: | Horizontal |
| Type: | Raster, standard resolution (Used: 400 x 256) |
| Notes | |
| Known for its brutal and bloody fatalities; Used digitized characters; So popular that two movies of the same name have been created; In the KLOV Top 100 and one of the two best games in 1992 | |
Mortal Kombat is a 1992 arcade game by Midway Games. It was popular because of its realistic, digitized graphics mixed with bloody and brutal action. This differentiated it from the hand-animated, more cartoon-like graphics of competing games like Street Fighter 2.
Overview
Mortal Kombat was developed as a reaction to the popular Capcom game Street Fighter 2, with simpler controls and digitized graphics. Some say the game's graphic violence was gratuitous, and was only included in order to generate a public outcry and controversy that would increase publicity for the game.
Although highly controversial, the mix of realism and violence propelled Mortal Kombat to the height of popularity. An example of the game's innovations was the Fatality, a special finishing move executed against a beaten opponent to kill them in a gruesome fashion. For example, one character would grasp a defeated, wobbling opponent by the head, then rip the head and spine out of the opponent's body, which then crumpled to the ground in a pool of blood. Another aspect of gameplay that became a recurring element in games that followed was the so-called "juggle", where a series of moves could be executed against an opponent who was kept in mid-air by the force of the attacks, and who hence had no defense against further attacks as long as the "juggle" could be maintained.
Legacy
Midway created four sequels for the arcade and home systems, each one bloodier, more brutal, and stranger than the last. Mortal Kombat 4 brought the series into 3D, replacing the digitized fighters of the previous games with polygon models, while Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance was the first in the series to skip arcades altogether and go directly to consoles, a symptom of U.S. arcade market's dramatic decline. Finishing moves in later games included the Animality (turning into animal to violently finish off the opponent), the Brutality (decimating an opponent into pieces with a long combination of hits), the Friendship (offering one's opponent a token of friendship), and the Babality (transforming the opponent into a baby). The Babality and Friendship moves were created as a jokey "non-violent" finishing move, a swipe at the US Congressional Investigation for Violence in Videogames who came down harshly on the Mortal Kombat games.
Throughout the series, the game was noted for its simplicity of controls and the exotic special moves it featured.
Easter eggs and secrets
Mortal Kombat was among the first titles in the beat 'em up genre to include secret characters and secret games. Mortal Kombat 3, for example, including a hidden game of Galaxian. In the 1992 original, by executing a Fatality when fighting on The Pit (the bridge) without taking any damage or pressing the block button in the winning round, the player could fight Reptile, a merge between the Sub-Zero and Scorpion characters. In Mortal Kombat II, Reptile would be developed into a full character with his own special moves and would be available from the outset. Carrying on in this tradition, if the player won 50 consecutive fights he/she would come face to face with the black ninja, Noob Saibot, which originates from the last names of the lead designer John Tobias and lead programmer Ed Boon backwards. It was pioneering ideas like these that has made Mortal Kombat one of the most memorable of the beat 'em up genre.
However, one of the most fascinating elements of Mortal Kombat was completely unplanned and out of the programmers hands. Following the release of Mortal Kombat II, a myth culture was created around the game. The most famous one is the Goro myth. In the first game, Goro was a four armed monster that acted as a second boss to the game's main boss, Shang Tsung. Many fans were convinced that Goro was hidden somewhere in Mortal Kombat II and many were obsessed with finding him. The UK's GamesMaster magazine (also a popular TV Show on Channel 4) received numerous letters asking about where to find Goro. Much searching was done, both by fans and the computer game press, until in 1995 GamesMaster concluded, "We are positive Goro isn't to be found in Mortal Kombat II, we are positive he would have been found by now."
Movies and television
Mortal Kombat was adopted into two major motion pictures, Mortal Kombat: The Movie, and Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. Both featured high action, outdated special effects and B-rate plots.
The franchise also sparked two television series, the animated Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm and the live-action Mortal Kombat: Conquest.
Ports
From a marketing perspective, the 1993 launch of Mortal Kombat for video game consoles by Acclaim was probably the largest launch of a video game up until that time. A "Mortal Monday" television campaign featured a flood of television advertisements, which were unusual for video games at that time, and all four home versions of the game were made available for sale on the same date.
When the first game in the series was released for the SNES, Nintendo of America held a strict "Family Friendly" policy towards the content of the games released on their systems, this included the removal of graphic violence, religious imagery and themes; mention of death, sexual themes, and other sensitive subjects. Henceforth, the first Mortal Kombat game on the SNES had the blood recolored gray in order to pass it off as sweat, and the various Fatality moves were graphically changed to be less gruesome. Although it was graphically superior and had better controls then the Sega Genesis version, the SNES version sold very poorly due to its sanitation of the game's violent content. After this, Nintendo began to concede on their policies, and the SNES version of Mortal Kombat II was released with the violence fully intact with a warning label on the game's packaging. Nintendo later allowed other publishers to make games with sensitive subject material following the advent of various video game content rating systems.
Ports:
- Sega Genesis (1992) - the American Sega Genesis version was censored, but entering a secret code leaves the blood intact.
- Amiga (1993)
- Game Boy(1993)
- IBM PC (1993)
- Sega Master System(1993)
- Sega Game Gear(1993)
- SNES(1993) - Because Nintendo had a problem with the realistic use of blood, it is replaced with sweat
- The game has been ported illegally to the Famicom in Asia. It has appeared in several multicarts in China.
See also
List of Mortal Kombat characters
External links
