Feat. Game 05.29.2005 - Mortal Kombat

[Lord Nepenthean]

Mortal Kombat

[img width=145 align=right]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-040/bf/U-040-S-03680-A.jpg[/img]Week: 2005.05.29 - 2005.06.04
Game: Mortal Kombat
Console: Sega Genesis
Year: 1992
RFG ID #: U-040-S-03680-A
Part #: 00108
Publisher: Acclaim
Developer: Probe
Genre: Fighting
Sub-Genre: 2D Fighter
Players: 1-2 Players

Game page address: http://www.rfgeneration.c...l?ID=U-040-S-03680-A&
Screenshots: http://www.rfgeneration.c...hot.pl?ID=U-040-S-03680-A

Video games have been around for a long time, and it seems that ever since their creation, they have been surrounded by love, hate, and a heaping helping of controversy.  Starting with Death Race in the late 1970's, video games have been the target of many a crusade to censor violence in what many consider to be children's toys.  Though it was not the first, perhaps one of the most controversial games to be singled out as ultra-violent was Mortal Kombat.  Featuring fights to the death, buckets of blood, and plenty of spine-tingling fatality moves, Mortal Kombat had mothers and politicians everywhere up in arms, and kids everywhere memorizing their favorite moves.

Today, some argue that the game doesn't hold up against the test of time.  Fighting games at the time of Mortal Kombat's release were just getting off the ground as members of a popular and good genre.  As such, the genre has come a long way since Mortal Kombat first appeared on home consoles in 1992.  Still, the game's immense popularity keeps it popular if for no other reason than nostalgia.

Does Mortal Kombat deserve a spot as one of the better games of all time?  Was it really all that good back in the early 1990's?  What did it do for the video game industry then and in the years to come?  Was this good or bad?

[Arrrhalomynn]

I've only played this one on the pc and thought it was so damn hard. Then again, I was about 10 when I gave it a try.

I remember the first time I ever saw it was in an arcade on some holiday. They had this huge machine with seats and everything and I just couldn't understand how awesome it was. No matter who was playing there were loads of other kids around looking at the game. It was awesome.

[Speedy_NES]

The first time that I played Mortal Kombat was on the Game Boy, in black and white.  This wasn't as bad as it may sound, but it did lack some of the elements (such as the colorful blood) that made the color versions of Mortal Kombat such a hit.  The second MK game that I played was on the SNES and in the arcades, if my memory serves me right.  I personally liked the game just to fool around, and figure out all of the crazy tricks and finishing moves, for the sake of entertainment.  I then moved on to Mortal Kombat Trilogy on the N64, this time for the sake of nostalgia.  The MK games started to become somewhat repetitive at this point, and I never really tried any of the 3D MK titles.  Maybe I missed out, but there were enough games out at the time to choose from

I think that Mortal Kombat was a key player in the evolution of video games, since it was the first fighting game with somewhat realistic images - compared to cartoonish fighters at the time, such as Street Fighter II.  Mortal Kombat also invented the "finishing moves" aspect of fighting games.  The amount of characters available was also an added benefit.  I believe that if this game had never existed, the current video game market for fighting games would be quite different.  

Also, on a side note, just thought I'd mention that some of the first MK games were later ported to the NES/Famicom by pirated companies - available mostly on multicarts and some individual pirated cartridges.  Shows how much of a hit they were

-Speedy

[CatchFiveBats]

I never got into Mortal Kombat simply because my parents were completely against anything of the sort, and I never went to the arcade.  This doesn't mean that I have anything against Mortal Kombat.  Far from it.  I just never got a chance to play it until recently, so it really holds no nostalgic value for me.

[The Metamorphosing Leon]

I've always thought the MK series were overrated. Like Arrr I haven't played 'em much, but i have logged a few hours in on a friends snes.
         
Sure the fatalitys were cool but I never liked the "Kombat." (Why oh why Kombat? Combat's so much cooler) Maybe (probably) I wasn't good enough but it always seemed like whoever got in the first blow would win the whole fight. And the story never made sense, though i don't think any fighting games stories make sense.

Wow, my argument is pretty weak. Maybe I should go buy that ps2 MK and really find out what I think.

[Izret101]

I use to beat my little brother in this game so bad.
I use to beat everyone in this game so bad.

I was still VERY young when this game came out.

I use to know all of the characters special moves and only a few fatalities.
Now i barely remember alot of the stuff.

At least i was able to remember a fair amount of trivia and such.

I never got to play this in the arcades until about 4-5 years ago at Hampton Beach. And it wasn't all that fun because i hadn't played at home in quite some time and the AI was set rather high on the dificulty. Because i lost on the first round and i don't think i ever got the computer player past 1/2 helth.

I wish i was able to play it when it had first come out in the arcades because i can only imagine the atmosphere around that game. The trash alking, the awe, the blod and gore.
It would have been great.

