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Top 15 Best Mortal Kombat Games
Mortal Kombat is a very famous American video gaming of the fighting genre. It was developed and published by Midway Games in 1992. The first game of this series was based on a plan of Ed Boon and John Tobias. They wished to make a game that had Jean-Claude Van Damme as the star. The initial Mortal Kombat was one of its kind as it introduced a secret fighter, though it had a certain set of requirements that the player has to fulfill.
The first-ever game had many sequels and spin-offs that consisted of action-adventure games along with various comic book series and card games. The Mortal Kombat movie was released in the 1990s. There were live-action tours, animation, and series as well. Mortal Kombat became the highest-grossing media franchise and made its place among the best-selling fighting genre games ever.
This gaming series is famous for its graphic violence, the most famous of all Mortal Kombat Fatalities. These are the finishing moves of any character that will kill the opponent. There have been many controversies about the game. Some of them even led to the creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board to help rate video games. The games, in the beginning, were known for their realistic digitized spirited and extensive use of palette swapping to invent new characters. The first 3 games and their update were 2D fighting games. Let’s look at the top 15 games of the entire Mortal Kombat series:
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
Many players rated this game 7.4 out of 10. This is a fighting video game released back in 2002 by Midway. It was playable on Xbox, PS 2, Game Boy Advance, and GameCube. This Mortal Kombat game was produced for home consoles, extensively. It had no arcade release. Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance is the 5th addition to the main series of MK. The storyline of this game focuses on the unlikely alliance between sorcerers Quan Chi and Shang Tsung. The game plot also includes their schemes to revive the old army to capture Outworld and Earthrealm. This game does not feature Liu Kang as a playable character.
Mortal Kombat (2011 video game)
This game is also popular as Mortal Kombat 9. This edition also received quite complimenting reviews and was also awarded as the fighting game of the year. Since it sold one million copies following its release, it is safe to say it was a huge commercial success. Some countries even banned this version of the MK series because of the violence shown in the game. Countries like Australia, South Korea, and Germany did not support the release of this fighting game. It was only in 2013 that Australia lifted the ban and it was placed among the R-rated game. It was rated 8.4 and received positive reviews from the users.
Mortal Kombat II (1993 video game)
This edition of the MK series is rated 8.2 by the reviewers. This edition was made to look different from the original Mortal Kombat game. Sega visions use ‘Sheer Brilliance’ to describe this upgraded version of the MK series. The game also got new equipment and the theme and style of this version were denser. Developers also added multiple layers of parallax scrolling in this arcade version of the MK series. The story picks up from the time emperor Shao Kahn invokes a Mortal Kombat tournament rematch. After that, Raiden gathers his Earthrealm forces and takes his warriors into Outworld.
Mortal Kombat (1992 video game)
This was the first-ever MK game that Midway developed and published. This game revolves around characters that have many intentions. They enter into martial arts tournaments that have global consequences. This edition of the entire MK series has a 5-button control scheme and many killers’ moves known as Fatalities.
This game received 8.1 stars out of 10. There are around 7 martial artists from Earthrealm who have to fight against sorcerer Shang Tsung’s in a super-secret tournament. It became one of the best sellers of all time, and also had many spin-offs.
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (2006 video game)
This 7.8-star rating game revolves around the fury of Mortal Kombat. The anger that has brought the realms to the brink of total devastation. Every warrior of the game has been called to a last epic battle, where survival depends on who bests who.
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon was favored among the masses. One of the striking features of this edition is the complete character roster. There are a total of 62 warriors in the MK version. This has every single playable character from the last 6 game installments. Khameleon was a secret character from the Nintendo 64 version of the MK trilogy and it was added to the roster of the Wii version on popular demand.
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (1995 video game)
This was an update of Mortal Kombat 3 with a rating of 8.1 stars. This upgraded version had altered gameplay, the latest features, and extra characters like Kitana, Jade, Reptile, Scorpion, Classic Sub-Zero, Ermac, and Mileena. UMK 3 was welcomed and raised a bar to a new level.
Mortal Kombat: Deception (2004 video game)
This 7.9 rated MK edition presents the return of an ancient evil. It has come beyond death and threatens the very existence of the realms. This version was released in 2004. The striking feature of this Mortal Kombat game was the Konquest Mode. It was different from the one in Deadly Alliance. This version had more elements of new-world explorations as the story progressed unlike in the deadly alliance where it is in the Kombat Tower.
Mortal Kombat 4 (1997 video game)
Mortal Kombat 4 received 7 stars after its release. The plot picks up from the corruptor Elder God Shinnok attacking his former comrades. They were trapped in the NetherRealm a long time back before the 1992 tournament. When Shinnok is attacked by Quan Chi’s allies, the warrior of Earthrealm jumps into the battle between good and evil.
Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks (2005 video games)
IMDB rated this edition of the MK series as 7.9. The game was released in 2005 and the story picks up from the events of Mortal Kombat II. Liu Kang and Kung Lao are the two members of the Shaolin Order. They will travel through the realms, trying to thwart Shang Tsung’s plan to rule the Earthrealm. These warriors will be in the control of you. The Shaolin Monks includes fighting game entries, Fatalities, combos, and a versus mode too. The game received applauding reviews for transforming the MK series into an adventure game and its co-op mode. The edition was a commercial success.
Mortal Kombat VS DC Universe (2008 video game)
This version of MK was not as praiseworthy as the others. It received 6.9 stars and shows a collision between Justice League and the Netherrealm. The story picks up from the merge of Darkseid and Shao Kahn, which resulted in the formation of Dark Kahn. Heroes of this version are haunted by Rage, a mysterious force and forgets their true enemy. This version was entertaining and the developers used DC Universe license in a very creative manner.
Mortal Kombat X (2015 Video Game)
Mortal Kombat X is one of the highest rated editions of the entire Mortal Kombat series with 8.3 stars.
Here 2 of the characters battle against one another using attacks, moves, and various Fatalities. Additionally, each fighter has 3 differentiating variations. For example: The character of Scorpions has a Ninjutsu variation which gives him some special moves to utilize during a dual swords, There is a Hellfire variation also which includes fiery special moves and also there is an Inferno variation which will allow the player to summon hells’ minion for assistance during a fight.
Mortal Kombat 3 (1995 video game)
This 7.7 rated version of the Mortal Kombat series got fame and name as it reincarnated the Sindel in the Earthrealm. Many souls are stripped as they become a part of Outworld. Shao Kahn releases his squads to murder in cold blood all the Earthrealm survivors. Now raiden has to choose the warriors which will fight against Shao Kahn.
Mortal Kombat Gold (1999 video game)
MK Gold was a commercial success with a rating for 7.3 stars.This edition was released mostly to severe bugs and glitches. They also added VMU memory card support so the save features could work properly. Kombat warriors like Kitana, Mileena, Cyrax, etc., return to the battle.
Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub Zero (1997 video game)
This version of the Mortal Kombat series had 6.1 ratings. The story revolves around Sub Zero who is a mortal kombat fighter. He is a ninja who by mistake gives a spiritual amulet to Quan chi, an evil sorcerer. This was the first non-fighting game of the series and it was the last to use the digitized actors in the game series.
Mortal Kombat: Special Forces (2000 video game)
Mortal Kombat: Special Forces was a prequel to the MK 1992 game and it was the first ever 3D spink of the Mortal Kombat series. Jax is controlled by the players on his conquest to pursue Kano, the criminal leader and his gang. Here Special forces will endure a tough development as many staff members left the shereis. Sonya Blade as a playable character was removed. The reviewers gave this edition a solid 5 because of its poor level design and tedious gameplay.