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The Mortal Kombat series and its many games continues to deliver gruesome fighting action to its fans.

Overview

Mortal Kombat was originally planned as a game based on Jean-Claude Van Damme, but after the deal fell through, creators Ed Boon and John Tobias decided to make a game based loosely on Enter the Dragon. This idea morphed into a fighting game that starred digitally captured martial artists in its first three installments. The series also delivered an unprecedented level of violence, and introduced finishing moves called fatalities that let the winner of a match kill his opponent in a graphic and often comical fashion.

Fighting Games

Mortal Kombat

Main article: Mortal Kombat
  
Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat
The story begins during the Mortal Kombat tournament 500 years before present day, in which the best fighters of two worlds, Outworld and the Earth Realm, fight to become champion. The wizard Shang Tsung plans to tip the balance of power to Outworld by introducing a new fighter, the four-armed Shokan warrior Goro, who becomes the champion until the start of the  game. Outworld is on the brink of a victory that will spell doom for Earth, so new fighters such as Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, and Sonya enter the tournament to tip the scales. The game's combat was unique at the time for its introduction of a block button, as well as the introduction of the fatality moves. While previous games usually revolved around the Street Fighter method of circular joystick motions, Mortal Kombat used directional commands, like tap back, tap back, then hit forward
 

Mortal Kombat II

Main article: Mortal Kombat II
Mortal Kombat II
Mortal Kombat II
 
The next game in the series was Mortal Kombat II, which follows Shang Tsung's defeat by Liu Kang in the first game. Tsung begs his master Shao Kahn, the ruler of Outworld, to spare his life and tells him that if a Mortal Kombat tournament is held in Outworld, the Earth fighters will be forced to participate, and Tsung will be able to beat them in his own realm. Kahn agrees and restores Tsung's youth, and the new tournament begins. The gameplay for MK2 was tweaked, adding new moves and strengthening others. Each character received multiple fatalities, and other kinds of finishers like friendships and babalities were added.
 

Mortal Kombat 3

Main articles: Mortal Kombat 3 and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
 
Mortal Kombat 3
Mortal Kombat 3
Mortal Kombat 3 began with Shao Kahn's new plan to claim the Earth Realm by resurrecting his long-dead queen, Sindel. She would be resurrected on Earth, allowing Shao Kahn to reach between the worlds and claim her. This act causes the death of millions--except for those protected by the thunder god Raiden--and parts of Earth are converted into Outworld. Raidenthen picks new fighters to enter Outworld and stop Shao Kahn. MK3 included a run button to address concerns that defending players had too much of an advantage. The game also added preset attack combos unique to each character. New finishers such as fatalities, babalities, friendships, and animalities were also added. Level interactivity was also introduced, meaning that certain attacks would transition you to a new level. For instance, an uppercut would make the player break through the roof and the fight would continue on the street above.
 
 

Mortal Kombat 4

Main article: Mortal Kombat 4
Mortal Kombat 4
Mortal Kombat 4

Mortal Kombat 4
is the first MK game to feature 3D fighters and backgrounds, and introduced the use of weapons, limited 3D combat, such as side-stepping, and a combo breaker ability. The plot of MK4 features Shinnok, a corrupt elder god that has been outcast to another realm. The sorcerer Quan Chi allied himself with Shinnok to free him from imprisonment and kill the other elder gods.
 

Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance

Main article: Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
 
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
In Deadly Alliance, Quan Chi finds the mummified army of the dragon king, but he needs souls to resurrect them, so he forms an alliance with Shang Tsung to gain these souls. Before they can resurrect the army they decide to kill their two greatest threats, Liu Kang and Shao Kahn. Now Earth's warriors have to stop them before they can resurrect the army. This game featured various martial arts style that the player could switch to during the fight, and a store called the Krypt, where the player can purchase extras.
 

Mortal Kombat: Deception

Main article: Mortal Kombat: Deception
 
Mortal Kombat: Deception
Mortal Kombat: Deception

The story of Mortal Kombat: Deception picks up after Deadly Alliance, in which the Earth Realm warriors were defeated by Quan Chi and Shang Tsung. Once the sorcerors' enemies are defeated, they turn on each other, and Quan Chi proves victorious. As he enters the tomb ready to resurrect the armies of the dragon king, the dragon king himself, Onaga, returns and defeats Raiden, Quan Chi, and Shang Tsung. Now Onaga must find six artifacts to join all the realms, and destroy everything within. Deception added the minigames Chess Kombat and Puzzle Kombat to the core fighting game. The fighting was also improved with multiple levels, level-specific weapons, instant death traps, and breakable boundaries. The combo breaker system returned, but only it only worked three times per match. This is the first MK game that features online fighting support.

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon

Main article: Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
 
In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, the premise is that the fighters in both realms have grown too powerful and are threatening to destroy the worlds with their very presence. A mysterious pyramid with a flame above it rises up from the ground and the fighters are drawn to it. There they find Blaze, a creation of the elder gods sent to kill as many fighters as possible to save Outworld and the Earth Realm. The game was mostly well received, with its comprehensive roster of 62 characters being a major draw, though some critics believed too many were similar to each other.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

Main article: Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
Mortal Kombat vs. DC
Mortal Kombat vs. DC
 
Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe is a a crossover game between the Mortal Kombat characters and DC Comics. This will be the only game in the MK series that hasn't been M-rated, though it will feature fatalities. The current confirmed roster is Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Sonya, Jax, Kitana, Liu Kang, Kano, Batman, Superman, Catwoman, The Joker, Shazam, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash and Deathstroke.

Other Games

The Mortal Kombat franchise has occasionally branched out into other action-oriented genres with games like Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, Mortal Kombat Special Forces, and Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks.

Mortal Kombat games
Edit
Add a Game to Mortal Kombat
Name Platforms Developer
Mortal Kombat 9 (working title)
Midway Games
Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
released on Nov. 16, 2008
X360, PS3 WB Games Chicago
Mortal Kombat: Kollection
released on Sept. 29, 2008
PS2 Midway Games
Ultimate Mortal Kombat
released on Nov. 12, 2007
DS Other Ocean Interactive, Midway Games
Mortal Kombat: Unchained
released on Nov. 13, 2006
PSN, PSP Midway Games
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
released on Oct. 11, 2006
XBOX, WII, PS2 Midway Games
Mortal Kombat: Deception
released on Oct. 4, 2005
PS2, XBOX, GC Midway Games
Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks
released on Sept. 16, 2005
XBOX, PS2 Midway Studios Los Angeles
Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition
released on Aug. 25, 2003
GBA Midway Games
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
released on Nov. 20, 2002
PS2, XBOX, GC, GBA Midway Games


Name: Mortal Kombat
Total games: 21 games
First game: Mortal Kombat
Aliases:
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