User blog:TheIkranRider/My Mortal Kombat Retrospective

Well since I just released Nightwolf onto the Legends of the Multiuniverse Wiki, I had some nostalgic memories running straight thru my brain, so why not a retrospective on Mortal Kombat. Even though it's gonna be a pretty short one.

First and foremost, like all other humble beginnings w/ video games, it all started w/ the original on the SNES; which I can heavily defend that it has better quality than the Genesis version! We suddenly got the game one day, probably from one of my parents' mom-and-pop shops, and my family and their friends instantly loved it; we would play it when company was over, mostly. Obviously, since the game's been made for a mature audience, and thus was what kickstarted this whole Rating System. As for 5-year old me, I never cared how bloody and gory it got, in fact the more violent it was, the better since I was really into its impactful action then. Heck, I was a pro when I played as Scorpion, as I found him to be more user-friendly than the other combatants, and Goro was without doubt the most awesome fighter ever! Shang Tsung sure gave me the creeps since he's known as a shapeshifter. But Rayden and Kano were annoying as all hell even when you try to trip them! I hated when the game feels as if it's reading the player's minds!!

It quickly became a sensation as it took the world by storm; although I never really saw the arcade cabinets as I'd hear numerous kids go nuts over. Whether it'd be about cheat codes, fatalities, contests on the button-mashing Test of Might, you name it they gossiped it.

Then, there was the second, more darker, installment, which I think I got as a birthday present; like I said the more intense, the better. I remembered gushing over the game when I was finally able to play as Reptile, like as if I was playing as the computer gamer. Oh, having the mind of a naïve, 6-year old kid... Unlike the original, the fighters were a bit more tedious, even their fatalities and how to use the stage hazards as finishers. And don't get me started with that 4-armed tiger, Kintaro!! A few fond memories I had were the Portal and woods stages, and with this was when there was a day for show-and-tell at early elementary school, and I had shown off the awesome tee featuring Kano, Goro, and the poster boys Scorpion and Sub-Zero in the front, in a wheel-like fashion, while the rear proudly displayed Mortal Kombat and its dragon emblem!

Even to this day, I wish I'd have it; never outgrow it.

Of course, who could ever forget the epic first movie and its addictive theme song..? Threshold Entertainment was in its prime, as was the franchise, once the adrenaline-pumping movie was released. It was just as amazing as the games we grew up with, and my sister, her friends, and I went to go see it in theaters. I was blown away by everything it had to offer, whether it'd be characters, plot, stunts, special effects, etc. Even when I finally got it on VHS, I watched the crap out of it! Even though a lot of video game-based movies suck, I can honestly say it was easily the bomb!

As if it couldn't get any better, Ultimate MK (MK3) was released. And the gameplay was tougher than ever. We had to use cheat codes constantly in order to unlock the stronger fighters, such as Shao Khan, Motaro, and Smoke. Even when some of the guys when we had company over who were bombarding their opponents using that centaur; that was no question the most popular character in the game! In fact, I remembered being obsessed with him, as I'd roleplayed with a Jurassic Park raptor plushie; the kind you'd get as one of those boardwalk prizes. Even though he's beyond annoying as he spams his powerful punches and tail, teleports around the balcony, and his body takes up like 1/3 of the screen!

Not to mention, I once saw someone play the last level when a character fought Shao Khan over the deadly Pit III; man, you wouldn't believe how much I'd squeamish everytime I saw someone get their body and soul shredded by those fatal, massive fans at the bottom being used as one of the most scariest fatalities ever! Heck, even Sheeva would give me the jitters, even with her bone-crushing jumps, a little more menacing than Kintaro's!

Despite these creepy experiences, I've had some good memories, though. I first got infatuated with Nightwolf when the game would show demos of computer players using him while customers passed by. I mean literally so as I had been w/ Ryan Steele in the past. And since I noticed he had some Indian attire, I was really enamored, even when compared to the numerous other experiences involving them during my early childhood. Hell, he was my favorite character in the animated series, too. I also liked the robots Cyrax and Sektor, and I could've sworn that Sheeva and Syndel were closely related.

Speaking of the cartoon, Defenders of the Realm, it was a kick-ass series that aired during USA's Saturday morning cartoon block! Or...should I say miniseries since there was only 13 episodes. Sadly, it has received so much negativity that it got canned and only lasted for a few months. Even though I was disappointed when they had to tone down the moves for younger audiences. I was like...

''"They cut out all the good parts!" Bart: *sigh* "I miss everything I love..."''

