Mortal Kombat II

Mortal Kombat II (commonly abbreviated as MKII) is a fighting game originally produced by Midway for the arcades in 1993. It was later ported to multiple home systems, including the MS-DOS, Amiga, Game Boy, Sega Game Gear, Sega Genesis, Sega Saturn, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and various PlayStationconsoles, mostly in licensed versions developed by Probe Entertainment and Sculptured Software and published by Acclaim Entertainment (currently distributed by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment).

Mortal Kombat II was the second game in the Mortal Kombat series, improving the gameplay and expanding the mythos of the original Mortal Kombat, notably introducing more varied finishing moves (including several Fatalities per character and new finishers, such as Babality and Friendship) and several iconic characters, such as Kitana, Mileena, Kung Lao, Noob Saibot, and the series' recurring villain, Shao Kahn. The game's plot continues from the first game, featuring the next Mortal Kombat tournament set in the otherdimensional realm of Outworld, with the Outworld and Earthrealm representatives fighting each other on their way to challenge the evil emperor Shao Kahn.

The game was an unprecedented commercial success and was acclaimed by most critics, receiving many annual awards and having been featured in various top lists in the years and decades to come, and also caused a major video game controversy due to the series' continuous depiction of graphic violence. Its legacy includes spawning a spin-off game Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks and having the greatest influence on the 2011 reboot game Mortal Kombat, as well as inspiring numerous video game clones.

Gameplay
The gameplay system of Mortal Kombat II is an improved version of that from the original Mortal Kombat. There are several changes in standard moves: a crouching punch was added, low and high kicks have greater differentiation (be they crouching or standing up), roundhouse kicksare made more powerful (knocking an opponent across the screen, like the game's uppercut), and it is easier to perform combos due to reduced recovery times for attacks. Returning characters also gained new special moves, including some to be used in mid-air, and the game plays almost twice as fast as the original.[2][3][4][5]

As with its predecessor, matches are divided into rounds, and the first player to win two rounds by fully depleting their opponent's life bar is the winner; at this point, the losing character will become dazed and the winner is given the opportunity of using a finishing move. Mortal Kombat IIlacks the "Test Your Might" bonus games and point system from the first game, in favor of a consecutive win tally where wins are represented by icons.[2]

The game marked the introduction of multiple Fatalities (special moves allowing the victorious character to execute their opponent at the end of a match) as well as additional, non-lethal finishing moves to the franchise: Babalities (turning the opponent into a crying baby), Friendships (a non-malicious interaction, such as dancing or giving a gift to the defeated opponent) and additional stage-specific Fatalities (the victor uppercutting their opponent into an abyss below, spikes in the ceiling, or a pool of acid in the background).[2] Finishing moves cannot be performed either by or against the boss or secret characters.[note 1]

Plot
Following his failure to defeat Liu Kang in the previous Mortal Kombat tournament, the evil Shang Tsung begs his master Shao Kahn, supreme ruler of Outworld and the surrounding kingdoms, to spare his life. He tells Shao Kahn that if they hold the next Mortal Kombat Tournament in Outworld, the Earthrealm warriors must travel away from home to attend. Kahn agrees to this plan, and restores Shang Tsung's youth and martial arts prowess. He then extends the invitation to the thunder god and Earthrealm's protector, Raiden, who gathers his warriors and takes them into Outworld. The new tournament is much more dangerous, and as Shao Kahn has the home field advantage, an Outworld victory will allow him to subdue Earthrealm.[6][7]

According to the Mortal Kombat series' canon, Liu Kang won this tournament as well, defeating Shao Kahn and his bodyguard Kintaro.[8] The game's story mode can be also finished using any other playable character, resulting in different non-canonical endings for each of them.[9]

Playable
The game includes 12 playable characters.

Debuting characters: Returning characters:
 * Baraka (played by Richard Divizio),[10] a mutant warlord of Outworld's Nomad race, responsible for the assault on the Shaolin Monastery on the orders of Shao Kahn.[11]
 * Jackson "Jax" Briggs (played by John Parrish): U.S. Special Forces officer who enters the tournament to rescue his partner Sonya Blade from Outworld.[11][note 2]
 * Kitana (played by Katalin Zamiar),[10] a female ninja who works as a personal assassin in the service of Shao Kahn. She has been suspected of secretly aiding the Earthrealm warriors.[11]
 * Kung Lao (played by Anthony Marquez),[10] Shaolin monk and close friend of Liu Kang, a descendant of the Great Kung Lao (who was defeated by Goro and Shang Tsung 500 years before the events of MK). He seeks to avenge his ancestor and the destruction of the Shaolin temple.[11]
 * Mileena (played by Katalin Zamiar),[10] twin sister to Kitana who also serves as an assassin for Kahn. Her mission during the tournament is to ensure the loyalty of her sister, but she also has plans of her own.[11]
 * Johnny Cage (played by Daniel Pesina),[10] Hollywood actor who joins Liu Kang in his journey to Outworld.[11]
 * Liu Kang (played by Ho Sung Pak),[10] Shaolin monk who is the reigning champion of Mortal Kombat. He travels to Outworld to seek vengeance for the death of his Shaolin monastery brothers.[11]
 * Raiden (played by Carlos Pesina),[10] thunder god who returns to Mortal Kombat to stop Kahn's evil plans of taking Earthrealm for his own[11] (spelled "Rayden" in the DOS and console ports).
 * Reptile (played by Daniel Pesina), Shang Tsung's personal bodyguard.[11][note 3]
 * Scorpion (played by Daniel Pesina),[10] a hellspawned spectre who returns to the tournament to once again assassinate Sub-Zero.[11]
 * Shang Tsung (played by Philip Ahn, M.D.),[10] the evil sorcerer who convinced Kahn to spare his life after losing the last tournament, with a new plan to appease his master, who in turn restores Tsung's youth.[11] He also serves as a sub-boss of the game, appearing before Kintaro in the single player mode. As in the first game, he is able to morph into any of the playable characters, retaining their moves (in some versions only the character against whom he is currently fighting).
 * Sub-Zero (played by Daniel Pesina),[10] a male ninja who possesses cryokinesis. Despite apparently being killed in the first tournament, he mysteriously returns, traveling into the Outworld to again attempt to assassinate Shang Tsung.[11]

