This game caused kids to disappear. Kids like me. I would find as many quarters as I could, say I was going for a bike ride, and then go missing all day playing MK at the pizza place. Parents cried, police were called…it was the best.
My favorite memory I've heard of this game is a friend of mine playing it in the arcade. He did Sub-Zero's spine rip fatality, and some random Indian family standing behind him started yelling in their native language completely shocked.
Love the Cynthia Rothrock callback. Sonya is definitely Cynthia Rothrock. Holy shit some memories! I remember renting the Genesis version over the SNES because I couldn't stand how sluggish SNES felt. Hope you and the family are well, Jeff.
The first time I ever saw this at a batting cage at the age of 8yrs old changed my life haha. I absolutely loved it. To this day the BUUUAANNNNGGGG sound that happens when you enter the player select screen is my favorite sound effect in any video game ever.
Mortal Monday was a total game changer for me. I was 10 years old and it was the first time I was ever hyped about a game release. Until then I was never really aware of when new games were coming out... I'd eventually just see them at Toys R Us or the local rental place.
As someone who does not play fighting games at all, it is very funny to watch Jeff speak with such reverence and passion about a game and then proceed to play it by endlessly spamming the same Johnny Cage jump kick.
I didn't see Big Trouble in Little China until later in life, but going back and comparing the movie soundtrack to the MK soundtrack it's surprising they didn't get sued
First played an MK arcade cabinet in the Toronto airport. Thought it was weird that if you hold Block you can't move or jump. Accidentally did Scorpion's Fatality before I knew that was possible. Blew my childhood mind.
I definitely agree with you about the vibes in this game. It really does feel like the direct product of a bunch of people’s excitement after watching bloodsport
It’s the feelings you describe that really represent a time and place and have stuck with me. I was just a couple years younger, so I didn’t really have a chance to engage with mk in arcades while it was still mysterious, but was obsessed with the home versions. Had regular arguments with my genesis friends about which version was better. I was so unbelievably excited when mk2 came out and then when it had blood and fatalities on snes. Memorizing every move, and practicing constantly, even though I wasn’t ever all that good at it when looking back.
I remember my local arcade decided to make it free to play one summer and it had the bench seat built in. Winner stays on, we didn't get a lot in my small town in the UK but that was the one to play.
I'll never forget walking into Wunderland with my friend, and us laying eyes on Mortal Kombat for the first time ever. We truly were blown away, nothing had existed like this before. Of course I ended up getting the game on Super Nintendo and genesis. I still remember all the massive controversy that swirled around it in politics Etc
Hi Jeff. You casually bringing up both Cynthia Rothrock and WMAC Masters really defines both an era and a subset of kids that Mortal Kombat encapsulates perfectly.
Mortal Kombat 2 will always be my favorite in the franchise. It had a fantastic SNES port. The music in Mortal Kombat 1 through 3 is absolutely phenomenal. And will always be light-years better than any of the following games.
People can´t understand but Mortal Kombat was REAL, was like 70´s or 80´s real kung fu movie, and back then kung fu was a big deal, kung fu, ninjas and rambo that is basically what the 80s were about, and metal, new wave and silly things., i remember that what shocked me was GORO, was so weird, and just appeared all of the sudden, street fighter 2, mortal kombat and virtua fighters were jaw dropping experiences, were like looking at real aliens or something
It’s fascinating this early digitized sprite game still has a look & *feel* so distinct from other games inspired by the same tools/methods. Wonder what that is, other than responsiveness. The sprites definitely seem like they interact or connect more than many fighting games from the era. The timing is right
I have a fairly vivid and strange memory of seeing Mortal Kombat for the first time in what I'd call a sports bar on an arcade cabinet with a monitor so huge that the characters were life-sized. My jaw dropped and my mind was blown. Granted, I would have been about six years old when this supposedly happened, so who the fuck knows what I ACTUALLY saw, but, still. I'm pretty sure that that was a real experience and I'm pretty sure that it was a life altering one. Mortal Kombat 1-3 being unable to purchase on any modern hardware is a criminal act.
MK proved that a western studio... the duo of Midway and Williams and rheir arcade supremacy... could hang with the Japanese manufacturers. As a cabinet Mortal Kombat was godly. The sound and artwork. The superb control panel. A true hall of famer.
I played it for the first time in a bowling alley. I got so into as an 8 year-old that I was unconsciously kicking the bottom of the machine and the manager yelled at me.
