The triumphs of the original Mortal Kombat trilogy have cast a long shadow over a quarter century of kung fu fighting. Fans eager to relive the thrills of klassic kombat, or discover an era of 16-bit gaming for the first time, will have a new economic way to scoop up history with the latest plug 'n' play edition of the Sega Genesis.

The newest version of the Sega Mega Drive Classic Game Console maintains a boastful new line-up of 80 games in its built-in emulated library.

The list includes usual suspects like the complete Sonic the Hedgehog series, interesting oddballs like Chakan: The Forever Man and Eternal Champions, as well as headlining Sega ports for: Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat II & Mortal Kombat 3!

Sega ports by Probe boasted a notably fluid experience for the time, utilizing six-button play and full Mortal Kombat iconography - including blood and fatalities missing from some competing versions.

Before you get too excited about the value of the economy purchase -- the "bonus" games threaten with a list of titles like: Cross The Road, Curling 2010, Fish Story, Plumbing Contest, Wall-Breaking, Warehouse Keeper, Naval Power, Mr. Balls and the delightfully forthcoming: Hidden Agenda. At least some of these shovelware games may actually be considered corporal punishment for heinous crimes in parts of the world. More of the list can be found on the Smyths Toys website.

This generation of clone consoles also boasts the added benefit of a cartridge slot, allowing you to revisit your original library of games, but if that sounds too good to be true on top of the built-in majesty of Jack's Pea, it may not be all it's cracked up to be.

Jeremy Parish of US Gamer raises concerns about the quality of the hardware: "Rather than incorporating original Genesis hardware — despite the cartridge slot — they run on mediocre emulators that don't offer full compatibility with cartridges. Inexplicably, they don't even offer save support for carts that include battery backup." The Mega Drive clone console is also limited to composite cables, lacking the modern HDMI outputs.supported by Nintendo equivalents.

When it comes to capturing the original Mortal Kombat experience, most fans will want to choose modern console and PC options, like MK Arcade Kollection. For those who don't have the latest hardware, and are looking for some quick and easy thrills for £49.99 [via Argos] - wireless controls and kusoge curiosity might just be worth it!

Had a plug 'n' play console experience? Love retro gaming? Register to share your thoughts and nostalgia on the 2D Kombat Klassics forum! Like and share stories like this via @MK_Online and Facebook.

Another year, another battle for the Evo World Championship in the desert realm of Las Vegas, Nevada!

This time, the title fight was to be waged in March's update edition of Mortal Kombat XL - replete with a years worth of gameplay patches and new characters. One of those Kombat Pack additions, a guest fighter from the film series Alien, played its part in securing a third straight Mortal Kombat World Championship for prodigal son Dominique "Sonic Fox" McClean!

Mortal Kombat's most dominant tournament player confirmed his hattrick against the rising star of a brand new warrior fighting out of Bahrain: Sayed Hashim Ahmed aka;Tekken Master!

TM's mastery over Kotal Kahn and D'Vorah made for a tense two set final, where he reset the bracket with a scintillating 3-1 win coming out of the Loser's Bracket. In that match, his Swarm Queen and War God variations overwhelmed Sonic Fox's Hollywood Cassie Cage and Gunslinger Erron Black. With the pressure on, Sonic Fox utilized the strengths of Acidic Alien, whilst maintaining his iconic use of Erron Black to finish the job in a tense 3-2 title match!

The Tekken Master maintained representation for the world's best players, carrying the global torch alone after last year's three nation podium. 2015 British runner-up Denom "A f0xy Grampa" Jones could only manage equal 9th after a year of ESL promised big things from his rivalry with Sonic Fox. Canada's Hayatei and kept things frosty with their place among the Top 16. Earthrealm's warriors also came from: Brazil, Austria, Colombia, Australia, Chile, Dominican Republic, Poland, France, Bolivia and more!

With an odd numbered bracket challenging all players to qualify for Quarter Finals elimination, there were several byes late in the field. Mortal Kombat Online has stripped those vacancies out to highlight the Top 135 players who fought through double elimination conditions in 2016! There were many dozens of fresh names rising through the list and classic players falling into new positions.

