Summary
It won’t be long beforeMortal Kombat 1is out, and the game is nearing the end of its marketing cycle. As part of Gamescom 2023, a new trailer came out showing gameplay and story scenes featuring Queen Sindel and General Shao.Mortal Kombat 1takes place in a universe re-engineered by Fire God Liu Kang, meaning that these old villains aren’t quite the threats they used to be. Still, it’s good to see them in a title celebratingMortal Kombat’s past while also forging onward to a new future.
A couple of other things were revealed in the trailer as well, including the now-human Raiden finally receiving some attention after being in trailers sinceMK1’s reveal. However, of greater note are the two additional Kameo Fighters that premiered in this trailer: the monstrous centaur Motaro and the old copycat style master Shujinko. By themselves, these characters might not seem notable, but taken aspart ofMortal Kombat 1’s full packagehighlights its focus on making even the furthest reaches ofMortal Kombatfeel new and relevant.
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Motaro and Shujinko Are Surprising Additions to Mortal Kombat 1
While not part of the originalMortal Kombattrilogy’s roster or the castMortal Kombat 2011trilogy built based on it, Motaro and Shujinko should be familiar toMortal Kombatveterans. Motaro stands with Goro and Kintaro as one of the series’ classic sub-bosses and may be the hardest thanks to his teleportation and projectile immunity.
Because Motaro also breaks the standard humanoid templateMortal Kombatuses for its characters, he has only been a bonus character in a couple of games, and was reduced to two legs inMortal Kombat: Armageddon. Shujinko, meanwhile, was theprotagonist ofMortal Kombat: Deception’s Konquest mode, where his fighting style could be exchanged for any other character’s at the player’s discretion.
Neither is terribly obscure, but they are old and only showed up as brief cameos for the past decade ofMortal Kombat. Even that is better than some of the other playable characters onMortal Kombat 1’s roster, as Shujinko at least held protagonist status once, while Li Mei and Ashrah remained in obscurity. Other Kameo Fighters include classic faces not present in the rebooted plot yet, but Sareena andDarrius are practically unknown even among the Kameos. Assembling all of these details and character reputations helps nail downMortal Kombat 1’s intentions in bringing less popular characters back alongside the stars.
Mortal Kombat 1 Wears Its Love of the Past On Its Sleeve
Mortal Kombat 1is devoted to introducing the latest iteration of theMKuniverse while also ensuring that the franchise’s storied history isn’t forgotten. To that end, bosses, one-off protagonists, and even frequently mockednobodies were lifted from olderMKtitlesalongside the expected returning characters. It’s telling that there have been no new fighters introduced so far, withMortal Kombat 1solely concentrating on either reintroducing characters or reinventing them.
Using its clean slate to highlight deep cuts from theMortal Kombatfranchise seems like a central theme forMortal Kombat 1. With 3DMK-era fighters like Havik given playable status alongside the staple color ninjas, while Sonya Blade and Jax find themselves as Kameo Fighters alongside the likes of Motaro and Shujinko, character relevance has essentially been reset. AsGeras is theMK 2011trilogy’s only representativeso far,Mortal Kombat 1’s focus on reminding players of its past hasn’t been broken yet.
Mortal Kombat 1will be released on September 19 for PC, PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X/S.
