Back to the beginning: NetherRealm teases Mortal Kombat reboot

[Shawn Knight]

Something to look forward to: What happens when an established IP runs out of new ideas? You wipe the slate and start over anew, or at least that appears to be what NetherRealm Studios has in store for Mortal Kombat.

The developer recently shared a teaser depicting the second hand on a clock ticking towards 12, presumably to signal the next game in the series – Mortal Kombat 12. When the second hand reaches 11, however, it struggles briefly before jumping right over 12 and starting back normally from one.

Most believe the teaser, which is titled "It Is Almost Time," indicates a reboot is on the way. According to one Twitter leaker, the game will be called Mortal Kombat 1 and is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch and PC in three tiers: standard, premium, and a collector's edition.

Mortal Kombat landed in arcades on October 8, 1992, with highly polished graphics and record levels of violence and gore. Gamers couldn't funnel the quarters in fast enough. By the following summer, Mortal Kombat was the second top-grossing arcade game behind NBA Jam. The pump had been primed and developers ran with it.

Several mainline and spinoff games were delivered through the end of the 90s and throughout the 2000s. In 2011, the series was rebooted and continued, albeit at a slower pace than before. If the latest teaser is taken at face value, it'd be the second reboot for the series.

NetherRealm had the perfect opportunity to drop a reboot last year for the series' 30th anniversary. Instead, fans got a 30th anniversary bundle that was lame by most standards.

A reboot of a fighting game is a bit tough for me to relate to simply because I never played Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter II, or any fighting game for the storylines but I understand that's not the case for everyone. With any luck, the reboot will be something that gamers can enjoy universally – one with modern graphics that's engaging, fun to play, and has a quality storyline.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/98672-back-beginning-netherrealm-teases-mortal-kombat-reboot.html

 

[NintPlayBox]

Well I wouldn't say they "ran" out of ideas...there are plenty of franchises out there with far less sequels and have started all over again like...God of War.

Let's hope the next MK game is nowhere near as grindy or online only as MK11 was.

 

[ComputerGuy55]

I haven't played a Mortal Kombat game in years, love the MK Universe but terrible at fighting games.

I have fond memories of playing Mortal Kombat on the SNES.

Then Mortal Kombat 4 stood out since they added weapons and big 3D Environments to fight in (However, still limited to a 2D plane to fight on)

I skipped everything in between MK4 and their Deception / Shaolin Monks games; both of which I loved. I think that if Mortal Kombat were to release a new game with either one of these games as inspiration then I would definitely consider getting them. Thinking back I do remember playing Deadly Alliance, but never beat it.

I've never been great at fighting games, which is why I haven't played many MK games in recent years. Each game seems to revolve around the same fighting mechanics that I just cannot seem to grasp.

I absolutely love the Mortal Kombat universe but I don't enjoy these types of fighting games. I'm hopeful that they'll re-imagine the game into something more than Just a fighting game.

Deception did this well, it continued with it's iconic Fighting Game style of gameplay but added new elements (Death Traps, being able to 'push' someone into another Arena). It also had a lot of other things to keep you entertained; I loved what they did with Konquest mode in this game. Puzzle and Chest Kombat were also an interesting mini-game addition that allowed you to break up the monotony of just going from one fight to the next. I also found that Deception did a fantastic job at explaining Lore compared to previous games.


On a side note, I loved the new Mortal Kombat movie (Kano was the best character) and can't wait to see the next one.

 

[amghwk]

Proof that game designing and innovation are dead. It's all just remakes or sequels or HD remakes.

 

[Looiplooi]

MK 3 and later MK4 back in the arcade days at the mall...checking out the older kids finish MK3 with a single coin was just something and had to be done. lol. Those times are what even allows for the franchise to live on. Have not played any of the last few though.