MK Special Forces barely had a story at all. It was originally intended to be a much bigger game than it actually turned out to be, but due to some of it's production staff members leaving the game unfinshed it ended up being cut down and rushed into completion. They cut so much out of the game, that Jax ended up being the only player and the whole storyline was taken out. If John Tobias and everyone else on the project had actually stuck with it until the end, it might have turned out to be a fairly decent game. The storyline would certainly have been a heck of a lot better! There were probably lots of cool story elements that were going to be in the game that we'll now never know about.

It was originally going to tell the storyline of Lt. Sonya Blade and Maj. Jax Briggs just prior to the MK Tournament in MK1. It would have been a one player game, but you'd get to choose between Sonya or Jax. You'd then play the game from their point of view as they each took seperate paths on the same mission. I remember reading something like how if you were Jax for example, and you came across one of those doors that close from the top down which wasn't shut all the way, you could use Jax to left it up and go where ever that led to. However, if you chose Sonya you'd have to take another path because she wouldn't be strong enough to lift it. And there'd probably be places were Sonya's agility could get you into places where Jax couldn't go, and you'd have to go another route if you were him. Stuff like that. There were levels where you'd have to swim some areas, and climb others.... I don't think any of that was in the version that was eventually released.

You'd be trying to capture Kano and fight the Black Dragon Organization of course, and several guest appearances like Raiden, Shang Tsung, Kabal, Jarek, and others were suppose to show. They were even going to introduce a new Lin Kuei member wearing yellow. I forgot what his name was. Tremor I think. He had the power to create earthquakes I recall. I think he ended up in the version released, but he didn't have a storyline. Jarek made the cut too, but he was just there to be another boss you'd have to fight. The original game would have eventually led right into the tournament of MK1, where we all know Sonya ended up while tracking down Kano. But the MKSF that ended up being released for only $19.95 ended up having only Jax to play as, with a storyline that was so basic it didn't connect with the other games at all.

Jax has a few wisecracks he'll say while beating the badguys, which they thought would be cool to add to his character in MK Deadly Alliance. Dan Fordan did the music for the game, and I remember the sewer stage music sounding similar to the water element stage that was in MK Mythologies. Other than that, I don't remember much about the game. I don't even remember the ending, although I can promise you there wasn't anything worth remembering (which is why I don't remember!). I think I recall the acting sequences that were actually in the game being kinda corny and made me laugh. After I beat the game once I didn't bother playing it again. My copy still looks brand new last time I checked.

John Tobias had planned on doing a game focused on Liu Kang after MK Special Forces. Although MK Shaolin Monks looks like it's shaping up to be an awesome game, I think John Tobias version would have revealed much more of Liu Kang's past prior to MK1. I think we would have found out just exactly how he ended up being the one to fight in the tournament, and perhaps learn why Kung Lao wasn't there (even though MKSM says he was there all along). We might have even learned how he met Kai in America, or even learned of his brother Chow Kang and why he disappeared. Lots of very interesting things I'm sure that we'll never know now. Tobias himself said Liu Kang had an interesting past that he wanted to explore. But I didn't even want them to make a Liu Kang game when John Tobias left because Liu Kang and Kung Lao are my favorate characters, and I didn't want them to mess their storys up. But I admit, when I seen the first news bit about MK Shaolin Monks last year on this site I was very excited. Seemed too good to be true. Seeing Liu Kang and Kung Lao together on the cover of a magazine with the focus being about them was awesome! And fortunately, it looks like it's shaping up to be a great game. Probably better than what would have been if it were made right after Special Forces, but I still think John Tobias would've revealed a lot more of Liu's background. Most of what's going to be revealed in Shaolin Monks will be MKII stuff, and even a lot of that I bet is newly written elements they added, with even a few changes here and there. But I'm sure it's still going to be cool.

MK Special Forces was a game that never truely happened though. The game we actually got I don't really consider a true MK game, so you didn't miss out on anything if you didn't get to play it. There are no story elements you've missed by missing this game because there's barely a story to begin with. It's basically Jax going after Kano because Kano killed his partner or something to that effect. Bleh!

The events of MKSF will most likely never be known. We can only ponder at what might have been.

~Jason Rainwater

That is very cool, Im glad MKSF isnt cannon, because it doesnt diserve to be. In turn, this will perhaps open the door to other fighting games that may have explained what happened at a time prior to MK1.

BTW I thought this game took place after the first tournament, but I guess I was wrong. In any event glad to see this game doesnt really count. Thanks for the explanation, and thus youre very diserving dragon points..