#1 Sonicfox5000 (D. McLean) #2 TekkenMaster (SH. Ahmed) #3 Scar (B. Vaughn) #4 Big D (R. DeDomenico) #5 WoundCowboy (R. Gonzalez) #5 Hayatei (R. Gonzalez) #7 Michaelangelo (M. Lerma) #7 Dragon (R. Walker) #9 A f0xy Grampa (D. Jones) #9 DAB (A. Dabajae) #9 Biohazard (M. Commandeur) #9 ForeverKing (C. Quiles) #13 Honeybee (T. Commandeur) #13 Raptor (W. Lam) #13 BeyondToxin (J. Contreras) #13 Slayer (F. Perales) #33 Trepound (T. Holmes) #33 Blaqkcloud (M. Ulibarri) #33 2EZ (A.J. Pieri) #33 yungmonster12 (T. Gorritz) #33 Boki (B. Jovanovic) #33 JgoonForever (J. Whyte) #33 Vendetta (A. Galvez) #33 ThaTrueNinja (B. Ward) #33 FLK HEMLIT (J. Villarruel) #33 Buffalo (L. Boisvert) #33 JagoBlake (B. Whitworth) #33 Pride (R. Maldonado) #33 Circa Destroyer (J. Ortiz) #33 GRILLZ (L. Nunez) #33 Son_Dula (T. Pinckney) #65 EV8 DR (A. Melvin) #65 TonyJaaBREAKER (A. Malfatti) #65 KHAOTIC_DIGITAL (R. Nichols) #65 oNe87_DJAA (A. Valladares) #65 st9rm (C. Muehlberger) #65 BestNightmare (C. McCord) #65 MrSunshine (J. Ortega) #65 ReconRival (A. Enriquez) #65 HeavyHandz (M. Phelps) #65 385 FTP Yurien (Y. Mendez) #65 Showtime (F. Occhione) #65 Lord Pnut (P. Knauth) #65 CrazySteady (S. Gibbs) #78 Guamo (G. Lacio Jr) #78 MortySeinfeld (M. Camps) #78 RetroTech (E. Martinez) #91 Layec (L.D. Rios) #91 BarterRaccoon (J. Lopez) #91 Krucial KB (K. Bryant) #91 revetleafing (R. Gorritz) #91 TheGabStandard (G. Banson) #91 ChicagoRoyal (C. Maidman) #91 MadeFromMetal (C. Kenyon) #91 TurtleHermit (M. French) #91 WhiteBl4ck (M. Vautor) #91 FADEDSAL (S. Flores) #91 Fatality_89 (G.Malfavon) #91 King Falcon (D. Zeller) #91 CT-DoM (D. Kirton) #91 Soul (C. Lewis) #91 Shade (T. Hutchinson) #91 Krayzie (G. Galdamez) #91 Undertaker (S.A. Saleh) #91 CoolsTorrey (R. Torrey) #91 Slayeredhat (S. Bohannon) #91 Evil Presence (S. Roberts)