Non-Playable
The game also features three hidden opponents for unlockable fights: Jade (played by Katalin Zamiar), a female ninja clad in green;[note 4] Noob Saibot (played by Daniel Pesina), a dark silhouetted ninja who is a "lost warrior" from the first MK game;[note 5] and Smoke (played by Daniel Pesina), a male ninja clothed in gray.[5][note 6] Sonya and Kano are the only playable characters from the first Mortal Kombat who were not implemented as fighters, as they only appear in the background of the Kahn's Arena stage, chained and on display as his prisoners.[3]
 * Kintaro (stop-motion), Shao Kahn's bodyguard, sent by his race to avenge Goro's defeat. He is the game's penultimate boss.
 * Shao Kahn (played by Brian Glynn, voiced by Steve Ritchie[10]), the evil Emperor of Outworld, who wishes to conquer Earthrealm by any means. He is the host of the tournament and the game's final boss.

Cameo

 * Kano (Richard Divizio): Cameo appearance chained up in "Kahn's Arena" stage.


 * Sonya Blade (Elizabeth Malecki): Cameo appearance chained up in "Kahn's Arena" stage.


 * Goro (Stop-motion): Cameo appearance in the beginning cutscene.


 * Blaze (Ho Sung Pak): Cameo appearance seen fighting Hornbuckle in the background of The Pit II stage.


 * Hornbuckle (Ho Sung Pak): Cameo appearance seen fighting Blaze in the background of The Pit II stage.

Rumored

 * Skarlet (red palette swap of Kitana)


 * Red Robin (red palette swap of Scorpion)


 * Hornbuckle (Green palette swap of Liu Kang)


 * Blaze (Liu Kang with flames)


 * Emerald (light green palette swap of Mileena)

Stages
There are a total of ten different backgrounds to fight on:
 * The Dead Pool - When an opponent is defeated on this stage, he/she can be uppercutted into the acid bath, burning away the flesh and leaving just a skeleton floating in the acid.


 * Kombat Tomb - When an opponent is defeated on this stage, he/she can be uppercutted into the spikes on the ceiling.


 * Wasteland


 * The Tower (Shadow Monastery)


 * Living Forest


 * The Armory


 * The Pit II - When an opponent is defeated on this stage, he/she can be uppercutted off the bridge where they will meet their demise on the rocky bottom below.


 * The Portal


 * Kahn's Arena


 * Goro's Lair - Returning from the original Mortal Kombat, this stage is only accessible when the player is fighting one of the hidden opponents.


 * The Blue Portal (only Sega Mega Drive/Genesis) - This stage is used instead of Goro's Lair when fighting the hidden opponents.

Characters' live backgrounds

 * Reptile, Jade and Smoke in The Living Forest


 * Baraka in Wasteland


 * Shao Kahn and Kintaro in Kahn's Arena


 * Shang Tsung in The Tower (Kitana and Mileena - battleground)

Easter eggs

 * In the arcade version, the 250th two-player game would unlock a session of the arcade classic Pong with Mortal Kombat II sound effects.


 * Like the previous game, there is a secret game over screen can be accessed only in the arcade version that reads: GAME OVER? III. Possibly hinting the upcoming sequel. The screen only appeared every 1/30th game.
 * After landing a strong uppercut against the opponent, the face of sound designer Dan Forden would appear in the lower-right corner of the screen and shout, "Toasty!" The "Toasty" shout had originated from Scorpion's finishing move. He would remove his mask, to reveal a (sometimes) fiery skull, and would spit fire at his opponent. This is randomly demonstrated in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks for his Fatality. In the Portal stage, if the player very quickly held down and hit the start button before Dan's head left the screen, they would then instantly begin a new stage against a secret character named Smoke, a grey recolor of Scorpion. However, the Mega Drive/Genesis version includes an alternate Toasty image: By activating the cheat menu in the options screen, Dan Forden is replaced by a crudely drawn Sprite inserted by one of Probe Entertainment's (the team responsible for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis version) programmers. The "Toasty!" sound remains unchanged. Toasty has become one of the best-known video game Easter eggs, among the likes of "dopefish". Many games have included their own versions of Toasty, such as StepMania, in which a character pops out and sings "Toasty!" after a long combo of perfects. Even Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler has gotten into the act; he could be heard occasionally warbling "Toasty!" in response to explosions in Midway's 1994 Aerosmith-starring rail shooter Revolution X.


