Later this year Mortal Kombat will celebrate its 30th Anniversary and series co-creator Ed Boon is dipping into his personal archive to share incredible moments from the 1991 development of the original game. This time he reveals a crucial moment in the creation of Sub-Zero. Watch:
The latest "fly on the wall" clip shows live-action actor Daniel Pesina receiving direction from Boon & Tobias as they search for a stance that will distinguish Sub-Zero from his arch-rival Scorpion. The process, which used palette swapping to convert the yellow ninja costume to blue, sees the team experiment with several positions before settling upon Sub-Zero's open handed approach.
Palette swapping sprites famously allowed the developers to economically generate two characters, with the unique fighting stance creating the impression of a distinct second character for the price of just 7 frames of animation. In finding the right pose, they needed to make sure it would work with the same punches & kicks used by Scorpion.
Since we thought of the idea during the shoot, the next step was to come up with a unique fighting stance for each ninja. They had to be different (to stand apart) but still work with all the attacks (punches and kicks) the two ninjas shared.
The improvisational element of designing the finished sprites was evident in previous footage that showed the creation of Scorpion's iconic spear, and Boon notes "... how spontaneous our decisions had to be, based on what we were seeing right at that moment. John suggesting that Scorpion spin his fists. Me suggesting Sub-zero tuck his hand to his chest and sway back & forth."
The footage shows several fight poses not used and the AIAS Hall of Famer has teased reveal more from the 1991 cutting room floor. What would you like to see from the making of the first game? Share your thoughts in the comments below and find & discuss more in the 2D Kombat Klassics forum.
We are excited to join our partners over at the Mortal Kombat Subreddit this weekend and throwback to a Klassic for an exclusive one night Mortal Kombat X Survival Saturday on PlayStation 4!
This exclusive kommunity event is a Survival King of the Hill competition where the player with the biggest streak in the show's two hour stream period is declared the Ultimate Survivor. Your health during the match carries over to the next round, raising the overall intensity and stakes throughout the evening.
To play, join the Survival Saturday room this weekend in Mortal Kombat X, and jump into event organizer Survived Kombatant’s Survival KOTH lobby. No prior registration is required to compete!
You can expect some great surprises from the lore master himself, Tabmok99, and also hear some exclusive new announcer sound bytes from the legendary Tim Kitzrow of NBA Jam fame! We look forward to you joining us! Watch this special event LIVE on Saturday, March 12th at over on our Twitch Channel.
The Evo World Championship will return to live competition in Las Vegas later this year after being driven online by world events last year. Among a full lineup of games will be Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate -- returning after being one of the heroes of the online competition. Read on for details:
Evo 2022 welcomes a robust lineup of World Championship tournaments to be contested on the PS4 -- preferred console provided by Evo owners & sponsors Sony Playstation. Business as usual for several of the competitive groups, including Street Fighter V and Tekken 7.
It will once again be a massive weekend of fighting game action with heats starting Friday, August 5th-6th, in the Bayside D, E, and F Exhibit Halls of the South Convention Center at Mandalay Bay. Only the best will advance to Sunday's main stage in the Michelob ULTRA Arena to compete for glory and prize money! Registration is open now at evo.gg
The full lineup also includes: Street Fighter V, Gilty Gear: Strive, Tekken 7, The King of Fighters XV, Melty Blood: Type Lumina, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Granblue Fantasy: Versus, and Skygirls: 2nd Encore. Nintendo controversially withdrew Super Smash Bros from competition eligibility, eliciting a mournfully tasteful statement in February.
Mortal Kombat 11 faced shock omission in 2020, before the event was cancelled, and Sony assumed full ownership. Combo Breaker Event Director Nick "TheHadou" Thiher was appointed Evo General Manager last December.
Will you walk the golden mile to Las Vegas to compete for glory and bragging rights at the 2022 Evo World Championship? Tell us all about it in the comments below and hone your skill by joining Fight Klub and discussing more in the Mortal Kombat 11 forum!
Series co-creator Ed Boon has been honored for his historic pop culture and video game achievements at the DICE Awards, but it's the Hall of Famer's future work that has everybody talking after an interview with the NetherRealm Studios Chief Creative Officer. Read on for details:
Gameinformerconducted an interview prior to the induction in Las Vegas, revisiting Boon's storied career from programming pinball machines, to adapting the franchise he helped create to various blockbuster multimedia formats.
When asked what NetherRealm Studios is brewing next: Boon acknowledged a change of pace for the developer, who for the last decade has alternated between Mortal Kombat and Injustice games, but will eschew a third DC fighter in favour of something that will 'make a lot of sense'. Read the full response below:
I can say that for 10 years, we were releasing Mortal Kombat and Injustice, Mortal Kombat and Injustice. When we broke that pattern, there was a lot of speculation of what we would be doing next. I can tell you there was a reason for it, and when we announce our next game, it’ll make a lot more sense. At this point, I’ll get in a lot of trouble if I say anything more.
NetherRealm announced a conclusion to MK11 post-release downloadable content last July, having released their next generation console focused capper: Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate. The title has ranked among the best selling sequels in the thirty-year history of the series.
That may be one reason for prioritizing a prospective Mortal Kombat sequel, but it would also "make a lot more sense" if it turns out the publisher is aiming to celebrate the upcoming 30th Anniversary of the first Mortal Kombat with a brand new entry.