#17 WhiteBoi (N. Anderson) #17 Atai (M. Rivera) #17 illmatic (D. Molzen) #17 Cossner (D. Pareja) #17 Star Charger (R. Conley) #17 DJT (D. Terry) #17 iLuusions (R. Luu) #17 Nubcakes (G. Silva) #25 KillerXinok (B. Sousa) #25 Gross (D. Daniel) #25 Han Rashid (E. Rashid) #25 Perfect Legend (C. White) #25 KHAOTIC_REWIND (C. McCall) #25 Shaolin (E. Camarena) #25 Coosco (M. Henderson) #25 Ulver BlueRiver (M. Riquelme) #49 GuiExceptional (G. Sartor) #49 Gooseroni (L. Barela) #49 Tom Brady (B. Menoutis) #49 Syknis (T. Maldonado) #49 Sanix (J. Southerland) #49 Skadoodley (T. Collier) #49 S Faka (S. Ogawa) #49 MIT (M. Terry) #49 sorryk9omg (C. Smith) #49 Kitana Prime (B. Benzing) #49 TRUKINI (E. Martinez) #49 greguu (G. Whitman) #49 Forever King JR (F. Difilippo) #49 Noobe (O. Delisle) #49 ioRoS (I. Martinez) #49 GooGie (M.P. Nguyen) #78 JTB123 (J. Button) #78 Encore (I.M. Brewer) #78 JustinSanDiego (J. Hairgrove) #78 Bandit Keith (C. Robinson) #78 HDG_BorisE (B.G. Erquicia Paredes) #78 Awesomo (E. Martinez) #78 Shujinkydink (E. McDougall) #78 OdinsWrath (J. Keefer) #78 Calvin (C. Spencer) #78 Black Rebel (P. Vasquez) #91 EVB_GoldenJew (C. Robinson) #91 KING$ Alcatraz (L. Pieri) #91 Whistopher (W. Jones) #91 theGUYtatKILLS (E. Marroquin) #91 Domonero (D. Enero) #91 Robbie Rage (J. Smith) #91 Marine (L. Gomez) #91 KeuhlGuy (C. Keuhl) #91 ManieQ (L. Gomez) #91 The Big O (D. Perez) #91 Black Ken (T. Hope) #91 Luminary Cheeko (A. Chico) #91 Fire-Lord (N. Longoria) #91 JStar (J. Jeffries) #91 LeftHand (C. Eagleton) #91 xEuphoringxMK (N. Lopez) #91 BEST MK RAIDEN (M. Marconi) #91 Milky Situation (D. Castro) #91 Malice-of-1992 (J. Montiel) #91 Abyss (J. Cach) #91 Black Ranger (B. Adams) #91 801 Vegeta (J. Sanders) #91 KHAOTIC ARMOR (S. Luna) #91 Enenra (M. Maldonado) #91 Damashi (A. Garcia)

Mortal Kombat Online once again congratulates and commends the players who returned to Evo 2016 to keep the flame of Mortal Kombat alive! Were you among them? Register to share your story and more on the Gameplay & Matchmaking forum! Celebrate the winners by liking & sharing this story via @MK_Online and Facebook.

It's been over twenty years since cult actor Christophe Lambert starred as Raiden in the first Mortal Kombat feature film. Time is no barrier to the thunder god or the actor who played him, as he told Loaded in a recent interview during promotion for the Highlander 4K restoration.

Dominion: Lambert hasn't appeared as Raiden for 20 years, but remains attached to the iconic role.

Speaking about a long rumored third Mortal Kombat theatrical release, Lambert claims he's been in talks to reprise his 1995 role in a "very different" high concept movie.

The actor elaborated, "We are going to be travelling through time but in a very special way. So imagine characters having a battle in the middle of London and then whoosh, you smash through a window and find yourself on the hood of a New York cab."

The "great idea" is enough to lure Lambert back after he skipped 1997's much maligned sequel: Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. "I didn’t want to do it because I didn’t think the script was very good," he told Loaded.

While the pitch sounds plausible of today's franchise mahandling Hollywood; Mortal Kombat co-creator and Creative Director, Ed Boon, cast doubt on the actor's involvement with a simple one-word tweet: "Nope."

A version of time travel was introduced to the Mortal Kombat canon with 2011's video game reboot: Mortal Kombat. The plot of that game took the story back to the original trilogy begun in 1992, playing with preconceived notions through Raiden's attempts to decypher and avert apocalyptic warnings sent from his older self.

[Related Article: From Sprite to Screen: Mortal Kombat versus the Movies]

On the success of the original film, Lambert downplayed the influence of storylines conceived by John Tobias and the game crew: "Mortal Kombat was an arcade game, a beat’em up and because of that they were forced to create a story rather than simply relying on the game’s plot."

The role of the films in defining Mortal Kombat's characters and plot was at the crux of legal action taken by Lawrence Kasanoff, in 2009. While Threshold Entertainment can be credited with creating an expansive extended movie universe; content from the original games. and comics published by Midway. establish much of what we know as iconic to the series.