 * Another secret character was named Jade, a more dangerous green recolor of Kitana and Mileena. To fight Jade, a player would have to win one round against the opponent before the mystery "?" stage, using nothing but low kicks, and without blocking. It doesn't matter if the first or the second round of the fight is won in this manner; the player will be transported to fight Jade as the round ends.
 * In the Living Forest stage, both Smoke and Jade could sometimes be seen peeking from behind the trees as a clue to their existence as hidden characters.


 * If a player wins 50 consecutive fights (25 in the Sega Genesis version) he/she will come face to face with the black ninja Noob Saibot, which originates from the last names of the lead designer John Tobias and lead programmer Ed Boon spelled backwards, being also the hardest secret character to face off yet.


 * After knocking the victim into the acid pool, if the player holds down on the joystick, Dan Forden will say "Oh Maw". In the PC version, the trick still works, but the sound effect is different - Shao Kahn saying "One".


 * Press down on any joystick during the attract mode to bring up the top 15 players.


 * On the Kombat Tomb stage, if the player holds down on both joysticks immediately after knocking the victim into the spikes, the victim will gradually slide down the spikes.


 * Two non-existent hidden characters were "Torch", and "Hornbuckle." In Mortal Kombat II there is a location called The Pit II. Far in the background of this stage there is another bridge across the chasm. Standing stationary on this bridge are two fighters: one of them is a Liu Kang sprite with green pants who was named Hornbuckle by fans. One of Jade's hints was "Hornbuckle who?", which people thought was the name of a hidden fighter, and was apparently given to the guy opposite "Torch" on the Pit II. If you watch the ending credits, one of the programmers' last names is Hornbuckle. The other fighter is a humanoid character that seems to be made of fire. As these two characters never move, it has been suggested that the "other fighter" is actually a funeral pyre. Finally, there is a cloaked figure who floats in front of the window during fights in The Tower and Portal stages in MKII. This character was dubbed Cloak by fans, and was assumed to be a hidden character. The character of Torch, who had been very popular with fans, eventually showed up as a playable character in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. Unfortunately, due to trademark issues regarding the name concerning Marvel superhero Human Torch of the Fantastic Four, he was renamed Blaze. The true identity of Cloak was revealed in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks to be one of Shang Tsung's servants, a shadow priest.

Tricks to try

 * On the Dead Pool stage, with Sub-Zero or Shang Tsung morphed into Sub-Zero, deep freeze the opponent (F-F-D-HK) and then proceed to shatter the victim (F-D-F-F-HP) but press LP + LK immediately. If done correctly, the screen will turn dark and the victim will fly into the acid (see first pic on right) This trick also works with Johnny Cage's Deadly Uppercut (F-F-D-U).


 * On the Kombat Tomb stage using Sub-Zero or Shang Tsung morphed into him, deep freeze your opponent and quickly enter your level Fatality code and uppercut them into the spikes.


 * On the Kombat Tomb stage hold down on the joystick immediately after knocking your opponent up into the spikes and he/she will slip off the spikes and fall to the ground.


 * On the Armory stage, with Reptile or Shang Tsung morphed into Reptile, performing the Tasty Meal Fatality will make the floor move.


 * With Shang Tsung, morph into Sub-Zero and keep deep freezing the victim until you morph back. Then quickly morph into Jax and do the Head Clap Fatality. The colour map of the victim will get screwed up.


 * Many interesting Fatalities can be created using Shang Tsung/Sub-Zero. Try turning into Sub-Zero, doing the Deep Freeze, turn back into Shang Tsung, then Liu Kang, then do the Dragon Bite Fatality. The dragon will then turn into Liu Kang, and immediately back into Shang Tsung.


 * On the final battle with Shao Kahn, catch him with Kitana's Fan Lift when the timer runs out in the winning round. The machine will play the exploding sound of Shao Kahn and then it will lock up. A good way to earn a free credit.


 * In the Sega Genesis version, there is a rare glitch involving Kung Lao whose Hat Throw attack may accidentally chop off the opponent's head, automatically counting as a Fatality.

