Mortal Kombat: More than A Video Game
Here I stand, staring at my opponent dripping in sweat and blood. I can feel blood pouring down my body. My black and blue kimono is torn to shreds and drenched in sweat. The sweat is stinging my eyes and open wounds; the pain is excruciating but I must ignore it. His eyes are his weakness. I can see the pain and rage deep within them. His clothes are sopping up blood that has been cut from his body. He stares at me, reaching into my soul ready rip it out. Both of us near death, we catch our breath in the dark cave. The humid cave is still; all I hear is the sound of my heart race and the stale smell of decaying animal is an annoyance. We both know what needs to done, one of us will have to die; an end is needed to this long and painful duel. I know that if I don’t move quickly it would be me. I see the twinge of a finger and I quickly through my hand in the air releasing my ice spike. He staggers for a moment then falls. An ocean of blood rushes toward me but I do not move. “Winner: Sub Zero” announces a deep and demonic voice. I hear his final breaths, which sound like gurgles covered by the deep coating of blood but I stand motionless thinking of what just happened. I replay the fight in my head and know that he could have killed me. I am not the young man I once was; I have grown weaker but am wiser than he. My body aches; it tells me that I should not go on but I must continue on in this battle in order to gain respect and become a master fighter.
In 1992 when Mortal Kombat was first introduced to the world of gaming I was just a mere seven years old. I had watched my older brother play even though I wasn’t supposed to. I took a liking to the back plot of the game and wanted to play. Every so often when I was left with my brother I would sneak off to his room and fight the game’s AI. I remember the excitement I had when I ripped out the spine of an opponent and watch him fall to the ground twitching. After a while I found that I had begun to master MK and had my brother show me the tricks of the trade. He taught me how to use the “special” move of each character, each becoming more violent; I loved it! Ever since I have found the game to be my favorite.
When it first made its mark in video gaming history, its graphics and controls were better than average for the arcade. The large amount of gore made this game to be controversial. With the addition of “blood physics” blood was more prominent and the entrails of characters were more realistic. The game soon caught up with technology and the more that the game was modified for new systems the more realistic gory the game became. The game had its ups and its downs, however it has proven to be extremely popular in the gaming world.
One reason for its popularity is the gruesome fighting style in the game. Personally I find it very stress relieving to rip the head and spine out of an opponent, with my favorite character Sub Zero. The “fatality” feature in this game is amazing; every character has a special move that causes the most gruesome deaths. The adrenaline rush that one gets from this game is addicting. I would play non-stop just to be characters like the seductive Sonya Blade or the warrior Jonny Cage and find ways to use and defeat their fatality move. Then my brothers and I hold tournaments lasting for hours to become a MK master. The level of blood and gore attracted boys to the game. Being able to crack someone’s neck and hearing it appealed more to boys than girls. However, girls were attracted to the cool female characters such as Sonya Blade and use the fatality known as the kiss of death. When a player triggers the right buttons Sonya would blow a kiss (in which was a ball of fire) and the fireball would find its way to the opponent, thus burning him/her alive. Another reason of the popularity of this game is its level of controversy.
In 1993, the Electronics Software Ratings Board (ESRB) was born due to violence in games such as Mortal Kombat. Parents and the government were not thrilled about children having the ability to cause see and partake in that amount of violence. But this did not stop the creators more games were produced and have not stopped coming.
The graphics of Mortal Kombat keep becoming more realistic which draws people to the series. It is more than a game; it is an escape into virtual reality and a stress reliever. Using a game like Mortal Kombat as a release of aggression is an amazing feeling. Being able to cause such a graphic death without consequences give a player a feeling of achievement and release that one can walk away happy instead of aggravated, which makes it an amazing fighting game.