Of course, the mainstays make an appearance in today's landscape. Street Fighter came out with the latest (and, presumably last) iteration of IV with Ultra Street Fighter IV, we saw an appearance from Tekken with Tekken Tag Tournament 2, and hey, we've even seen a reimagining of Killer Instinct and it's freaking kick-ass theme song (which is still my ringtone).
One franchise, however, still stands as my favorite fighting franchise ever, and believe me, I have played A LOT of fighting games. In 1992, we as gamers were shocked to see a game not only use actual people, but showed these real people have gruesome things happen to them, such as being set on fire or having their goddamn spine ripped out of them. This was UNHEARD of at the time (sure, Pit Fighter came out in 1990, but MK was actually good), which helped it stand out in the Street Fighter-ruled genre. This also helped the franchise make its way to #4 on my list of all time favorites.
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#4 - The Mortal Kombat series - First released 1992 (Arcade, basically every home and portable console ever)
It was more than the Fatalities that helped MK stand out. While Street Fighter used commands like "Down, Down-Forward, Forward, Punch" or "Hold for 2sec, kick" or even "complete circle, punch" (which I could never get the hang of cause Zangief would always jump. I know, user error), MK took a more direct approach with a "Down, Forward, Punch" or "Back, Forward, Punch". This little tweak helped make it more accessible to people who had quarters to burn or didn't have fightsticks at home. This doesn't mean the game was simple by any means, you still had to know when to use special moves and when to use them in combos for maximum efficiency.
Those special projectiles did seem to matter more in MK, however. In SF, they all sort of felt the same, whether it's a Sonic Boom or a Hadoken, it was a projectile that hit you and did damage. In MK, you had Scorpion's famous spear that brought an enemy closer for more damage, Sub-Zero's Ice beam that froze an opponent, giving him a free shot (usually an uppercut or a roundhouse kick), or, later on in the series, Stryker firing a damn pistol at you, because why not?
Keep in mind, I am only using Street Fighter as the reference point because that has always been (at least in the States) the biggest competition. SF is an incredible franchise and there is a reason it is still relevant. I am aware they are 2 different styles of games, but these are the biggest fighting franchises in the U.S. Cool?
The first 3 entries in the MK series stuck with the 2D style, my favorite of these has to be Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, which is a remastered version of MK3 with more characters, more levels, and better gameplay. With MK4, 5 (Deadly Alliance), 6 (Deception), 7 (Armageddon), and 8 (MK vs DC), they went with a 3D engine and were fine games, I just always felt MK belonged on a 2D plane. The 3D games tried interesting things, even being able to create a fighter in Armageddon. Also, the story mode in MK vs DC laid the groundwork for what would be used in MK9 and Injustice: Gods Among Us (another freaking awesome fighting game) and is the best way to tell a story mode in any fighting game to date.
When I first heard that the series would be going back to its roots for the ninth entry, simply titled Mortal Kombat, my geek-dar was going off and I started to get stoked. What came was was my favorite game in the entire franchise. The story mode was told exceptionally well, it looked phenomenal, it had all the characters we wanted (even including Kratos and Freddy Krueger, cause hey why not?), and was an absolute blast to play. The King of the Hill style online mode was a blast too, with your little avatars emoting as the fight plays out in a theater-like setting. For as gory and mature as the game can be, the series does a great job of being tongue-in-cheek, ridiculous, and funny at the same time, especially with "Friendships" and "Babalities".
The Mortal Kombat games have always been notorious for easter eggs and over-the-top nonsense. The character Ermac (which means "error macro") was a line of programming Ed Boon made in the original MK that players found on the audit screen and assumed was a secret character. Of course, Boon and John Tobias took this and ran with it, teasing gamers with the old "I can not confirm nor deny Ermac's existence" schtick until he was finally a playable character in UMK3. Also, as you well know, Noob Saibot backwards is Tobias Boon, the last names of the two creators. Blaze, who is a boss character from Armageddon is said to first appear in MKII on the bridge level in the background. The list goes on and on, and of course we all love the "Toasty!" guy, Dan Forden, who does make an appearance in MK9.
Of course, what most people think of when it comes to MK are the Fatalities. The brutal, savage, R-rated, way to end a fight and your opponents life. These were a huge deal back in the originals since the idea of ripping a man's head off a realistic looking person was shocking. Later on, the development team looked to make them more and more memorable and over-the-top. While I always loved Liu Kang dropping an MK arcade machine on his enemies, there is still something satisfying about Stryker prepping a grenade, planting it into his foe's chest and watching him explode. Or having Sub-Zero rip his enemy's spinal cord out, freeze the body, and use said spinal cord (with head still attached) to shatter the body. Or Smoke blowing up the whole fucking planet!!!!
Which is where the video comes in. Yes, MK is about more than just gruesome endings to fights, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy them:
The new Mortal Kombat (titled Mortal Kombat X due out in 2015) is going to push the series even farther. New characters, new systems (Xbox One, PS4), new (and even more gruesome looking) Fatalities, different fighting style versions of characters, and what Netherrealm is calling a "persistent online experience, where every fight matters", all will add up to what looks to be an amazing game that could end up being my favorite in the series, and I can not freaking wait!!!!
Mortal Kombat will always be my favorite fighting franchise. Chalk it up to the easy to pick up controls, the gorgeous graphics, the humor, the characters, the over-the-top violence, you name it. While I do enjoy my fighting games, especially Street Fighter, I always prefered "GET OVER HERE" to "HADOKEN!".
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