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Mortal Kombat

Game Mechanics

This game was a Midway response to the very successful Street Fighter II game of Capcom, which generated a number of suites and games associated. However, it used a different combat system from the Street Fighter formula, which was used in all suites to Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. The commands consisted of five buttons placed in "X": a strong punch, a low kick, a low kick, a low kick and a lock button, and a joystick with eight positions. Unlike Street Fighter, the characters didn't block when they were pulling or collapsing, but it was necessary to press the block button to block the levels. Even in this case, the characters would suffer reduced damage, regardless of their impact, during the blockage. If the two fighters were close to each other, pressing one of the attack buttons would give a different blow: a low punch turned into a projection, a high punch turned into a coup de coude or a reverse of the fist, and the kick turned into a knee blow. Growing and hitting one or the other shot gave a topcut, which was the heaviest hit in the game. The jumped kicks and the hits were executed in the same way as Street Fighter.

On the contrary Street Fighter II whose characters are drawn, the animation of Mortal Kombat is composed of digitized images (from filmed sequences of actors performing the different movements) which gives a rather unusual rendering: the graphics of the characters is very fine, their animations are fluid but do not always fit perfectly (defect inherent to the technique used). Only the animation of the sub-Boss required the use of the technique called stop-motion.

The game has retained a similar rating system (based on successful hits, the mini-game "Test Your Might" and other bonuses) to these games; This would be abandoned at subsequent entries in the Mortal Kombat series in favor of the count of victories.

Another innovation in the game is Fatality, a special stroke of grace executed against a defeated opponent to kill him in a horrible way. For example, Sub-Zero would seize an opponent defeated by the head, then tear his head and spinal column, while his body would collapse to the ground in a bloodshed. The Fatalities can only be executed after defeating your opponent in battle (which has the effect of displaying the message "Finish him/her!", meaning "Finish him/her!") and are essentially a kind of memorable and horrible victory dance.

Mortal Kombat has also introduced the concept of juggling, an idea so popular that it has spread in subsequent episodes of the series and even in other games and types of fighting. Juggling benefits from the fact that when a character is thrown into the air, it cannot be controlled until it has landed and rises. The idea behind juggling is to project the enemy in the air, then follow other combat movements to keep it. Theoretically, one could hit his opponent until death without damage, even if it was difficult to achieve in practice.

Mortal Kombat also changed the way special movements were carried out. Street Fighter (and many other combat games) made most of the special movements in fractions of circles (usually full, half-quart or quarter) on the joystick, followed by a pressure on a button (a quarter circle ahead plus a punch). Mortal Kombat was the first to introduce movements that did not require to press a button (such as spotting back, spotting back, then forward), and only a few of the special movements required a movement by circular manipulator.

Another innovation: the game brings for the first time in a combat game a character called "secret". It is Reptile, the green assassin that it is possible to face from a double flawless victory (perfect vicar) ends with a fatality level The Pit. The player faces Reptile downstairs, this one has the shots of Sub-Zero and Scorpion, which will no longer be the case in the following games.

Playable characters

Here is the list of playable characters and their fatalities:

• Johnny Cage: a Hollywood actor who wants to prove to his critics that he doesn't put on the special effects (don't give an uppercut that disconnects the opponent)
• Liu Kang : a monk from the White Lotus Society who came to radicate Shang Tsung (done a uppercut that sends the enemy in the air)
• Sub-Zero: a Lin Kuei clan murderer who can control the ice (drinks the head and spinal column of the opponent)
• Scorpion: a ninja of the Shirai Ryu clan wanting to kill Sub-Zero during the tournament (take off his mask that lets see a skull, and spit flames that leave only the skeleton of the victim)
• Raiden: the god of thunder and lightning protecting the Earth (electrocute then blows the head of the character)
• Sonya Blade: Lieutenant of the Special Forces Tracing the Criminal Kano (a kind of fireball that consumes the opponent in the same way as Scorpion)
• Kano : member of the Black Dragon looking to steal the treasures of Shang Tsung (drinks the heart of the naked hand opponent)

Non-playable characters

• Goro (Sous Boss), however, it is unlockable with a secret manipulation in the Game Boy version, until the console is extinguished.
• Shang Tsung (Boss)
• Reptile (hidden and first personage in video game history)

There are a total of seven battlefields:

• The Courtyard, the court of Shang Tsung
• Palace Gates, the entrance of the palace
• Warrior Shrine, a 'museum' of fighters
• Throne Room, a golden room
• Goro's Lair, where the final battle is held
• The Pit, a bridge over the void
• The Pit Bottom (only against Reptile)

Note that when a player loses in the area The Pit, if the winner inflicts a uppercut on him, the unfortunate falls from the bridge and ends in a bed of blades.