Mortal Kombat X

It's been a long time fighting game fans. We were given Mortal Kombat IX not too long ago but before that their wasn't much Kombat for a while. The game really has history, it has presence in multiple forms of media, and to think it started out as something entirely different. The mortal Kombat game actual started off as a game that was supposed to be based off of Jean Claude Van Dam in the movie Universal Soldier. The idea here was to make the graphics as close to live action as possible, this is why the original game kind of looks like they put live action artwork into the game itself. Jean Claude Van Dam, later replaced by Johnny Cage, was suppose to be the only character capable of fatalities because watching him die wasn't something we were suppose to want. At a certain point though there was a falling out with the movie studio and Van Dam and then we were given the rag tag group of fighters from the original Mortal Kombat series. Now when the game was first released it was considered the most violent and bloody game ever released. This was mostly due to the Fatalities in the game, this meant a character was murdered in a barbaric and sometime horrific way. This is what brought us the wonderful game rating system we have today set by the ESRB. Anyway the game had many bans and was really picked out as the ruination of the country. It went through all kinds of scrutiny. Parents saying the game was fit for there children. People saying other were acting violently because of the game. Other really hard to prove statements were made as well. As a form of media it got the ok to be continued due to the fact that there are plenty of movies out there that are violent. These could easily be sited for the same complaints. If they were to shut down Mortal Kombat they'd have to stop showing many movies. Basically, the idea came about to just have a rating system to tell parents this is or isn't ok for your kids. Fortunately, this all lead to the game being made into a decent movie then a bad movie but more importantly gave us so many entries to the series.

Originally there was the trilogy. Up through the Super Nintendo era, we were given three different games based off Mortal Kombat, these being MK1 MK2 and MK3. Each game continued the story from the last and they were well tied into to one another. The story is quite powerful, The game takes place on an island in what is called Earthrealm, where a tournament is being held at Shang Tsung's Island. Seven of its locations are stages in the game. The introduction to Mortal Kombat II explains that Shang Tsung was banished to Earthrealm 500 years ago. Once acquiring help from Goro, he is able to seize control of the Mortal Kombat tournament in an attempt to doom the realm. For 500 years straight, Goro has never been defeated in the tournament, It's up to the characters to defeat him. These two tie in quite nicely. Continuing in MK2, Following his failure to defeat the main character Lui Kang in the Mortal Kombat tournament, the evil Shang Tsung begs his master Shao Kahn, supreme ruler of Outworld and the surrounding kingdoms, to spare his life. He tells Shao Kahn that if they hold it in Outworld the invitation for the next Mortal Kombat cannot be turned down, and the Earthrealm warriors must attend. Kahn agrees to this plan and also restores Shang Tsung's youth. The Earthrealm protrector Raiden helps Lui Kang face Shang Tsung again and then he goes on to defeat Shao Kahn and his bodyguard Kintaro, Goro's brother. During MK3 there is a revenge plan by Shao Kahn to bring back his queen who died, this causes a rift in Earthrelm and Shao Kahns realm thus leading into a fight to save the world. Finally it all comes down to can the fighter on earth stop the extermination squad that Shao Kahn has released to destroy the planet.

Finally the 3d entries made their way onto different platforms ranging from the N64 to most of them being released on the PlayStation 2. At this point the stories get changed quite a bit. There is the creation of new super enemies and the resurrection of some evil demi gods. Al leading to Mortal Kombat tournament where the defenders of earthrealm must defeat those who want to destroy the world. Each character good or evil has there own backstory that is very detailed and quite intense. Some favorite characters are Sub Zero and Scorpion. These two have been fighting since the first game, they both are from different tribes and have vowed vengeance against one another. There are many different scenarios where these two do battle. There was even a spinoff game on playstation 1 starring subzero where he must fight Scorpion in a repeated number of stages. The game plays more like a side scroller beat em up mixed with a fighting game. Both styles are available during different fights depending on whether they are just regular enemies or boss fights. Again, this is just one charcter that people really enjoyed playing with when the game was first developed. Due to the fame that character had gained, it lead to his own spinoff. The 3D entries had a difficult time getting popular at first. The look of the game didn't really match what many people had been accustom to. It gave an option for weapons and picking things up off the floor. It caused some issues in the gaming community. Basically, once the PS2 released it's Mortal Kombat entries it had perfected the 3D creation. Now areas could be instant kills, or heavily damage an enemy. The game pulled out all the stops. There were some action game spinoffs like Shaolin Monks that was liked some gamers. It brought an old school 3D beat em up feel. Finally there were some crossovers with the DC universe that didn't fair so well because the idea of Superman or Batman being ripped in half didn't sit well with creators. With no fatalities in the game people felt ripped off. Once Mortal Kombat IX was released for the PS3 though fans were back in the game. MK IX brought back what people loved about Mortal Kombat. It brought extreme kills, new ways to see the effects of attacks on the bone structure of characters. It really took the blood and gore to a new level which is important for a game like Mortal Kombat and where it is today.

Now with Mortal Kombat X on it's way here fans have a reason to be excited. This game has not been without flaw, however, it is one of the longest running games in the industry. The only other fighting game to sell this well and hold it's appeal for this long has been Street Fighter. Both these games entered the videogame world as arcade powerhouses and to this day they are arcade classics. As technology changed though these games were brought home and are still enjoyed to this day. How good will Mortal Kombat X be? Well it all depends on if they use the right stuff. If they use what's made the game a hit and what has been proven to work it'll be successful. MK IX was an update of what works. With some revision on that game and some added greatness MK X is sure to be a major hit.