After finishing the Resident Evil 3 remake, I started thinking about some of my favourite game franchises and how they’ve changed and evolved over the years. So I will begin with one that has been around my whole life…Mortal Kombat!
When the first Mortal Kombat came out, it changed the gaming world forever, it was the reason the ESRB was created and it changed the way we viewed gaming! At a time that when games were considered a childish hobby and was aimed at kids. Mortal Kombat changed that view by adding some brutal violence that was never seen in gaming before!
Many people protested the game for its violence and then the sequel came out with even more violence and even more gore! It was a franchise that wasn’t going anywhere and people had to accept it!
The biggest impact on the franchise wasn’t the games, it was the movie itself. While most game movies are garbage, (And looking back its honestly not that great either) this movie actually gave the franchise substance. For example Kano was meant to be American, he wasn’t changed to an Australian till this movie came out, plus the subplot of Sonia Blade and Jonny Cage romance was never really a staple in the lore till the movie. Also, Liu Kang was never really the poster boy till it came out.
The franchise was great till Mortal Kombat 4, increasing in character roster, gameplay and innovation. However, the 2000’s was not kind to the franchise, the games were really weak, they tried to change too many thing and add too much. It was a situation where “less is more” could’ve helped a lot.
When it make its return in 2011 with Mortal Kombat 9, the franchise both came back to its roots and rebooted itself! This time with the original fanbase being significantly older, they had no limits on the violence and even added a lot more backstory and substance to a once basic fighting franchise.
Mortal Kombat is one of the franchises that has had a major impact on the industry and has changed it forever. It will remain a staple in the gaming world and will be in our lives for a very long time!
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