Basics of the Flashback

We've all seen Kill Bill (or at least I hope everyone has) and the MK Team definitely have given Shujinko.

I was thinking that it could be cool if the flashbacks that are used in the film when Beatrix sees her enemies could be used on arcade mode and even versus mode for different enemies. The Ironside music would be replaced with something more MK-ish and we still get the red screens to indicate blood as this is a common thing in MK. Also, you could have two flashbacks combined (a different one for each character) within this time so as not to go through this twice.

Some of the flashbacks could be FMV or they could be several still photos and of course they'd need to be meshed with the character's face so we still see them for a short time and then go into the FMV or animation for the flashback, just like in the film.

Example 1:

Sonya Vs Kano

The camera closes in on both fighters and suddenly pans round facing one of them head on. We’ll say it’s player 1’s character and that’s Sonya. And her expression is filled with hate towards Kano and then we get a zoom in of Kano and then the flashback begins along with the music. The flashback image sees Kano’s face meshing with the image of Sonya kicking him off the rooftop all that time ago. Then the image switches to Sonya and she’s meshed with an image of Kano killing her partner. The FMV could kick in here with sound effects of Sonya shooting at Kano and him fleeing the scene and then we switch back to the rooftop scene with a falling Kano writhing and screaming as he falls. Or we could see a small section of the fight that ends with the kick and Kano falling off the rooftop.

It ends with a split screen, zoomed in, facial shot of them both and the words Round 1, FIGHT can appear and you proceed into the fight from here.

End effects

As an extra effect, you could have the MK Dragon logo meshed in there or appear at the end of the flashback. Or what might be a better idea is to have something related to that character destroy the flashback and bring us back to reality. This would happen on arcade for the character you play as.

Example 2:

Scorpion Vs Quan Chi

So let’s say you’re on arcade mode and you’re Scorpion and you’re facing Quan Chi. The flashbacks kick in and you see images of Quan escaping you and past images of Scorpions clan and family. The flashback will then end with a close up of Quan Chi. Then flames burn the image and fade away until some fiery letters spell out ‘Round 1! FIGHT!’. If you were Quan Chi, a green skull would chew away at the image, destroying it. The close up would end with Scorpion. This would work in the opposite to Kill Bill where Beatrix was always at then end.

Example 3:

Raiden Vs Shinnok

You see a flashback of Raiden banishing Shinnok to the Netherrealm and some images of their fight against one another. A bolt of lightning will end the flashback for Raiden or a blast of magical energy for Shinnok.

End imagery and blood effects

Or, an image of something that connects both characters could be shown. This would be story related.

Example 4:

Sektor Vs Sub-Zero.

These two have the flashback of their battle for the Dragon Medallion in and for Sektor you see the blow that finished him off and his flight out of the Lin Kuei HQ.
The flashback will end with the split screen, zoomed in facial shot of them both and an image of the Dragon Medallion will appear meshed in with this to symbolise what their rivalry is about.

Another effect here could be ice freezing the image and then it suddenly shattering with the round starting words formed out of the ice.

Or blood could be spilled in a fight in the flashback and splash onto the camera and slowly form the ‘Round 1! FIGHT’ words.

Your thoughts?