Release
The first version of MKII, revision 1.4, "was effectively a public beta test," featuring few Fatalities and many software bugs; it also lacked the endings for the characters. It took three subsequent revisions to have the moves and finishing moves finalized and all the bugs corrected, also adding additional content, as development had still been in progress for all that time.[3] The final version was revision 3.1,[5] released in January 1994.[28]

Marketing and merchandise
In conjunction with the release of the arcade game in 1993, an official comic book, Mortal Kombat II Collector's Edition, written and illustrated by Tobias, was released through mail order, describing the backstory of the game in a greater detail.[5] Acclaim Entertainment stated that it "had started Mortal Kombat II with a $10 million global marketing campaign" for the home versions.[29] A part of this sum was used to film and air the live-action TV commercial created by David Anderson and Bob Keen. The video[30] featured Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Reptile (with a notably more reptilian appearance), Kitana, Baraka and Shao Kahn, who were played by the same actors as in the game.[31] The game's promotional campaign's tagline was "Nothing ... Nothing can prepare you."[32] In 2008, Eurogamer called Mortal Kombat II "a marketing triumph."[33]

Malibu Comics published a series of Mortal Kombat comic books featuring the characters from both MKII and the original game.[5] Mortal Kombat II: Music from the Arcade Game Soundtrack, an album featuring music from Mortal Kombat II and Mortal Kombat, composed by Dan Forden,[5][34] could originally only be purchased by ordering it through a limited CD offer, which was posted on the arcade version of the game's attract mode. Other merchandise for the game included a periodical official fanzine Mortal Kombat II Kollector's Magazine published by Midway and Sendai,[35] a series of collectible stickers for an album by Panini Group, two different series of action figures (released in Argentina in 1995 and in the USA in 1999, respectively),[5] and collectible card game Mortal Kombat Kard Game that was marketed as "Mortal Kombat II trading cards".[36]

Home releases
Since 1994, multiple official ports and emulated versions of Mortal Kombat II were released for a wide variety of home systems, including the 8-bit (Game Boy, Master System and Sega Game Gear), 16-bit (Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) and Sega Genesis / Mega Drive) and 32-bit (Sega 32X, PlayStation and Sega Saturn) consoles, Amiga and MS-DOScomputers, and the PlayStation Network (PSN). The Game Boy, Game Gear, SNES, and Genesis versions were released simultaneously on September 13, 1994, dubbed "Mortal Tuesday" by Acclaim's marketing.[37] The PlayStation version was released only in Japan, retitled Mortal Kombat II: Kyuukyoku Shinken (モータルコンバットII 究極神拳 Mōtaru konbatto tsū jyūkyoku shinken, "Mortal Kombat II: Ultimate Godly Fist")JP; this subtitle was also used for the Japanese release of the Sega 32X port. The game was also featured in several compilation releases, including Midway Arcade Treasures 2 for the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox as a hidden and unlockable Easter egg, Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Play for the PlayStation Portable, and Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection[5][44] for the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Another compilation release, for the Nintendo DS, was canceled.[45] Arcade 1Up released a home arcade cabinet compilation that included the game, as well as the original Mortal Kombat and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.[46]
 * The Sega Genesis / Mega Drive port, developed by Probe Entertainment, retains all of the blood and Fatalities without a special code having to be entered, unlike the original Mortal Kombat for the system. It contains several exclusive Easter eggs[note 8] and features some different character animations for victory poses and a support for the motion controller device Sega Activator.
 * The SNES version was developed by Sculptured Software. Because of poor sales of the censored SNES version of the original game, Nintendo decided to allow depictions of blood and Fatalities this time around.[39] Because the industry-wide rating system was not expected to be in effect until November 1994 at the earliest, this version had no formal rating; instead, a warning label was put on the game's box in order to inform prospective buyers about the game's mature content.[40] The Japanese version, however, is censored to a degree, with green blood for all fighters,[41] as well as the screen colors turning black-and-white for all character-specific lethal Fatalities.[42] John Tobias favored this version over the Genesis version, stating: "I would go so far as to say that the Super NES version is one of the best arcade-to-home conversions I've seen."[43]
 * Developed by Probe Entertainment, the Game Boy port is superior to the Game Boy version of the original game but only contains eight of the 12 playable fighters from the arcade game (lacking Baraka, Johnny Cage, Kung Lao and Raiden); Kintaro and Noob Saibot were also removed from the game. Only three of ten arenas are retained from the arcade version: the Kombat Tomb, the Pit II and Goro's Lair. The Kombat Tomb contains the port's only Stage Fatality and Goro's Lair is much simpler in this version (consisting of a brick wall with no openings or glowing eyes). Blood is completely removed and each playable character retains only one of their Fatalities plus the Babality.
 * Also developed by Probe Entertainment, the Sega Game Gear and Master System ports are similar to the Game Boy port, but in color instead of in monochrome. Both of them are almost identical, except for the reduced size of the Game Gear screen, featuring the same fighters and arenas as the Game Boy port, but with the addition of Kintaro. The arena where players fight Jade and Smoke is exclusive to each version. Unlike the Game Boy version, blood is present, but was drastically reduced in quantity when compared to other ports. Because of the systems' limited graphical resources, some of the Fatalities in the game were altered to completely destroy the opponent's body, leaving generic gibs of bones and limbs, while others were also simplified to use common animations.

