Retro Review : Mortal Kombat

Since Michael Atkinson has stepped down as Attorney General of South Australia and has opened a crack in the door for the R18+ for games to slither through, I though I'd do my Retro Review on the game that brought the rating system in for games around the world. Mortal Kombat started all of these problems and is getting a Retro Review this week.

Mortal Kombat is an arcade fighter that had very realistic graphics, graphic violence and gore. This game because of how violent and graphic it was forced countries around the world to start rating games. What started it was most like mothers buying this game for their kids and finding them decapitating someone in the game. The game featured 7 characters to choose from, each with their own skills and finishers called Fatalities. The controls were simple enough to master since they were borrowed from Street Fighter II and the game was essentially just a better looking Street Fighter game with gore... or at least that what some people have said. I personally say that it's a unique fighting game with realistic graphics that will quench your blood lust. The game's single player mode had you fighting all the other playable characters and then fighting 2 bosses who have become icons in the series as much as the main playable characters have. Goro was arguably harder the Shang Tsung to beat.

Mortal Kombat may have started the ball rolling on games being rated but it was a fun fighter that was perfect for relieving stress from bullies or teachers or even your parents and it kept me from doing some terrible things to kids I went to school with. Mortal Kombat was a good series of games until the 3D Mortal Kombat 4 came out and I recommend just playing Mortal Kombat Trilogy over the rest because it's more fun and it has every character from the original 2D games.