For as much as MK likes to relive the original trilogy over and over, I'd love it if they just decided to bust out the blue screens and 1991 era cameras and make a true MK1 style side game with the modern rosters and features. Bring back the bitcrushing, the "Ohhhh"s after an uppercut, the too-bright lighting on everybody, the mail-in comic books baked into the attract mode... (okay, I'm straight up asking for the 90s back at this point, but I'd still lose my shit for something like that)
I’ve always been a Nintendo kid but I associate MK with the genesis specifically because my cousins had MK 1 and 2 for their genesis and I never had it at home during the first golden era. I don’t think I’d even seen the SNES version of MK1 before, it feels very weird whereas the second he turned on the Genesis version it just sounds *right*.
Jeff mentions how he played the SNES version pre-release and it never really got there. He's right BUT funny thing, they fixed that version (to a point) in time for the Japanese release. Yes, the violence was still edited/reduced but the Super Famicom version didn't suffer from the horrid input delay that the western SNES versions did. So, in that era the Super Famicom version would've been the best looking and playing home version. Unfortunately the SNES version we got here in the West wasn't that. lol
Congratulations to the first Mortal Kombat (Not to be confused with Mortal Kombat from 2011 which is the 9th Mortal Kombat, a reboot) (Not to be confused with Mortal Kombat 1 from 2023 which is the 12th Mortal Kombat and is yet another reboot)
It's such a great series. And it's a shame that SF2 stole a lot of the spotlight, but the fact that MK was still huge despite SF2 speaks to how good MK was/is
2, 9, and the first are my faves. I feel like the series lost its way ohhhhhhhhh...right about when they started putting ads on the title screen to buy more DLC or to buy the next game, even if the next game was installed. There's that, and losing the mystery of trading secrets with friends. Ya just kinda buy everything now.
I used to own a mk1 arcade cabinet and i only got to reptile once and he just beat my ass immediately. All those resets to get the shadows on the moon were worth it
I remember when I first saw this at the arcade. It was mind blowing. I always like street fighter more though, it played better. MK always felt super clunky.
I'm one of those people who don't give MK1 the credit it deserves solely because of how much better a game MK2 is. I just don't think the first game is much fun to play, personally. Of course, this is one game I've never actually played against another person, because my selection of arcades back in the day never had MK1, just 2 later on. I'm just lacking those memories to latch onto. I enjoyed this entry into the Hall of Fame, but it certainly isn't a game that's on my own personal list.
I clearly remember seeing pit fighter and thinking 'what the heck is that?'. Then mortal kombat took the art style and ran with it. I never really enjoyed playing it. Sf2 was so much better.
i don't understand why scorpion gets to sound exactly the same as old scorpion in the new MK, but they decided not to have Raiden do his fun insane screaming
The thing that I have noticed with most fighting franchises, is that the first entry is generally the weakest in terms of actual refinement and gameplay. Just look at the original Street Fighter. I'm sure it has its fans still. Back in the day when Street Fighter II was at its' peak, I have never seen or known what Street Fighter 1 even looked like. It seemed so obscure compared to the mega hit of the second game. The first time I played it was on MAME, and to me, it felt so rigid and clunky in comparison to something like the Alpha series. I found it hard to play. Like you said, it took a while before SNK found their groove with fighting games. Mortal Kombat wasn't really a bad first entry at all, when you consider that the devs had to continually make updates and re-balance the game based on player feedback. It takes a while for devs to find a good formula when it comes to making a fighting game. There was an improvement in gameplay with Mortal Kombat 2. But that first MK arcade game does have that 'raw' feel to it. I love the look of the game. The home ports were problematic in their own ways. Midway did good with the first MK game and managed to get better at making fighting games, without having to rip off the Street Fighter II formula. The game did a lot of its' own things and had many clones of its; own. I love the look of the digitized fighters. I know Pit Fighter did digitized graphics before it. But I think NARC was one of the first to do digitized graphics.
I hate to be that guy but I always felt like the cultural zeitgeist at the time was saying I SHOULD be interested in this thing, but I never liked it. I respected MK2 a lot more than this, but tbh I would probably rather play Primal Rage than MK1
the pc version was great because the move lists don't need diagonal directions. So became rolling the fingers. AND NO! You could play 2 players by splitting up the keyboard with a friend. But even now there's a fighting game community devoted to using a keyboard instead of a fight stick because of emulation. Surprised you didn't mention more your personal experiences, since this was good at tournament scene. MK1 is a very good game, I don't think you should go that pessimistic.
