Mortal Kombat is a side-scrolling fighting game created in 1992 by the four-person company Midway Games and released initially as an arcade game. Thanks to its huge success, the game was ported to many other home platforms, computers, and consoles.
The game is famous for its use of digitized actors rather than bitmap graphics like Street Fighter II, as well as for its violence and copious amounts of blood. It was originally planned to feature a digitized version of martial arts star Jean-Claude Van Damme. When that plan fell through, the developers decided to add Johnny Cage, a parody of Van Damme.
Mortal Kombat is a fighting game designed to be realistic. The characters, which have some basis in Chinese mythology, each have special fighting and ending moves.
The launch of Mortal Kombat for the Super NES, Genesis, and Game Gear by Acclaim Entertainment in 1993 was one of the largest video game launches of the time. September 13, 1993, was called "Mortal Monday". In 1994, the game was also ported to Amiga, DOS, and other home computers.
The love of the game has led to many sequels, movies still quoted over a decade later, and comics. Mortal Kombat is still popular enough that the tournaments are featured on television.
Mortal Kombat is one of our Top 20 Sega Genesis Games of all time.
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