Wikipedia

Mortal Kombat II

"MKII" and "Mortal Kombat 2" redirect here. For other uses, seeMark II (disambiguation)andMortal Kombat 2 (disambiguation).

Mortal Kombat IIis a 1993fighting gameoriginally produced byMidwayforarcades.It was ported to multiple home systems, includingMS-DOS,Amiga,Game Boy,Game Gear,Sega Genesis,32X,Sega Saturn,Super Nintendo Entertainment System,andPlayStationonly in Japan, mostly in licensed versions developed byProbe Software(later renamed to Probe Entertainment for some ports of the game) andSculptured Softwareand published byAcclaim Entertainment(currently distributed byWarner Bros. Interactive Entertainment).

Mortal Kombat II
Cover artwork for the home versions
Developer(s)Midway
Probe Software(GEN/MD, GG, GB, SMS, Amiga, DOS)
Sculptured Software(SNES)
Probe Entertainment(32X, SS, PS)
Sony Online Entertainment,Digital Eclipse,Backbone Entertainment(PS3)
Publisher(s)Midway
Acclaim Entertainment(home versions)
Producer(s)Ken Fedesna
Neil Nicastro
Robert Leingang, Robert O'Farrell, Billy Pidgeon (DOS)
Designer(s)Ed Boon
John Tobias
Programmer(s)Ed Boon
Brian O'Shaughnessy (DOS)
Artist(s)John Tobias
Tony Goskie
John Vogel
Terry Ford (DOS)
Composer(s)Dan Forden
Matt Furniss(Genesis, Game Gear, Master System)
Allister Brimble(Amiga)
SeriesMortal Kombat
Platform(s)
Release
November 12, 1993
  • Arcade
    Genesis/Mega Drive,SNES,Game Gear
    • NA:September 9, 1994
    • EU:1994
    Game Boy
    Amiga
    Master System
    32X
    MS-DOS
    • NA:May 16, 1995
    • EU:1995
    Sega Saturn
    • NA:March 28, 1996
    • EU:1996
    PlayStation
    • JP:August 2, 1996
Genre(s)Fighting
Mode(s)Single-player,multiplayer
Arcade systemMidway T Unit

It is the second main installment in theMortal Kombatfranchise and a sequel to 1992'sMortal Kombat,improving the gameplay and expanding the mythos of the originalMortal Kombat,introducing more varied finishing moves (including severalFatalitiesper character and new finishers, such as Babality and Friendship) and several iconic characters, such asKitana,Mileena,Kung Lao,the hidden characterNoob Saibot,and the series' recurring villain,Shao Kahn.The game's plot continues from the first game, featuring the next Mortal Kombat tournament set in the otherdimensional realm of Outworld, with the Outworld and Earthrealm representatives fighting each other on their way to challenge the evil emperor Shao Kahn.

The game was an unprecedented commercial success and was acclaimed by most critics, receiving many annual awards and being featured in various top lists in the years and decades to come, and also caused a majorvideo game controversydue to the series' continuous depiction of graphic violence. It spawned aspin-offgame,Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks,had the greatest influence on the 2011soft rebootgameMortal Kombat,and inspired numerousvideo game clones.Mortal Kombat IIis often cited as one of thegreatest video gamesever made.

A sequel,Mortal Kombat 3,was released in 1995.

Gameplay

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Further information:Gameplay of the first Mortal Kombat game
A screenshot of Pit II'sStage Fatalitybeing performed againstMileena.A figure in flames laterretconnedasBlazecan be seen in the stage's background (see also therumorssection).

Thegameplaysystem ofMortal Kombat IIis an improved version of that from the originalMortal Kombat.There are several changes in standard moves: a crouching punch was added, low and high kicks have greater differentiation (be they crouching or standing up),roundhouse kicksare made more powerful (knocking an opponent across the screen, like the game'suppercut), and it is easier to performcombosdue to reduced recovery times for attacks. Returning characters also gained new special moves, including some to be used in mid-air, and the game plays almost twice as fast as the original.[5][6][7][8]

As with its predecessor, matches are divided into rounds, and the first player to win two rounds by fully depleting their opponent's life bar is the winner; at this point, the losing character will become dazed and the winner is given the opportunity of using a finishing move.Mortal Kombat IIlacks the "Test Your Might" bonus games and point system from the first game, in favor of a consecutive win tally where wins are represented byicons.[5]

The game marked the introduction of multipleFatalities(special moves allowing the victorious character to execute their opponent at the end of a match) as well as additional, non-lethal finishing moves to the franchise:Babalities(turning the opponent into a crying baby),Friendships(a non-malicious interaction, such as dancing or giving a gift to the defeated opponent) and additionalstage-specific Fatalities(the victor uppercutting their opponent into an abyss below, spikes in the ceiling, or a pool of acid in the background).[5]Finishing moves cannot be performed either by or against the boss or secret characters.[note 1]

Plot

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Following his failure to defeatLiu Kangin the previous Mortal Kombat tournament, the evilShang Tsungbegs his masterShao Kahn,supreme ruler of Outworld and the surrounding kingdoms, to spare his life. He tells Shao Kahn that if they hold the next Mortal Kombat Tournament in Outworld, the Earthrealm warriors must travel away from home to attend. Kahn agrees to this plan, and restores Shang Tsung's youth and martial arts prowess. He then extends the invitation to the thunder god and Earthrealm's protector,Raiden,who gathers his warriors and takes them into Outworld. The new tournament is much more dangerous, as Shao Kahn has the home field advantage.[9][10]

According to theMortal Kombatseries'canon,Liu Kang won this tournament as well, defeating Shao Kahn and his bodyguard Kintaro.[11]The game's story mode can be also finished using any other playable character, resulting in a variety of non-canonical endings for each of them.[12]This game also establishes that the originalSub-ZeroBi-Han was killed byScorpionin the first game and Bi-Han's younger brother Kuai Liang took the identity of the new Sub-Zero.[13]

Characters

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Main article:Characters of the Mortal Kombat series
A screenshot of the character selection screen inMortal Kombat II,showing the game's playable character roster. From the upper left:Liu Kang,Kung Lao,Johnny Cage,Reptile,Sub-Zero,Shang Tsung,Kitana,Jax,Mileena,Baraka,Scorpion,Raiden

The game includes 12 playable characters.

New characters
  • Baraka(played by Richard Divizio),[14]a mutant warlord of Outworld's Nomad race, responsible for the assault on theShaolin Monasteryon the orders of Shao Kahn.[15]
  • Jax(played by John Parrish):U.S. Special Forcesofficer who enters the tournament to rescue his partnerSonya Bladefrom Outworld.
  • Kitana(played by Katalin Zamiar),[14]a female ninja who works as a personal assassin in the service of Shao Kahn. She has been suspected of secretly aiding the Earthrealm warriors.[15]
  • Kung Lao(played by Anthony Marquez),[14]Shaolin monk and close friend of Liu Kang, a descendant of the Great Kung Lao (who was defeated byGoroand Shang Tsung 500 years before the events ofMK). He seeks to avenge his ancestor and the destruction of the Shaolin temple.[15]
  • Mileena(played by Katalin Zamiar),[14]twin sister to Kitana who also serves as an assassin for Kahn. Her mission during the tournament is to ensure the loyalty of her sister, but she also has plans of her own.[15]
Returning characters
  • Johnny Cage(played byDaniel Pesina),[14]Hollywoodactor who joins Liu Kang in his journey to Outworld.[15]
  • Liu Kang(played byHo Sung Pak),[14]Shaolin monk who is the reigning champion of Mortal Kombat. He travels to Outworld to seek vengeance for the death of his Shaolin monastery brothers.[15]
  • Raiden(played by Carlos Pesina),[14]thunder god who returns to Mortal Kombat to stop Kahn's evil plans of taking Earthrealm for his own[15](spelled "Rayden" in the DOS and console ports).
  • Reptile(played by Daniel Pesina), Shang Tsung's personal bodyguard.[15][note 2]
  • Scorpion(played by Daniel Pesina),[14]a hellspawned spectre who returns to the tournament to once again assassinate Sub-Zero.[15]
  • Shang Tsung(played by Philip Ahn, M.D.)[16]An evil sorcerer who convinced Kahn to spare his life after losing the last tournament, with a new plan to appease his master, who in turn restores Tsung's youth.[15]Although playable in this installment, also serves as a sub-boss of the game, always appearing before Kintaro in the single-player mode. As in the first game, he is able to morph into any of the playable characters, retaining their moves (in some versions only the character against whom he is currently fighting).
  • Sub-Zero(played by Daniel Pesina),[14]a male ninja who possesses cryokinesis. Though apparently killed in the first tournament, he mysteriously returns, traveling into Outworld to again attempt to assassinate Shang Tsung.[15]
Boss characters
  • Kintaro(stop motion), Shao Kahn's bodyguard, sent by his race to avenge Goro's defeat. He is the game's penultimate boss.
  • Shao Kahn(played by Brian Glynn, voiced bySteve Ritchie),[14]the evil Emperor of Outworld, who wishes to conquer Earthrealm by any means. He is the tournament host and the game's final boss.

The game also features three hidden opponents for unlockable fights:Jade(played by Katalin Zamiar), a female ninja clad in green who is immune to projectiles;Noob Saibot(played by Daniel Pesina), a dark silhouetted ninja who is a "lost warrior" from the firstMKgame; andSmoke(played by Daniel Pesina), a male ninja clothed in gray who emits smoke from his body.[8]

Sonya andKanoare the only playable characters from the firstMortal Kombatwho were not implemented as fighters, as they only appear in the background of the Kahn's Arena stage, chained and on display as his prisoners.[6]The reason for this was due to the storage limitations of arcade hardware at the time. When Midway employees ran audits on several Mortal Kombat arcade cabinets in the Chicago area, they found that Kano and Sonya were the least chosen characters. So they were cut to background sprites in order to make room for new characters.[6][17]

Development

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When we finishedMortal Kombat I,Acclaimdid the home version, and they sold six million copies or something crazy like that. We had already started talking about doing aStar Warsgame, and then our general manager at the time came to us one day and said, 'What do you mean aStar Warsgame? You can't do aStar Warsgame. You've got to do anotherMortal Kombatgame.' The notion of sequels wasn't even something that we had entertained. It was just like, 'Oh, you do this game and then you move onto the next game.' Looking back now, it's really silly that we wouldn't have entertained that idea.[18]

MKII's story influences came from the same places as the first game. One influence came from the first twoStar Warsfilms, where you knew that there wasan emperorruling the universe, but knew nothing else about him. It created a desire in the viewer to want to know more. I think we had something very similar with Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn and for me that came from that feeling I had as a kid when I learned more about what made theStar Warsuniverse tick inEmpire Strikes Back.I wantedMKfans to have that same feeling.[19]

Game

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According to the project's lead programmerEd Boon,Mortal Kombat IIwas "intended to look different than the originalMK"and" had everything we wanted to put intoMKbut did not have time for. "[20]In 2012, Boon placed creating the game among his bestMortal Kombatmemories, recalling: "When we didMortal Kombat II,we got new equipment and all that stuff, but it was funny because when we started working onMortal Kombat II,the mania, the hysteria of the home versions ofMortal Kombat Iwas literally all around us. We were so busy working on the next one, going from seven characters to 12 and two Fatalities per character and all these other things that that consumed every second. "[18]Both the theme and art style ofMKIIwere slightly darker than those of its predecessor, although a more vibrantcolor palettewas employed and the new game had a much richercolor depththan the previous game. A new feature was the use of multiple layers ofparallax scrollingin the arcade version.[7]The game was made to be less serious with the addition of humorous alternative finishing moves. Some of the considered Fatalities were rejected as too extreme at the time.[21]

Care was taken during the programming process to give the game a "good feel", with Boon simulating elements such as gravity into thevideo game design.The game's lead designer and artistJohn Tobiasnoted that the previous game's reliance on juggling the opponent in the air with successive hits was an accident, and had been tightened inMortal Kombat II.Boon said that the reason to not completely remove it in favor of a different system of chaining attacks together was to set the game apart from the competing titles such asStreet Fighterand allow for players to devise their own combinations of attacks.[22]A double jump ability was implemented but later removed.[23]At one point, a bonus stage was planned to feature "a bunch of ninjas jumping all over the place and you would swing at them, just like you're in the middle of a fight in a kung fu movie." All of the music was composed, performed, recorded and mixed byDan Forden,theMortal Kombatseries' sound designer and composer, using theWilliamsDCSsound system.[24]

Like the first game, Acclaim handled the home conversions.San Francisco Chronicleclaimed in 1994 that Acclaim had spent$50 millionon developing, manufacturing and marketing the game.[25]

Characters

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To create the character animations for the game, actors were placed in front of a gray background and performed the motions, which were recorded on videotape (using a broadcast-quality, $20,000Sonycamera instead of the standardHi8camera used for the originalMortal Kombat).[22]Thevideo capturefootage was then processed into a computer, and the background was removed from selected frames to createsprites.Towards the end of the game's development, they opted to instead use ablue screentechnique and processed the footage directly into the computer for a similar, simpler process.[22]The actors were lightly sprayed with water to give them a sweaty, glistening appearance,[26]while post-editing was done on the sprites afterward to highlight flesh tones and improve the visibility of muscles,[27]which Tobias felt set the series apart from similar games usingdigitizedgraphics. Animations of Shang Tsung morphing into other characters were created by Midway's John Vogel using a computer, while hand-drawn animations were used for other parts of the game, such as the Fatalities. For animating Goro and Kintaro, clay sculptures were created by Tobias' friend Curt Chiarelli and then turned into 12-inch latex miniatures that were used forstop motionfilming.[22]Because of technical restrictions, the actors' costumes had to be simple and no acrobatic moves such asbackflipscould have been recorded;[28]the most difficult moves to perform were some of the jumping kicks.[29]

Several characters (namely Jade, Kitana, Mileena, Noob Saibot, Reptile, Scorpion, Smoke, and Sub-Zero) were created using the first game'spalette swaptechnique on just two base models. The game was noted for its "strong female presence",[30]as it was featuring more than one woman character as it was common in the genre at the time. Due to memory limitations and the development team's desire to introduce more new characters, two fighters from the originalMortal Kombat,Sonya Blade and Kano, whom Boon cited as the least-picked characters in the game, were excluded,[31]substituted by two palette swaps, Mileena and Reptile. In place of Sonya, two new playable female characters, Kitana and Mileena, were introduced so the game might better compete againstCapcom'sStreet Fighter II: The World WarriorfeaturingChun-Li.[8][32][note 3]Another planned female fighter, based on the real-life kickboxerKathy Longwhom Tobias admired, was omitted due to time constraints.[29]A male bonus character played by Kyu Hwang was also cut from the game.[8][33]

Release

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A vintageMortal Kombat IIarcade cabinet (with artwork of the character Raiden on the side panels) atPAX South2015

The first version ofMKII,revision 1.4, "was effectively a publicbeta test",featuring few Fatalities and manysoftware bugs;it also lacked the endings for the characters. It took three subsequent revisions to have the moves and finishing moves finalized and all the bugs corrected, also adding additional content, as development had still been in progress for all that time.[6]The final version was revision 3.1,[8]released in January 1994.[34]

Marketing and merchandise

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In conjunction with the release of the arcade game in 1993, an official comic book,Mortal Kombat II Collector's Edition,written and illustrated by Tobias, was released throughmail order,describing the backstory of the game in greater detail.[8]Acclaim Entertainmentstated that it "had startedMortal Kombat IIwith a $10 million global marketing campaign "for the home versions.[35][36]A part of this sum was used to film and air the live-action TV commercial created byDavid AndersonandBob Keen.The video[37]featured Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Reptile (with a notably more reptilian appearance), Kitana, Baraka and Shao Kahn, who were played by the same actors as in the game.[38]The game's promotional campaign'staglinewas "Nothing... Nothing can prepare you."[39]In 2008,EurogamercalledMortal Kombat II"a marketing triumph".[40]

Malibu Comicspublished a series ofMortal Kombatcomic books featuring the characters from bothMKIIand the original game.[8]Mortal Kombat II: Music from the Arcade Game Soundtrack,an album featuring music fromMortal Kombat IIandMortal Kombat,composed by Dan Forden,[8][41]could originally only be purchased by ordering it through a limited CD offer, which was posted on the arcade version of the game'sattract mode.Other merchandise for the game included a periodical official fanzineMortal Kombat II Kollector's Magazinepublished by Midway andSendai,[42]a series of collectible stickers for an album byPanini Group,two different series of action figures (released in Argentina in 1995 and in the US in 1999, respectively),[8]and collectible card gameMortal Kombat Kard Gamethat was marketed as "Mortal Kombat IItrading cards ".[43]

Home releases

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Since 1994, multiple officialportsandemulatedversions ofMortal Kombat IIhave been released for a wide variety of home systems, including the8-bit(Game Boy,Game Gear,andMaster System),16-bit(Super Nintendo Entertainment System(SNES) andSega Genesis / Mega Drive) and32-bit(32X,PlayStation,andSega Saturn) consoles,AmigaandMS-DOScomputers, and thePlayStation Network(PSN). The Game Boy, Game Gear, SNES, and Genesis versions were released simultaneously on September 13, 1994, dubbed "Mortal Tuesday" by Acclaim's marketing.[44]The PlayStation version was released only in Japan, retitledMortal Kombat II: Kyuukyoku Shinken(モータルコンバットII cứu cực thần quyền,Mōtaru Konbatto Tsū Kyūkyoku Shinken,"Mortal Kombat II: Ultimate Godly Fist" )JP;this subtitle was also used for the Japanese release of the Sega 32X port.

  • The Sega Genesis / Mega Drive port, developed byProbe Software,retains all of the blood and Fatalities without a special code having to be entered, unlike the originalMortal Kombatfor the system. It contains several exclusiveEaster eggs[note 4]and features some different character animations for victory poses and a support for the motion controller deviceSega Activator.
  • The SNES version was developed bySculptured Software.Because of poor sales of the censored SNES version of the original game,Nintendodecided to allow depictions of blood and Fatalities this time around.[46]Because the industry-wide rating system was not expected to be in effect until November 1994 at the earliest, this version had no formal rating; instead, a warning label was put on the game's box in order to inform prospective buyers about the game's mature content.[47]The Japanese version, however, is censored to a degree, with green blood for all fighters,[48]as well as the screen colors turning black-and-white for all character-specific lethal Fatalities.[49]John Tobias favored this version over the Genesis version, stating: "I would go so far as to say that the Super NES version is one of the best arcade-to-home conversions I've seen."[50]
  • Also developed by Probe Software, the Game Boy port plays similarly to the Game Boy version of the original game but with characters moving much smoother and faster. It only contains eight of the 12 playable fighters from the arcade game (lacking Baraka, Johnny Cage, Kung Lao and Raiden); Kintaro and Noob Saibot were also removed from the game, yet Jade is included as a hidden fighter. Only three of ten arenas are retained from the arcade version: the Kombat Tomb, the Pit II and Goro's Lair. The Kombat Tomb contains the port's only Stage Fatality and Goro's Lair is much simpler in this version (consisting of a brick wall with no openings or glowing eyes). Blood is completely removed and each playable character retains only one of their Fatalities plus the Babality.
  • Also developed by Probe Software, the Sega Game Gear and Master System ports are similar to the Game Boy port, but in color instead of inmonochrome.Both of them are almost identical, except for the reduced size of the Game Gear screen, featuring the same fighters and arenas as the Game Boy port, but with the addition of Kintaro. The arena where players fight Jade and Smoke is exclusive to each version. Unlike the Game Boy version, blood is present, but was drastically reduced in quantity when compared to other ports. Because of the systems' limited graphical resources, some of the Fatalities in the game were altered to completely destroy the opponent's body, leaving genericgibsof bones and limbs, while others were also simplified to use common animations.

The game was also featured in several compilation releases, includingMidway Arcade Treasures 2for theGameCube,PlayStation 2,andXbox, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monksfor thePlayStation 2andXboxas a hidden and unlockable Easter egg,Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Playfor thePlayStation Portable,andMortal Kombat Arcade Kollection[8][51]for theMicrosoft Windows,PlayStation 3andXbox 360.Another compilation release, for theNintendo DS,was canceled.[52]Arcade1Upreleased a home arcade cabinet compilation that included the game, as well as the originalMortal KombatandUltimate Mortal Kombat 3.[53]

Reception

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Sales

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Mortal Kombat IIproved to be an enormous commercial success and even a cultural phenomenon.[85]WMS Industries,owner of Midway at the time, reported its 1993 sales in the quarter ending December 31 rose to $101 million from $86 million and said much of its revenue gain was related to the sale of the arcade version ofMKII.[86]It went on to become America's highest-grossing arcade game of 1994 according to the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA).[87]By 1996, the number of arcade machines sold approached 25,000 units; at that time, arcade games that sold 5,000 units were considered strong titles (Midway printed special T-shirts to celebrate 300 machines being manufactured in one day[88]) and an arcade cabinet cost $3,000–4,000.[89]The arcade version went on to sell 27,000 units,[90]and grossed$600 millionas of 2002.[91]MKIIwas considered an arcade game of the year,[92]taking over from the originalMortal Kombat.

On the day of the release of the game's first four versions forcartridge-based console systems (Sega's Genesis and Game Gear and Nintendo's SNES and Game Boy), dubbed "Mortal Friday" (September 9, 1994), celebrated annually by the fan community on the second Friday of September[93][94]an unprecedented number of more than 2.5 million copies were shipped to be distributed, with the best opening-week sales in video game history at that point.[95]Acclaim's analysts expected that the number of copies sold would reach at least 2.5 million within the first few weeks of release (at an average retail price of $60)[96]and the sales to top $150 million by the end of the year.[39][97]

In the first week of its console release, the game made sales to $50 million, whichAcclaim Entertainmentsaid was "The largest introduction of a video game in history". Distribution of over 2.5 million copies around 15,000 stores required 65 trucks and 11 jumbo jets.[98]First-week sales of over $50 million in the United States surpassed the openingbox officeresults of that season's Hollywood filmblockbusters,such asForrest Gump,True Lies,The Mask,andThe Lion King.[99][100][101]Approximately2.5 millionunits were shipped to stores within a month.[102]Mortal Kombat IIbecame the world's best-selling video game (until it was eclipsed byDonkey Kong Country,released in November 1994).[103]In the United States, it was the top-selling Genesis, SNES, and Game Gear game in September 1994,[104]and the top Game Gear game the following month.[105]The Genesis version went on to sell 1.78 million copies in the United States, along with an additional 1.51 million American copies of the game for the SNES.[106]In the United Kingdom, it was the top-selling game in September 1994, including for the Mega Drive, SNES, Master System, Game Gear, and Game Boy;[107]it remained the top-selling game for the Master System, Game Gear, and Game Boy in October,[108]and for the Game Gear in November.[109]

By 2002, estimated gross sales ofMortal Kombat IIhome video games exceeded $400 million.[103]Re-released in 2007, the PSN version has continued to occupy the service's top ten monthly sales chart nearly three years later in February 2010.[110]

Reviews

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The initial critical reception ofMortal Kombat IIwas overwhelmingly positive,[111]withSega Visionsdescribing the way in which the sequel was directed as "sheer brilliance",[112]andNintendo Powercalling it "the hottest fighter ever".[113]Tony Brusgul ofThe Daily Gazetteopined the "incredible" hype surrounding the game was "well deserved", describing it as "a perfect blend of great graphics, action and violence".[114]In his review of the arcade release, Rik Skews ofComputer + Video Games(C+VG) wrote: "the only true rival toStreet [F]ighter II"returned" in a sequel that bites off the head of the original. "[57]

Regarding the Genesis version, Mark Patterson ofC+VGwrote that "Probehas done an incredible job with this conversion. Everything is here, and I mean everything. "[58]Sushi-XofElectronic Gaming Monthly(EGM) called the Genesis version "a great translation considering its limitations", commenting that its graphics and sounds are not as good as those of the SNES version.[95]A reviewer forThe Detroit Newswas "very disappointed" with the Genesis port and recommended the SNES version instead.[95]

The four reviewers ofEGMhailed the SNES version as a "near-perfect" translation of the arcade game.[61]A reviewer forThe Baltimore Suncalled the SNES version "the best game I've ever played - a true translation",[95]and Patterson noted it was the bloodiest game Nintendo has yet allowed to be released.C+VGdeclared it "the most perfectcoin-opconversion ever ".[115][58]Next Generationstated about SNES version that "with full creative license, Acclaim has produced possibly the best arcade conversion ever."[73]

Regarding the portable console ports, Patterson stated that "no Game Boy owner should go without this" and called the Game Gear version "still the best handheld beat-'em up" on the market though lacking much canonical content.[58]EGMreviewers concurred that the Game Gear version "has eye-popping graphics, and great control - so much so that you won't believe this is a portable", but were less enthusiastic about the Game Boy version. Though they commented that it is better than most fighting games for the system, two of their four reviewers said that it was not worth getting with the game available on much more powerful platforms.[62]

Critical reception of the Amiga version was also mostly very favorable, including Ed Lawrence ofCU Amigadeclaring that "every person who own an Amiga has to ownMortal Kombat 2.In terms of revitalising the Amiga market, this is far more important than anyCommodorebuy-out could ever be. "[78]In a rare dissenting opinion, Jonathan Nash ofAmiga PowerdismissedMortal Kombat IIas "a clearly nonsensical title", recommending to "buyShadow Fighterinstead ".[116]The later PC version was also well-received, withNext Generationstating that "if you like fighting games, this is the best that's available."[74]

About the 32X version,IGN's Levi Buchanan stated that "if you do not have a SNES, this is the home version ofMKIIto get. "[71]In contrast,GameProremarked that the 32X version offered too little improvement over the Genesis version, even failing to correct the control shortcomings, and was technically poor given the 32X's capabilities.[117]In a review of the 32X version of the game,Next Generationopined that "MKIIis a great game, but it's a serious case of 'been there, done that!' "[75]Brazilian magazineAção Gamesgave the 32X version 5 out of 5 on all six categories.[118]

Reviewing theCD-ROMbased Saturn port,EGMcommented that the graphics are identical to the arcade version but that there are missing sound effects and "unbearable" slowdown when first performing a special move. They rated it the best home version of the game to date but said that withMortal Kombat IIhaving considerably aged by this point, any port needed to be near arcade perfect to stand out.[63]Next Generationsaid that the Saturn version was arcade perfect, but that theMortal Kombatseries as a whole was grossly overrated and lacked any gameplay innovations to make it stand out from other fighting games. They summarized that "if you are a fan of the game (and you know who you are), then the Saturn version is everything you can hope for - an arcade-perfect translation - and yet, there is nothing outside of a flashy presentation and a little gore to recommend this game over a million others just like it."[76]Scary Larry ofGameProagreed that the Saturn port "duplicates the arcade version perfectly", but argued that the slowdown and load times make the game frustrating to play. He concluded that the conversion would make a decent holdover untilUltimate Mortal Kombat 3was released for Saturn, but fails to measure up toMortal Kombat 3on the PlayStation.[119]Sega Saturn Magazinewas extremely disappointed with the final version of the Saturn port, calling it "much worse than any of the versions seen on the cartridge format",[82]as opposed to the vastly superior pre-release version they had reviewed five months earlier.[81]

Awards

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Mortal Kombat IIreceived numerous annual awards from gaming publications.Game Playersgave it the titles of "Best Genesis Fighting Game", "Best SNES Fighting Game" and "Best Overall SNES Game" of 1994.[120]The staff ofNintendo PowerrankedMKIIas the second (SNES) and fifth (Game Boy) "Top Game" of 1994,[46]while the magazine's readers voted it to receive the 1995'sNintendo Power Awardsfor "Best Tournament Fighter (all Nintendo platforms)" and "Best Play Control (Game Boy)",[121]with the game having been nominated by the staff also in the categories "Worst Villain" (positively, an equivalent of "Best Hero" ) and "Best Overall (all Nintendo platforms)".[122]VideoGamesnamedMKIIas the "Best Fighting Game" of 1994, also awarding it second place in the categories "Best Super NES Game" and "Best Arcade-to-Home Translation".[123]Other awards included "The Best of the Show (Super NES)" for theSCES'94 fromGamePro[124]and "Bloodiest Game of 1994" fromEGM.[125]In 2017,Gamesradarlisted the game 29th on its "Best Sega Genesis/Mega Drive games of all time".[126]

Controversies

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See also:Controversies surrounding Mortal Kombat

As in the case of the firstMortal Kombatgame, the content ofMortal Kombat IIbecame the subject of a great deal of controversy regarding violent video games. Nancian Cherry ofToledo Bladewrote that both games had "an army of critics too: people upset by the bone-crunching, blood-spurting, limb-ripping violence depicted on the small screen."[127]According to IGN, "Mortal Kombat IIwore its notoriety as a badge of honor, boasting about it in promotional materials, and even parodying it in-game. "[128]The game was banned in Germany,[129]whereMKIIwas put in the index by theFederal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons(BPjM) and all versions of the game except for the Game Boy version[130]were subjected to being confiscated from the nation's market for violating theGerman Penal Codeby showing excessive violence and cruel acts against representations of human beings. Due to regional censorship, the game was also released with green-colored blood and black-and-white fatality sequences in Japan; it was at that time a unique occurrence of a western game being censored in Japan, not the reverse.[48]Years later, Boon recalled: "I've always had the position that the rating system was a good idea and should be put in place. OnceMortal Kombat IIcame out, there was a rating system in place. We were an M-rated game, and everybody knew the content that was in there, so it became almost a non-issue. "[18]Tobias agreed, saying that they "were content with the M for mature on our packaging."[131]

There were also some other controversies. In 1994,Guy Aoki,president of Media Action Network forAsian Americans(MANAA), criticized the game for allegedly perpetuating existingstereotypes of Asiansasmartial artsexperts with the game's portrayal of several of its characters. Allyne Mills, a publicist at Acclaim, responded to this by stating: "This is a fantasy game, with all different characters. This is a martial arts game which comes from Asia. [sic] The game was not created to foster stereotypes. "[132]Critical studies professorMarsha Kinderaccused the game of "amisogynistaspect to the combat ", alleging that" inMKII,some of the most violent possibilities are against women. Also, their fatality moves are highly eroticised. "[133]

Mortal Kombatactors Daniel Pesina, Philip Ahn, Katalin Zamiar, and Elizabeth Malecki unsuccessfully filed two lawsuits in 1996 and 1997 against Midway, Williams,Nintendo of America,Segaof America, and Acclaim Entertainment for the unauthorized misuse of their likenesses and to seek royalties from sales of the games' home ports.[134][135][136]Pesina, who sought $10 million in the suits for his roles in the first twoMKgames, had appeared in costume as Johnny Cage in a 1994 print advertisement for the fighting gameBloodStorm.[137]

Retrospective

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Arguably the bestWesternfighting gameto date, and certainly the title that definedMortal Kombatas abrand,this game launched a thousandimitatorsen route to becoming one of the most famous -- and infamous -- video games ever made. Its technical and artistic mastery is only matched by its gushing gore.[138]

—GameProin 2007

Over the following years, multiple publications acclaimedMortal Kombat IIas one of the best video games ever. It was ranked as the 97th top game of all time by the staff ofGame Informerin 2001,[139]as the 38th most important video game of all time by the staff ofGameProin 2007,[138]and as the 32nd best video game of all time byThe Boston Phoenixin 2010.[140]Featuring it in their 2003 video game hall of fame series, the staff ofGameSpotwrote: "Mortal Kombat IIwas so much better, as a sequel, than it had to be that it absolutely deserves a place in the pantheon of all-time classics. "[6]

Many publications also listedMortal Kombat IIamong the best video games of its genre or era. It was ranked as the third best fighting game by the staff ofGamePro[141]and the ninth best fighting game of all time by Rich Knight of Cinema Blend in 2008,[142]as the third top fighting game of all time by Marissa Meli ofUGO[143]and the second best 2D fighting game ever made by Robert Workman of GamePlayBook in 2010,[144]and as the third best fighting game of all time by Peter Rubin ofComplexin 2011.[145]It was also ranked as the 53rd best game on any Nintendo platform by the staff ofNintendo Powerin 1997,[146]featured among the 100 best games of the 20th century by Jakub Kralka of Benchmark in 2009,[147]and ranked as the tenth best 16-bit game ever by McKinley Noble ofPC Worldthat same year.[148]

The game also received accolades for its various conversions.Mortal Kombat IIwas included among the ten best arcade games byWirtualna Polska,[149]and ranked as the fifth top arcade game by the staff ofGameTrailersin 2009,[150]as the 31st top arcade game of all time by the staff ofGameSpyin 2011,[151]and as the sixth best arcade game of the 1990s byComplexin 2013.[152]Regarding the 16-bit console versions,MKIIwas ranked as the fourth best ever Genesis game byComplex[153]and as the 19th best Genesis game byGamesRadar,[129]as well as the 12th best ever SNES game by Rich Knight ofComplex[154]and as the 25th top game for the SNES by Richard George of IGN;[155]in 1995, SNES magazineSuper Playalso ranked it as the best sequel on the platform.[156]In Poland, where the Amiga was the most popular gaming platform of the early 1990s,MKIIwas ranked as the ninth best ever Amiga game by Michał Wierzbicki ofCHIP[157]and as the 22nd best Amiga game byPSX Extremeeditor-in-chief Przemysław Ścierski.[158]In 1995,Total!Listed the game 4th on its "Top 100 SNES Games".[159]In 1996, GamesMaster rated the game 35th on their "Top 100 Games of All Time".[160]

Most hard-core fans agree thatMortal Kombat IIis the best in the entire series. Midway improved on every single aspect and... inspired a horde ofalso-rans.[5]

—GameSpotin 2002

GamesRadar called it "the point when the series became great".[161]In 2007, GamesRadar included four elements of this game - Dan Forden's "Toasty!" effect during an uppercut (also ranked as the 11th funniest moment in video games by Rich Knight ofComplexin 2012),[162]Friendship and Babality finishing moves, and the ceiling spikes Stage Fatality - among the ten greatest things aboutMortal Kombat.[163]Reviewing the PlayStation 3 release in 2007, IGN's Jeff Haynes stated that "Mortal Kombat IIstill manages to stand up almost 15 years later as one of the best arcade fighters around. "[72]As late as 2009, many fans still consideredMKIIto be the best title in the series.[148]According to a 2011 article by Mike Harradence of PlayStation Universe, the "bigger, bolder and bloodier" game remains "a firm fan favourite amongMKaficionados ".[164]That year, IGN's Richard George wrote that "Mortal Kombat IIis considered by many to be the pinnacle of the series "and called it" still one of the most fun 16-bit fighters to play ".[155]In 2013, Rich Knight and Hanuman Welch ofComplexwrote that "Mortal Kombat IItook everything we loved about the original and magnified it by about a million.... We still love this game. "[152]That same year, Knight and Gus Turner from the same magazine also ranked it as the sixth best 2D fighting game of all time, stating: "Truth be told,the latestMKhas nothing on this one. Nothing. A step up from the original in every way,MK IIwas, and still is, a solid, violent game that's an essential title to grab for any serious fan of fighting games. "[165]In 2014, Kevin Wong ofComplexwrote: "Today, we rememberMortal Kombat IIfor its anarchic spirit—the game was endlessly intriguing and weird, and it had an uneasy atmosphere—anything could happen at any given moment. Critics deridedMortal Kombatas meaningless shock value, but its sequel proved those naysayers wrong.Mortal Kombat IIwas a Flawless Victory—irreverent, hilarious, and horrific in equal measures. "[166]

Legacy

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On December 26, 2022, the source code for the game, which included cut content, was uploaded online toGitHub.[167][168][169]In response, on January 6, 2023,Warner Bros. Discoverysent a DMCA take down notice to GitHub, and public access to the repository was disabled as a result.[170][171][172][173]The leaker then created a new repository titled "not-mk2" which contained the "Controversies"section of theNetherRealm Studiosarticle onWikipedia.[170]

Rumored content

edit

While many games have been subject tourban legendsabout secret features andunlockablecontent, these kinds of myths were particularly rampant among the dedicated fan community ofMortal Kombatin connection withMortal Kombat II.[5]According to GameSpy, "the [arcade gaming] community was abuzz about myriad secrets both true and false."[151]The game's creators did little to dispel those rumors that included supposed "Nudality" or "Sexuality" finishing moves for Kitana and Mileena, Shang Tsung's ability to transform into Kano and Goro, a chance to fight Sonya after defeating Jade in a specific way, and "Hornbuckle"being featured as an additional secret character.[6][8][128][174][175]

Some of them were eventually implemented in subsequentMKgames. Among these rumors to be adapted later were theAnimalities(used inMortal Kombat 3and its updates) and an ability to throw an opponent into the mouth of a tree in the Living Forest stage (first used inMortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks).[128][176][177]Rumored characters included false reports of a red female ninja character who was dubbed "Scarlet" by fans and was officially introduced asSkarletin 2011'sMortal Kombat,[178][179]and the male ninjaErmacthat originated from a misinterpreted indicator in the original game's audits menu, and was teased inMKIIbefore finally becoming playable inUltimate Mortal Kombat 3.[8][179]A nameless, flaming palette swap of Liu Kang seen in the background of the Pit II stage, initially dubbed "Torch" by fans, officially debuted inMortal Kombat: Deadly Allianceas secret characterBlaze,who later became the final boss ofMortal Kombat: Armageddon.[176]

edit
See also:Mortal Kombat (1995 film),Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks,Mortal Kombat (2011 video game),andMortal Kombat Arcade Kollection

Although the 1995 filmMortal Kombatwas primarily based on the first game, it features elements ofMKII,such as the characters Kitana and Shao Kahn, and the setting of Outworld.

The plot and characters of the game served as the basis for the 2005spin-offgameMortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks,abeat 'em uptitle which follows Liu Kang and Kung Lao as they fight their way through Outworld to defeat Shao Kahn. Some of the plot ofShaolin Monks,such as the death of Jade, is not compatible with the generalMortal Kombatgame series.

The events ofMortal Kombat II,along with the firstMortal KombatandMortal Kombat 3(including its expansions), were later retold in the 2011 fighting gameMortal Kombat,which was as an effectiverebootof the series. In it, Raiden uses time travel to revisit the tournaments from the original games in the series in order to change the future in the aftermath of Armageddon.[180]The ladder/arcade mode of this game can follow the same order of bosses as inMKII(with Shang Tsung, Kintaro and Shao Kahn as the final three opponents, althoughGorowill often be the ninth opponent instead of Kintaro) and its controls and Fatality system are most reminiscent ofMKII.Classic costumes fromMKIIwere also brought back as alternate outfits for female ninja characters, with some of these costumes exclusive to thePlayStation Vitaversion.[181]

Mortal Kombat IIwas to be one of the three games remade in HD in the cancelled fighting gameMortal Kombat HD Arcade Kollection.[182][183]However, only a simple compilation game titledMortal Kombat Arcade Kollectionwas released instead.

Notes

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  1. ^The arcade version also contains a hidden game ofPong.[5][8]
  2. ^Previously a palette swap of Sub-Zero with Scorpion and Sub-Zero's moves, Reptile has been made into a distinct character and given his own moves.[8]
  3. ^1993'sSuper Street Fighter II: The New ChallengersaddedCammyto the roster.
  4. ^One of them is "Fergality", performed by selecting Raiden and fighting on the Armory stage; when successfully executed, the opponent transforms into a smoking character with an oversized head of Probe Software'sFergus McGovern.[45]

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