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Mortal Kombat II is the second installment of one of the most violent fighting game franchises of all time, providing a smoother fighting system while adding new characters and content.
Overview
Advertisement featuring four of the new playable characters
Taking place sometime after the events of the last Mortal Kombat tournament, the story shifts the location to an alternate realm called Outworld, where it's emperor, Shao Kahn, plans to take over Earthrealm by defeating the warriors of Earth in a tournament (with the help of his half-tiger, half-human bodyguard, Kintaro, and the restored Shang Tsung). Other sub-plots involve Liu Kang's plan for revenge for the assault of his Shaolin monastery (with the help of his close friend, Kung Lao), Jax's mission to rescue the captured Sonya and Kano, and the tensions between female ninja assassins Kitana and Mileena. The story was later revamped in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks.
Gameplay
Mortal Kombat II builds upon the original Mortal Kombat's gameplay. The five-button layout (in an "X" formation) returns, with four attack buttons (High Punch, High Kick, Low Punch, and Low Kick) and a dedicated Block button. Some normal attacks have different attributes (for example, roundhouse kicks now launch opponents into the air, whether they are on the ground or not), and crouching punches have been added (in the original game, crouching and pressing either punch causes the character to throw an uppercut).Finishing Moves
Baraka performing a gruesome new Fatality: the Blade Lift.
Mortal Kombat II introduces two alternate types of finishing moves: Babalities and Friendships. Babalities humiliate your opponent by turning their character into a baby, while Friendships makes your character show a friendly gesture (from autographing a picture to giving a gift) Both can only be performed if the winning player does not press any of the punch buttons during the winning round.
Characters
After choosing a character, the player progresses through the game by defeating all twelve playable characters (with Shang Tsung always being the last opponent), and then battle the two new bosses: Kintaro and Shao Kahn. Unlike the previous game, there are no "endurance matches" or special mini-games.
The new playable characters include Kung Lao (a Shaolin Monk and friend of Liu Kang), Jax (a U.S. Special Forces major who is sent to rescue Sonya), the Tarkatan creature Baraka, and the female ninjas Kitana and Mileena. The two boss characters include Shao Kahn (the evil emperor of Outworld) and his bodyguard, Kintaro. Much like the original Mortal Kombat, the game includes three secret opponents that are palette swaps of either the male or female ninjas: Jade (who can only be fought by winning a round using only the Low Kick button in the match before the "?" symbol), Smoke (who can only be fought by waiting for the "Toasty!" indicator on The Portal stage and pressing down on the joystick and the Start button), and Noob Saibot (who can only be fought by winning 50 rounds in a row).
Liu Kang Fatality 1: Liu Kang morphs into a screen-high dragon before biting down on his opponent, leaving behind only a standing pair of legs. Fatality 2: Liu Kang revisits his non-lethal fatality from the original Mortal Kombat, executing a butterfly-kick into the opponent before uppercutting him or her into the air. |
Kung Lao Actor: Anthony Marquez Fatality 1: Using a downward slash, Kung Lao bisects the victim with the brim of his hat. The victim falls to his or her knees before splitting apart down the center in two opposing directions. Fatality 2: Kung Lao throws his hat from a distance with a slight upward arc, catching the victim just under the neck and decapitating him or her. |
Johnny Cage Actor: Daniel Pesina Fatality 1: Cage rips the torso off of his victim and tosses it away, leaving only a pair of standing legs. Fatality 2: Cage revisits his fatality from the original game, using an uppercut to decapitate his victim. A special button combination can be executed during the fatality to guarantee that two more heads are punched off (out of thin air, natch). |
Reptile Fatality 1: Reptile removes his mask, revealing his true reptilian face. He then opens wide, snaring the opponent's head with his long tongue, rips it clean off, and eats it. Fatality 2: While invisible, Reptile pops his victim's torso up into the air and away from the legs. |
Sub-Zero Fatality 1: Sub-Zero freezes his victim in showers of ice. He then executes a powerful uppercut which causes his victim to explode in a shower of guts, legs and arms. Note: This requires two separate inputs: one for the ice shower, and one for the uppercut. The ice shower can be executed and followed up by any other move, including Sub-Zero's other fatality, if so desired. Fatality 2: Sub-Zero generates an "ice grenade" in his hands, hurls it towards his victim, and waits as the grenade blows his victim's torso into pieces--leaving nothing but a pair of standing legs. |
Shang Tsung Actor: Philip Ahn M.D. Fatality 1: Shang Tsung enters his victim's body via the ear canal. Shortly thereafter, he "bursts out" of his victim, causing the body to explode. Fatality 2: Shang Tsung lifts his victim into the air with one hand, sucking out the victim's soul into the other hand. What remains of the victim is a shriveled, desiccated body. Hidden Fatality: Shang Tsung morphs into Kintaro and, with one powerful punch, knocks his victim's torso clean off of his/her legs. |