Don´t know JEFF, i remembe PIT FIGHTER was a total smash before mortal kombat, the arcade was a success and the genesis game, that game aged terrible, i like the arcade, but the genesis version is CRAP but i do remember, like guys were crazy for Pit Fighter, was a total game of it´s age, is really hard to understand, pit fighter looks like a Steven Seagal movie, and Seagal was a really big deal back then, and everything was so niche so all of the sudden, things just popped out of nowhere, one day you just find something like Pit Fighter at the arcades, or at the store for the genesis, and those were the kind of games that really made the genesis a big deal, funny enough the real japanese shooters, which are the real great genesis games were not the ones with main appeal, the sports games and the edgy violent games were the big deal, that was the "adult" part of the genesis, sports and edge
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This game caused kids to disappear. Kids like me. I would find as many quarters as I could, say I was going for a bike ride, and then go missing all day playing MK at the pizza place. Parents cried, police were called…it was the best.
Even after decades of it Jeff talking about and/or playing Mortal Kombat is like a warm blanket.
My favorite memory I've heard of this game is a friend of mine playing it in the arcade. He did Sub-Zero's spine rip fatality, and some random Indian family standing behind him started yelling in their native language completely shocked.
Lmao
Love the Cynthia Rothrock callback. Sonya is definitely Cynthia Rothrock. Holy shit some memories! I remember renting the Genesis version over the SNES because I couldn't stand how sluggish SNES felt. Hope you and the family are well, Jeff.
I have a low key appreciation for this soundtrack. At the time, it just sounded... violent to me. It was simple but had an aggression to it.
The mk1 soundtrack is phenomenal. Warrior Shrine and The Pit are my favourites. My favourite of the first 3 games, and I love those too
I’ve always loved the Continue music. It sounds so dire! Like if you don’t put in more credits, this is it. Absolute peril. Great stuff!
I'm a big fan of MK1, while acknowledging its big limitations. Great atmosphere (the most important thing for me in a game) and incredible music
The first time I ever saw this at a batting cage at the age of 8yrs old changed my life haha. I absolutely loved it. To this day the BUUUAANNNNGGGG sound that happens when you enter the player select screen is my favorite sound effect in any video game ever.
Mortal Monday was a total game changer for me. I was 10 years old and it was the first time I was ever hyped about a game release. Until then I was never really aware of when new games were coming out... I'd eventually just see them at Toys R Us or the local rental place.
As someone who does not play fighting games at all, it is very funny to watch Jeff speak with such reverence and passion about a game and then proceed to play it by endlessly spamming the same Johnny Cage jump kick.
The AI cheats, and the AI isn't why people love it
I didn't see Big Trouble in Little China until later in life, but going back and comparing the movie soundtrack to the MK soundtrack it's surprising they didn't get sued
First played an MK arcade cabinet in the Toronto airport. Thought it was weird that if you hold Block you can't move or jump. Accidentally did Scorpion's Fatality before I knew that was possible. Blew my childhood mind.
Stuff like this is why I will always pay attention to what Jeff Gerstmann does. A true video game historian.
I definitely agree with you about the vibes in this game. It really does feel like the direct product of a bunch of people’s excitement after watching bloodsport
The vibes were off the charts in this. Nothing compares.
It’s the feelings you describe that really represent a time and place and have stuck with me. I was just a couple years younger, so I didn’t really have a chance to engage with mk in arcades while it was still mysterious, but was obsessed with the home versions. Had regular arguments with my genesis friends about which version was better. I was so unbelievably excited when mk2 came out and then when it had blood and fatalities on snes. Memorizing every move, and practicing constantly, even though I wasn’t ever all that good at it when looking back.
I remember my local arcade decided to make it free to play one summer and it had the bench seat built in. Winner stays on, we didn't get a lot in my small town in the UK but that was the one to play.
I'll never forget walking into Wunderland with my friend, and us laying eyes on Mortal Kombat for the first time ever. We truly were blown away, nothing had existed like this before. Of course I ended up getting the game on Super Nintendo and genesis. I still remember all the massive controversy that swirled around it in politics Etc
Love this. Please do MK2 next
Hi Jeff. You casually bringing up both Cynthia Rothrock and WMAC Masters really defines both an era and a subset of kids that Mortal Kombat encapsulates perfectly.
