Mortal Kombat X, the 10th main installment in the iconic fighting franchise hits consoles April 14. Developer NetherRealm Studios has been hyping the game up on its social media and Twitch accounts for months now, and plenty of long time MK fans appear to be taking note.
Will MK X and its roster of 29 characters be able to take advantage of the power of the latest consoles to create the best Mortal Kombat ever? We'll find out soon enough, but in the meantime, this feels like the right moment to review how the franchise got to this point.
Looking back at the last 23 years of Mortal Kombat, two words come to mind: controversial and influential. Here's a look back at the previous nine games in the main series, and how they rank against each other today. Is your favorite Mortal Kombat at the top of our list? Read on to find out and then sound off in the comments.
9. Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
While there have been plenty of Mortal Kombat spin-offs over the years, there is one that is both a spin-off of sorts and yet is included by most fans as being one of the games in the main series. Mortal Kombat vs. D.C. Universe was released in 2008 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 as a collaboration between Midway Games and Warner Bros.
Players were able to fight as both classic MK characters along with major characters from the DC comics universe, like Superman. On its own merits, the game isn't half bad, and it did pull in some positive reviews. But this is a ranking of the best Mortal Kombat games, and while MK vs. DC makes good use of the Warner Bros. license, it simply waters down the classic MK formula too much in the process. The game had an utter lack of unlockable features, a MK staple, and a lot of the finishing moves and violence in general seemed toned down, no doubt to preserve the image of some of the characters in the DC stable.
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8. Mortal Kombat 4
First released in arcades in 1997 before being ported to PlayStation, Nintendo 64 and eventually the Dreamcast as Mortal Kombat Gold, this was the first title in the series to make the switch to 3D. While the graphics looked cool, the game simply didn't make the transition well. Developers from Midway Games admitted that the development was a struggle, as they didn't have a lot of previous experience making a 3D fighting game.
The story, which told of an attack from the Elder God Shinnok, was also not widely loved. Creator Ed Boon admitted years later that making Shinnok the final boss of the game was a mistake, as traditionally the franchise had always featured big, bad final bosses and Shinnok didn't quite fit the bill. Some of the character endings were also criticized as being laughably bad. Still, MK4 is loved today by some for pushing the graphical limits of the time and featuring a more gruesome, darker overall tone than the previous three games.
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7. Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon was the 7th main MK title when it released on PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2006. The game is chronologically the final game in the original Mortal Kombat timeline. As such, the game featured almost every major character featured in the previous games. The game was knocked down a few pegs by some because it re-used many of the same gameplay features from Deadly Alliance and Deception. This was the third major MK game released during that generation of consoles, and some fans thought the series had grown stale.
Armageddon did feature a couple of unique features like giving players the ability to create their own Fatality and the ability to create a "Kustom" fighter to take into battle. There was also a Mario Kart mini-game rip off called Motor Kombat. Yeah, that happened.
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6. Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance was a bit of a reboot for the franchise as the 5th main installment, and the first since Mortal Kombat 4. Unlike the previous titles, this was the first game in the franchise to release directly to home consoles without going to arcades first.
The game featured an interesting story telling of the "deadly alliance" between sorcerers Quan Chi and Shang Tsung. The game was influential in that it allowed the characters to use different fighting styles, which is a feature that has been reused in later titles in the series. Characters were able to quickly switch back and forth between styles as the match moved on, which helped keep players engaged and on their toes.
Deadly Alliance was also influential for introducing "Konquest" mode, which was an expansion of the typical MK storyline and the first time the game's writers really attempted to delve deeper into the background of many of the franchise's characters. Mortal Kombat X's story mode will reportedly be the most robust the franchise has ever seen, but it was Deadly Alliance that got the ball rolling.
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Next: The Top 5 Mortal Kombat Games
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5. Mortal Kombat: Deception
Deception was the second of the three games released during the PlayStation 2 and Xbox era and was similar in a lot of ways to the formula established by Deadly Alliance. The game did feature some new content, however, with creator Ed Boon inserting several mini games, like "Puzzle Kombat," as surprises. The game won multiple awards for the best fighting game of 2004.
One move that was welcomed by many players was the addition of the "Combo Breaker". Players could now stop an opponent from pulling off an annoyingly long combo a few times per match and the use of this feature, combined with the multiple fighting styles retained from Deadly Alliance, added another layer of strategy to the game.
