Mortal Kombat

This article is about the video game. For the film see Mortal Kombat (film) .

Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat logo
Studio	Midway Games
Publisher	Midway Games
Erstveröffent- lichung	July 1992
platform	Arcade , SNES , Sega Mega Drive , Sega Mega-CD , Amiga , MS-DOS , Sega Game Gear , Game Boy , Sega Master System , Handy
genre	Fighting Game
Game mode	Single player , multiplayer , online mode
medium	Cartridge , CD-ROM
language	German , English , Chinese , Japanese
Age rating	PEGI
information	The game became known for the extreme depictions of violence and was released from the first part onwards from the age of 18 . It was both indexed and confiscated in Germany until March 2020 .

Mortal Kombat ( German  fatal fight ) is a video game from the fighting game genre, which was conceived by programmer Ed Boon and designer John Tobias and developed by the US software company Midway (today under the name NetherRealm Studios ) and first developed in 1992 appeared in gambling halls . Mortal Kombat was developed as an answer to the popular Capcom game Street Fighter II . Mortal Kombat partly contains extremely explicit depictions of violence, which partly led to the establishment of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), as well as to the former indexing . Several sequels, feature films, cartoons, TV series and merchandising products have appeared.

As with the successors Mortal Kombat II and Mortal Kombat 3 , actors were filmed and digitized using blue screen technology and not drawn as in many other video games .

development

In 1991 the arcade machine manufacturer Williams decided to launch a fighting game in competition with the then very successful Street Fighter II . Ed Boon and John Tobias led the project team during the ten months of development.

In order to stand out from the multitude of other Street Fighter II imitations, Boon and Tobias decided right from the start for game graphics that were unusual at the time: instead of the sprites with which the fighters and their movements in the game are drawn, they draw by hand to let, digitized recordings were incorporated into the game. At the same time, the size of the pieces was maximized so that playability was just guaranteed. The technology for digitization was already available at Williams and had previously been used for the games NARC (1988) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (first-person lightgun shooter, 1991).

The popular special attacks, which are triggered by certain undocumented key combinations and which had to be found out, were taken from the model Street Fighter II . In addition, the secret moves known as fatalities arose from the following observation: In many other fighting games, the fighters were dazed for a short time if they had suffered a "direct hit". For a moment they were defenseless against another blow from the enemy before they could actively intervene again. In Mortal Kombat , this mechanism has been moved to the end of the fight. At the end of the last round, when the winner was determined, he was asked to “Finish him!” Or “Finish her!”. If he knew the combination for the Fatality, he could kill the already defeated opponent. Ed Boon reports on the genesis of Fatalities that the development team suggested "doing something cruel". As a result, a different fatality was designed for each fighter: Kano, for example, tears his opponent's heart out of his chest and Sub-Zero tears off his head and spine. The developers were not aware that the Fatalities would make the game so popular. It was assumed that the combinations required for this were too complicated and would only be discovered by a few players. In addition to the fighter-related fatalities, pit fatalities have also been built into the game: Some arenas offer the possibility of using properties of the environment to kill the defeated opponent.

There were also secret characters and Easter eggs .

The home implementation of Mortal Kombat was published in 1993 with a marketing strategy that was unusually complex for video games, in which a veritable flood of television advertisements was sent within the Mortal Monday campaign . All console variants hit stores on the same day.

action

Since the forces of Outworld want to subjugate the earth empire, the Elder Gods introduced the Mortal Kombat tournaments. Before the warriors of Outworld have won ten tournaments in a row, they are not allowed to invade Earth (for this reason Shao Kahn, ruler of Outworld, uses a ruse in the prehistory of Mortal Kombat III to attempt an invasion anyway can). Since every character has its own story including its own credits and these can partly contradict each other, only parts of the plot remain in the following part.

The film adaptations are based on the events of the game series, but sometimes differ considerably from each other. For example, Liu Kang, monk of the White Lotus Society , is cited in the film series as a descendant of Kung Lao (about which the series Mortal Kombat: Conquest revolves), who was killed by the Shokan prince Goro 500 years before the plot of the first film and game , although this only applies to Kung Lao, which is not represented in the films and also belongs to the White Lotus Society .

Since the Shokan prince Goro defeated the great Kung Lao 500 years ago, he has been the reigning champion. For various reasons, partly under duress (Lt. Sonya Blade belongs to a special unit set up against the criminal Kano, whose other members are held captive by Shang Tsung and for whose freedom they must stand) or at the invitation of the magician Shang Fighters fighting Tsung must prevent a tenth victory for Goro and Shang Tsung. Some of the fighters want to compete out of curiosity or other reasons.

Characters

The Mortal Kombat universe consists of over 70 characters who appear in the games and films. Here are a few of the most famous and important characters at a glance.

