As all know, in the 90s, the video game industry was really getting back up into the air. Due to technology improvements, we could make games a little more graphic. And as such, a then-obscure video game company called Midway decided to take a shot at the more 'violent' side of video gaming Originally, the project was a video game starring Jean Claude Van Damme, but the actor was working on another game that never came to realization. This setback however, gave birth to the four-man project that created the fighting game, Mortal Kombat, released in 1992 to rival Capcom's popular Street Fighter II arcade game. While MK played somewhat similar to Street Fighter II, there were key differences as well as innovations that future fighting games would use such as introducing the concept of juggling and a block button. In previous games, blocking was done by holding the joystick in the opposite direction of character facing while the opponent attack. However, Mortal Kombat was notable for two key things: digitized actors and blood. By using real actors to assume the role of the game characters combined with the blood they shed, it made the experience more realistic than any other fighting game at the time. However, there is one thing that sets Mortal Kombat apart from other fighting games: the Fatality/finishing move. Fatalities were finishing moves that could be performed after winning two rounds. Normally in other fighting games, when you win a round, the loser simply gets knocked out. However, in Mortal Kombat, when you win your two rounds, the announcer will shout 'FINISH HIM!!' in super-imposed text. During this phase, your opponent stands idly by in a dizzied state. By performing a certain input command at a certain range, you could actually kill your opponent. Each character their own unique Fatality, ranging from head-ripping to immolation. The game also featured the very first ever hidden character to appear in a fighting game: Reptile The game has a cast of 7 playable characters, whom all participate in this tournament called Mortal Kombat, hosted by a powerful demon sorcerer named Shang Tsung, who is guarded by his otherworldly servant and undisputed champion of Mortal Kombat, Goro, a member of a proud race of four-armed powerful warriors called Shokans. The main protagonist is Liu Kang, who enters the tournament, whose ultimate goal was to avenge the death of the Great Kung Lao, who died at the hands of Goro. Johnny Cage, a martial arts movie star, enters the tournament to prove to the world that he does his own stunts and is nowhere near a fraud. Kano, a dangerous and cunning criminal, enters the tournament in order escape pursuit from the only female contestant, Sonya Blade. Meanwhile, the Chinese warrior clan known as the Lin Kuei sends one of their soldiers, Sub-Zero, to assassinate Shang Tsung. However, the mysterious warrior is haunted and pursued by an undead ninja clad in yellow, named Scorpion, whose life he previously took and is seeking revenge. Finally, the Thunder God of Earth, Raiden, participates in the tournament in a mortal form as gods are not allowed to interfere in the affairs of mortals. Raiden is the very first ever playable 'god' character to appear in a fighting game During Mortal Kombat's craze, the game was ported to all available consoles. The most noteworthy ones were the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo versions. This was one of the primary examples of the Console War affair. The SNES version had superior graphics and thus, closely resembled the arcade version. However, it was missing the blood, one of MK's key factors. This was part of Nintendo's old family policy not to have violent video games on the system. The Genesis version however, had somewhat weaker graphics, but the controls were responsive and the original violence was kept in, though it can only be unlocked with a code thus, Sega won the popular vote. In 1995, a movie based on the game was released in theaters. It went down in history as the first successful movie based on a video game as it stayed true to its source. Any questions or commentz? o:
