Mortal Kombat

It's no secret I've been heavily into gaming my entire life, and continue to be without shame. I embrace new games and appreciate the older ones. I feel like I grew up with the modern gaming industry; that is to say, my first console was the Atari 2600, then the NES and so on and so forth through all the iterations. I have clear memories of all of these, and experience with a huge number of games for these systems. But I grew up in parallel to the "growing up" of the industry. What I mean there is that every generation of console and games has been aimed directly at me (well, my demographic). The NES was a kids system, and so was I. When the SNES and Genesis came out, we were all entering the double digits and our teens. When Mortal Kombat was coming out I was eleven years old. The ensuing years would be a battle for maturing gamers, and some games like Mortal Kombat were using blood and violence as weapons.

They drew the line in their arcade titles, and both Nintendo and Sega took a side. The SNES (my favourite) would be technically superior but was lacking in blood, whereas the Genesis was a bit faster and most of the blood was intact. The Mortal Kombat II port would blur the line a bit more, as Nintendo gave in a bit. At the same time Night Trap ensured we ushered in a solid voluntary ratings system for games that's still around today. The MK series definitely had it's part in the ratings system as it upset parents all over. I don't think my parents knew what was going on, or they recognized that I was mature enough to understand the difference between video game violence and the real deal. Either way, I don't think the blood in MK really affected me one way or another: I just really enjoyed following the news in the industry.

So as we matured - or at least, grew older - the games were being marketed to older crowds and we were there to receive them. I wasn't completely impervious: I played MK in the arcade, and rented the titles when they were released for home. I just didn't get what the big deal was about: the stop-motion photographs you were playing were slow and clunky to me; the moves were awkward and the combat was uninspired. I tried, even buying MK3 for the PC (of all platforms) but was disappointed by every title. My favourite (perhaps because it was most memorable for me) was MKII, but I never did own it.

However, the Mortal Kombat series always had a place in my own and my friends' hearts. When 1995 rolled around and the movie came out, there was no doubt: we were going. By this time I had moved back to Kingston; my best friend at the time was coming up for a few days to visit, conveniently timed with the release of the movie. We would walk over to the theatre, throw down our allowance and be taken in awe. Right from the beginning of the movie you are blasted with the insane soundtrack, a soundtrack that I would immediately buy and would see more play than I care to mention. There would be many times that I'm sure the neighbours would hear the Mortal Kombat yell, followed by a thumping bass, and roll their eyes. But we were young, impressionable young men. The electronica soundtrack was crucial in opening my eyes to bands and artists that produced music that reminded me of quality 8-bit tunes from the NES.

Watching the movie again last night, and I was warped back to the mid-nineties and memories of rocking out to some of the wacky tunes on that soundtrack. I was also reminded of sitting in the theatre and being excited about it all: this was a video game movie done right. It didn't try and get too complicated: a simple story of warriors gathering together for a tournament, then systematically fighting their way from battle to battle. The foes keep getting tougher, and more interesting, and the action never really slows down.

I couldn't tell you the last time I saw this movie; for all I know it was fourteen or fifteen years ago. But the one thing that glares out at you is the CG. I really wish they didn't use it. It must have been groundbreaking at the time, but it hasn't aged well whatsoever. In fact it was quite terrible. So terrible I got a real kick out of it now: this movie was actually pretty damn entertaining. Is it safe to say it's reached a cult status? Apparently this movie was at the top of the box office for three full weeks upon release - perhaps a testament to how terrible other movies were at the time, but still pretty impressive anyway. For a moment, at least, I was transported back to being fourteen years old again, watching this movie in the theatre. I was in awe of the special effects, the girls and the fighting back then, and now, I can appreciate it on a whole new level.