54:41 - Jeff fades into oblivion.
Mortal Kombat 2 will always be my favorite in the franchise. It had a fantastic SNES port. The music in Mortal Kombat 1 through 3 is absolutely phenomenal. And will always be light-years better than any of the following games.
Have you played the Genesis rom hack for Mortal Kombat Arcade Edition…which adds a bunch of missing sound effects to the Genesis rom? It’s good.
People can´t understand but Mortal Kombat was REAL, was like 70´s or 80´s real kung fu movie, and back then kung fu was a big deal, kung fu, ninjas and rambo that is basically what the 80s were about, and metal, new wave and silly things., i remember that what shocked me was GORO, was so weird, and just appeared all of the sudden, street fighter 2, mortal kombat and virtua fighters were jaw dropping experiences, were like looking at real aliens or something
It’s fascinating this early digitized sprite game still has a look & *feel* so distinct from other games inspired by the same tools/methods. Wonder what that is, other than responsiveness. The sprites definitely seem like they interact or connect more than many fighting games from the era. The timing is right
Id like to see a copy of that Collector edition comic that they show on the attract mode
I was born the year MK first released, but when Jeff talks about it, I’m there. I’m 16 at the arcade in 1992
What a legendary game!
Mortal Kombat!?!? HALL OF FAME??!?! GAAHHHH!! 😃 Hype! Is it just warm in that room or are Jeff's eyes watering up from memories?
I have a fairly vivid and strange memory of seeing Mortal Kombat for the first time in what I'd call a sports bar on an arcade cabinet with a monitor so huge that the characters were life-sized. My jaw dropped and my mind was blown. Granted, I would have been about six years old when this supposedly happened, so who the fuck knows what I ACTUALLY saw, but, still. I'm pretty sure that that was a real experience and I'm pretty sure that it was a life altering one.
Mortal Kombat 1-3 being unable to purchase on any modern hardware is a criminal act.
MK proved that a western studio... the duo of Midway and Williams and rheir arcade supremacy... could hang with the Japanese manufacturers.
As a cabinet Mortal Kombat was godly. The sound and artwork. The superb control panel. A true hall of famer.
I played it for the first time in a bowling alley. I got so into as an 8 year-old that I was unconsciously kicking the bottom of the machine and the manager yelled at me.
For as much as MK likes to relive the original trilogy over and over, I'd love it if they just decided to bust out the blue screens and 1991 era cameras and make a true MK1 style side game with the modern rosters and features. Bring back the bitcrushing, the "Ohhhh"s after an uppercut, the too-bright lighting on everybody, the mail-in comic books baked into the attract mode... (okay, I'm straight up asking for the 90s back at this point, but I'd still lose my shit for something like that)
I’ve always been a Nintendo kid but I associate MK with the genesis specifically because my cousins had MK 1 and 2 for their genesis and I never had it at home during the first golden era. I don’t think I’d even seen the SNES version of MK1 before, it feels very weird whereas the second he turned on the Genesis version it just sounds *right*.
that's a really good looking and sounding game.
Jeff mentions how he played the SNES version pre-release and it never really got there. He's right BUT funny thing, they fixed that version (to a point) in time for the Japanese release. Yes, the violence was still edited/reduced but the Super Famicom version didn't suffer from the horrid input delay that the western SNES versions did. So, in that era the Super Famicom version would've been the best looking and playing home version. Unfortunately the SNES version we got here in the West wasn't that. lol
Hats off Jeff.❤❤❤
To this day I think MK had the best fatality "tune". That bass is foreboden as fuck
Congratulations to the first Mortal Kombat (Not to be confused with Mortal Kombat from 2011 which is the 9th Mortal Kombat, a reboot) (Not to be confused with Mortal Kombat 1 from 2023 which is the 12th Mortal Kombat and is yet another reboot)
Mk1 has a look and feel that is its own, and the best theme song
MK was probably the first game I tricked my parents into purchasing for me. I pitched it as a pure martial arts game 😂
First time I saw MK1 in the arcade it was twice the price of SF2.
And the blood code was turned off.
Still was Hella impressive though.
I wish this game would get remastered.
Interesting to see that the whole silly "replace C with K" thing didn't go beyond the game title in the first one. Felt like it's been there forever.
I will not tolerate this Genesis OST slander, that is still the canonical sound of Mortal Kombat to me.