Johnny Cage

Cage is an American martial arts actor who competes in the Mortal Kombat tournament to prove his true skills to his critics. During the course of this tournament, he joins the warriors of Lord Raiden, prompting him to take part in the following events. He always has his sunglasses with him as his trademark. One of his attacks, which is very well known among Mortal Kombat fans, is the blow in the soft tissues of the enemy, which makes them defenseless for a brief moment.

Liu Kang

This main character is a Chinese Shaolin monk. In the first four games he represents the hero who defeats the respective leader of the antagonists each time and thus decides the battles in favor of earth. At the beginning of the fifth part "Deadly Alliance" he is attacked and killed by Shang Tsung and Quan Chi. In the sixth part "Deception" , Liu Kang is revived by the corrupted raiden and now exists as an evil-minded zombie who seeks revenge on Shang Tsung and Quan Chi. In the 2011 spin-off of the game series, Liu Kang is killed by Raiden himself, which shocked many Mortal Kombat lovers because he was supposed to be the hero. Raiden accidentally killed him after Liu Kang defied him and tried to attack him. He just couldn't trust Raiden.

Sub-Zero

Sub-Zero is a ninja belonging to the Chinese Lin Kuei clan, an unscrupulous organization of assassins. He wears a blue ninja uniform in every game, masked at first, but more often without a mask in later games. His special ability is the creation of ice balls that can freeze the opponent for a short time in combat.

The story of the character Sub-Zero is closely linked to the character Scorpion. They are called mortal enemies (in the Mortal Kombat movie ) and are responsible for each other's deaths. On behalf of his clan, Sub-Zero murdered Scorpion before the 1st Mortal Kombat tournament. During the first tournament, Scorpion retaliated and killed Sub-Zero. From the second part, his younger brother (Kuai Liang) took over the role of Sub-Zero. The killed older brother (Bi-Han) later returned as the black ninja "Noob Saibot" (note: a play on words from the reversed names of the two developers Boon and Tobias); this true identity was only known in the sixth part.

While the older brother (Bi-Han) carried out assassinations for the Lin Kuei, the younger brother (Kuai Liang) joined the side of the good guys and rebelled against his clan, which he later also turned into an organization for the good.

Scorpion

An undead ninja who first seeks revenge on Sub-Zero. This had killed him, but Scorpion was allowed to leave the realm of the dead ("Netherrealm") and to avenge his death. After MK2 he becomes the protector of the younger Sub-Zero (in reparation for killing his brother). However, he also wants to kill him after he learns from the wizard Quan Chi that the younger Sub-Zero has killed his family. In the fourth part it turns out that the murderer of Scorpion's family was actually the wizard Quan Chi. In the sixth part he becomes the Champion of the Elder Gods and becomes her weapon against Onaga. In return, Scorpion's clan, the Shirai Ryu , and his family are to be resurrected. However, the Elder Gods let them resurrect as undead, which is why Scorpion now wants to take revenge on them by defeating Taven and Deagon and thus thwarting their plan to prevent Armageddon. However, Scorpion is defeated by Taven.

Scorpion wears the same ninja uniform as Sub-Zero, but with the blue parts in yellow at Sub-Zero. Scorpion wears the yellow outfit because in Sub-Zero's clan the color yellow is seen as the color of cowardice; thus he mocks the clan by wearing the yellow uniform. His trademark is the spearhead attached to a rope, with which he impales his opponents and pulls them towards him, saying “GET OVER HERE!” Or “COME HERE!” (In the films and Mortal Kombat: Conquest he has a snake instead that comes out of the palm of his hand).

He also has a cameo in Drawn Together .

Raiden

The god of thunder Raiden (played by Christopher Lambert in the first film ) takes the form of a mortal to take part in the Mortal Kombat tournament. He is the patron saint of the Earthrealm under the gods and relies on his abilities to control lightning and thunder in battle. When he died fighting the Dragon King Onaga at the beginning of "Deception" , he was reborn in the Earthrealm. When he learned that the mortal Shujinko was to blame for the return of Onaga, his personality changed drastically. Instead of treating and protecting the lives of the people on earth with respect, he now decided to defend the earthly kingdom at all costs; even if this requires the killing of "foolish" mortals. After Shao Kahn conquered all realms after Mortal Kombat Armageddon and defeated Raiden, he sends a message to his self at the time of the first Mortal Kombat, which leads to a new timeline.

Sonya Blade

Lieutenant Sonya Blade is a member of a US special unit. She involuntarily takes part in the first tournament after Kano kills her partner. This happens after she snuck on Shang Tsung's ship in search of Kano and was forced to participate in the tournament. In the following parts, Sonya and her partner Jax work on the side of the good guys. In Mortal Kombat X she has a daughter named Cassandra, Johnny Cage, who is almost always called "Cassie" and who inherited her skills from her father.