I personally blame it on the arrival of the N64 since it was around the same year, 1996, and children weren't as interested anymore. Regardless the reason, I had so many nostalgic memories w/ it. My personal favorite episode was the one that introduced one of the most distinctive characters that became a Canon Immigrant overnight, Quan Chi. The episode was filled w/ so much tension and betrayal, I thought Nightwolf and Kiba were never going to make it and destroy that accursed gem! So too was the one w/ Lin Kuei, Shang Tsung and his nature-manipulative orb, or even Scorpion vs. Sub-Zero, or even when Nightwolf had that wild goose chase w/ Kano and his devices. And that was when my brain went into overdrive. I just went WILD as I fantasized ally after ally for the Earthrealm dwellers:

Whether it'd be Bowser, Mouser, Baby Bowser, and the Koopalings (who hold up the most to this day). The 3 Twist-a-Zoids from Happy Meals (the Blue one I used as a helicopter rotor, much like Tails). There was also Tails, Toughy, Sonic, and Knuckles. The 101 Dalmatians (live-action version) The Yoshis and the Toadies from Yoshi's Island and Yoshi Story. I even had OCs related to oceanic creatures, some based on MARE projects from school. The duck plushies such as the Beanies, Quackers and Twigs, even another beanie duck which I named Quax. The dinos from The Land Before Time. The strays and the main trio from Homeward Bound 1 & 2. Koopa Troopa and Koopa the Quick (they'd often get into hilarious fights w/ each other!) And I even made an OC for myself named Krackle. Lame! I even wished for her to have an Animality of my favorite dinosaur, the Ankylosaurus.

In total, there were 155 friends to them.

Then...the series took a downfall, although as a kid, I didn't mind; the infamous movie, MK: Annihilation to which my sis, her friends and I saw in theaters again. At the time, I never cared about its flaws, but in retrospect it wasn't really the best. However, I sometimes saw it as closure to the entire series, even where Defenders of the Realm left off since its last episode was anticlimactic.

Still...it didn't stop there. I wasn't into its 3D release for the N64, MK4. It was more eerie and gruesome, and it introduced Shinnok and other petty characters; plus the functionality became even more difficult to handle. It was like the black sheep compared to Smash Bros., and that's no exaggeration.

Sadly, I just stopped following the series after that. Although it was quite fortunate since I missed out on Mythologies: Sub-Zero, until I saw a vid from the Angry Video Game Nerd. Ergh, the series just went downhill to me, and I remembered thinking that everybody I thought of would perish, even my OC, since I couldn't carry them forward anymore. I also wanted to give Shaolin Monks a try, but I was too depressed on what the franchise has become; a home for obsessive, Fan Dumb, consumers that only care about how anymore gruesome the fatalities and action can get. Sure, it was the driving force of the franchise, but 11 games was just FAR too long, the formula's repetitive and dull, there was hardly any substance, and there were hardly any reasons to stick w/ it!! I was so damned pissed on when I was watching MK9's campaign mode via LP, and I hated the outcome that Raiden saw his past self after the events of Armageddon saying, "Only HE can win." This is NOT BACK TO THE FUTURE, PEOPLE!!

It may be a nice callback, but that all epically FAILED as everybody got killed for good but Raiden, Quan Chi, Sonya, Johnny Cage, and God-knows-who else survived! I still don't know how/why Nightwolf was somehow resurrected as a DLC in 11! WTF!!

The series got so convoluted, confusing, and never-ending with all the death and destruction, as well as the asinine fanservice it produced! And I can't STAND Oscar, aka the Green Scorpion, still gushing over this! This is NOT the series I grew up with anymore! Time has changed, and it's time to move on! If only the series ended by Armageddon, LIKE IT WAS SUPPOSED TO, this wouldn't be happening! I swear, the fans and the developers literally have their brains fried!

So, that's it. That's where it all ended; by around 2016, I was officially done and threw in the towel. It was too overwhelming and formulaic for my own interests; all the creativity was gone, and I'm sure my OC and her allies gone with them, too. Still, I go back to the trilogy, movies, and animated series out of nostalgia. These are the ones and only reasons why I, at times, got back into Mortal Kombat, as I just added Nightwolf to the LOTM wiki. Heck, sometimes certain songs bring me back, whether it'd be "Megalomaniac" by KMFDM, or their version of the MK theme, certain songs from the 1st film's soundtrack, "The Indian Reservation" by Paul Revere and the Raiders, "The Bomb" by The Bucketheads, "It Has Begun," and some of the other songs from that 1995 party mix tape The Bomb was on...

Btw, if any of you know this, or those other songs I can't identify, please drop me a buzz. It's the same one that has the long version of the Macarena by Los Del Rio.

Until then, this is The Ikran Rider signing off.