It's such a great series. And it's a shame that SF2 stole a lot of the spotlight, but the fact that MK was still huge despite SF2 speaks to how good MK was/is
is it possible for street fighter 2 to steal mortal kombat's spotlight when street fighter 2 came out first?
2, 9, and the first are my faves. I feel like the series lost its way ohhhhhhhhh...right about when they started putting ads on the title screen to buy more DLC or to buy the next game, even if the next game was installed. There's that, and losing the mystery of trading secrets with friends. Ya just kinda buy everything now.
Sorry for being off topic...no NES rankings this week?
I used to own a mk1 arcade cabinet and i only got to reptile once and he just beat my ass immediately. All those resets to get the shadows on the moon were worth it
I remember when I first saw this at the arcade. It was mind blowing. I always like street fighter more though, it played better. MK always felt super clunky.
I loved the original Mortal Kombat. My only complaint with it in hindsight would be too many C's not enough K's.
I'm one of those people who don't give MK1 the credit it deserves solely because of how much better a game MK2 is. I just don't think the first game is much fun to play, personally. Of course, this is one game I've never actually played against another person, because my selection of arcades back in the day never had MK1, just 2 later on. I'm just lacking those memories to latch onto. I enjoyed this entry into the Hall of Fame, but it certainly isn't a game that's on my own personal list.
I clearly remember seeing pit fighter and thinking 'what the heck is that?'. Then mortal kombat took the art style and ran with it. I never really enjoyed playing it. Sf2 was so much better.
i don't understand why scorpion gets to sound exactly the same as old scorpion in the new MK, but they decided not to have Raiden do his fun insane screaming
The thing that I have noticed with most fighting franchises, is that the first entry is generally the weakest in terms of actual refinement and gameplay. Just look at the original Street Fighter. I'm sure it has its fans still. Back in the day when Street Fighter II was at its' peak, I have never seen or known what Street Fighter 1 even looked like. It seemed so obscure compared to the mega hit of the second game. The first time I played it was on MAME, and to me, it felt so rigid and clunky in comparison to something like the Alpha series. I found it hard to play.
Like you said, it took a while before SNK found their groove with fighting games.
Mortal Kombat wasn't really a bad first entry at all, when you consider that the devs had to continually make updates and re-balance the game based on player feedback. It takes a while for devs to find a good formula when it comes to making a fighting game. There was an improvement in gameplay with Mortal Kombat 2. But that first MK arcade game does have that 'raw' feel to it. I love the look of the game. The home ports were problematic in their own ways. Midway did good with the first MK game and managed to get better at making fighting games, without having to rip off the Street Fighter II formula. The game did a lot of its' own things and had many clones of its; own.
I love the look of the digitized fighters. I know Pit Fighter did digitized graphics before it. But I think NARC was one of the first to do digitized graphics.
He'll yeah. I made a video on the first MK a couple months ago.
mortal Kombat 2: here's a truck
Not the best MK, but definitely the coolest one.
Beat the fight without blocking and perform a fatality to get reptile.
I hate to be that guy but I always felt like the cultural zeitgeist at the time was saying I SHOULD be interested in this thing, but I never liked it. I respected MK2 a lot more than this, but tbh I would probably rather play Primal Rage than MK1
the pc version was great because the move lists don't need diagonal directions. So became rolling the fingers. AND NO! You could play 2 players by splitting up the keyboard with a friend. But even now there's a fighting game community devoted to using a keyboard instead of a fight stick because of emulation.
Surprised you didn't mention more your personal experiences, since this was good at tournament scene. MK1 is a very good game, I don't think you should go that pessimistic.
Is the ryan he is talking about, THE RYAN Davis?
Ryan MacDonald
Don´t know JEFF, i remembe PIT FIGHTER was a total smash before mortal kombat, the arcade was a success and the genesis game, that game aged terrible, i like the arcade, but the genesis version is CRAP but i do remember, like guys were crazy for Pit Fighter, was a total game of it´s age, is really hard to understand, pit fighter looks like a Steven Seagal movie, and Seagal was a really big deal back then, and everything was so niche so all of the sudden, things just popped out of nowhere, one day you just find something like Pit Fighter at the arcades, or at the store for the genesis, and those were the kind of games that really made the genesis a big deal, funny enough the real japanese shooters, which are the real great genesis games were not the ones with main appeal, the sports games and the edgy violent games were the big deal, that was the "adult" part of the genesis, sports and edge
People are rascals 😂