Failure of the Mortal Kombat Franchise

Mortal Kombat games have, since the pinnacle of the series at Mortal Kombat II, added the following features:

1. Combos (stolen from Street Fighter) (1995)
2. Weapons (1997)
3. 3D Graphics (1997)
4. 3D Gameplay (2002)
5. Tetris (2005)

Keeping in mind that Mortal Kombat II was released in 1993, it has been over the course of 15 years of boredom that Mortal Kombat's designers have attempted to adopt every major development of other fighting games from Virtua Fighter to Soul Caliber. But yet, they cannot seem to overcome the fact that everyone who plays Mortal Kombat does so to quickly get through the fighting and oogle at the Fatality at the end of the match.

To overgeneralize, the gamer who has not grown bored with the Mortal Kombat franchise is kept interested only in blood-lust and gore. The fighting is stale, and the storyline has been reduced to pulp-level rehashing worthy of professional wrestling.

The situation is one which stems from the initial success of Mortal Kombat in the arcades. The shock-value, controversy, and general gameplay enjoyment came from the violent Fatality that awaited each contestant at the end of a match.

Though the Fatality was the initial source of interest that separated Mortal Kombat from the other members of the fighting game genre (most specifically Street Fighter II), it soon became a burden borne by each game to follow.

Less time was spent on creating a functional and exciting gameplay experience, while more time was poured into creating the most hideous and shocking Fatalities possible. Soon, much like in the shock-genre of Slasher films, the ludicrous overtook the visceral. It was no longer shocking to see limbs and gore, so soon Arcade Machines were dropping from the sky upon defeated opponents. Friendships and Babalities paved the way for Animalities and Brutalities. The five seconds of ridiculousness at the end of a match overshadowed the fighting aspect of the game itself.

Since Mortal Kombat 3, the series has fallen to the back of the pack of fighting games as Virtua Fighter, Soul Caliber, and Super Smash Bros. have gained supremacy. But Street Fighter is returning soon, attempting to reclaim dominance of the market it created. And Mortal Kombat is following just behind it, ready to steal any great ideas it brings to the market.