A reboot of Mortal Kombat as we knew it

Imagine a quiet afternoon on a weekend. While everyone else in the family is peacefully getting a little nap in, you are in front of your computer or console and out comes a voice screaming "Get over here". Ah yes, those were some timeless memories filled with a sense of something otherworldly. No wonder the newer instalments of Mortal Kombat are made by a studio called 'Netherrealm'!

This golden franchise that defined our childhood ended its long running storyline of nearly 30 years in 2019 with Mortal Kombat 11. The story essentially destroyed the game's universe as we knew it, down to its last atom. Everything that was built and every character introduced were literally lost in time. 

But that obviously did not stay this way for long, as on 19 May WB and Netherrealm teased Mortal Kombat 1 with a reveal trailer. The trailer introduced a new story with all the characters we came to cherish the franchise for. 

I am just a little drop in the ocean of a fandom of Mortal Kombat. The first Mortal Kombat came out in 1992 and since then the franchise kept garnering admirers and a dedicated fanbase from every corner of the globe. 

In its three decades of runtime, the game has seen significant improvement in graphics quality, gameplay and a very compelling storyline.

This astonishing evolution of Mortal Kombat was inspired by and for the fanbase. Initially, the video game caught the attention of the gaming community because of its brutal combat style and fashion. 

The graphics back then were very grainy to say the least. They used real life people to simulate animated movements, which came out rather cheesy, even for the standard of the time. But the gameplay was different from competitor fighting games like Street Fighter or King of Fighters.

It was the hyper realistic depiction and the brutalities of hand-to-hand combat that attracted most players at the time. This also played a huge part in the game becoming a worldwide sensation. Every time someone, including myself, started the game; we were greeted by the rush that kicked in  from the hyper realism of Mortal Kombat.

The game was so well received in fact, it even reached the comparatively small community in Bangladesh in the mid to late nineties. It was a time when most youth of the country could not get their hands on a personal computer or a console. They had to resort to the gaming cafes in the dark alleys of the big cities to play these games. Mortal Kombat quickly became a cult favourite among these young people as well.

Even in the early to mid 2000's, I played Mortal Kombat in its earliest form in a cafe. It was a place often damp and humid with only two available slots to play on. Even this place was mostly crowded during the hottest of summers, just so people could experience the thrill of Mortal Kombat. School, college and even university goers would talk about the game as if it were a mythological revelation.

Then the studio Midway Games and later Warner Bros started developing a story and gave each one of its characters a compelling background. The story left such a good mark that they made an entire franchise out of it. All of it was extremely well received by the community, which at this point has become a cult following. The game literally became a legacy and a relic of old.

What can we expect from Mortal Kombat 1?

Mortal Kombat 1, at its roots, is basically a reboot of the franchise in terms of storyline. We grew up knowing Raiden to be the protector of the Earth realm. But this time round, the realm is built anew from scratch after the events of the last game, with Liu Kang being the new protector. 

The teaser revealed a roster of the characters who will be in the game. Characters like Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Shang Tsung, Kitana, Mileena, Raiden, Scorpion and Sub-Zero will return in this new timeline.

Not much has been unveiled about how the storyline will progress, but the brutal gameplay will certainly remain intact as the teaser demonstrated a handful of fatalities unseen before. 

The graphics are obviously going to be more improved than the last one. The reboot corresponds with Mortal Kombat 11's and its Aftermath expansion's conclusion. It is, however, very explicitly positioned as a chance to reevaluate the gameplay and narrative. Just how much has changed is up in the air as the trailer revealed only so much.