I Don't Think So: The faithful Mortal Kombat remains an enduring success for video games adaptations.

Speaking to Mortal Kombat Online, series co-creator John Tobias was complimentary to the first movie: "I thought the first film did a lot of things right in capturing the mood of our games." The partnership wasn't always smooth sailing over the years, though: "We tried to have a positive influence where we could, but ultimately we didn't own the direction of the finished products. It was fine when it worked and frustrating beyond comprehension when it did not."

[Related Article: Lost Kontent: Defenders of the Realm Painted Cel Sheet]

New reports regarding the latest Mortal Kombat movie began back in 2010, and led to some truly bizarre plot rumors under the production guidance of Kevin Tancharoen. He directed two seasons of the sometimes controversial webseries Mortal Kombat: Legacy, before announcing his exit from the film.

Future Aquaman director James Wan (The Conjuring, Furious 7) became formally attached as a producer last August. Little has emerged since then.

A third live-action webseries was announced in 2014, but has not been released despite completion last year. It may suggest caution from Warner Brothers, who discovered the potentially lucrative popularity of the IP with the massive success of Mortal Kombat X [full story].

What are your thoughts about the movie? Register to join the discussion on the Media & Merchandise forum! Spread the good word through time and space by liking & sharing this story via @MK_Online and Facebook.

The Injustice 2 panel at San Diego Comic-Con delivered a one-two punch with the reveal of two new characters: Wonder Woman and Blue Beetle! Watch their entry into battle in the trailer below:

Wonder Woman gleams in iconic red and blue, with customizable armor inspired by modern incarnations. Her inclusion was announced last month as part of DC Comics' Wonder Woman 75th Anniversary celebrations!

Blue Beetle adapts his alien costume into a variety of weapons and armored designs. The reveal confirms the Jaime Reyes version of the legacy hero - popularized in comics and cartoons like Young Justice.

This third incarnation of the Blue Beetle was introduced to DC Comics in 2006, succeeding the gadget wielding Ted Kord version with the unique powers of an alien scarab. Blue Beetle won a fan poll held by Injustice Creative Director Ed Boon in June [full story]. The version was not specified.

How do the new heroes measure up? Register to weigh-in with your thoughts on the DC Universe Injustice forum! Like and share more stories via @MK_Online and Facebook!

The "Komplete Edition" disc release of Mortal Kombat XL may have come a mere four months ago, but that hasn't stopped a loud clamor from rabid Mortal Kombat fans hungry for more!

The seemingly endless apetite for content led to confusion this month, but according to the lead developer, there is still "big" Mortal kombat XL news coming sometime in the future.

"@MK9Scorpion2011 @noobde what was the MKX Cool News at EVO? I missed it :/
EB: Never planned it for EVO. But there is big MKXL news coming.

— Ed Boon (@noobde) July 19, 2016

Hints at an Evo announcement from series figurehead Ed Boon had many convincing themselves a major development was coming at the July tournament. The Creative Director cleared up the confusion [above], confirming NetherRealm "[n]ever planned it for EVO."

While some gaming sites capitalized on hopeful speculation -- fueling it in the process -- MK Online readers knew the tease was quickly followed by an Evo cash prize bonus. $50,000 awarded to 2016 Evo World Champion SonicFox, this passing weekend.

Boon himself contributed slightly to the speculative white noise, polling fans on a selection of characters who could use "buff" improvements to their gameplay. This follows previous post-game polls regarding; most missed kombat men, most missed female fighters, and NetherRealm's next project.

Sub-Zero took 35% of 9,268 votes, beating Kenshi (29%), Kitana (21%) and Kung Lao (15%) amongst standard playable characters. Tremor won a DLC character vote with of 9,017 responses, beating guest Jason Voorhees (25%), Bo' Rai Cho (24%) and Goro (20%).

Which DLC fighter could use a buff the most in MKXL

— Ed Boon (@noobde) July 13, 2016

Which original cast fighter could use a buff in MKXL?