Kitana Fatality 1: Kitana whips out her razor-sharp fan and decapitates her victim. Fatality 2: Kitana plants a lovely kiss on her victim which in fact causes the victim's body to expand to the point of explosion. |
Jax Fatality 1: Jax claps both of his hands on the victim's head, causing it to shatter into pieces. Fatality 2: Jax grabs ahold of both of his victim's arms and rips them off with one yank. The victim then stands in shock as showers of blood gush through his/her arm sockets. The victim doesn't immediately die (of blood loss). |
Mileena Fatality 1: Mileena pulls out both of her sai and, in rapid-fire style, repeatedly stabs her victim in the torso, leaving behind a massive spray of blood. Fatality 2: Mileena removes her mask, revealing Tarkatan teeth. She then inhales her victim, then turns around and spits out a plethora of shiny bones. |
Baraka Actor: Richard Divizio Fatality 1: Baraka decapitates his victim with one swipe of his arm blades. Fatality 2: Baraka unleashes both of his arm blades and impales his victim through the chest. As the victim struggles and slowly dies, his/her body slides down the blades before stopping and hanging in the air. |
Scorpion Fatality 1: Reprising his original Fatality, Scorpion removes his mask, revealing only a ghastly skull. He then breaths a ball of fire at his victim, who then bursts into flame--flesh burning away instantly--before exploding into a shower of flaming bones. Fatality 2: Scorpion takes the blade of his spear and slashes open his victim's jugular. As a long river of blood spurts through the neck, Scorpion then follows it up by slicing and separating his victim's torso from the legs. |
Raiden Actor: Carlos Pesina Fatality 1: Raiden unleashes a powerful uppercut which shatters his victim's body into pieces. Fatality 2: Raiden grabs ahold of and shocks his victim until the body explodes. |
Kintaro Fatality: Technically not his fatality; see Shang Tsung's "Hidden Fatality". |
Shao Kahn Actor: Brian Glynn |
Jade Actor: Katalin Zamiar |
Smoke Actor: Daniel Pesina |
Noob Saibot Actor: Daniel Pesina |
Arenas
There are nine playable stages (ten if you count Goro's Lair for the battle against either Jade, Smoke, or Noob Saibot), which is built into a simple, looping rotation. However, Shao Kahn's Arena is always the stage in Kintaro and Shao Kahn matches. The stages that include special Stage Fatalities are The Dead Pool (where the player uppercuts the opponent into acid), The Kombat Tomb (where the player uppercuts the opponent into previously hidden ceiling spikes), and The Pit II (where the player uppercuts the opponent off the side of the bridge and into the rocky ground below).- The Dead Pool
The Living Forest - The Kombat Tomb
- The Wasteland
- The Tower
- The Living Forest
- The Armory
- The Pit II
- The Portal
- Shao Kahn's Arena
Versions and Ports
The original release of Mortal Kombat II on the Midway T-Unit arcade board went through four released revisions (1.1, 1.4, 2.1, and 3.1). While revisions 1.1 and 1.4 were available to the public, they were considered unfinished, missing some Fatalities, some special moves, all endings, all Friendships, all Babalities, all secret opponents, and all Stage Fatalities. Revision 3.1 is the final version, featuring all Fatalities, special moves, endings, Friendships, Babalities, secret opponents, Stage Fatalities, and bugfixes. The arcade release was considered a smash hit, with special guards on the arcade machines to protect the arcade board from being stolen.Almost a year later, the game was ported to various consoles, including newer consoles like the Sega Saturn and the PlayStation. Home versions hit the market on “Mortal Friday” September 10, 1993 for the Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, Nintendo Game Boy, and Sega Game Gear. The Nintendo version of the original Mortal Kombat was criticized for its lack of blood, so blood was included in the SNES version of MKII. It was featured in the launch library for the Sega 32X when it launched in November 1994. Versions for the PC and Amiga were released in late-1994 as well. Rare versions of the game were released for the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn in 1996. The PlayStation version was released only in Japan.
The original arcade release was later included in Midway Arcade Treasures 2 for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox, Midway Arcade Treasures Deluxe Edition for the PC, and Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Play for the PlayStation Portable. The game was also included as an unlockable in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. On April 12, 2007, the game was released on the PlayStation 3 as a downloadable title on the PlayStation Network for $4.99, featuring online play.
General Information
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| Game Name | Mortal Kombat II |
| Platform(s) | |
| Publisher(s) | |
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| Original US Release |
June 25, 1993
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| Original US Release | know the real date? |
| Aliases |
MK2 MKII Mortal Kombat 2 |
| ESRB |
ESRB: M
|
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