Which will be a Flawless Victory? And which will be a Fatality?
Finish Him! Fatality! Scorpion Wins! All iconic lines from a key fighting game series, Mortal Kombat. Since it’s inception in October 1992, Mortal Kombat has made waves in the fighting game community (FGC) and in public sentiment. However, today we take a look at the main MK games and parse though the best and the worst (meaning the main console/arcade versions, not mobile versions, I.e. MK: Advance).
12. Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (2008)
Woof. We’re starting this list off with a swing and a miss. MKvs.DC is a great concept with terrible execution. You’ve got Scorpion fighting Batman, Kitana taking on Sonya Blade. Joker pummeling Shang Tsung, Raiden and Superman running each other through walls. It had all the makings to be such a fan service-y game to TWO large fanbases! This game should’ve been better than what we got.
Instead, we paired Mortal Kombat into a T-rated game, which, sure, it could work. But when one of Kano’s Fatalities is this hyper-violent, and disgustingly brutal(ly bad), it flops.
How this game went past any focus groups is beyond me; my thought is that it was Midway’s final gambit before either being bought by Warner Bros. (which they did) or declaring bankruptcy. The rage mechanic is “eh,” the lack of alternate costumes (c’mon, you had access to comic-related DC costumes!!!), and the lackluster gameplay made this last arena-based fighter in dead last on my list.
11. Mortal Kombat 4 (1997)
I may get flak on this one; I really didn’t care for Mortal Kombat 4. It was the first journey into the 3D arena-style gameplay, similar to its Tekken counterpart. 3D gave way to mechanics such as conditional stage fatalities (close proximity to the fan in the Prison Stage). But the new characters like Jarek and Kai were lacking any depth and were never realized in later games.
MK4 also introduced stage weapons and a weapon stance for each character; this would be carried on and off into future games. Visually, the characters had a bit more personality than their sprite counterparts, but it made me miss the sprite work from prior games.
The best thing that came from this were some of the wackier fatalities. Special props to Quan Chi for this beauty:
10. Mortal Kombat (1992)
The OG Mortal Kombat ranks relatively low for a couple of reasons. The gameplay was okay, but paled in comparison to arcade cabinet rival, Street Fighter II. It just seemed barebones.
That’s really why it’s further down the list. Seriously.
Many other aspects of this particular game found their way into future iterations. Think Fatalities, Test Your Might, Endurance Matches, palette swaps, etc. The original MK gave way to so much which modern games drew from.
Fun fact: Mortal Kombat was also the reason for the ESRB rating system being created in 1994!
9. Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (2002)
Deadly Alliance was a transition to full console releases and away from the arcade scene. Because of it, Midway had more performance power to play with. It definitely shows in terms of graphical performance and textures. DA gave unique newcomers like Kenshi and Li Mei along with a few duds in Mokap and Hsu Hao.
The game also gave way to unlockable alternate costumes and other goodies via the Krypt, a pseudo-story mode (essentially progressed through character tutorials) and additional fighting styles which can combo into each other.
However, this entry wasn’t without its flaws too. Each character still only had one fatality each; Quan Chi received another gloriously dumb fatality. The unlocks could be pretty grindy to earn. Stages were circular arena-based combat zones with some really neat details; gameplay-wise, they were bland and without any stage fatalities, a feature of nearly each previous MK entry.
Deadly Alliance does really well for a new entry into a new generation of consoles and MK, but does fall a little harder than some other iterations.
8. Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (2006)
This may be a more controversial take…but Mortal Kombat: Armageddon is a somewhat decent game.
Am I saying that Kreate-A-Fatality was good and come back? No.
Would I say that the gameplay mechanics were flawless? Not at all.
Am I suggesting that Motor Kombat would be a fun little spin off? Yes, but that’s for another day.
MK:A brought LOTS of content to the table that felt a bit shallow. Every character from the original Mortal Kombat to date (2006) in one game, all playable with their own fighting and weapon stance, and an alternate costume each. Stages were plentiful and some had their own transitions and fatalities.
The content was plenty, but so were the gripes. Instead of coding 60+ unique fatalities, Midway created a custom fatality system; this was based on various inputs on the fatality screen at the end of a match. While cool sounding, it made it silly and took away a neat way to showcase more personality from each fighter.
Konquest made a return from Mortal Kombat: Deception, but resembled more of a beat-em-up (think Shaolin Monks). There were some traditional MK fights peppered between romps through Outworld/Earthrealm/Netherrealm and other environments. It was pretty cool for the time, and provided a way to find collectibles which translated to parts of the Krypt being unlocked automatically (find every collectible – one item per character, which is neat – and you unlock the entire Krypt).
The concept I do hope makes a return is the Kreate-A-Fighter system. You could create your own fighter and assign them a fighting style and weapon; they had access to a slew of special moves borrowed from roster fighters. There were some broken builds, but if they took another step towards Soul Calibur level customization, they would’ve nailed it.
7. Mortal Kombat II (1993)
Mortal Kombat II took everything about it’s predecessor and cranked it to 11. New, colorful stages, new base characters with interesting powers, and a final boss which infuriated gamers of all ages.
Additional special moves were given to characters; some of them becoming iconic for each character such as Johnny Cage’s green energy attacks and Sub-Zero’s Ice Clone. More importantly, we were introduced to finishers outside of Fatalities, such as Babalities (turn your opponents into actual babies) and Friendships (a cheeky response to the ESRB events where the winning fighter does something nice to the loser) as well as introducing Stage Fatalities and an additional Fatality per fighter (two total).
The additional content was a fantastic upgrade to the original; however, the gameplay was still rather unchanged and very similar pacing to its predecessor. The new final boss, Shao Kahn, as well sub-boss, Kintaro, were frustrating to fight against due to advanced/nearly unfair AI. In addition to having damage resistance, they have increase speeds and stronger attacks than any of the regular fighters. They’re beatable, but only either with specific strategies or sheer luck.
6. Mortal Kombat X (2015)
Mortal Kombat X found itself at the turn of another new console generation. NetherRealm Studios did a great job with the graphical upgrades from MK9 to X, making the fatalities more visceral and disturbing compared to previous games.
The story finally branched off from the retold story of the first three Mortal Kombat games in MK 9 to a brand new, fresh story. Say what you will about the “Kombat Kids” (Cassie Cage, Jacqui Briggs, Takeda Takahashi, and Kung Jin) but they were actually fun fighters to use. The other new characters (eight total, the most in any MK game since Deadly Alliance) gave way to freshen up the roster and the original fighters were aged/changed up to reflect some heavy changes to their play style with the new Variation system.
Alternate costumes were great with some good callbacks, the run mechanic from Mortal Kombat 3 was brought back to quicken the pace of fights, and stage interactions helped give a few offensive and defensive options per stage. Meters made a return from Mortal Kombat 9 to help give more options to players.
The game still tripped on things such as replayability with new online towers and story pacing while really dividing the fanbase on where the story was going to go after its conclusion (including the inclusion of the Kombat Kids). Personally, I was okay with it and wanted to see where they would take the story later on.
5. Mortal Kombat 1 (2023)
The newest entry of the Mortal Kombat franchise is hands down the best looking entry to date. Each character looks fantastic, and the story sets up an interesting reboot to the series with some serious changes. Bi Han (Sub-Zero) and Kuai Liang are still brothers, but the latter is now Scorpion, Raiden is akin to what Liu Kang has been, Shao Kahn is currently a general in Sindel’s Outworld army (and is well-respected). The changes go on and on.
The main new mechanic in MK 1 is the Kameo system, allowing for other characters to become assist characters (think Marvel vs Capcom 2 assist system). This has been a diverse mechanic, but one that I personally find fresh and interesting to the core gameplay. Some characters, like Darrius, add additional combo extending hits while Motaro (who FINALLY makes a full centaur appearance!) can help with controlling the field with a teleport and ranged moves.
The sad fact of being the first live service game in the MK franchise does hit a little harder than it needs to, with classic and seasonal costumes forcing players to spend $5-10 per costume for one character. Customization itself is a step down from its immediate predecessor, with only one gear piece per fighter and very limited actual costumes.
Despite these flaws, the gameplay is fun, the new Invasions (as of this writing) are more enjoyable than launch state, and rumors of a story expansion is enough to still keep my attention.
4. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (1995)
The best iteration of Mortal Kombat 3 makes pretty high on my list due to several factors. While being known for its over-the-top violence, Midway embraced some campiness with unique ending to the match through other “-alities” like Friendships and Animalities.
MK 3 also introduced running and combos into the gameplay mechanics, resulting in more frantic and strategic matches. While these combos were set (or dial-a-combo) in contrast to the more free flowing combos of Street Fighter or Tekken, they were highly effective in making the game evolve to where it is today.
Fan favorite characters who were missing in the original MK 3 were brought back, such as Scorpion, Mileena and Reptile, while also introducing new fighters like Ermac and Jade. The AI was also tweaked to be harder to fight against (yay…) and more stages were added like Scorpion’s Lair.
The cast of fresh, new characters (many of which became regular returning characters later on) and a few of new gameplay mechanics make this iteration of Kombat a must-play.
3. Mortal Kombat (2011)
After Midway was purchased by Warner Bros in 2009, the most recent release was MK vs. DC – which you’ve seen where that landed on my list so far. Fans figured Mortal Kombat might be done; but the newly reformed NetherRealm gave fans EXACTLY what they wanted in a reboot of the franchise in 2011.
What’s referred to as the ninth entry, Mortal Kombat (2011) was a soft reboot to the story, retelling the first three games’ story with some changes made by our favorite thunder god, Raiden.
This marked the first time all the original characters were playable together since Armageddon several years before. However, with a new engine and resources, devs could put much more love and effort into providing the exact experience fans would want from a reboot. Many changes were made to character models to give more visceral detail, such as battle damage through fights. New mechanics such as a Super Meter to give more options for offense and defense.
Different game modes were introduced, such as Test Your Luck and the Challenge Tower, which extended the life of the game as well. DLC was also available in the form of new characters such as Freddy from Nightmare on Elm Street, fan favorites Rain and Kenshi, and a new MK character born from an old arcade glitch, Skarlet.
While it may not have aged the best on the list, MK 9 has too much good in it to not be a top-three contender on this list.
2. Mortal Kombat 11 (2019)
As jaded as the genre is now, I don’t mind a decent multiverse type of story – if it’s done right. And I think MK 11 did it realllllly well. Throughout the story, characters from both previous and current timelines collide in a strange time-paradox, Kombat-filled, fatality fest in the 11th entry of Mortal Kombat.
Fan fave characters who hadn’t been present since MK 9 and before reappear such as Kabal, Jade, Noob, and Frost. The meter system was retooled to have offense and defense specific meters, the running mechanic was removed from MK X, and the fighting became slower paced and focused on the neutral territory vs. the more aggressive gameplay of X.
Customization was revamped with six outfits per character and a slew of color palettes each. Beyond this, each character had three gear slots to customize as well – Johnny Cage, for example could have different shades, belt buckles and handwraps/gloves along with a different color palette. Maybe I’m a customization chump (I am, I’ll admit), I think it’s a really neat feature they gutted in 1.
Online services were revamped with a competitive mode called Kombat League, offered additional customization rewards. The Krypt was redone to be on Shang Tsung’s island, and littered with neat callbacks to all sorts of Mortal Kombat lore, like Kano’s feast from the original movie. However, the coolness was sort of undercut with the RNG mechanics of opening chests for unlocks.
All in all, Mortal Kombat 11 was a a lot of fun and had a long life-span, a slew of cool DLC (including a whole story expansion that set up the next entry), and lots of content for fans to chew on. It’s nearly perfect except…
1. Mortal Kombat Deception (2004)
Mortal Kombat Deception is possibly one of the most fun games I’ve played, and that’s not being said with rose-tinted glasses.
Everything about this game was a step up and beyond from Deadly Alliance. Defensive Combo Breakers were introduced here, Stage Transitions and Fatalities returned, characters had retooled movesets with more specials. The list goes on and on.
Also featured is an expansive third-person adventure mode called Konquest, telling the whole story of Deception in a way which hasn’t been seen since despite fans clamoring for its return. So many secrets and unlocks can be found in Konquest, and it was sort of a way to tutorialize each character without being an actual tutorial.
Mini-games such as Puzzle Kombat and Chess Kombat were featured in MK Deception – while completely silly, they were a fun way to take a break from ladders or Konquest.
The roster was pretty good, with Liu Kang returning as an undead thrall for a now Dark Raiden to control. Returning characters included Kabal, Ermac, and even Shao Kahn and Goro (in the Unchained version). Newer characters left more to be desired, but it was great to see some characters return who haven’t been in the last few entries before.
As a whole package, Deception hits the mark on claiming the top spot for the franchise.
While it isn’t a mainline entry, a special shoutout needs to be made to Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. If included, it actually would’ve been the top choice on the list. For a spin off to be so much fun and so different than the mainline, it makes me frustrated beyond belief there haven’t been more of them.
So, how close am I to your top lists? Was I completely in the wrong or do you agree? Feel free to comment below or shout out on X! Happy gaming!
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