All Articles: Mortal Kombat

Truthality: Christina Perri’s “Jar of Hearts” is Really About Mortal Kombat

Posted on May 10, 2011 by John Scalzo

If you’ve listened to the radio in the last year, you’ve no doubt heard Christina Perri’s “Jar of Hearts” (her album, Lovestrong, is in stores today), an angsty piano rock song that’s supposed to be about Perri’s ex-boyfriend looking to restart their relationship. Except that’s not what it’s about at all.

In reality, it’s about Scorpion and Sub-Zero’s fight to the death in Mortal Kombat! Forget backmasking, Perri has planted a hidden message to Mortal Kombat fans everywhere in a sad song about a cheating boyfriend. Don’t believe me? Just look at the lyrics: (more…)

Posted in Features, PS3, Top Story, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Mortal Kombat: Legacy episode 5 now available

Posted on May 10, 2011 by John Scalzo

Kitana and Mileena continue their training in the latest episode of Mortal Kombat: Legacy. The sister’s tale is once again told through a combination of animation and live action as they hunt down Shao Kahn’s enemies and prepare for the first Mortal Kombat tournament.

There’s no hint as to who will take center stage next week, but here’s hoping it’s Scorpion and Sub-Zero!

Posted in Etcetera, News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged ,

Explore Outworld in fourth Mortal Kombat: Legacy episode

Posted on May 3, 2011 by John Scalzo

Using a combination of animation and live action, director Kevin Tancharoen has turned the clock back on the Mortal Kombat saga in the latest episode of Mortal Kombat: Legacy. Mortal Kombat mainstays Baraka, Shao Kahn and Sindel appear alongside Kitana and Mileena to tell the tale of how Edenia was consumed by Outworld.

Departing from current MK canon, the episode brings back Mileena’s original origin story. The recently released reboot on the PS3 and Xbox 360 shows Mileena was created after Liu Kang defeated Shang Tsung for the first time. But in Mortal Kombat II (and now Legacy), Kitana and Mileena were raised as twin sisters, with Mileena’s demonic lineage a secret.

Hopefully we’ll see more of Outworld when the story of Kitana and Mileena continues next week.

Posted in Etcetera, News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged ,

Johnny Cage meets Shang Tsung in Mortal Kombat: Legacy episode 3

Posted on April 26, 2011 by John Scalzo

The third episode of Kevin Tancharoen’s Mortal Kombat: Legacy is here and we get our first glimpse of Johnny Cage (Matt Mullins) as he is convinced by Shang Tsung (Johnson Phan) to enter the Mortal Kombat tournament. The “inside look” at Cage’s career is a hoot and this episode is as ball-punchingly fun as the previous two.

I especially loved the Ed Boon cameo and I can’t wait for part four (which will star Mileena and Kitana!). Though I could have done without the muted swear words (an “uncensored” version will be uploaded on Friday, April 29).

Posted in Etcetera, News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged ,

Mortal Kombat Review: Bone-Breakingly Fantastic

Posted on April 25, 2011 by John Scalzo

It has been a long, bloody road to bring Mortal Kombat to the PS3 and Xbox 360. After Midway’s bankruptcy, almost none of the company’s franchises were able to escape from the financial fatality unscathed. Even in the middle of the company’s financial woes, Ed Boon and his team at Midway Chicago (now NetherRealm Studios) continued to toil away on the next entry in the series. With Midway’s bankruptcy settled and the franchise now in the hands of WB Games, Mortal Kombat is ready to inflict its signature brand of mayhem onto the world once again. (more…)

Posted in PS3, Reviews, Top Story, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Freddy and Jason WON’T be appearing in Mortal Kombat

Posted on April 20, 2011 by John Scalzo

The Mortal Kombat reboot has been available for one day, and rumors of secret characters have already arisen. Those rumors state that NetherRealm Studios will add horror icons Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees to Mortal Kombat in a future DLC package. But as awesome as that would be, it’s just not true.

The basis for this rumor appears to be a misreading of Ed Boon‘s recent tweets. The Mortal Kombat creator has taken to Twitter over the last few days offering congratulations and kind words to the Mortal Kombat team for a job well done on the latest game in the series. It looks like it was this message that sparked the Freddy vs Jason vs Mortal Kombat rumors:

You know who animated Smoke’s X-ray move? That would be Senior Animator Freddy Palma. Maybe we should put Freddy in the game as DLC?

Deleted: Boon is clearly referring to Freddy Palma, and not Freddy Krueger, in the tweet and then overeager fans filled in the rest. But the idea of Freddy and Jason in Outworld isn’t so crazy. In addition to publishing Mortal Kombat, Warner Bros. owns the rights to both Krueger and Jason. So legally, there’s no barrier to this happening if Warner Bros. wanted it to happen.

Attention WB Games… As a longtime fan of Mortal Kombat, the Friday the 13th films, and (some of) the Nightmare on Elm Street films, I would very much like to see this happen.

UPDATE: Wow. Freddy Krueger was just announced as the final DLC addition to Mortal Kombat.

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Jax, Sonya, Kano kontinue the fight in second Mortal Kombat: Legacy episode

Posted on April 19, 2011 by John Scalzo

Have you got your copy of Mortal Kombat reboot yet? If you’re still waiting on the mailman, then spend a few minutes of your time with the second episode of Mortal Kombat: Legacy, which was also released today. The new episode focuses on the aftermath of the assault on the Black Dragon compound, including the fates of Jax (Michael Jai White), Sonya Blade (Jeri Ryan) and Kano (Darren Shahlavi).

Something interesting also appears in the early seconds of this video, a TV-style rating of “TV-MA.” These ratings are self-determined by the production company before a television broadcast, so perhaps we’ll be seeing Mortal Kombat: Legacy on the boob tube in addition to YouTube.

The third episode of Mortal Kombat: Legacy will be available next week.

Posted in Etcetera, News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged ,

New Releases: Portal 2, Mortal Kombat, SOCOM 4, More

Posted on April 16, 2011 by John Scalzo

It’s finally here. All month long we’ve been building up to one of the biggest release weeks ever and it’s finally here.

Starting things off is Valve’s full-priced sequel to Portal, Portal 2. Coming to the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, the game will include co-op play for the first time and a greatly expanded single-player campaign.

Next up is a franchise that needs no introduction, Mortal Kombat is back. The reboot takes the series back to the birth of the MK saga and gives PS3 and Xbox 360 owners their latest 2D fighter fix. And speaking of long-running franchises, Sony and developer Zipper Interactive are finally bring SOCOM to the PS3 for real with SOCOM 4: US Navy SEALs.

Believe it or not, these three are just the beginning.

Sega is bringing High Voltage’s first person shooter Conduit 2 to the Wii. Square Enix is continuing to plug their huge franchises on the PSP with Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection. And Ubisoft is rewinding the clock to bring Prince of Persia Trilogy to the PS3 in stunning high definition.

Your wallet weeps. Check out the full list of the rest of this week’s new releases after the break. (more…)

Posted in DS, News, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360 | Tagged , ,