Sales
Mortal Kombat II proved to be an enormous commercial success and even a cultural phenomenon.[47] In the first week of its release, the game made sales to $50 million, which Acclaim Entertainment said was "The largest introduction of a video game in history". Distribution of over 2.5 million copies around 15,000 stores required 65 trucks and 11 jumbo jets.[48]

WMS Industries, owner of Midway at the time, reported its 1993 sales in the quarter ending December 31 rose to $101 million from $86 million and said much of its revenue gain was related to the sale of the arcade version of MKII.[49] By 1996, the number of arcade machines sold approached 25,000 units; at that time, arcade games that sold 5,000 units were considered strong titles (Midway printed special T-shirts to celebrate 300 machines being manufactured in one day[50]) and an arcade cabinet cost $3,000–4,000.[51] MKII was considered an arcade game of the year,[52] taking over from the original Mortal Kombat.

On the day of the release of the game's first four versions for cartridge-based console systems (Sega's Genesis and Game Gear and Nintendo's SNES and Game Boy), dubbed "Mortal Friday" (September 9, 1994),[53][54] an unprecedented number of more than 2.5 million copies were shipped to be distributed, with the best opening-week sales in video game history at that point.[55] Acclaim's analysts expected that the number of copies sold would reach at least 2.5 million within the first few weeks of release (at an average retail price of $60)[56] and the sales to top $150 million by end of the year.[32][57] First-week sales of over $50 million surpassed the initial box office results of that season's Hollywood film blockbusters, such as Forrest Gump, True Lies, The Mask and The Lion King.[58][59] Mortal Kombat II became the world's best-selling video game (until it was eclipsed by Donkey Kong Country, released in November 1994)[60] and the Genesis version sold 1.78 million copies in the United States alone, along with an additional 1.51 million American copies of the game for the SNES.[61] By 2002, estimated gross sales of Mortal Kombat II home video games exceeded $400 million.[60] Re-released in 2007, the PSN version has continued to occupy the service's top ten monthly sales chart nearly three years later in February 2010.[62]

Reviews
The initial critical reception of Mortal Kombat II was overwhelmingly positive,[93] with Sega Visions describing the way in which the sequel was directed as "sheer brilliance,"[94] and Nintendo Power calling it "the hottest fighter ever."[95] Tony Brusgul of The Daily Gazette opined the "incredible" hype surrounding the game was "well deserved," describing it as "a perfect blend of great graphics, action and violence."[96] In his review of the arcade release, Rik Skews of Computer + Video Games (C+VG) wrote: "the only true rival to Street [F]ighter II" returned "in a sequel that bites off the head of the original."[67]

Regarding the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive version, Mark Patterson of C+VG wrote that "Probe has done an incredible job with this conversion. Everything is here, and I mean everything."[66] Sushi-X of Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) called it "a great translation considering its limitations,"[55] although a reviewer for The Detroit News felt "very disappointed" with this port and recommended the SNES version instead,[55] which C+VG declared "the most perfect coin-op conversion ever."[97] The four reviewers of EGM hailed the SNES version as a "near-perfect" translation of the arcade game. While commenting that its graphics and sounds are not as good as those of the SNES version, they held the Genesis version to be an outstanding port as well.[69] A reviewer for The Baltimore Sun called the SNES version "the best game I've ever played - a true translation,"[55] while Patterson noted it was the bloodiest game Nintendo has yet allowed to be released.[66]

Regarding the portable console ports, Patterson stated that "no Game Boy owner should go without this" and called the Game Gear version "still the best handheld beat-'em up" on the market despite all the content that was not present in this version of the game.[66] EGM reviewers concurred that the Game Gear version "has eye-popping graphics, and great control - so much so that you won't believe this is a portable," but were less enthusiastic about the Game Boy version. Though they commented that it is better than most fighting games for the system, two of their four reviewers felt that it was not worth getting with the game available on much more powerful platforms.[70] Next Generation stated about SNES version of the game that "with full creative license, Acclaim has produced possibly the best arcade conversion ever."[81]

Critical reception of the Amiga version was also mostly very favorable, including Ed Lawrence of CU Amiga declaring that "every person who own an Amiga has to own Mortal Kombat 2. In terms of revitalising the Amiga market, this is far more important than any Commodore buy-out could ever be."[86] In a rare dissenting opinion, Jonathan Nash of Amiga Power dismissed MKII as "a clearly nonsensical title," recommending to "buy Shadow Fighter instead."[98] The later PC version was also well-received, with Next Generation stating that "if you like fighting games, this is the best that's available."[82]

About the 32X version, IGN's Levi Buchanan stated that "if you do not have a SNES, this is the home version of MKII to get."[79] In contrast, GamePro remarked that the 32X version offered too little improvement over the Genesis version, even failing to correct the control shortcomings, and was technically poor given the 32X's capabilities.[99] In a review of the 32X version of the game, Next Generation opined that "MKII is a great game, but it's a serious case of 'been there, done that!'"[83]