— Ed Boon (@noobde) July 13, 2016

It seems NetherRealm Studios is impervious to much of the suspicion and resentment that still dogs corporations like Capcom, whose repeated rereleases of Street Fighter have always been a notorious cycle.

As downloadable content channels become further ingrained in the game expereince, so too are consumers increasingly willing to extend play with micro purchases. Mortal Kombat X continued add-on characters and content to the most of any NetherRealm fighter, thus far. MKX also introduced in-game purchases for basic functions, such as fatalities [read more].

NetherRealm Studios are currently in development on a DC Comics fighting game sequel - Injustice 2. Ed Boon will be a panel guest to unveil two new characters this week at San Diego Comic-Con. A Mortal Kombat X webseries was announced in 2014, but has yet to be released [read more].

What's next for Mortal Kombat XL? Register to share your thoughts on the Mortal Kombat X forum! Support the site by liking & sharing stories via @MK_Online and Facebook.

Injustice 2 is coming to the annual San Diego Comic-Con International and it's getting the full panel treatment!

Ed Boon headlines a star studded panel alongside original Injustice: Gods Among Us comic writer Tom Taylor; Superman voice actor George Newbern Aquaman voice actor Phil LaMarr; and nvoice of new addition Supergirl: Laura Bailey!

The panel promises to illuminate new details about the Injustice sequel, most prominently two new characters to be revealed during the live event! There's also talk of surprise drop-in(s) from talent, and more discussion about the unique gameplay and customization elements of the new fighter!

SD Comic Con begins July 20th. The Injustice sneak peak goes down this Friday, July 22nd from Room 6DE, 12:30pm to 1:30pm!

Which heroes or villains are next? Register to join the speculation on the DC Universe Injustice forum and make your reveal reactions part of the continuity! Help spread the word by liking & sharing stories via @MK_Online, Facebook or YouTube.

He's here. Right on time! Kano loves punctuality - don't you? The Black Dragon scoundrel can be on your time if you complete the latest Mortal Kombat X Mobile free-to-play challenge!

Unlocking Klassic Kano means completeing five tiers of challenges - ear to ear! Each tier consists of 12 battles, with the exception of the final 15-fight challenge! Tier 1 is a lightning round of all Bronze Kards, Tiers 2 & 3 promote you to Bronze & Silver kards. You'll need all Gold Martial Artists in your Tier 4 team, before Tier 5 demands you use Kitana to takedown the Earthrealm scum!

Mortal Kombat X Mobile is available to download free-to-play now from Apple Store, Google Play & Amazon Games!

Are you feared and respected by kombat's inner circles? Register to share your marksmanship on the Mortal Kombat X forum! Support the kommunity by liking & sharing via @MK_Online, Facebook & YouTube!

You know him as one of the founding fathers of Mortal Kombat and the creator of the series' most enduring icons. John Tobias has revisited one of his famous creations, sharing an all new drawing of a klassic Raiden!

Raiden first donned his trademark blue in Mortal Kombat II (1993), where Carlos Pesina appeared as the actor digitized for sprites. This remained the iconic look for the character for many years, appearing animated for the 1996 cartoon, and rendered in three-dimensional polygons for the first time in Mortal Kombat 4 (1997). It continues to inspire even his most recent designs.

MK4 was the last game completed before Tobias departed Midway Games. He recently shared a hand painted character sheet from Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm that showed the cartoon versions of Raiden and the other characters [full story].

The Raiden digital drawing, shared via Twitter, is a "semi-recent" piece made using Cintiq: HD Wacom graphic tablet that allows artists to draw directly to the pad with vivid detail.

Need more John Tobias in your diet? You can read his own words in a 2-part interview published in the MK Online Interview Archive! You can also follow @therealsaibot & @MK_Online for more updates!

Got your own art to share? Register to submit your work for feature alongside thousands in the Fan Submission forum and archive! You can also revel in all things retro MK in the 2D Kombat Klassics & 3D Kombat Klassics forums!