Mortal Kombat’s ‘flawless victory’ in video games and movies

For those who are aware, Mortal Kombat is the most violent, bloody, and coolest fighting video game in history. Still, it certainly has its appeal, which has made it last for more than 30 years. To this day, there are new installments to the original video game developed by Midway in the early 90s. Now, with that said, the fighting video game franchise has something going for it as well: a presence in movies.

One of the best aspects of Mortal Kombat video games, especially those on PS5, is the ultra-realistic graphics. Gone are the picturesque depictions of the fighters, the choppy moves, and the pixelated backgrounds, but instead, you have graphics that are comparable to the best CGI of big-budget movies in Hollywood, and the finishers (Fatalities, Animalities, and Friendships) are so realistic that they made my stomach churn many times, especially the Fatalities and Animalities, which look like they came out of a horror movie. Haha….

I can still remember when I got to watch in cinemas the sequel to Mortal Kombat (1995), which was Mortal Kombat Annihilation, in cinemas, and that was a lifetime away by now, but the point of the reminiscing is that Mortal Kombat has been around that long, and their presence is undeniable, especially to the youth back then and the young generation right now, because when Mortal Kombat first rose to prominence as a fan-favorite arcade machine before it got ported to home consoles and became a best-seller among all video game consoles.

Why so? Mortal Kombat’s co-creator Ed Boon broke all the rules, boundaries, and unwritten rules in fighting video games. Yes, it was extremely violent, had bucket loads of blood, and the finishing moves were insanely grotesque, but you know what? For a male teenager, a young man, and anyone among the male species with testosterone, all of these things were found cool, eye-catching, and awesome! Mortal Kombat was all of those things and more.

As I write all of these experiences down, all I have to do is relive those memories, all of these things come second nature, they are innate and organic because I got to luckily live through those exciting times as a young man, and I consider myself lucky for it. And Mortal Kombat was one of those key elements during the ’90s decade that made the nineties what it is! Truly, the ’90s decade was a time of many firsts and many innovations and fearlessness were all there. Ask yourselves, could Mortal Kombat have been made a couple of years ago or in other decades? Nope.

To be able to stay this long in the “game,” no pun intended, speaks to Mortal Kombat’s lasting appeal, longevity, and, most importantly, being able to not only survive but thrive in changing times. Why so? When Mortal Kombat first got released into the market, it had a ton of heat; many groups tried to have it banned and outright removed from store shelves, display racks, and video game shops from their inventory because it was extreme to the max.

However, anyone with a deeper sense of awareness, cognitive function, and common sense could tell that Mortal Kombat was not marketed for them, intended for them, and targeted for them, but for the teens, the generation of video gamers that wanted something not only different but a video game that created its own genre, and many years later, they succeeded in cementing their new genre in video games because many imitators, emulators, and copycats copied the formula that Mortal Kombat had created.

Basically, they bash you first, condemn you, and mock you, but then they come around with their senses, realize what you are doing is something unique, original, and never seen before, and then they copy you. Haha…. That’s exactly what happened with Mortal Kombat.

The stature of Mortal Kombat exists in the same realm as Street Fighter; that is, how high up there in the ranking system the value of Mortal Kombat has become, and that is only achievable if you have only created an entertainment product that goes beyond the normal comprehension of what a video game, or in this case a fighting video game, should be. In short, there was nothing like it before it was released; it was the very first of its kind. The soon-to-be pioneer of the then-non-existent genre in video games.

You had fighters that were nothing like anything else; you had strong character designs; they all had distinct personas, and individually each fighter in Mortal Kombat could tell them apart, not only because of how they appeared but more of how they fought. Each fighter had a specific fighting style, and they all had their finishers (fatalities), which were always performed at the end of the round. This is where Mortal Kombat cemented its name as a video game pioneer, thanks to its mechanics, design, and format, which eliminated all competition. Mortal Kombat was a very big deal in the 90s! This is one of those video games that I regularly played at home with some family members, cousins, and friends because it had that competitive nature; it brought people together, and it was very immersive in how it played.

In 2025, can anyone imagine who was there during the ’90s, lining up to purchase the first Mortal Kombat game, which was first released on the SNES, the most popular video game console before the PlayStation, that Mortal Kombat would still be there? Mortal Kombat survived censorship, blackballing, and the woke movement. The latter battle was the most dangerous of times because you had these leftists, activists, and extremist woke people going after many iconic and classic video games because, according to their distorted, twisted, and idiotic beliefs, they were not up to their “standards,” and Mortal Kombat was high up there on their checklist, but the creators of Mortal Kombat and its developers stood their ground, did not give a ****, and did not budge to their insane demands. They lost, Mortal Kombat won! What did these woke-heads expect from the creators and developers of Mortal Kombat? Haha….

Now, with the woke movement on its last legs, many video game developers are returning to their best form once again, breaking free from the proverbial chains put on them and are no longer being held back, which is why I believe Mortal Kombat will not only continue to survive but thrive for a new generation of fans because nothing is holding them back now.

The biggest development of that now is not only in the video games being developed and the newest one released for PS5, but the sequel to the Mortal Kombat (2021 reboot) which brought the classic video game and its classic fighters like Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Sonya Blade, Kung Lao, Liu Kang, Kano, Jax and others to the big screen for an entirely new generation will have its sequel that will add a whole new chapter to its franchise with the addition of Kitana, Shao Kahn and one of my all-time favorites in the ball-busting, leg splitting and Jean Claude Van Damme-esque like action star in the one and only “Johnny Cage” which was mysteriously missing but only alluded to with subtle easter eggs in the first movie.

I think it was the right move on the part of the producers of Mortal Kombat (2021 reboot) to not yet include “Johnny Cage” because it gives more reason for video gamers and moviegoers to watch the sequel, and that strategy will work without a doubt. They know we’re talking about household names among the original batch of Mortal Kombat fighters, and “Johnny Cage” is the equivalent of “Guile” in Street Fighter in my estimation. And with Karl Urban portraying the Hollywood action star turned defender of Earth from the evil forces headed by Shao Kahn by becoming a combatant in their tournament in Outworld, the classic roster of good guys for Mortal Kombat is now complete.

Memories of hearing that awesome techno-dance-rock theme song in the opening title sequence of Mortal Kombat (1995) are still fresh in my memory the entire time I have been writing this, my newest entertainment article, in which I celebrate the legacy established by Mortal Kombat not only in video games but now in movies.

That is what I call a “flawless victory.”