NetherRealm Studios and Warner Bros. Games have released a suitably violent commemorative video to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their popular fighter, Mortal Kombat.
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Mortal Kombat is a sci-fi-themed fantasy fighting game that was developed after the idea of developing a game that would star Jean-Claude Van Damme fell through. The original arcade game was released in 1992 and quickly became a large part of popular culture, having released multiple sequels since the first game (all of which featured many of Mortal Kombat’s iconic characters) and selling a combined total of almost 80 million copies of the games.
The games’ developer NetherRealm Studios and publisher, Warner Bros. Games celebrated the 30th anniversary of the billion-dollar game franchise on the 8th of October. With its amazing gameplay, many iconic characters, and fantastic cinematic experience, it’s no wonder why the Mortal Kombat franchise has been such a huge hit with gamers.
Watch the 30th anniversary Mortal Kombat trailer video below.
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Celebratory Anniversary Video and Artwork
As a way to celebrate and honour the franchise’s 30th anniversary, the Mortal Kombat video was made to showcase its cultural prominence. It spanned across the many memorable moments from its 30-year run, including scenes from the many movies, video games, and animations that have been created.
There were a number of legendary characters that the video focused its attention on. The characters included are:
- Scorpion – the best-known character in the game. He’s an undead ninja who is able to create and manipulate fire
- Raiden – considered to be one of the most powerful characters in the entire franchise. He is the protector of Earthrealm and the god of thunder.
- Sub-Zero – a warrior of the Lin Kuei clan. He is best know for his ability to create and manipulate ice
- Johnny Cage – a movie star with a background in martial arts. He was based on Jean-Claud Van Damme as a way to pay homage to the original game idea
- Sonya Blade – a military officer and member of the Special Forces, who later marries Johnny Cage. She was based on the martial artist Cynthia Rothrock.
- Liu Kang – a Shaolin monk who entered the tenth Mortal Kombat tournament in an attempt to keep Earthrealm from being destroyed. Fortunately for everyone in Earthrealm, he was successful.
- Kung Loa – he was also a Shaolin monk, but he later broke away and instead became a member of the White Lotus Society
- Kitana – the princess of the realm of Edenia who is best known for fighting with a pair of steel fans.
- Mileena – a clone of Kitana’s who was created using Tarkatan blood
- Jackson “Jax” Briggs – the partner and best friend of Sonya Blade. He was a commander of the Special Forces who had a couple of cybernetic enhancements.
- Baraka – a Tarkatan who, like the rest of the members of his species, has a retractable pair of blades in his forearms
- Shang Tsung – the host of Mortal Kombat and a Soul Sorcerer.
There was also art done to highlight the different game modes, memorable story moments, different characters, and the best finishing moves throughout the game’s history. This was all arranged into the shape of the iconic Mortal Kombat logo.
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New Mortal Kombat Additions
Along with the 30th anniversary Mortal Kombat art and video, the studios wanted to give fans something more to mark the special day so, they added Klassic Movie Raiden, who has the likeness and voice of the 1995 film’s actor Christopher Lambert, to Mortal Kombat Mobile. He was made available from the 7th – the 11th of October. Players have also been able to log in and receive free gifts every day from the 7th – the 14th of October.
The franchise’s 1996 animated series was made available for purchasing and Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind (the third instalment of the animated film series) was released digitally on the 9th of October.
All the films are also available to watch on HBO mac and the WB shop has a bunch of new exclusive merchandise available.
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