NetherRealm Studios is well aware of the high expectation fans of the Mortal Kombat series have for their upcoming title. Sure, the developer wants to bring new ideas and concepts to their beloved franchise, but the fans are going to want a lot of the familiar qualities from past games to return.

In a newly released vignette trailer — centered around the back story and the moves of Raiden — fans of the Mortal Kombat series will be extremely pleased to see that the god of thunder is sporting some of his signature moves and his back story is the same tried and true story from MK’s past.

While there was certainly no doubt, especially after the complete roster leaked, that arguably one of the most iconic MK fighters would not be appearing in this reboot, it’s great to breathe a sigh of relief while watching this trailer. The new vignette trailer confirms everything gamers hoped would be included as Raiden's storyline is classic Mortal Kombat.

Raiden, in an effort to keep Shao Kahn from merging the two realms, implored the elder gods to allow a tournament to play out whereby mortals could prove their worth. Anyone who is familiar with the games or even the live-action movies for that matter should feel right at home with this vignette, and be very excited about playing the game next month.

Along with the brief back-story of Raiden comes a look at some of the signature moves he has at his disposal. Of course the majority of Raiden’s moves will utilize some sort of lightning component, but the one that gamers will be most familiar with and the most excited to see return is his torpedo attack

Prepare to be blasted with some Mortal Kombat nostalgia:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSlm91zyJh0

With very few pieces of the Mortal Kombat puzzle left to reveal, NetherRealm needn’t do anything more than release teases like this trailer to keep anticipation for the title high, encouraging fans to get their fill by logging as many hours as they can on the game’s demo. Raiden’s leading the charge, and Mortal Kombat will be here sooner than you think.

What do you think of this in-depth look at Raiden? Are you glad they went with the classic Raiden back-story or do you wish they had evolved his character a bit? Any moves you think are missing?

Mortal Kombat releases April 19, 2011 for the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Source: Gamespot