Reviewing the CD-ROM based Saturn port, EGM commented that the graphics are identical to the arcade version but that there are missing sound effects and "unbearable" slowdown when first performing a special move. They rated it the best home version of the game to date but felt that with Mortal Kombat II having considerably aged by this point, any port needed to be near arcade perfect to stand out.[71] Next Generation felt that the Saturn version was arcade perfect, but that the Mortal Kombat series as a whole was grossly overrated and lacked any gameplay innovations to make it stand out from other fighting games. They summarized that "if you are a fan of the game (and you know who you are), then the Saturn version is everything you can hope for - an arcade-perfect translation - and yet, there is nothing outside of a flashy presentation and a little gore to recommend this game over a million others just like it."[84] Scary Larry of GamePro agreed that the Saturn port "duplicates the arcade version perfectly", but argued that the slowdown and load times make the game frustrating to play. He concluded that the conversion would make a decent holdover until Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 hit the Saturn, but fails to measure up to Mortal Kombat 3 on the PlayStation.[100] Sega Saturn Magazine was extremely disappointed with the final version of the Saturn port, calling it "much worse than any of the versions seen on the cartridge format,"[90] as opposed to the vastly superior pre-release version they had reviewed five months earlier.[89]

Awards
Mortal Kombat II received numerous annual awards from gaming publications. Game Players gave it the titles of "Best Genesis Fighting Game", "Best SNES Fighting Game" and "Best Overall SNES Game" of 1994.[101] The staff of Nintendo Power ranked MKII as the second (SNES) and fifth (Game Boy) "Top Game" of 1994,[39] while the magazine's readers voted it to receive the 1995's Nintendo Power Awards for "Best Tournament Fighter (all Nintendo platforms)" and "Best Play Control (Game Boy)",[102] with the game having been nominated by the staff also in the categories "Worst Villain" (positively, an equivalent of "Best Hero") and "Best Overall (all Nintendo platforms)".[103] VideoGames named MKII as the "Best Fighting Game" of 1994, also awarding it second place in the categories "Best Super NES Game" and "Best Arcade-to-Home Translation".[104] Other awards included "The Best of the Show (Super NES)" for the SCES '94 from GamePro[105] and "Bloodiest Game of 1994" from EGM.[106]

Controversies
See also: Controversies surrounding Mortal Kombat

As in the case of the first Mortal Kombat game, the content of Mortal Kombat II became the subject of a great deal of controversy regarding violent video games. Nancian Cherry of Toledo Blade wrote that both games had "an army of critics too: people upset by the bone-crunching, blood-spurting, limb-ripping violence depicted on the small screen."[107] According to IGN, "Mortal Kombat II wore its notoriety as a badge of honor, boasting about it in promotional materials, and even parodying it in-game."[108] The game was banned in Germany,[109] where MKII was put in the index by the Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons (BPjM) and all versions of the game except for the Game Boy version[110] were subjected to being confiscated from the nation's market for violating the German Penal Code by showing excessive violence and cruel acts against representations of human beings. Due to regional censorship, the game was also released with green-colored blood and black-and-white fatality sequences in Japan; it was at that time a unique occurrence of a western game being censored in Japan, not the reverse.[41] Years later, Boon recalled: "I've always had the position that the rating system was a good idea and should be put in place. Once Mortal Kombat II came out, there was a rating system in place. We were an M-rated game, and everybody knew the content that was in there, so it became almost a non-issue."[13] Tobias agreed, saying that they "were content with the M for mature on our packaging."[111]

There were also some other controversies. In 1994, Guy Aoki, president of Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA), criticized the game for allegedly perpetuating existing stereotypes of Asians as martial arts experts with the game's portrayal of several of its characters. Allyne Mills, a publicist at Acclaim, responded to this by stating: "This is a fantasy game, with all different characters. This is a martial arts game which comes from Asia. [sic] The game was not created to foster stereotypes."[112] Critical studies professor Marsha Kinder accused the game of "a misogynist aspect to the combat," alleging that "in MKII, some of the most violent possibilities are against women. Also, their fatality moves are highly eroticised."[113] Members of Mortal Kombat II cast (Daniel Pesina, Philip Ahn, and Katalin Zamiar, as well as Sonya's actress Elizabeth Malecki), seeking additional royalties for the game's home ports, sued Midway, Williams, Nintendo of America, Sega of America and Acclaim Entertainment for misuse of their likenesses in an unauthorized way in two different cases in 1996 and 1997, losing both of them.[114][115][116] After that, Pesina (who sought $10 million for his role in both games, after being paid several thousand) agreed to participate in the BloodStorm advertisement photo shoot attacking Mortal Kombat. He later recalled, "I don't think [the ad] actually upset people at Midway. I think it more upset some of the hardcore Mortal Kombat fans."[117]

Retrospective
Arguably the best Western fighting game to date, and certainly the title that defined Mortal Kombat as a brand, this game launched a thousand imitators en route to becoming one of the most famous -- and infamous -- video games ever made. Its technical and artistic mastery is only matched by its gushing gore.[118]

According to IGN's Leif Johnson, 1994 "was the year of games like Doom and Mortal Kombat II".[119] Over the following years, multiple publications acclaimed Mortal Kombat II as one of the best video games ever. It was ranked as the 97th top game of all time by the staff of Game Informer in 2001,[120] as the 38th most important video game of all time by the staff of GamePro in 2007,[118] and as the 32nd best video game of all time by The Boston Phoenix in 2010.[121] Featuring it in their 2003 video game hall of fame series, the staff of GameSpot wrote: "Mortal Kombat II was so much better, as a sequel, than it had to be that it absolutely deserves a place in the pantheon of all-time classics."[3]

