When we left off last with Whatever Happed To Mortal Kombat,  Mortal Kombat was dominating the arcades and home consoles with MK 3, but it was Mortal Kombat 4 that brought on a great wave of changes that shifted the series into a whole new light. With a trip to the 3D realm, Mortal Kombat changed from the classic 2D fighter into an exclusive home console series.

The character list of MK 4

Mortal Kombat 4, released in the arcades in 1997 was a game that did something risky: it completely changed its format all within a matter of two years since the last installment.  MK 4 gave arcade gamers a chance to play in 3D, which was a revolutionary step at the time since 2D combat was the one of the main staples of the MK series.  Mortal Kombat 4 featured 3D character models, weapons, added all new characters to the mix and a storyline that evolved beyond that of old MK bosses Shao Kahn and Shang Tsung.

It would also be the final Mortal Kombat game that would grace the arcades, becoming an exclusively home console video game from then on. While all of the new features of MK4 were great, it still felt like a shadow of its former self. The new 3D graphics seemed too much like Midway was trying to jump on the Soul Edge/Soul Calibur bandwagon and make the game run as seamlessly from 2D to 3D. However, it just didn’t have the heart of the original Mortal Kombat games. The changes, while impressive, strayed too far away from the original which in turn probably alienated a large part of the fan base. It is also notable that in 1992 when Mortal Kombat was first introduced to gamers, it was the most violent game around.  At the end of the 90’s, it had more competition as games got more realistic and it was clear that MK was no longer the king of gore since it now was up against titles like the controversial Duke Nukem 3D or zombie infested Resident Evil.

Mortal Kombat: Special Forces did happen. But it's ok not to remember it.

During this time Mortal Kombat also released two side story games, Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces. While the Sub-Zero story was decent with lots of plot holes answered, Special Forces was nothing short of a disaster. It flew completely under the radar and was a complete let down to fans of the MK series. The bottom line is that the Mortal Kombat series was beginning to fall apart and even though MK 4 and MK Mythologies: Sub-Zero were more than decent games, Special Forces seemed like the first nail in the coffin for the series.

It could also be noted that the second nail in the coffin was the release of the 2 Mortal Kombat movies. The first movie was decent enough and it did manage to bring in a considerable amount of money in the box office, but the blame truly lies in the second movie: Mortal Kombat Annihilation.  Annihilation was, for lack of a better word; terrible.  The acting was bad (especially since Christopher Lambert did not reprise his role as Raiden) and it seemed more of a publicity stunt to milk money from its fans instead of providing a good adaptation like the first movie. To make it out of these tough times; it would take more than just blood and guts to get Mortal Kombat back to its former glory, but unfortunately it does seem like Mortal Kombat would never fully bounce back to the top of the gaming world.

The next full installment was released after a five year hiatus in 2002 and was called Deadly Alliance. It featured two major changes to further push the series away from its roots. Deadly Alliance was the first major Mortal Kombat game to be directly released on home consoles and also featured the death of a champion of the Mortal Kombat games, Lui Kang.  Such sudden changes in a series seemed like a stab in the back to fans of the original game as it wasn’t available in the very place that made it popular: the arcades. Even though arcades were in decline and home consoles were on the rise, it still left a sour taste in the mouths of MK fans that grew up playing Mortal Kombat in the arcades.  Deadly Alliance was overall a decent game,  it had an interesting quest mode and brought back the ‘test your might’ mini game.

However Mortal Kombat was no doubt going through a dark period following Midway’s Special Forces failure.  It became obvious that Mortal Kombat mania was waning and even with the success of Deadly Alliance, it was not what it once was.  Mortal Kombat was no longer as popular as it was in the heydays of arcades in the 90’s, and other fighting games like Soul Calibur, Tekken and Dead or Alive were far more popular.

Scorpion and Kenshi practice different fighting stances, as Midway attempts to give combat depth.

The next game, Mortal Kombat: Deception would continue the steady trend of the series, furthering the quest mode introduced by Deadly Alliance and giving the series more gore and better graphics.  While Midway tried to revive the series, it was obvious that Mortal Kombat characters and fatalities had lost the flair they once had, becoming nothing more than a gimmick. It would seem like the same could be said for the next game: Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.

In a strange turn of events, Mortal Kombat characters must now fight DC characters.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe had a solid idea: combine the fighters of the MK series and match them up with the likes of Batman, Joker, The Flash and Superman. The end result was a commercial success but a lackluster game. Fighting seemed boring, and the novelty of fighting Superman against Scorpion wore off after several rounds. In a stunning, and kind of ironic, turn of events: one of the fatalities was finally censored in the US so that it would receive a “Teen” rating. Because of the family friendly image of Warner Brothers, the Joker’s fatality of shooting his opponent in the head was modified in the US version of MK vs. DC. Instead of the planned showing of a gunshot to the head, the screen just does a close up on the Joker as he pulls the trigger.

Sadly, Midway games filed for bankruptcy earlier this year with the rights of Mortal Kombat being sold to Warner Brothers. So even though the future of Mortal Kombat seems uncertain, it is comforting to know that it survived through the 90’s, several generations of game consoles, the fall of arcade popularity, and bankruptcy.

It’s fair to say that Mortal Kombat is a legend in the gaming world and something of a pioneer in terms of censorship and graphics, even when the cards were stacked against them most of the time. So G3 salutes Mortal Kombat as it was one of the most important and popular games off all time.