Mortal Kombat (1992 - Present)

This game is so awesome, they had to spell combat with a 'K'. Being one of the longest withstanding franchises of the fighting game genre, Mortal Kombat has maintained a presence and legacy continuing through to this day. The year 1992 brought upon the arcade release of MK, which eventually made its way to gaming consoles. MK is widely acclaimed for its gore content and the trademark Fatality finishes. The series went on to spawn sequels of the game, spin-off adventure games, an animated series, live-action television series and a live-action movie.

MORTAL KOMBAAAAAA-

What really made this game stand from all the other fighting games were the characters. With each new game release were a selection of new characters with old favourites making a repeat appearance. Classics include ninja assassin Scorpion, Shaolin monk Liu Kang, thunder god Raiden and Lin Kuei warrior Sub-Zero (fun fact: Sub-Zero is the only character to have appeared in every MK game). Without derailing the post too much, Sub-Zero had always been my favourite character to use. His ability to control ice allowed him to unleash maneuvers such as Ice Blast, rendering the opponent temporarily frozen and sliding kick, a cool move where Sub-Zero would slide across the screen and trip the opponent.

Ice Blast > Heat Seeking Missile

Easily the most recognisable aspect of the game that made MK a cultural phenomenon was the ability to perform a Fatality, a finishing move where a player executes the opponent in brutal fashion. This created quite a stir among the parentals back in the day when video game violence was never before seen. To perform a Fatality, the opponent had to have their enemy's health diminished to the final hit bar. Having succeeded in that, a 'Finish Him/Her' text appeared on screen in which the finisher then had to press a series of buttons to perform a Fatality. Various finishing moves introduced into different sequels included Babality, Animality, and the awe inspiring combo finishing Brutality.

Sub-Zero performs his trademark Fatality, the Spine Rip.

Staying true to the nineties, Mortal Kombat Trilogy has to be the greatest and most complete sequel released. Included in the game were every character that have made an appearance in MK up to its release, various finishers players were able to perform and the fast and seamless game play that stylised MK.

If you find yourself playing an older version of Mortal Kombat, without a doubt will you be playing with a grin on your face as you reminisce the goodness of old school violent video games. I now leave you with the techno remix of the Mortal Kombat theme song including lyrics! Enjoy.