Many publications also listed Mortal Kombat II among the best video games of its genre or era. It was ranked as the third best fighting game by the staff of GamePro[122] and the ninth best fighting game of all time by Rich Knight of Cinema Blend in 2008,[123]as the third top fighting game of all time by Marissa Meli of UGO[124] and the second best 2D fighting game ever made by Robert Workman of GamePlayBook in 2010,[125] and as the third best fighting game of all time by Peter Rubin of Complex in 2011.[126] It was also ranked as the 53rd best game on any Nintendo platform by the staff of Nintendo Power in 1997,[127] featured among the 100 best games of the 20th century by Jakub Kralka of Benchmark in 2009,[128] and ranked as the tenth best 16-bit game ever by McKinley Noble of PC World that same year.[129]

The game also received accolades for its various conversions. Mortal Kombat II was included among the ten best arcade games by Wirtualna Polska,[130] and ranked as the fifth top arcade game by the staff of GameTrailers in 2009,[131] as the 31st top arcade game of all time by the staff of GameSpy in 2011,[132] and as the sixth best arcade game of the 1990s by Complexin 2013.[133] Regarding the 16-bit console versions, MKII was ranked as the fourth best ever Genesis game by Complex[134] and as the 19th best Genesis game by GamesRadar,[109] as well as the 12th best ever SNES game by Rich Knight of Complex[135] and as the 25th top game for the SNES by Richard George of IGN;[136] in 1995, SNES magazine Super Play also ranked it as the best sequel on the platform.[137] In Poland, where the Amiga was the most popular gaming platform of the early 1990s, MKII was ranked as the ninth best ever Amiga game by Michał Wierzbicki of CHIP[138] and as 22nd best Amiga game by PSX Extreme editor-in-chief Przemysław Ścierski.[139]

Most hard-core fans agree that Mortal Kombat II is the best in the entire series. Midway improved on every single aspect and ... inspired a horde of also-rans.[2]

GamesRadar called it "the point when the series became great."[140] In 2007, GamesRadar included four elements of this game - Dan Forden's "Toasty!" effect during an uppercut (also ranked as the 11th funniest moment in video games by Rich Knight of Complex in 2012),[141] Friendship and Babality finishing moves, and the ceiling spikes Stage Fatality - among the ten greatest things about Mortal Kombat.[142] Reviewing the PlayStation 3 release in 2007, IGN's Jeff Haynes stated that "Mortal Kombat II still manages to stand up almost 15 years later as one of the best arcade fighters around."[80] As late as 2009, many fans still considered MKII to be the best title in the series.[129] According to a 2011 article by Mike Harradence of PlayStation Universe, the "bigger, bolder and bloodier" game remains "a firm fan favourite among MK aficionados."[143] That year, IGN's Richard George wrote that "Mortal Kombat II is considered by many to be the pinnacle of the series" and called it "still one of the most fun 16-bit fighters to play."[136] In 2013, Rich Knight and Hanuman Welch of Complex wrote that "Mortal Kombat II took everything we loved about the original and magnified it by about a million. ... We still love this game."[133] That same year, Knight and Gus Turner from the same magazine also ranked it as the sixth best 2D fighting game of all time, stating: "Truth be told, the latest MK has nothing on this one. Nothing. A step up from the original in every way, MK II was, and still is, a solid, violent game that's an essential title to grab for any serious fan of fighting games."[144] In 2014, Kevin Wong of Complex wrote: "Today, we remember Mortal Kombat II for its anarchic spirit: the game was endlessly intriguing and weird, and it had an uneasy atmosphere, anything could happen at any given moment. Critics derided Mortal Kombat as meaningless shock value, but its sequel proved those naysayers wrong. Mortal Kombat II was a Flawless Victory: irreverent, hilarious, and horrific in equal measures."[145]

Rumored content
While many games have been subject to urban legends about secret features and unlockable content, these kinds of myths were particularly rampant among the dedicated fan community of Mortal Kombat in connection with Mortal Kombat II.[2] According to GameSpy, "the [arcade gaming] community was abuzz about myriad secrets both true and false."[132] The game's creators did little to dispel those rumors that included supposed "Nudality" or "Sexuality" finishing moves for Kitana and Mileena, Shang Tsung's ability to transform into Kano and Goro, a chance to fight Sonya after defeating Jade in a specific way, and "Hornbuckle" being featured as an additional secret character.[3][5][108][146][147]

Some of them were eventually implemented in subsequent MK games. Among these rumors to be adapted later were the Animalities (used in Mortal Kombat 3 and its updates) and an ability to throw an opponent into the mouth of a tree in the Living Forest stage (first used in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks).[108][148][149] Rumored characters included a red female ninja character (actually just a glitch that reportedly turned Kitana's outfit from blue to red), who was dubbed "Scarlet" by fans and was officially introduced as Skarlet in 2011's Mortal Kombat,[150][151] and the male ninja Ermac that originated from a misinterpreted indicator in the original game's audits menu, and was teased in MKII before finally becoming playable in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.[5][151] A nameless, flaming palette swap of Liu Kang seen far deep in the background of the Pit II stage, initially dubbed as "Torch" by fans, officially debuted in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance as a secret character Blaze that later became the final boss of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon.[148]

Related titles
See also: Mortal Kombat (film), Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, Mortal Kombat (2011 video game), and Mortal Kombat HD Arcade Kollection

Some elements of Mortal Kombat II (such as the characters of Kitana and Shao Kahn) are featured in the 1995 film Mortal Kombat. It was, nevertheless, mostly based on the first game.

