Mortal Kombat: EVERY Game Ranked From Worst To Best
6. Mortal Kombat
If you play the original Mortal Kombat now, it's difficult to believe it stirred such a controversy. But at the time, there was nothing else like it. The violence may have been MK's selling point but Ed Boon and John Tobias knew that wasn't enough to carry a game. The gore helped Mortal Kombat stand out but it maintained its own legacy due to its astounding digitised visuals, eerie music, creative moves, and memorable characters.
Also, one element that never gets enough credit was how Mortal Kombat was the first fighting game to have a secret character. When the developers realised gamers would play the game more to find Easter eggs like this, they made unlockables a fundamental part of each entry, which is now a universal trait in every beat-em-up.
Looking back, it's unquestionable the game wouldn't have been as successful without the gore. The controls are a little clunky and some moves are so imbalanced, it's easy to win matches through spamming.
The bloodshed may not seem as impressive nowadays (especially the SNES version since it didn't have any!), but no one can argue Mortal Kombat's influence, not just for the fighting genre, but the gaming community in general.