Kano

The Australian Kano is the head of the criminal cartel Black Dragon and is hunted by Sonya. Despite many failures, Kano repeatedly manages to negotiate a good position in the ranks of the bad through skillful manipulation. He's a cutthroat with no honor and always joins whatever side the cards are best for, even though he's never allied with the warriors of the earth. His trademark are the metal plate and the artificial, glowing red eye on the right side of his face.

Shang Tsung

Shang Tsung is a many thousand year old magician who was cursed by his master and therefore needs human souls to keep himself alive. In the first three games he tries to subjugate the earth with his master Shao Kahn. From the fifth part, with the supposed death of Shao Kahn, Shang Tsung acts on his own. He dies with Raiden and Quan Chi at the beginning of the sixth part in the fight against Onaga.

More characters

Other figures from the series are z. B. the humanoid reptile Reptile , the four-armed Prince Goro , Princess Kitana , her bodyguard Jade , as well as Kitana's evil clone Mileena , the Shaolin Kung Lao , his cousin Kung Jin , the cyborg ninjas sector, Cyrax and Smoke (in Mortal Kombat X too together as Triborg ), as well as the ruler of the Outworld, Shao Kahn . Also Sheeva, Stryker, Kabal, Baraka, Shinnok, Ermac, Quan Chi, Nightwolf, Jackson Briggs or "Jax", his daughter Jacqueline (called "Jacqui"), Kintaro, Kenshi, his son Takeda etc.

reception

First reactions

The fatalities as well as the characters depicted very realistically for the time caused controversial discussions. For a player who knew the secret combinations, this meant prestige in the public arcades. The widespread discussion about Mortal Kombat was very beneficial for the sales of the slot machine game: The immediate success of Mortal Kombat even surpassed the very popular Street Fighter II .

Discussion of violence

The implementation for home consoles led to a wave of indignation among parents and politicians in the USA, as video games had previously mostly only been associated with almost non-violent games such as Super Mario or Sonic the Hedgehog . This ultimately even led Conservative Senator Joe Lieberman in a speech to Congress calling for games like Mortal Kombat and the equally controversial Night Trap to be banned by the constitution.

In Germany, the game was indexed in 1994 by the then Federal Inspectorate for writings harmful to minors and, by decision of the Munich District Court, confiscation for the depiction of violence in accordance with Ordered under Section 131 of the Criminal Code . It made selling, displaying, or promoting the game a criminal offense, but not possession. In October 2019, the confiscation and then the indexing of the game was lifted again in March 2020.

Sequels and offshoots

• Mortal Kombat (1992)
• Mortal Kombat II (1993)
• Mortal Kombat 3 (1995)
• Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3: The ULTIMATE Fighting-Game (1995)
• Mortal Kombat 4 (1997)
• Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero (1997)
• Mortal Kombat: Trilogy (1997)
• Mortal Kombat Gold (1999)
• Mortal Kombat: Special Forces (2000)
• Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (2002)
• Mortal Kombat: Deception (2004)
• Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks (2005)
• Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (2006)
• Mortal Kombat: Unchained (for PSP ) (2006)
• Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (2008)
• Mortal Kombat (2011)
• Mortal Kombat (for PS Vita ) (2012)
• Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition (2013)
• Mortal Kombat X (04/2015)
• Mortal Kombat X (Mobile) (04/2015)
• Mortal Kombat 11 (04/2019)

Film adaptations

• Mortal Kombat (1995)
• Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins (1995)
• Mortal Kombat 2 - Annihilation (1997)
• Mortal Kombat: Conquest ( 1998-1999 )
• Mortal Kombat: Rebirth (2010)
• Mortal Kombat: Legacy (web series) (2011)
• Mortal Kombat 2013 (2013)

literature

• Steven L. Kent: The Ultimate History of Video Games. Chapter 25: Mortal Kombat. Three Rivers Press, New York 2001, ISBN 0-7615-3643-4

Web links

• Official website
• The Mortal Kombat video games at MobyGames (English)
• Mortal Kombat in the Killer List of Videogames (English)
• Arcade history entry
• Version differences on Schnittberichte.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Federal Gazette . No. 63 , March 31, 1994.
2. ^ AG Munich , B. v. November 11, 1994 - ER Gs 465b Js 172960/94
3. ↑ https://www.schnittberichte.com/special.php?ID=180&Seite=19
4. ↑ pcgames.de
5. ↑ iplayapps.de
6. ↑ gamestar.de
7. ↑ New details on the 'Mortal Kombat Rebirth' trailer. On: moviereporter.net, June 12, 2010 (accessed August 19, 2010)
8. ↑ tv-kult.com