More Thoughts From Me #113: Mortal Kombat Asks You To “Finish Him!”

I was really young when the original Mortal Kombat for the NES came out. I remember thinking it was gross but I wasn’t offended by it and neither was my dad. The game was violent but it was over the top cartoon violence. Of course not everyone saw it like that. A small group and the media tried to turn Mortal Kombat into a controversy  There have been a lot of Mortal Kombat games since then but none of them have made an impact like that first game!

The first Mortal Kombat had lots of blood and violent, over the top acts. It was not a game for kids and yet a lot of kids played it.

Back in the NES, more than now even, most parents and adults viewed video games as just for kids. And there were not too many games that pushed the boundaries like Mortal Kombat.

Mortal Kombat didn’t have great graphics but it wasn’t ultra simple either. All the blood was obviously blood and the other violent acts were very clear and you knew what was going on. That said, people still loved the game. And the series stayed real good for awhile because it stayed in the 2D fighter realm.

Over the years though, the Mortal Kombat series has been getting more realistic looking (still gruesome) and less fun. I know the series still has fans but to me, the series will never be as good as it was in the early days, unless it starts looking backwards.

There are some recent indie games (and Dragon Quest 11 for the 3DS) that play around with having two graphical styles. I think the developers of Mortal Kombat should consider this. A downloadable Mortal Kombat with 2D stylized cartoon like graphics would really sell well. Add to that the ablitiy to go into an 8-bit or 16-bit graphical style whenever you want and you’d have a best selling title.

This Mortal Kombat should definitely have all the over the top blood and grossness that the first game had. It should be rated M. It would sell so many copies on the PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch online stores. Mortal Kombat needs to do this!

I don’t think it’ll ever happen though. I think Mortal Kombat will continue  as a more realistic, gruesome fighter…

What do you think of the Mortal Kombat series? Do you have a favorite game in the series?

Next week: A look at the new 3DS rpg The Alliance Alive. I get the game today and by next week, I’ll have been playing it a week. What do I think of it? Should rpg fans be keeping an eye on The Alliance Alive?!

More Thoughts From Me is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed here are mine and mine alone. FINISHED!