What was it like the first time you ever played MK? When was it? What happened? What were your first impressions? etc etc, if you can remember that far back...

The first time I ever played Mortal Kombat was about a week after the original arcade game came out. I was about eight or nine at the time, and I was in a local arcade where they'd just got a bunch of new games, including MK. I figured "Hey, new game, might as well check it out" so off I went. For some reason (probably because of the 'amazing' graphics) it cost a dollar for one Kredit. A whole friggin dollar! I mean, there were still games there which cost 25 cents, so I thought to myself "This had better be good". So, in went my precious dollar in quarters, and up popped the select screen. I didn't have the faintest idea who any of the characters were, so I spent some time looking around. Ninja guys, one eyed dude, fellow with a funky hat... I finally settled on 'that blonde girl' (Sonya), since I found that I usually played well with female fighters in other fighting games.

My first ever match was against Scorpion (or, as I saw it, some yellow ninja guy) in the Arena level. i remember the announcer sounded quite intimidating when he said "Round 1, Fight!" Now, I'd like to say that my first ever battle was a glorious triumph of man over machine, but there were a few factors that quickly became apparent 1. I had no clue how to do any moves, in fact, I wasn't even sure there WERE moves 2. that yellow ninja guy was NOT going to take it easy on poor old Sonya and 3. At my young age, I had not yet mastered the fine arts of gaming i.e. I sucked terribly. Sonya threw some kicks and punches, landing a couple, but Scorpion quickly overpowered her. I wasn't really much of a help, she'd of probably faired better if I had of just let go of the joystick and left at that point, but what're you going to do?

Round Two was a bit better, Sonya actually managed to beat Scorpion by a hair. Woohoo! I remember seeing blood every so often, interesting, but I was more worried about beating that friggin ninja than appreciating the revolutionary graphic system. Anyways, Round Three was horrible. All of a sudden, Scorpion chucked some sort of spear thing right out of his hands and proceeded to skewer Sonya, dragging her in and shaving off oh-so much life with a single uppercut. I mean, WTF? How fair was that? There I was, honorably fighting him with my bare hands, and he had to go and whip out a weapon. Granted, had I known any of Sonya's moves, I would've been using them, too, but I didn't so I was ticked. Anyways, to make a long story short, Scorp beat down on me hard and suddenly the announcer shouted "Finish Her!!!" Sonya reeled... darkness fell... and off came Scorpions mask, revealing a grinning skull! A huge jet of flames, screaming, and before my eyes my precious Sonya was reduced to nothing more than a pile of charred bones.

Now, I'd like to say that at that point I rubbed my eyes, opened my mouth and exclaimed "Holy crap, that was the coolest thing I ever saw!!!" I'd like to say I fell in love with Mortal Kombat, and vowed to return every day until I'd mastered every point of it. I'd love to say that at that point, I realized that I'd be into the series for more than a decade and more. Heck, I'd probably settle for saying that I was shocked and appaled by that brutal display and that I felt it would corrupt young minds, y'know, something MOVING, but in truth it was none of those things. Actually, my only thought at that point was "Christ, I payed a dollar for THIS?!?" I mean, I could've played PacMan for like fifteen minutes for that price, and here I was, beaten after less than two. I at least wanted to revenge myself on Scorpion, maybe get to the second fight AT LEAST, y'know, get my money's worth. I plopped in yet another dollar in quarters- and cried in dismay as the friggin machine promptly ate them. Despite frantic jabbing of the Coin Return button and a barrage of kicks to the cabinet front, there was nothing I could do. I'd just blown two dollars on the friggin game, and all I got out of it was a minute of assbeating administered by Scorpion. I left at that point, vowing never again to play that god awful game!!!

It wasn't until a few weeks later that Mortal Kombat started getting big and kids started talking about it. At first I didn't get what the big fuss was about, when I heard my friends talking about it I was like "Oh yeah, the one that ate my two dollars". But I decided to give it a chance, and it ended up growing on my like wildfire. Or Scorpion fire? Anyways, I kept good on my vow though, I never again played that MK game at the arcade, but I rented it for the home systems and watched friends play. Still, it wasn't until MK2 came out that I REALLY became a fan... but perhaps more on that later?