[Izret101]

Since it took me forever to actually post that last post i had written upbefore Speedy posted i would liek to respond to those who posted already.

@ Speedy i 100% agree with you if MK had never been made that fighting games would be in a very different place. It may have taken years for any other realistic fighting games to come out.
MK coupled with a few other games of its time that were singled out as being overly violent really is what really made the industry what it is today. If nothing ever was made that pushed the envelope we wouldn't have the ESRB and the industry as a whole could be years behind what it is now.
Also i found out about those pirated multi carts relatively recently and am going to be looking into those. Know if thay are rare or expensive?

O ya and MK on Gameboy has an atrocious frame rate. If you want todo any of the specials you have to leave a noticable time delay between presses to accomplish the move.

@CFB that is really a shame. You did miss out on a good game series. I suggest you look into the older ones. Alot of people say MK II was the best but i think it was UMK3 because of the sheer volume of characters and just all around goodness. Try 'em out and make your own mind up

@ Leon I never much cared for the MK series on any of Nintendos platforms. They just seemed out of place and wrong(Stupid friggin sweat. I hate you Nintendo). I suggest to you like i did CFB that you look into them. Also stay away from any MK on the Gamecube and N64. I haven't tried all of them but the ones i did were so much worse than the versions on other systems.

[Speedy_NES]

Also i found out about those pirated multi carts relatively recently and am going to be looking into those. Know if thay are rare or expensive?

It's really more a matter of luck...They are quite rare to come across, especially in the US...but they are not impossible to find.  Most people that sell multicarts, for example, don't check what games are on them...so you have to get lucky and come across one that does.  I've also come across at least one NES clone that came with MK built-in.  Not sure which one of my clones this was, but next time I come across it I'll let ya know the name of the clone....

O ya and MK on Gameboy has an atrocious frame rate. If you want todo any of the specials you have to leave a noticable time delay between presses to accomplish the move.

Yea, it was a pretty terrible version of MK...I didn't play it much because there wasn't much fun associated with it

-Speedy

[Izret101]

I have been playing the MK version alot lately. Goro is pretty impossible to beat. Still can't think of a valid reason for taking out Johnny Cage.
Unless it was space issues which is my thinking as of now.
They still used photogenic style images in that version.

[Sureshot]

I remember learning the Scorpion 'Block, Up, Up' finishing move when I was younger, just so I could use my mediocre skill to win the first game and perform the Fatality, to the OOOOOOOHs and AHHHHHHHs of the inevitable crowd of onlooking teenagers.  Those were the days.

Recently, I have added Sub Zero's Spinal Cord Fatality to my repertoire

[Tynstar]

Mortal Kombat is one of the only fighting games I like. I dont really like the newer 3d fighting games but I don like the new Mortal Kombat.

I was never really any good MK but I loved the finishing moves.

[Sauza12]

I suck at all Mortal Kombat games.  At the time this came out, Street Fighter was still huge in the arcades and I was pretty damn good at that.  I could usually play for 30 mins.+ before someone managed to beat me.  So when Mortal Kombat came out, I figured "here's another game that I can smash everybody in", but it didn't quite work out that way.  It took me a week of playing in the arcade before I managed to get my first win.

Still, I was strangeley attracted to this game.  The fighting engine was solid, the characters were nice, and the fatalities were the coolest thing I had ever seen.  So I kept playing.  And i kept losing.

13 years later, my friends and I will fire this up for a few shits and giggles, and I pass the controller after every fight.  13 years later and I still can't beat anybody with any consistency.  Ah what the hell, might as well fire up another match.

[The Metamorphosing Leon]

Wow a triple post.

[Izret101]

Wow a triple post.

Duely noted.

I was just thinking can't some emulators play online?
It would be cool to play some people in MK via internet.
Even if it had to be on a less desirable system than genesis.

[Lord Nepenthean]

You could give it a shot.  Finding an emulator that has netplay is pretty easy.  I've only done netplay via kaillera, and had kind of poor results.  Despite the fact that there should be very little data to send compared to today's modern online games, I could never get it working lag-free - even on NES games.  So, if you get it to work without lag, let me know how you did it.

That said, I too remember the awe of seeing this game for the first, second, and hundredth time.  Back in grade school, a large percentage of the guys in school would spend all day thinking about playing Mortal Kombat, all lunch period/recess debating various rumors surrounding the game, and all afternoon/night playing the game.  I still remember the name of the best Mortal Kombat player at my school - Matt Oelker.  He could pull off any move by any character at any time, and had all of the fatalities mastered to a tee.  He was a god among men....  or I guess kids, since that's what we were back then.  That kid used to carry around pieces of paper with moves written on them at school so (I guess) he could practice even when he wasn't playing.