9. Mortal Kombat (2011)
Before Mortal Kombat re-invented itself in 2011 after series' developers were bought out by Warner Bros., the long-standing franchise was pretty much dead in the water. Bogged down by years and years of in-game lore, too many characters and an over-abundance of useless features, new releases in the franchise felt increasingly bloated as the series wore on. But with the 2009 game the developers instead decided to essentially reboot the entire series, opting to re-tell the story of the first three MK games while focusing on the gameplay that made the original titles so famous in the first place. With a smaller roster of characters, a return to a 2D fighting plane and an emphasis on simple, easy to learn visceral combat, the acclaimed fighter was given a new lease of life under the watchful eye of publishers at WB. While many fans might miss the sillier, more indulgent parts of the series, there's no denying that the 2011 release essentially saved a property on the brink of implosion.
Josh Brown
Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.
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