Deception is also notable for being the first title in the series to take online play seriously.
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4. Mortal Kombat
The one that started it all. The fact that this game came out 23 years ago may make some MK fans feel old, but its influence over the last two decades cannot be overstated. The game was highly controversial upon release due to the blood and gruesome Fatalities that players could unleash. MK soon spawned a variety of imitators, but none came close to matching the original. The game can and should be credited for pushing the video game industry forward in the development of more mature titles aimed at adults.
The game itself is a bit lacking in features when compared to the more modern games, but there's an argument to be made that simpler is better. Those looking for a great old school fighting game to download from the PlayStation Network or Xbox Live would be hard pressed to find a better choice than this one.
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3. (Ultimate) Mortal Kombat 3
So it's our list, and we're allowed to take a liberty or two if we want. The original Mortal Kombat 3 released in 1995 was not a great game. Many fans disliked a lot of the new characters and the removal of more popular, established characters like Scorpion. Some of the characters' moves were also thought to be badly unbalanced.
The game was enough of a skunk among hardcore fans, that Midway felt the need to respond. Enter Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. It was also released in 1995 and fixed many of the problems people had with the original version. The game saw the return of multiple ninja-like characters like Scorpion and Kitana and the devs took a pass at rebalancing some of the character's moves or created brand new ones for fighters who were deemed to be too weak. The Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo home ports introduced "Brutalities", which were a more gruesome version of the game's classic finishing moves. Brutalities are making a comeback in Mortal Kombat X.
The new version of the title was so well received that now when people talk about MK3, it's usually "Ultimate" they're referring to, not the forgotten original. And that's why this version of the game makes the list.
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2. Mortal Kombat 2011
The 2011 reboot of Mortal Kombat was the game that Midway originally wanted to make back in 2006 before signing the deal with DC Comics that led to MK vs. DC. Now called NetherRealm Studios, the game was released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 with an eventual port for the PlayStation Portable.
The game alludes to some of the events in Mortal Kombat Armageddon, but otherwise goes back in time to the events of the original trilogy, which means Shao Kahn is back. The game also abandoned a lot of the 3D elements of the previous four games, returning to its 2D roots for the fighting arenas, although the characters themselves were still rendered in 3D. It was a move that was welcomed by most fans.
Another welcome change was a return to a darker overall feel for the game, with Boon saying the developers were openly shooting for a Mature rating instead of Teen, possibly even skirting right up against the dreaded Adults Only rating along the way. One way the series tried to bring back some of that classic Mortal Kombat shock factor was by introducing something called "X-Ray Moves", where you could actually see the fighter's bones snapping and breaking upon being pummeled.
The story mode and collectible options in the Krypt were also expanded greatly. In short, Mortal Kombat 9 was successful in returning to the roots that made the series great while also maintaining a modern feel.
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1. Mortal Kombat II
Mortal Kombat II released in arcades in 1993 at the height of the controversy over the previous game's graphic violence. It was later ported to multiple home consoles. The game was highly anticipated by fans of the first game, and Midway Games delivered in spades. The developer saw the outcry in the media over the first game and decided to double down on blood and gore. MK II's release once again set off multiple parenting groups and media watchdogs and helped cement the franchise's place in video game history.
The game tops this list because so many of the franchise's features over the years can be traced back to this title. The game greatly expanded upon the storyline and mythos of the characters, and saw the introduction of a number of iconic fighters like Kitana, Kung Lao and the evil emperor Shao Kahn. The move set from the original game was expanded and many abilities that are now standard in the series like a crouching punch and the ability to unleash combos were added. The game also played about twice as fast as the original, and served as the benchmark for future titles to be measured up against. The game expanded on Fatalities, and added unique new ways to end matches including Babalities and Friendship. Finding unique new ways to end matches is something that NetherRealm is still doing today, like with the new "Quitality" finisher in Mortal Kombat X.
The game received probably the best reviews of any game in the franchise at the time of release and received annual awards from multiple publications.
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Do you agree with this ranking of the main Mortal Kombat games? Did your favorite game in the series get snubbed? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Mortal Kombat X will release on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iOS and Android on April 14, 2015. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions will release June 2, 2015.