April was a giant month for Mortal Kombat’s legacy, but it surely was nearly inconceivable to inform primarily based on how developer NetherRealm Studios dealt with it. Mortal Kombat 3, Mortal Kombat 9, Mortal Kombat X, and Mortal Kombat 11 all had anniversaries throughout the month, and the studio solely reposted a celebratory message about the microtransaction-filled cellular sport hitting its tenth birthday. And whereas NetherRealm has all the time caught flak for its sporadic and sparse communication, this speaks to a broader challenge concerning the historical past of this standard, blood-soaked sequence: it’s extremely laborious to have a good time it in its totality as a result of — given the dearth of official remasters and ports — there are only a few authorized methods to take action.

2011’s Mortal Kombat, sometimes called Mortal Kombat 9, illustrates this downside splendidly. It has been pulled from Steam, PSN, and the Xbox Retailer, solely leaving a tantalizing banner for the many extra trendy followers who missed out on this seminal fighter. Those that already personal the sport on PC and Xbox can nonetheless boot it up on trendy {hardware}, however PlayStation gamers must dig out a PS3 in an effort to throw down, a tedious course of because of the lack of official native PS3 backwards compatibility in the PS4 and PS5. It’s extraordinarily troublesome to legally play MK9, and that’s totally ridiculous given the way it revitalized the franchise, arrange NetherRealm for fulfillment proper out of the gate, and helped contribute to the trendy resurgence of preventing video games.

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This challenge compounds the older the sport is. Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, the ill-fated 2008 crossover that got here out throughout Halfway’s gradual implosion, was a physical-only launch and didn’t make its strategy to PC. Digital distribution was nearly non-existent again then, and PC ports weren’t all the time a given like they’re now. It’s broadly considered considered one of the worst installments in the sequence, however these inquisitive about this low level must leap via many hoops to come back to their very own conclusion.

Mortal Kombat’s 3D entries from the earlier era haven’t been preserved nicely, both; one other case of being trapped on outdated techniques and eluding the PC. Even the basic arcade trilogy is difficult to trace down. The shoddy 2011 assortment was, unsurprisingly, additionally delisted on all platforms and, on account of Video games for Home windows Stay’s dying, is a ache to play on PC. Mortal Kombat Trilogy, MK4, and the first three video games are on GOG, but it surely’s a small comfort to be contained to 1 storefront on one platform.

There have been a number of efforts to remaster the first three video games, all of which met their grisly finish at the backside of the spike-filled Pit in a technique or one other. Mortal Kombat: HD Arcade Kollection popped up on online storefronts in 2010 however by no means got here out. It was later revealed via numerous leaked renders and real-life set photos that it was going to be a whole redo of the first three video games with new fashions, therefore the real-life set photographs meant to emulate the sequence’ iconic digitized sprites of actual actors. According to an artist on the project, the scope had modified, forcing a pivot to the aforementioned rushed 2011 assortment.

Developer Eyeballistic’s remake, which sequence co-creator Ed Boon reportedly liked, was also allegedly shot down at the finish of a protracted means of pitching the sport to Warner Bros. a number of instances, complying with its numerous calls for, and getting informed it was “heading towards a inexperienced mild.” This led to the remake helmed by Blind Squirrel Games referred to as Mortal Kombat Kollection On-line. UI components leaked define after being canned, but it surely’s unclear why WB pulled the plug. A retail itemizing for a sport with the similar identify popped up on-line in 2020, however nothing has come of it over 5 years later. Boon has spoken a few Mortal Kombat remake earlier than however has not gone into element, regardless of stating that he would “considered one of today.” 

Remakes could be welcome, however mild remasters would even be a enough first step, one thing else Boon has entertained more than a few times. But, someway, Warner Bros. has uncared for remastering something in the sequence — the good and the dangerous — and rendered it inaccessible to most. Nicely-regarded classics like Shaolin Monks and feature-rich entries like Armageddon are locked in the similar coffin in the Warner Bros. Krypt, a shortsighted transfer that damages the sequence in addition to the tradition at giant. With the ability to examine, critique, reevaluate, and stroll down reminiscence lane via hands-on play are all vital methods of partaking with the medium, and it’s weird for a long-running franchise this profitable to so willingly disengage from all that by being so laborious to achieve.

Capcom has had the exact opposite strategy to the good thing about everybody concerned. Apart from the a number of retro titles in different genres it has ported to trendy techniques, it has three (together with the imminent Capcom Preventing Assortment 2) collections of its preventing video games. These bundles have been lovingly composed and faithfully translated a number of classics, along with packing in further options like easier management schemes, artwork galleries, design paperwork, fast saves, jukeboxes, superior observe modes, and rollback netcode. Accessible, absolutely featured packages like these are the fashions for an organization that desires to have a good time its previous whereas modernizing it for the future, they usually plainly show WB’s ineptitude on the subject of using its again catalog. Given the sequence’ knack for top gross sales and the pent-up demand for remasters, Mortal Kombat collections with these options, if not royally botched, would undoubtedly do nicely.

WB likes to promote throwback costumes in each trendy Mortal Kombat sport, but it surely appears totally tired of truly making the video games these costumes are from broadly accessible on trendy platforms. Preying on nostalgia appears to be interesting solely when it’s a microtransaction. Nostalgia will be cynically exploited, because it typically is, however there’s a strategy to earnestly keep or at the very least respect a franchise via considerate remasters or ports, as Capcom has demonstrated time and time once more. If WB actually desires to deal with Mortal Kombat because it just lately said, it shouldn’t simply look to the future. It ought to mine the previous and illustrate why this violent fighter is so beloved via remasters it has deserved for such a very long time.