The plot and characters of the game served as the basis for the 2005 spin-off game Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, a beat'em up title which follows Liu Kang and Kung Lao as they fight their way through Outworld to defeat Shao Kahn. Some of the plot of Shaolin Monks, such as the death of Jade, is not compatible with the general Mortal Kombat game series.

The events of Mortal Kombat II, along with the first Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat 3 (including its expansions), were later retold in the 2011 fighting game Mortal Kombat, which was as an effective reboot of the series. In it, Raiden uses time travel to revisit the tournaments from the original games in the series in order to change the future in the aftermath of Armageddon.[152] The ladder/arcade mode of this game can follow the same order of bosses as in MKII (with Shang Tsung, Kintaro and Shao Kahn as the final three opponents, although Goro will often be the ninth opponent instead of Kintaro) and its controls and Fatality system are most reminiscent of MKII. Classic costumes from MKII were also brought back as alternate outfits for female ninja characters in the PlayStation Vita version.[153]

Mortal Kombat II was to be one of the three games remade in HD in the cancelled fighting game Mortal Kombat HD Arcade Kollection.[154][155] However, only a simple compilation game titled Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection was released instead.

Trivia

 * Dead Pool, arena, is based Torture Chamber from Big Trouble in Little China (1986).
 * In the arcade version of Mortal Kombat II, a glitch occasionally caused Kitana to morph into a red female ninja, who was nicknamed "Skarlet". This rumour spread like wild-fire when a magazine published "actual images" of this glitch, even though it was stated later on that it was a hoax. However, some players still believed that there was another secret character, when in fact they had only uncovered another programming bug. Due to the rumors surrounding the glitch, NetherRealm Studios did eventually include a red female ninja character named Skarlet as an official character in Mortal Kombat (2011) and returned in Mortal Kombat 11.


 * Mortal Kombat II was so popular when it hit the arcades that several of the machines were later installed with deadlock security panels on the back to prevent thieves from ripping the game's motherboard straight out of the machine and taking it home (pictures of an arcade fitted as such are available as unlockable images in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance).


 * After the low sales of the SNES version of the first game against the Mega Drive/Genesis version, Nintendo didn't censor the blood and Fatalities as they did before in the US and UK SNES versions of Mortal Kombat, although they slapped a warning label in the front of the game box. The Japanese version is censored to a degree, with green blood for all fighters, as well as the screen colors turning into a greyscale for Fatalities. Despite this, the SNES version sold much better than any other version, and was considered at the time the best port of the game, even featuring online network play via the XBAND service.


 * Mortal Kombat II's levels and overall place within the Mortal Kombat timeline serve as the basis for the action/adventure game Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks.


 * Ed Boon's face was superimposed onto the trees for the Living Forest stage.


 * The famous "Toasty!" was originally "You're Toast!", which later evolved during development into "Toasted!", and then, "Toasty!". The former two were not actually used in the game.


 * Mortal Kombat II was the only game in the series (along with Mortal Kombat on the Mega Drive, titled Mortal Kombat: Shinken Kourin Densetsu) to be released in Japan, where it goes by the name of Mortal Kombat II: Kyuukyoku Shinken.
 * In Japan, Mortal Kombat II was released on the PlayStation. This version is extremely rare, and commonly goes for over $100 on eBay.


 * One of Jade's clues references Chun Li from Street Fighter "Chun who?". The clue in question itself is a clever hint, remarking on Chun-Li's fighting strength in her legs.


 * Another hidden character clue references Ermac: "Ermac Who?".


 * Like MK for the Genesis/Mega Drive, Mortal Kombat II for the Genesis/Mega Drive/32X also includes a soundtrack that plays most (if not all) of the tracks from the original arcade game remixed in a different style, both melodically and rhythmically.


 * There is a minor error in MKII's opening intro, it showed Shang Tsung getting beat by Liu Kang (in his MK form) at the Warrior Shrine stage; however, in the first Mortal Kombat game, Shang Tsung was supposed to be defeated at Goro's Lair.


 * For a limited time, Mortal Kombat II was released as a downloadable game on the PS3.


 * Ho Sung Pak and Anthony Marquez appear in the movie "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III"


 * If both player's hold Down on the joystick and High Punch at the same time before the match begins, throwing would be disabled throughout the whole match.


 * Johnny Cage's Triple Head Fatality was a parody to the glitch in the first arcade game where it would allow him to knock more than one head off his defeated opponent.