“FLAWLESS VICTORY!”
November 21, 2017 8:48 AM Subscribe
25 years ago, Mortal Kombat redefined American video games [Polygon] “What Mortal Kombat lacked in substance, though, it made up for with style. Its characters, digitized from motion capture footage of martial arts actors, looked “realistic” by the standards of the era. Their movements had a choppy quality, and the fighters never looked like they really inhabited their photorealistic settings, but Mortal Kombat’s gory, lifelike gloom gave it a heavy metal album cover feel that set it apart from Street Fighter’s cartoonish fare. Mortal Kombat’s brawlers bled, froze and died in a number of explicit ways ranging from brutal impalement in a pit of spikes to messy dismemberment. Midway’s brawler invested its viscera with a panache that became the game’s main draw.” [YouTube][Mortal Kombat - 25 Year Anniversary Trailer]
• Meet the guy who yelled “finish him” on Mortal Kombat, be disillusioned forever [AV Club] [YouTube]
• Meet the guy who yelled “finish him” on Mortal Kombat, be disillusioned forever [AV Club] [YouTube]
“Steve Ritchie is something of a legend in the video game world. For most, he’s the prolific pinball designer responsible for creating more machines than anyone else in pinball history. But, for those in the know, he’s also the godlike voice behind the announcer in the classic game, “Mortal Kombat.” After voicing a number of unsavory characters for his own pinball machines, Ritchie began to perfect the deep, booming register that would later make “Mortal Kombat” so iconic. And while Ritchie spent the majority of his career designing and developing video games, we’ll never forget his seminal contribution to our ‘90s nostalgia.”• Top 10 Mortal Kombat Kharacters [Destructoid]
“The game is quintessentially 90s. It oozes the Bart Simpson/Sonic the Hedgehog don’t-give-a-shit irreverence of a decade. It was cool in an era where the most important thing was to be cool and there is no way it would be as cherished as well as it is today without those seven original characters. Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Sonia Blade, Raiden, Johnny Cage, Kano and Lui Kang were absolute badasses to a seven-year-old kid. Sequels continued to push the limits of decency at the time by adding new characters with puberty inducing sex appeal to its wanton violence while also finding the humor of it all with babalities and friendship finishers. 25 years and 10 games later – if you don’t count the spin-offs – has led to a roster that has more than 60 characters.”
I was 9 years old when Mortal Kombat came out, and I was very much not allowed to have that game in the house, due to what was seen by my parents as the over-the-top violence and graphic gore.
I played it over at a friend's house instead, and to my everlasting shame, when my parents found out I lied to them and said that we turned on the "No Blood" option (which was a real thing) when we totally did not. I think I even made myself look better by saying my friend didn't want to but I insisted. I got so many brownie points for being a goody two shoes and I really wasn't, I was just a shitty 9 year old liar that loved videogames and feared retribution.
Anyways. One of those things you never forget.
Also holy shit Mortal Kombat came out 25 years ago.
posted by lazaruslong at 8:54 AM on November 21, 2017 [17 favorites]
I played it over at a friend's house instead, and to my everlasting shame, when my parents found out I lied to them and said that we turned on the "No Blood" option (which was a real thing) when we totally did not. I think I even made myself look better by saying my friend didn't want to but I insisted. I got so many brownie points for being a goody two shoes and I really wasn't, I was just a shitty 9 year old liar that loved videogames and feared retribution.
Anyways. One of those things you never forget.
Also holy shit Mortal Kombat came out 25 years ago.
posted by lazaruslong at 8:54 AM on November 21, 2017 [17 favorites]
Okay, but my takeaway is I want to watch Steve Ritchie talk about pinball.
posted by RobotHero at 8:55 AM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by RobotHero at 8:55 AM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
Meet the guy who yelled “finish him” on Mortal Kombat, be disillusioned forever
So for people who might not otherwise click the link: this is not an indicator that he is a Gamergater or worse, he's just a nice guy who doesn't fit the voice.
posted by tavella at 8:58 AM on November 21, 2017 [20 favorites]
So for people who might not otherwise click the link: this is not an indicator that he is a Gamergater or worse, he's just a nice guy who doesn't fit the voice.
posted by tavella at 8:58 AM on November 21, 2017 [20 favorites]
"No Blood"
Yeah, I never really understood this particular setting. I mean, who is buying this game and thinking to themselves:
posted by Fizz at 9:00 AM on November 21, 2017 [9 favorites]
Yeah, I never really understood this particular setting. I mean, who is buying this game and thinking to themselves:
“I don't mind the fighting and all the ripping someone's skeletal system out of their body stuff, but the blood...that's going too far! Turn that off!”That was a weird time for video games and all the censorship and "video-games cause violence" fear mongering.
posted by Fizz at 9:00 AM on November 21, 2017 [9 favorites]
Mortal Kombat’s gory, lifelike gloom gave it a heavy metal album cover feel
Somehow, I never associated MK with heavy metal until now, and it should have been obvious. In high school, the younger brother of one of my friends had a MK finishing moves poster on his wall, along with Metallica posters and the like.
I appreciate that the finishing moves included some silly ones, like the babalities. I also appreciate that babalities continued into the later editions (though this compilation of babalities (YT) calls them the "ultimate humiliation trophy" -- I guess even some of the friendship endings (YT) were pretty gory)
posted by filthy light thief at 9:00 AM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
Somehow, I never associated MK with heavy metal until now, and it should have been obvious. In high school, the younger brother of one of my friends had a MK finishing moves poster on his wall, along with Metallica posters and the like.
I appreciate that the finishing moves included some silly ones, like the babalities. I also appreciate that babalities continued into the later editions (though this compilation of babalities (YT) calls them the "ultimate humiliation trophy" -- I guess even some of the friendship endings (YT) were pretty gory)
posted by filthy light thief at 9:00 AM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
Love how the guy at the end of the video says "Toasty!" instead of thanks.
posted by RolandOfEld at 9:01 AM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by RolandOfEld at 9:01 AM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
First saw it on an arcade machine in a bowling alley. Fooled around with it for a few minutes, then got challenged by a kid a few years younger than me who proceeded to rip my spine out... fun times.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 9:01 AM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 9:01 AM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
...then got challenged by a kid a few years younger than me who proceeded to rip my spine out... fun times.
This has been my experience whenever I load up Mortal Kombat X for an online match. I am just not good at this game, and yet I really love to play it. It's lots of fun and the campaign is surprisingly entertaining. The story has never been the greatest, but it leans into its own cliched 90s version of itself and I appreciate that.
posted by Fizz at 9:12 AM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
This has been my experience whenever I load up Mortal Kombat X for an online match. I am just not good at this game, and yet I really love to play it. It's lots of fun and the campaign is surprisingly entertaining. The story has never been the greatest, but it leans into its own cliched 90s version of itself and I appreciate that.
posted by Fizz at 9:12 AM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
It really is quintessentially '90s. I remember digging up move lists for MK2 on the AOL-era internet, printing them out and stapling them together to take to the arcade -- propping my little ASCII-art-headed printout on the screen trying to land fatalities on my friend. Trying to figure out whether I had enough quarters to play all day and maybe get an Orange Julius too. That's if we went to the mall; if we went to the local go-cart-and-mini-golf place, trying to figure out whether I had enough to win some tickets at skeeball too, maybe take home some Now And Laters or one of those parachute army dudes.
Those memories almost feel like physical things, like artifacts I can lift out of my mind and rotate in three-dimensional space, crystalline, holographic. I can walk through those old arcades in my mind like I can walk through the house my grandparents lived in.
posted by penduluum at 9:16 AM on November 21, 2017 [23 favorites]
Those memories almost feel like physical things, like artifacts I can lift out of my mind and rotate in three-dimensional space, crystalline, holographic. I can walk through those old arcades in my mind like I can walk through the house my grandparents lived in.
posted by penduluum at 9:16 AM on November 21, 2017 [23 favorites]
Top 10 Mortal Kombat Kharacters
my favorite thing as a kid was drawing pictures of grossly disproportionately strong Mortal Kombat characters with larger and larger ovular blobs for arms. Jax, with his X-Men's Colossus steel banded arms, was a perennial favorite. his American flag tights was also great insofar as it was in my meager capacity to render somewhat realistically
anyway, this list is bad, they should feel bad for having this list, and they should fully expect retribution to come in the form of me leaping 20 feet lengthwise and driving a knuckle into their face(s)
posted by runt at 9:16 AM on November 21, 2017
my favorite thing as a kid was drawing pictures of grossly disproportionately strong Mortal Kombat characters with larger and larger ovular blobs for arms. Jax, with his X-Men's Colossus steel banded arms, was a perennial favorite. his American flag tights was also great insofar as it was in my meager capacity to render somewhat realistically
anyway, this list is bad, they should feel bad for having this list, and they should fully expect retribution to come in the form of me leaping 20 feet lengthwise and driving a knuckle into their face(s)
posted by runt at 9:16 AM on November 21, 2017
TFA doesn't dig into which (MK or Street Fighter) had the better movie franchise :( (MK had the better movie sound-track, that's for sure).
I was a good twitch gamer for FPS games, but never got the dexterity for combo games like this. Was MK more balanced than Street Fighter ? (Thought Ryu was by far the better player in SF)
posted by k5.user at 9:17 AM on November 21, 2017
I was a good twitch gamer for FPS games, but never got the dexterity for combo games like this. Was MK more balanced than Street Fighter ? (Thought Ryu was by far the better player in SF)
posted by k5.user at 9:17 AM on November 21, 2017
runt, I'm a fan of arguing against Top 10s here on MetaFilter mostly because the Internet is wrong. And while there are some on their list that I disagree with, I'll acknowledge that Destructoid did get it right with their #1. Sub-Zero is the best character in Mortal Kombat. Fight me on that?! :D
posted by Fizz at 9:19 AM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Fizz at 9:19 AM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
I will also say that Mortal Kombat in tandem with shows like Street Sharks, WWE/WWF, and all of the Schwarzeneggar movies that came out at the time is very much responsible for the hyper-muscled performative masculinity that me and all the cis dudebros in my generational ilk are obsessed with
you can trace the rise of Crossfit and protein powder right to the magnificent shiny baubles that make up Big Slamu's magnificent shiny guns
posted by runt at 9:22 AM on November 21, 2017 [3 favorites]
you can trace the rise of Crossfit and protein powder right to the magnificent shiny baubles that make up Big Slamu's magnificent shiny guns
posted by runt at 9:22 AM on November 21, 2017 [3 favorites]
lol Fizz, I like the big dumb beast that is Goro and how dumb he is and he is so dumb and I love that he has not just two punching arms but four
posted by runt at 9:24 AM on November 21, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by runt at 9:24 AM on November 21, 2017 [8 favorites]
I was never great at fighting games, but it's hard to overstate how dominant they were in the arcades of the day. It felt like every third machine was a fighter --beyond Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter you had Killer Instinct, Primal Rage, Fatal Fury, Time Killers, Samurai Showdown, etc. etc., ad infinitum.
What I think is interesting about Mortal Kombat is that, and maybe as a non-expert I'm wrong here, it didn't feel as mechanically-sound as Street Fighter II; it didn't feel as good or as satisfying to play. But what it lacked in mechanics it made up for in zeitgeist-encompassing edge, and the rest is history.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:26 AM on November 21, 2017 [6 favorites]
What I think is interesting about Mortal Kombat is that, and maybe as a non-expert I'm wrong here, it didn't feel as mechanically-sound as Street Fighter II; it didn't feel as good or as satisfying to play. But what it lacked in mechanics it made up for in zeitgeist-encompassing edge, and the rest is history.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:26 AM on November 21, 2017 [6 favorites]
It really is quintessentially '90s. I remember digging up move lists for MK2 on the AOL-era internet, printing them out and stapling them together to take to the arcade -- propping my little ASCII-art-headed printout on the screen trying to land fatalities on my friend.
There's something heartening about knowing that I wasn't alone in doing this and that there were other gaming nerds out there doing this kind of research and putting this much effort into finding out these bizarre little "secrets".
This comment made me smile.
posted by Fizz at 9:30 AM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
There's something heartening about knowing that I wasn't alone in doing this and that there were other gaming nerds out there doing this kind of research and putting this much effort into finding out these bizarre little "secrets".
This comment made me smile.
posted by Fizz at 9:30 AM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
MK had the better movie sound-track, that's for sure).
We recently moved out of an apartment building and when I went back to get our last few things they were playing the main theme for the MK movie in the lobby which is an amazing and insane choice.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 9:31 AM on November 21, 2017 [5 favorites]
We recently moved out of an apartment building and when I went back to get our last few things they were playing the main theme for the MK movie in the lobby which is an amazing and insane choice.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 9:31 AM on November 21, 2017 [5 favorites]
Also it inspired Bonestorm in The Simpsons.
posted by kersplunk at 9:39 AM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by kersplunk at 9:39 AM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
I wonder if 2 Unlimited get royalties from the MK song. Because ... let's be honest here.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:40 AM on November 21, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by uncleozzy at 9:40 AM on November 21, 2017 [5 favorites]
I was never that much into MK. I have MK3 for the Mega Drive, and the ones on Midway's Arcade collections for PS2/XBox, but there was something that never clicked the game for me. Maybe it's because the fights are a lot more manic than what I was used to with SNK games and I can lose a fight in 10 seconds or something even in the easiest setting.
It is, however, a icon of 90s gaming. I still recall when MKII, MKIII/UMKIII/MKTrilogy were released, magazines would pretty much throw several pages with the moves, fatalities, Kombat Kodes, etc.
posted by lmfsilva at 9:48 AM on November 21, 2017
It is, however, a icon of 90s gaming. I still recall when MKII, MKIII/UMKIII/MKTrilogy were released, magazines would pretty much throw several pages with the moves, fatalities, Kombat Kodes, etc.
posted by lmfsilva at 9:48 AM on November 21, 2017
25 years. Wow. I sent away for the music CD they advertised on the arcade games. I kinda wish I still had it.
posted by hot_monster at 9:58 AM on November 21, 2017
posted by hot_monster at 9:58 AM on November 21, 2017
What I think is interesting about Mortal Kombat is that, and maybe as a non-expert I'm wrong here, it didn't feel as mechanically-sound as Street Fighter II; it didn't feel as good or as satisfying to play. But what it lacked in mechanics it made up for in zeitgeist-encompassing edge, and the rest is history.
Yeah, the later ones have gotten better as actual fighting games, but the early ones were kinda blah. Which actually worked well for me - I've never had the patience or the reflexes to master fighting game combos, so MK leveled the playing field a bit. My friends who were actually good at fighters disliked it for that exact same reason.
posted by protocoach at 10:04 AM on November 21, 2017
Yeah, the later ones have gotten better as actual fighting games, but the early ones were kinda blah. Which actually worked well for me - I've never had the patience or the reflexes to master fighting game combos, so MK leveled the playing field a bit. My friends who were actually good at fighters disliked it for that exact same reason.
posted by protocoach at 10:04 AM on November 21, 2017
Those memories almost feel like physical things, like artifacts I can lift out of my mind and rotate in three-dimensional space, crystalline, holographic. I can walk through those old arcades in my mind like I can walk through the house my grandparents lived in.
Whenever I think about classic arcade games, I always have a mental picture of exactly where in the arcades of my youth they were located. Mortal Kombat will forever live in the center of the Picadilly Circus arcade at Northtown, around the corner from Pit Fighter, which is right next to Ninja Gaiden...
posted by neckro23 at 10:04 AM on November 21, 2017 [3 favorites]
Whenever I think about classic arcade games, I always have a mental picture of exactly where in the arcades of my youth they were located. Mortal Kombat will forever live in the center of the Picadilly Circus arcade at Northtown, around the corner from Pit Fighter, which is right next to Ninja Gaiden...
posted by neckro23 at 10:04 AM on November 21, 2017 [3 favorites]
Flashback to the raucous crowd that always surrounded the single arcade machine (featuring MK) in the convenience store near my high school. Always had to remember to also save a bit of change, so that you had enough to buy some 25-cent single cigarettes on the way out.
posted by Kabanos at 10:05 AM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Kabanos at 10:05 AM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
Also, Scorpion should be at the top of the list. The spear-throw/GET OVER HERE combo remains the best Mortal Kombat move.
posted by protocoach at 10:09 AM on November 21, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by protocoach at 10:09 AM on November 21, 2017 [4 favorites]
Those memories almost feel like physical things, like artifacts I can lift out of my mind and rotate in three-dimensional space, crystalline, holographic. I can walk through those old arcades in my mind like I can walk through the house my grandparents lived in.
The Chuck E Cheese near our local mall had Mortal Kombat, which I always found kind of hilarious because Chuck E Cheese always tried to present itself as this very G-Rated family/friendly environment and then you have an arcade where you play a game that lets you rip out someone's guts and bones. Such a disconnect, but I guess money is money.
And you're right. I can picture the exact physical layout of the entire building and where each and every game is located. The Mortal Kombat machine was just to the right of the door and it was just off of the Jurassic Park video game that had a seat that rumbled and shook as you shot raptors. Memories.
posted by Fizz at 10:11 AM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
The Chuck E Cheese near our local mall had Mortal Kombat, which I always found kind of hilarious because Chuck E Cheese always tried to present itself as this very G-Rated family/friendly environment and then you have an arcade where you play a game that lets you rip out someone's guts and bones. Such a disconnect, but I guess money is money.
And you're right. I can picture the exact physical layout of the entire building and where each and every game is located. The Mortal Kombat machine was just to the right of the door and it was just off of the Jurassic Park video game that had a seat that rumbled and shook as you shot raptors. Memories.
posted by Fizz at 10:11 AM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
I loved playing as Boo Boo Jeffries.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 10:25 AM on November 21, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by Big Al 8000 at 10:25 AM on November 21, 2017 [6 favorites]
I forget which version it was, but whichever one came out about 2.5yrs ago, I was down in Savannah and my SO indulged me and we went to the Chromatic Dragon, a video game bar that had a ton of consoles around to play, and we started playing the latest MK and just could not make it very far. The slow-mo x-ray zoom-ins on bones fracturing was just too much! And I remember how awesome it was ripping out the spinal cords of my enemies back in the pharmacy that had a cabinet 25 years ago.
I have become soft in my old age, apparently.
posted by Grither at 10:45 AM on November 21, 2017
I have become soft in my old age, apparently.
posted by Grither at 10:45 AM on November 21, 2017
Grither, that would likely be Mortal Kombat XL. I love the visuals and graphics of this latest version but I could see how that slow-mo x-ray zoom would turn people off. It's obviously not something everyone is going to enjoy or appreciate.
posted by Fizz at 10:49 AM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Fizz at 10:49 AM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
In my early 20's I bought a Sega instead of a Nintendo because of Mortal Kombat.
No regrets.
posted by lumpenprole at 11:00 AM on November 21, 2017 [3 favorites]
No regrets.
posted by lumpenprole at 11:00 AM on November 21, 2017 [3 favorites]
In my early 20's I bought a Sega instead of a Nintendo because of Mortal Kombat.
No regrets.
Same. I also somehow ended up with a rip off version of MK called Eternal Champions. It was basically a re-skinned version of the same fighting game with different characters and some other convoluted backstory. I loved the hell out of it, mostly because you could play as a fighting Wizard with a glowing staff.
posted by Fizz at 11:04 AM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
No regrets.
Same. I also somehow ended up with a rip off version of MK called Eternal Champions. It was basically a re-skinned version of the same fighting game with different characters and some other convoluted backstory. I loved the hell out of it, mostly because you could play as a fighting Wizard with a glowing staff.
posted by Fizz at 11:04 AM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
It was well over a decade before I understood that the blood code for Mortal Kombat for Sega Genesis (ABACABB) was a reference to a Genesis song.
Much of the game was made in
posted by dr_dank at 11:07 AM on November 21, 2017 [3 favorites]
Much of the game was made in
posted by dr_dank at 11:07 AM on November 21, 2017 [3 favorites]
It was well over a decade before I understood that the blood code for Mortal Kombat for Sega Genesis (ABACABB) was a reference to a Genesis song.
Holy shit. You just blew my mind. Oh wow, I'm chuckling. This is such a nerdy troll. I love it.
posted by Fizz at 11:14 AM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
Holy shit. You just blew my mind. Oh wow, I'm chuckling. This is such a nerdy troll. I love it.
posted by Fizz at 11:14 AM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
Oh wow, I never realized that either. Hah!
posted by lazaruslong at 11:33 AM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by lazaruslong at 11:33 AM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
Also just learned that Fizz is short for Fizban and that makes me stupid happy - I also loved those books / games so damn much. This is a good day of learning.
single white chicken feather falls slowly to the ground
posted by lazaruslong at 11:36 AM on November 21, 2017 [3 favorites]
single white chicken feather falls slowly to the ground
posted by lazaruslong at 11:36 AM on November 21, 2017 [3 favorites]
I had a SNES and I remember asking some kid at school the code to turn the blood on in the game. Just thinking about it brings me back to 5th grade and the kid with the red hair and my seat and everything.
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 11:38 AM on November 21, 2017
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 11:38 AM on November 21, 2017
Playing tons of Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter in high school with a girl from my chemistry class led to my first real opposite sex friendship. so there's that.
posted by Dr. Twist at 11:48 AM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Dr. Twist at 11:48 AM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
I feel like Mortal Kombat was the last of the great social arcade games before the console's first great social game Goldeneye 007. (Dance Dance Revolution was the last great social arcade game period.) MK and its hidden tactics and easter eggs fostered a gaming culture that made later releases like Killer Instinct, Super Street Fighter, and King of Fighters look like Johnnies-come-lately.
posted by infinitewindow at 12:05 PM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by infinitewindow at 12:05 PM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
Fuck...I'm so old.
I have this idea for a sequel video game where all the characters have gained 20-30lbs, lost hair and developed osteoarthritis and have really mellowed out and just sit around and drink beer and talk about mortgages, taxes, politics and complain about new video game characters.
posted by srboisvert at 12:31 PM on November 21, 2017 [5 favorites]
I have this idea for a sequel video game where all the characters have gained 20-30lbs, lost hair and developed osteoarthritis and have really mellowed out and just sit around and drink beer and talk about mortgages, taxes, politics and complain about new video game characters.
posted by srboisvert at 12:31 PM on November 21, 2017 [5 favorites]
It would be called "Metafilter".
posted by srboisvert at 12:32 PM on November 21, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 12:32 PM on November 21, 2017 [11 favorites]
Also, Scorpion should be at the top of the list. The spear-throw/GET OVER HERE combo remains the best Mortal Kombat move.
Scorpion was the ultimate troll-god character in Mortal Combat; you could just combo the harpoon/uppercut harpoon/uppercut thing over and over again and watch your friend's blood pressure spike in real time. Sub-Zero's freeze thing was annoying, but not nearly as effective at blowing up friendships.
posted by Existential Dread at 12:35 PM on November 21, 2017 [8 favorites]
Scorpion was the ultimate troll-god character in Mortal Combat; you could just combo the harpoon/uppercut harpoon/uppercut thing over and over again and watch your friend's blood pressure spike in real time. Sub-Zero's freeze thing was annoying, but not nearly as effective at blowing up friendships.
posted by Existential Dread at 12:35 PM on November 21, 2017 [8 favorites]
Scorpion was the ultimate troll-god character in Mortal Combat; you could just combo the harpoon/uppercut harpoon/uppercut thing over and over again
Existential Dread, you nailed the very reason why I dislike Scorpion so much and why I favour Sub Zero instead. If you were good at Sub Zero, you could very easily get out of that nightmare loop that you described. And break it up so that you could counter and defeat Scorpion. Mind you, this required some skill. If you were not good at that, good luck, you're in for a world of repetitive pain.
posted by Fizz at 12:51 PM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
Existential Dread, you nailed the very reason why I dislike Scorpion so much and why I favour Sub Zero instead. If you were good at Sub Zero, you could very easily get out of that nightmare loop that you described. And break it up so that you could counter and defeat Scorpion. Mind you, this required some skill. If you were not good at that, good luck, you're in for a world of repetitive pain.
posted by Fizz at 12:51 PM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
Man, the memories. Spines being ripped out, heads ripped off. The Johnny Cage crotch punch that didn’t work against female characters (I think).
I can still hear Scorpions “Get over here!” in my head.
posted by nubs at 12:53 PM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
I can still hear Scorpions “Get over here!” in my head.
posted by nubs at 12:53 PM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
The Johnny Cage crotch punch that didn’t work against female characters (I think).
“That's my purse!”
posted by Fizz at 12:59 PM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
“That's my purse!”
posted by Fizz at 12:59 PM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
"Get Over Here" is iconic, no question, but for me the essence of the original Mortal Kombat is Sub Zero's spine rip fatality. That's the thing every angry parent knew about the game.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 1:11 PM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 1:11 PM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
Mortal Kombat had an intoxicating blend of world-building, story, and transgressive violence that was captivating to 12 year old me, but I found the actual gameplay unpleasant. I could get the moves in Street Fighter II down easily, but the stiff Mortal Kombat moves and joystick made playing as anyone but Scorpion an exercise in frustration and a quick beatdown. I wanted to play as Sub-Zero but could not get the damned freeze shot down.
posted by Existential Dread at 1:20 PM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Existential Dread at 1:20 PM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
he's just a nice guy who doesn't fit the voice.
My experience with every cartoon voice actor who wasn't previously a movie/TV star is that they have never 'fit the voice'. It gave me and many others with "a face for radio" hope we could break into voicework. The pinnacle for this was the '80s live-action TV show "Magnum P.I." which gave macho-looking-with-a-weak-nasal-voice Tom Selleck the sidekick of small-mousy-looking-with-a-booming-voice John Hillerman. which is partly why Magnum was one of the few '80s Action franchises that didn't get a successful video game.
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:29 PM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
My experience with every cartoon voice actor who wasn't previously a movie/TV star is that they have never 'fit the voice'. It gave me and many others with "a face for radio" hope we could break into voicework. The pinnacle for this was the '80s live-action TV show "Magnum P.I." which gave macho-looking-with-a-weak-nasal-voice Tom Selleck the sidekick of small-mousy-looking-with-a-booming-voice John Hillerman. which is partly why Magnum was one of the few '80s Action franchises that didn't get a successful video game.
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:29 PM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
Mortal Kombat over Street Fighter, if only for the theme song. And honestly, the soundtrack album for MK: Annihilation is really fun.
posted by linux at 1:50 PM on November 21, 2017
posted by linux at 1:50 PM on November 21, 2017
Mortal Kombat over Street Fighter, if only for the theme song. And honestly, the soundtrack album for MK: Annihilation is really fun.
That theme song was for the movie, right? It was an adaptation of the original music. I mean, it's a club banger and all, but it wasn't part of my original experience of the game.
posted by lumpenprole at 2:37 PM on November 21, 2017
That theme song was for the movie, right? It was an adaptation of the original music. I mean, it's a club banger and all, but it wasn't part of my original experience of the game.
posted by lumpenprole at 2:37 PM on November 21, 2017
My favorite was the dude ripping the guy's heart out. Whoever that is, that's the best MK character.
posted by rhizome at 2:37 PM on November 21, 2017
posted by rhizome at 2:37 PM on November 21, 2017
Also it inspired Bonestorm in The Simpsons.
And, by extension, Lee Carvallo's Putting Challenge.
Ball is in... parking lot.
posted by asperity at 2:53 PM on November 21, 2017 [3 favorites]
And, by extension, Lee Carvallo's Putting Challenge.
Ball is in... parking lot.
posted by asperity at 2:53 PM on November 21, 2017 [3 favorites]
That theme song was for the movie, right? It was an adaptation of the original music. I mean, it's a club banger and all, but it wasn't part of my original experience of the game.
In a way, I feel MK draws some parallels to Sonic where some of their non-game output kinda overshadowed their gaming releases, and for gaming fans of the franchise who don't consume everything with that license, the fandom that exists outside the games themselves can feel a bit weird.
posted by lmfsilva at 3:15 PM on November 21, 2017
In a way, I feel MK draws some parallels to Sonic where some of their non-game output kinda overshadowed their gaming releases, and for gaming fans of the franchise who don't consume everything with that license, the fandom that exists outside the games themselves can feel a bit weird.
posted by lmfsilva at 3:15 PM on November 21, 2017
I haven't mentioned it but I kind of love the first film and in an unironic kind of way. It's just enjoyable to me. I watched it in the theatre and I remember buying the soundtrack and it was just me at age 15 loving life.
posted by Fizz at 3:26 PM on November 21, 2017
posted by Fizz at 3:26 PM on November 21, 2017
That theme song was for the movie, right? It was an adaptation of the original music. I mean, it's a club banger and all, but it wasn't part of my original experience of the game.
Yes, the link I provided is the theme song for the first movie. But the theme song was definitelty part of the game, having been commissioned as part of the launch of the home version of the game in 1994.
So for completeness, this is the original song that came on a CD album with the Sega Genesis version.
posted by linux at 3:30 PM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
Yes, the link I provided is the theme song for the first movie. But the theme song was definitelty part of the game, having been commissioned as part of the launch of the home version of the game in 1994.
So for completeness, this is the original song that came on a CD album with the Sega Genesis version.
posted by linux at 3:30 PM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
And I love the first film in much the same way Fizz does.
It has the Highlander as Raiden, for crying out loud!
I tended to favor playing the game as Raiden -- loved his ridiculous battle cries.
posted by linux at 3:33 PM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
It has the Highlander as Raiden, for crying out loud!
I tended to favor playing the game as Raiden -- loved his ridiculous battle cries.
posted by linux at 3:33 PM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
So for completeness, this is the original song that came on a CD album with the Sega Genesis version.
Wow, I wonder how that factoid escaped me. Chances are I even had it briefly before throwing it out. This was during my "If it's not punk rock, it's not music" phase.
posted by lumpenprole at 3:36 PM on November 21, 2017
Wow, I wonder how that factoid escaped me. Chances are I even had it briefly before throwing it out. This was during my "If it's not punk rock, it's not music" phase.
posted by lumpenprole at 3:36 PM on November 21, 2017
This was during my "If it's not punk rock, it's not music" phase.
I went through that phase myself. It was great for me, probably not so much for my fairly conservative minded family.
posted by Fizz at 3:42 PM on November 21, 2017
I went through that phase myself. It was great for me, probably not so much for my fairly conservative minded family.
posted by Fizz at 3:42 PM on November 21, 2017
I have fond affection for the first movie. A friend and I went to see it on the premise that it would be fun to go out to see a bad movie...and we both walked out feeling that it hadn’t been bad at all, but a lot of fun!
posted by nubs at 3:44 PM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by nubs at 3:44 PM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
/checkingplex
Yep. I have the soundtrack for both the 1st and 2nd movies; I think I got the second one free when I went to the premiere, but I definitely bought the first album. And I remember playing the first album a lot in college (movie came out when I was in college). I especially enjoyed KMFDM's Juke Joint Jezebel, which, much to the band founder's chagrin, as he hated the song, apparently still "pays the rent, to this day."
That is a flawless victory.
posted by linux at 4:06 PM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
Yep. I have the soundtrack for both the 1st and 2nd movies; I think I got the second one free when I went to the premiere, but I definitely bought the first album. And I remember playing the first album a lot in college (movie came out when I was in college). I especially enjoyed KMFDM's Juke Joint Jezebel, which, much to the band founder's chagrin, as he hated the song, apparently still "pays the rent, to this day."
That is a flawless victory.
posted by linux at 4:06 PM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
There's an excellent How Did This Get Made episode devoted to Mortal Kombat. Well worth finding and listening. Though it might be behind a paywall at this point.
posted by Fizz at 4:49 PM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Fizz at 4:49 PM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
I got to to go Acclaim's Long Island HQ when the bankruptcy auction was being held. It was the highlight of my fledgling career, having successfully convinced my boss that I should go to represent our company as creditor, meeting up with my childhood friend who was also attending in a "business capacity". A few recollections:
* All the really cool shit was gone. I was hoping to see some unique Mortal Kombat or NBA Jam schwag or at the very least some tech toys at a good price. Once the employees realized that they were getting stiffed out of their final checks and who knows what else, they took whatever they could carry. Laptops, flatscreens (new & expensive at the time), Aeron chairs, etc.
* Tagged for sale was a PC tower with four controller jacks up front and a Nintendo dolphin logo on the side, obviously a dev console for N64 games. Once a trustee rep saw what it was, they freaked out and locked it in an empty office. Only opening it for people with letters saying that they had a developer license.
* As the auctioneer walked us through the building, we ended up in a warehouse like space with black foam baffling, lighting trusses and camera platforms. This was the motion capture studio where the actors did their recordings for the MK series. We tried to keep our businesslike demeanor as we slyly exchanged high fives standing where our favorite games growing up were made.
I think it's an apartment building now.
posted by dr_dank at 6:07 PM on November 21, 2017 [10 favorites]
* All the really cool shit was gone. I was hoping to see some unique Mortal Kombat or NBA Jam schwag or at the very least some tech toys at a good price. Once the employees realized that they were getting stiffed out of their final checks and who knows what else, they took whatever they could carry. Laptops, flatscreens (new & expensive at the time), Aeron chairs, etc.
* Tagged for sale was a PC tower with four controller jacks up front and a Nintendo dolphin logo on the side, obviously a dev console for N64 games. Once a trustee rep saw what it was, they freaked out and locked it in an empty office. Only opening it for people with letters saying that they had a developer license.
* As the auctioneer walked us through the building, we ended up in a warehouse like space with black foam baffling, lighting trusses and camera platforms. This was the motion capture studio where the actors did their recordings for the MK series. We tried to keep our businesslike demeanor as we slyly exchanged high fives standing where our favorite games growing up were made.
I think it's an apartment building now.
posted by dr_dank at 6:07 PM on November 21, 2017 [10 favorites]
Summer camp on a college campus around '94 and one kid just dominated the Mortal Kombat II machine in the student union. One day I walk into the arcade and he's got a tv crew filming him - I assume for one of those "won't someone think of the children" pieces. And suddenly he's just barely losing. It become pretty clear that he's pumping them for more quarters to drag the whole thing along and they oblige. Finally they start asking him to perform some fatalities. And he does. But since this is MKII he deploys Friendships instead until the camera crew got frustrated.
Props to that kid, whoever he was, in the Emory student union 23 years ago.
posted by thecjm at 7:36 PM on November 21, 2017 [5 favorites]
Props to that kid, whoever he was, in the Emory student union 23 years ago.
posted by thecjm at 7:36 PM on November 21, 2017 [5 favorites]
All this time I never knew that the MK voice was that of none other than one of my two favorite pinball designers who just so happens to have made my favorite pinball machine of all time. It's really too bad the physical machines break down so much, but it is otherwise a perfect balance of slow speed skill and manic use of the flippers when the ball is flying around the playfield at injurious speed.
Mad respect, Ritchie!
posted by wierdo at 8:43 PM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
Mad respect, Ritchie!
posted by wierdo at 8:43 PM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
I can still hear Scorpions “Get over here!” in my head.
I default to "COME HERE!" But yeah, I can hear that one, too.
posted by wierdo at 8:50 PM on November 21, 2017
I default to "COME HERE!" But yeah, I can hear that one, too.
posted by wierdo at 8:50 PM on November 21, 2017
I used to play the shit out of this game, and you know what still bothers me 25 years later? Johnny Cage is bullshit, man. He had no business being out there, I mean what the hell? There are wizards and people with harpoons and shit and he has a nut-punch. Give me a break.
posted by Literaryhero at 4:08 AM on November 22, 2017
posted by Literaryhero at 4:08 AM on November 22, 2017
Don't forget the mirrorshades, Literaryhero. Nutpunch and mirror shades.
posted by nubs at 5:42 AM on November 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by nubs at 5:42 AM on November 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
SONYA. WINS.
posted by Doleful Creature at 5:51 AM on November 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Doleful Creature at 5:51 AM on November 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
I thought good ol' Karate Champ was a better fighting game mechanically, but MK did have a kind of... charm?
posted by Foosnark at 6:24 AM on November 22, 2017
posted by Foosnark at 6:24 AM on November 22, 2017
Street Fighter II : Metallica :: Mortal Kombat : Cannibal Corpse
posted by Existential Dread at 7:30 AM on November 22, 2017
posted by Existential Dread at 7:30 AM on November 22, 2017
MK was pretty much a more gory Pit Fighter with SF:II-esque specials grafted on. They both had the digitized "photorealistic" sprites and played very similarly.
I was too busy playing pinball machines and a succession of racing games, culminating in Virtua Racing (and a bit of Lethal Enforcers and its ilk), which arrived shortly before my arcade rat days were ending to wait in the inevitable line to play SF and MK.
That's not to say I didn't spend plenty of time playing against friends on the console versions of MK and SF:II and their successors over the years. I tried to spend my time playing things that weren't available on console and weren't likely to be there any time soon at a reasonable price. (The Virtua games for 32X were like $80 thanks to the coprocessors they had to stick in the cartridges to make them work..plus the cost of a 32X..and a Genesis/MegaDrive since I never owned one myself)
posted by wierdo at 12:18 PM on November 22, 2017
I was too busy playing pinball machines and a succession of racing games, culminating in Virtua Racing (and a bit of Lethal Enforcers and its ilk), which arrived shortly before my arcade rat days were ending to wait in the inevitable line to play SF and MK.
That's not to say I didn't spend plenty of time playing against friends on the console versions of MK and SF:II and their successors over the years. I tried to spend my time playing things that weren't available on console and weren't likely to be there any time soon at a reasonable price. (The Virtua games for 32X were like $80 thanks to the coprocessors they had to stick in the cartridges to make them work..plus the cost of a 32X..and a Genesis/MegaDrive since I never owned one myself)
posted by wierdo at 12:18 PM on November 22, 2017
Much of the game was made in
posted by dr_dank at 21:07 on November 21
FINISHHIM IT.
posted by quinndexter at 1:49 AM on November 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by dr_dank at 21:07 on November 21
FINISH
posted by quinndexter at 1:49 AM on November 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
So Street Fighter tried to beat Mortal Kombat at their own game once. I had never even heard of this.
posted by infinitewindow at 9:15 AM on November 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by infinitewindow at 9:15 AM on November 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
In here it was pushed as an early Saturn title. It tanked because... it's not even an arcade port (which did ok, but hardly a smash hit), but a choppy SSFIIT port with digitized graphics.
posted by lmfsilva at 12:37 PM on November 26, 2017
posted by lmfsilva at 12:37 PM on November 26, 2017
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posted by Fizz at 8:49 AM on November 21, 2017 [14 favorites]