Characters from the respective games have made crossover appearances as downloadable content, with The Joker representing DC fighters in Mortal Kombat 11, and Sub-Zero and Raiden finding their way into Injustice 2.
An Injustice sequel seems to definitively be off the table. What do you think the next project will be? What do you hope to see? Tell us in the comments below and go deeper into speculation in the Future MK forum!
Capcom has announced the impending arrival of Street Fighter 6 with a teaser trailer that quietly spotlights two main characters. One is an enduring icon and stalwart of the series, while the other represents a fighting game "first" that could prove to be a minor industry gamechanger. Lets take a look at what it could mean for Mortal Kombat:
Luke Sullivan is a former soldier turned MMA fighter who seems poised to be Street Fighter's newest protagonist, but Street Fighter 6 won't be his actual debut. That came four months ago, when Street Fighter V concluded its lengthy Champion Edition downloadable content cycle with the introduction of the final new fighter.
NetherRealm Studios has been at the forefront of providing additional downloadable characters to their fighting games ever since the first Season Pass was announced for the 2011 Mortal Kombat reboot.
From that modest four character expansion has grown a boutique industry, blossoming most recently into Mortal Kombat 11's thirteen DLC characters across four release waves, including pre-order incentive, and Ultimate next gen release. Despite an earlier than expected end - it remains the biggest offering from the developer to date.
Key to Mortal Kombat's success has been striking the right balance between a satisfying base game, and post-release content that feels substantial enough to meet varying degrees of fan interest, without appearing cravenly exploitative.
Franchise crossover characters have consistently rated among the highest sellers, seeing pop culture icons as unlikely as John Rambo and Leatherface find their way into the MK arena. Even NetherRealm's DC Comics inspired fighting series Injustice has found ways to incorporate guests from unrelated properties -- an increasingly popular business formula that leverages the novelty and built-in interest of existing brands.
Although Street Fighter has long been recruiting from in-universe sister franchises like Final Fight and Rival Schools, the series is yet to muddy the waters with outright guests away from its popular pioneering Versus titles. Instead, DLC seasons have strengthened the home brand by answering fan demand for popular characters, and experimenting with new creations.
On the face of things Luke seems like any ordinary new Street Fighter character, but the final SFV DLC announcement came with the added promise of a much-hyped future. Director Takayuki Nakayama remarked during the Capcom Summer Update reveal: "... he will be expanding the world of SF. Street Fighter 5 has been developed to pay homage to the past, but Luke will give us a glimpse into the future."
Although not explicitly stated as such, Luke became a playable teaser for the future of the franchise, hyping up what we now know to be the upcoming sequel, while also extending the playable lifespan of the 2016 game with its fifth season of DLC. Commerce with a grand transitional design and creative purpose.
To this end, Luke exists somewhere between Mortal Kombat's historic attempts to introduce a new lead protagonist, such as Shujinko or Taven, and story-driven cliffhangers like Deadly Alliance's Dragon King references, or the MK4 expectant Shinnok epilogue in the 2011 reboot. The latter being something fans could chew on between games, while the former was rejected in its presumptive abruptness.
Alternatively, we might look at Mortal Kombat's most esoteric DLC inclusions, 2011 newcomer Skarlet and the MKX revamped Tremor, and wonder what might've been possible had their inclusion led to something of consequence in a sequel -- or even just a follow-up appearance.
What if Geras could've been a mysterious parting shot in MKX DLC, or Cassie Cage a lingering flash forward to ponder once MK2011 wrapped its Komplete Edition? Perhaps both would've been elevated by the years fans spent expecting them and their veiled purpose in the overarching plot of the games that ultimately introduced them. Perhaps Cassie's defeat of Shinnok would've gone down better with a game under her belt.
Luke was profiled with Street Fighter V's character-specific story modes, fleshing out his backstory as a childhood survivor of a mall bombing who joined the military to fight terrorism, and honor his father's sacrifice. His connections with the universe were established, but his future as an MMA fighter in SF6 remains open-ended. A similar, introductory focus could be applied in MK.
A second story mode offered with MK11 Aftermath was itself a gamechanger for addressing experienced in-fiction context of DLC characters who otherwise had none, but as we await the next big project from NetherRealm Studios with little to guide us, we can see how DLC might become a creative and promotional bridge between future games, enhancing both in the process.
The potential for DLC continues to push fighting game development towards a more fluid state, flowing from one sequel to the next. The potential for the technology to be more than a medium for straight forward digital manufacturing and sales remains an interesting one, with many untapped applications.
In the last decade the wait between sequels hasn't been insigifnicant, with NetherRealm dividing their efforts between two franchises. Committing to a major protagonist so far in advance could be seen as creatively restrictive, but the benefit of planting that flag, apart from putting something substantial in the hands of players, is sculpting the speculative fan narrative towards something deliberate, and productive.
Rumors persist that NetherRealm's next project will be a Mortal Kombat sequel, which would be the exact conditions where one last MK11 character could be inserted with similar intent to the Capcom development.
Award winning story modes and successful DLC of recent Mortal Kombat games appeared to have some influence on the development of Street Fighter V. If the inclusion of Luke in Street Fighter 6 proves successful, particularly as a creative venture, then maybe MK will have something in turn to learn from its old arcade rival, as well.
What do you think about Luke and the concept of DLC characters promoting a future sequel? Would you like to see more DLC and new characters in the next Mortal Kombat? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below, and find & discuss more speculation in the Future MK forum!
