Reboot Retrospective: Mortal Kombat

I have fond memories of the original Mortal Kombat. I was a bit too young for the arcade but that didn’t stop the youngest of my father’s brothers and my oldest cousins from bringing around the cartridge. To me, Mortal Kombat was the game that my uncle schooled me in with that code that turned blood on. My father found the gory combat a bit… much. That didn’t stop me from hitting ABACABB when he wasn’t around.

My attachment to the franchise only grew stronger as I grew older. While I didn’t own the second or third installment, my friends did. I’d spend the night with others just to use their SNES. They’d suggest going out and playing tag and I would carefully explain why we should instead play games inside. Sub-Zero and Stryker were my weapons of choice.

Some folks lump those who play fighting games into one solid group when, in reality, there are many different camps involved. For example, we weren’t Street Fighter kids; we were Mortal Kombat kids. Somehow, this divide still seems to continue despite all rhyme or reason. I haven’t played Street Fighter for any length of time since my Sega Genesis saw regular play.

So you can imagine the kind of nostalgic baggage I bring to the table when I say that I have mixed feelings about the latest installment of Mortal Kombat.

There’s something both very satisfying and very wrong about the latest Mortal Kombat. There are parts of the game that feel incredibly refreshing, such as the various Fatalities and many of the characters, while other parts feel almost depressing or insulting—like some of the outfit choices for the female cast and the streamlining of combat when compared to earlier games.

In the older games, Fatalities were always over the top and bordered on ludicrous. But that’s basically all they were meant to be. In this respect, the newest succeeds. When Smoke jabs his fingers into his opponent’s skull and, basically, steams them alive from the inside, it’s silly, gory and exactly what I expect from Mortal Kombat.

To this end, the new X-Ray maneuvers—while also an obvious response to “supers” in other fighting games—feel very much like they’ve always belonged. Heck, they even refer to it as “using three bars of super” in the menu. You can’t get much more blatant than that. But it feels right and is therefore acceptable; it doesn’t matter how blatant it is.

However, other points feel like a disservice to longtime fans. Why in the world—or Outworld for that matter—would Sonya Blade wear that odd bikini-vest combo is beyond me. Special Forces? Perhaps the kind that’s called up to bachelor parties. There’s a distinct difference between being both combat ready and sexy and… well, what she’s wearing. Some might consider this fanservice, and in a way it is, but that doesn’t somehow give it a free pass.

I’m not here to argue about its special features, or here to convert atheists into believers, I’m just trying to say that Mortal Kombat holds a place of high regard with a number of people, but even though the newest might share a name with the original, it still needs to earn its place among the greater dynasty. Just because it has a bunch of Lin Kuei doesn’t necessarily make it a worthy successor.

This isn’t a game I’d want to share with my nieces or nephews. That said, it’s rated Mature for a reason. Perhaps most people wouldn’t share such games with their nieces or nephews at all. They might frown at my uncle for doing so in the first place. The reboot is a fine game and strikes many of the chords that I’d almost forgotten existed.

But it isn’t a seminal work like the original. I wish it were.