Introduction

If you read this page for longer than a couple of articles, you know that I identify as an old man. Those who fear the reaper always say, “No way, you’re young!” While certainly true by modern standards, my aching back, expanding belly, and distinct memory of the first Mortal Kombat 1 release says otherwise.

My friend Kevin and I took the summer after our senior year of high school and traveled to live with his father. The trip started as a week, then expanded to two weeks, and may have been a month, possibly two by the time all was said and done. Well, we spent the summer more or less the same ways we would have at home. We went to the comic book store (it was the summer of the “Death of Superman”!) and visited at least one arcade.

Humble Beginnings

I always use that as all of my introductions to new things. Because, honestly, as the Noob of All Trades, they truly classify as Humble Beginnings. This one, especially, warrants the title. Surveying the games in the arcade, we laid eyes on a most peculiar sight. A man, who sort of looks like Jean Claude Van Damme, executes a leaping kick on the side of the cabinet. On the front, in the marquee, Mortal Kombat. Yes, with a K.

We both put quarters into the machine, maybe about 5 bucks each, but probably less, and button mashed our way to the occasional mistake move when we stumbled upon something that resembled the motions in Street Fighter 2. Otherwise, we marveled at the blood and the mysterious “Finish Him” that ended every fight. Remember kids, this is before phones. Hell, this is before I even knew the internet existed. And, so, we needed to find a copy of EGM or some other such magazine that gave us the fighter’s moves. But, that came after some MK sensei rolled up to the cabinet and blew our minds with Sub-Zero’s fatality.

The Golden (?) Age of Reboots

It all started with Star Wars. Well, at least that’s when I noticed that a certain movie looked and felt very much like another certain movie released 40 years before. I even wrote an article that mentioned the similarities between the movie. Well, none of it really clicked until the Scream movie released in 2022. As far as I know, true to form, they coined the term “Requel”.

So, armed with that, I took a more critical look at some of the new movies. I recognized the story from Creed. I heard echoes of the past in the Jurassic World series that came to a logical conclusion in the most recent movie. Then, I saw an article for the newest Mortal Kombat game.

The last two Mortal Kombat games I played were called Mortal Kombat X and Mortal Kombat 11. Therefore, logically, the new one in the series is named Mortal Kombat 1. Wait, is that right? That can’t be right.

Mortal Kombat 1

I searched to make sure that I read right. Because all of the old games get released over and over on every single new system, I needed to make sure that it wasn’t just a new release of the original game. Heck, they might have even updated the graphics for the game. But, nope, they named the new game MK1.

During my text conversation with Chris, I said, “I can’t tell if this is an actual reboot or just a joke by Ed Boon at the expense of all the recent reboots.” He said that he thought the former. In the end, I agreed. Then, the trailer hit and left no doubt.

The Verdict

Speaking of the trailer, look for a reaction video from me regarding that trailer. Then, after the game releases, look for my first impressions and then the final review of the game. Finally, Chris and I talked about getting back together to record and my idea for the first show back is this game and the new Street Fighter. Hope we can get it done before Germany, but more likely next month.