Mortal Kombat II World

Mortal Kombat II World is a fighting game originally produced by Midway for the arcades in 1993. It was ported to multiple home systems, including MS-DOS, Amiga, Game Boy, Game Gear, Sega Genesis, 32X, Sega Saturn, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and PlayStation only in Japan, mostly in licensed versions developed by Probe Entertainment and Sculptured Software and published by Acclaim Entertainment (currently distributed by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment).

It is the second main installment in the Mortal Kombat franchise and a sequel to 1992’s Mortal Kombat, improving the gameplay and expanding the mythos of the original Mortal Kombat, 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 being 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.

It spawned a spin-off game, Mortal Kombat II World: Shaolin Monks, had the greatest influence on the 2011 soft reboot game Mortal Kombat, and inspired numerous video game clones. Mortal Kombat II is often cited as one of the best video games ever made.

A sequel, Mortal Kombat II World was released in 1995.

Gameplay – Mortal Kombat II World

Further information: Gameplay of the first Mortal Kombat game

The gameplay system ofMortal Kombat II World is an improved version of that from the original Mortal Kombat II World. 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 kicks are made more powerful (knocking an opponent across screen, like 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 game plays almost twice as fast as original.

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 II lacks 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.^[4]

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).^[4] Finishing moves cannot be performed either by or against the boss or secret characters.^{[note 1]}

Plot – Mortal Kombat II World

Further information: Expanded backstory from the tie-in comic book

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.

e 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, as Shao Kahn has the home field advantage.^[8][9]

According to the Mortal Kombat series’ canon, Liu Kang won this tournament as well, defeating Shao Kahn and his bodyguard Kintaro.^[10] The game’s story mode can be also finished using any other playable character, resulting in a variety of non different non-canonical endings for each of them.^[11] This game also establishes that the original Sub-Zero Bi-Han was killed by Scorpion in the first game and Bi-Han’s younger brother Kuai Liang took the identity of the new Sub-Zero.^[12]