Yesterday, we turned the spotlight on Sean Cantrell and his magnificent Mortal Kombat Lego. His blocky, toy inspired renders showed what might be if the world of Mortal Kombat were mere bricks and blocks. It was a wonderful proof of concept -- but what if you want to actually play with your toys?
Del Cottonwood is another industrious fan who has adapted the brutal world of Mortal Kombat into a simpler, blockier realm. Like Cantrell, he's adapted vast swaths of the Kombat cast, but in this case, they're downloadable skins for free-to-play sandbox sensation: Minecraft!
You would've had to have been lost in a pixelated underground cavern for the past few years to not know what Minecraft is. Launched in 2011; the stylized pixelated sandbox gives you a world of sky, water and earth to do with as you please. Its success has taken it to home consoles and driven an empire of paid alternatives, but the principle remains the same. Check out some of our favourites Minecraft Kombatants below:
When 24: Live Another Day star Kiefer Sutherland told IGN he'd completed work on a mystery Mortal Kombat game [original story] -- Mortal Kombat Online turned to the MKOmmunity to narrow down which character he might be!
2011's reboot Mortal Kombat set the story in motion for a return to the plot of Mortal Kombat 4 - and it was there we looked for prime suspects. Our User Poll narrowed in on characters who didn't have a prominent voice-actor in the most recent game, and might find their way into an all new, shuffled cast.
It should be noted: We don't know what the unspecified game is, or any of the characters who will appear in it! This was merely an educated guess based on the likelihood of a sequel -- supported in part by the already over-active rumor mill.
By his own admission, the John Tobias of twenty years ago had no idea he was creating one of the most successful franchises to come out of American gaming. As a young artist in Chicago, Tobias had big ideas, envisioning a fiction that endures to this day (in some shape or form), but the journey to 1992's breakout hit -- Mortal Kombat -- would take more than ideas.
Together with Ed Boon, Tobias holds the credit of co-creator of Mortal Kombat -- an acknowledgment that goes beyond the arcade and home consoles, to result in a massive multi-media phenomenon spawned from ideas and characters!
In Part 1 of our conversation with John Tobias, he took us through some of the early influences that helped shape the series to follow. From abandoned name choices, props and influences, to movie references and guest stars, the games origins are there to scrutinize.
In this second part of our twentieth anniversary retrospective, we continue the conversation, entering the explosion of Mortal Kombat into other mediums, and addressing the final chapter of Tobias' time with the series before his departure in 1999.
Modern Prometheus: John Tobias confronts Goro - brought to life for the 1995 film.
From the Palace Gates of Shang Tsung's Island, to the very top of the Pyramid of Argus: for twenty long years, characters from multiple realms have battled it out in a tournament called Mortal Kombat! Now, the kombatants face the greatest fight as we call upon the entire fanbase for the ultimate challenge!
In the early days, you could take for granted that Liu Kang would be the hero of the hour, but as Mortal Kombat has developed in complexity, the question of who truly reigns supreme becomes increasingly open to circumstance. Many characters have risen through the ranks in arcade endings, offering dozens of possible outcomes in each game, but story modes and what ifs can never truly reflect the powers of the mightiest mortals in kombat history.
With the series' twentieth anniversary mere months away, it is time for Mortal Kombat Online to vote for the very first time! We hope to gather the entire MK fanbase to answer a question that has garnered debate across three decades: Who is the Supreme Mortal Kombat Champion?
In April, Mortal Kombat Online featured classic Mortal Kombat characters who existed in hoaxes and rumor, as well as characters who were nestled deep within the games themselves. We also began the month with our customary April Fool, pulling on references somewhere in between, to allude to some vaguely prophetic, discarded phony DLC follow-ups.
If you're at all worried about spoilers for Kombat on the PlayStation Vita, it's at this point you might like to gouge your eyes out and run screaming into the night, desperately trying to unsee what has been seen [below].
With a long and storied history of humor characters and discarded near-misses, April 1st seemed like an appropriate time to take stock of some of the kombatants who nearly rejoined the franchise in its most recent iteration. Afterall, April officially marks the first anniversary of the game that relaunched the franchise, in 2011!
EDIT (Apr. 2): Did we fool you? Of course not, you're far too brilliant for that! You've gotta admit, we made it easy for you, this year. Thanks to Pedro Cruz for his involvement in our annual fooly fool. Make sure you don't miss our lookback at some of the classic fake characters and April Fools in our latest feature article! See you next year!
In an exclusive reveal for Mortal Kombat Online, NetherRealm Studios have provided design sketches for four characters who nearly made it in, but were omitted in the eleventh hour. They represent all tiers of the new and old -- unused fan-favourites, a long rumored joke character, and a brand new fighter, never before seen. Don't get too discouraged, either.
WB Assistant Community Manager, Elisa Profillo, advises that while there is no official announcement to be made yet, copies of Mortal Kombat and the recent Komplete Edition [released Feb. 28], are both able to support mutually available downloadable content.
