Mortal Kombat 4
Developer(s)	Midway Games
Publisher(s)	Midway Games
Series	Mortal Kombat
Release date(s)	1997 (Arcade) Jun 24, 1998 (PlayStation port)
Genre(s)	Fighting
Mode(s)	Up to 2 players
Platform(s)	Arcade, Game Boy Color, PC, PlayStation, N64
Input	8-way joystick; 6 buttons
Arcade cabinet	Standard
Arcade system(s)	Midway Zeus hardware Main CPU: TMS32031 (@ 50 MHz) Sound CPU: ADSP2104 (@ 16 MHz) Sound Chips: (2x) DMA-driven (@ 16 MHz)

Mortal Kombat 4 (1997) was the last game in the Mortal Kombat series to have an arcade version. It was updated into Mortal Kombat Gold a year later for the Sega Dreamcast. MK Gold's story overrides MK4's. It is one of the few 3D fighting games to have been described as having "2D gameplay." Image File history File links MK4logo. ... Image File history File links Selection_4. ... A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual) that creates video games. ... Midway Games (NYSE: MWY) is an American video game publisher. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Midway Games (NYSE: MWY) is an American video game publisher. ... Mortal Kombat (commonly abbreviated MK) is a popular series of fighting games created originally by the Midway Manufacturing Company. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Video games are generally categorized into genres. ... This article describes fighting games in which opponents face off in a battle. ... Centipede by Atari is a typical example of a 1980s era arcade game. ... The Game Boy Color , shortened to GBC) is Nintendos successor to the Game Boy and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan and in November of 1998 in the United States. ... The Altair 8800 was among the first microcomputers to be affordable by an individual, although it initially lacked peripherals and memory. ... The Sony PlayStation ) is a video game console of the 32/64-bit era, first produced by Sony Computer Entertainment in the mid-1990s. ... An N64 (with Super Smash Bros. ... Joystick elements: 1. ... This arcade cabinet, containing Centipede, is an upright. ... An arcade system board is a standardized printed circuit board or group of printed circuit boards that are used as the basis for multiple arcade games with very similar hardware requirements. ... Die of an Intel 80486DX2 microprocessor (actual size: 12×6. ... Mortal Kombat may refer to: Mortal Kombat (series) is a series of fighting, beatem up and platform video games: Mortal Kombat (video game) (1992) Mortal Kombat II (1993) Mortal Kombat 3 (1995) Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (1995) Mortal Kombat Trilogy (1996) Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero (1997) Mortal Kombat... Centipede by Atari is a typical example of a 1980s era arcade game. ... Mortal Kombat Gold is a fighting game in the Mortal Kombat series. ... 3D computer graphics are different from 2D computer graphics in that a three-dimensional representation of geometric data is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images. ... This article describes fighting games in which opponents face off in a battle. ... This article describes fighting games in which opponents face off in a battle. ...

Taglines:

• Hand to hand kombat was only the beginning.
• Death comes at 1.2 million polygons per second.
• That which calls the warriors summons the vultures.
• A new dimension of kombat. (back of Nintendo 64 and PlayStation cover)
• Introducing newly forged weapons that will slash and blundgeon beyond imagination. (back of PC cover)

Gameplay

Early on, the development team at Midway decided to make a 3D Mortal Kombat to capitalize on the rising popularity of 3D games at the time. Midway decided to develop its own hardware, named "Zeus" from scratch however, resulting in development delays (a large amount of the game was tested on two dimensional hardware using pre-rendered characters). Midway Games (NYSE: MWY) is an American video game publisher. ...

As revealed in later interviews, programmer Ed Boon was particularly concerned with maintaining the gameplay feel of a 2D game but with 3D graphics. He at first was worried that there was some intrinsic property of 3D graphics that would make this impossible. Essentially, the major gameplay difference between 2D and 3D fighting games of the time, was that up to that point all 3D fighting games had attempted to somewhat simulate realistic martial arts. One of the reasons this was done was to take advantage of the fluid keyframed and motion captured animation that was now possible using 3D models. For example, in Virtua Fighter, a real martial artist was filmed performing the moves, and this movement was imposed on the 3D model in the game. Thus, while a punch in a 2D game might be a rapidly responding move with two frames of animation, a punch in a 3D game might have a delay between when the button was pressed and when the opponent was hit, owing to the realistic animation. Ed Boon, on a G4TV interview Ed Boon (born March 30, 1964 in Chicago, Illinois), along with John Tobias is a co-creator of the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... Hawaiian State Grappling Championships. ... Virtua Fighter is a 1993 fighting game developed by the Sega studio AM2, headed by Yu Suzuki. ...

This delay however fundamentally changed the gameplay experience. Boon eventually decided to use the non realistic 2D rates of animation and movement, simply imposed onto 3D graphics. Thus the gameplay experience is nearly identical to the 2D versions of Mortal Kombat. While this was attempted before with the Street Fighter EX series, that series used more complex animation which did change the gameplay somewhat. Some critics however, were disappointed that Mortal Kombat 4 did not play like other popular 3D games of the time. A gameplay image of Street Fighter EX 2 Plus. ...

New characters

MK4 introduced:

• Kai, a Shaolin monk and friend of Liu Kang
• Jarek, the last of the Black Dragon Clan
• Reiko, Shinnok's general
• Tanya, a traitor to Edenia. She was rumored to be a glitched yellow female ninja from Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.
• Fujin, God of Wind, ally of Raiden. First appeared in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero as the second boss character.
• Quan Chi, a mysterious evil sorcerer. First appeared in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero as the main antagonist.
• Shinnok, an imprisoned Elder God. First appeared in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero as the final boss.

MK4 also included the following hidden characters: Kai is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... The Shaolin temples (少林寺; pinyin: Shàolín Sì, Wade-Giles: Shao-lin Ssŭ) are a group of Chinese Buddhist monasteries famed for their long association with Chán (Japanese Zen) Buddhism and martial arts. ... St. ... This article or section on a video game-related subject may need to be cleaned up and rewritten because it describes a work of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. ... Jarek is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... Reiko is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... Tanya is a character from the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Fujin is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... Raiden (also Rayden) is a video game character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... Quan Chi is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... Shinnok is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... The Elder Gods are fictional entities in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... A secret character (not to be confused with an unseen character) is usually a playable character (although not always) in a video game that can only be played (or in some cases fought) by completing some task in the game. ...

• Noob Saibot
• Goro
• Meat, a bloody skeleton.

Noob Saibot is a character from the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... Goro is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... Meat is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ...

Returning characters

Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, Jax Briggs, Raiden, Reptile (now with his mask removed), Scorpion, Sonya Blade, Sub-Zero. Goro, not featured in the arcade version of MK4, was added as a sub-boss for the console versions of the game. Liu Kang as he appears in Mortal Kombat 4. ... This article or section on a video game-related subject may need to be cleaned up and rewritten because it describes a work of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. ... Major Jackson Briggs, better known as Jax, is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... Raiden can refer to: Raijin, a figure in Japanese mythology. ... Reptile is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... Scorpion is a fictional character appearing in the Mortal Kombat video game series. ... Sonya Blade is a video game character from the Mortal Kombat fighting games series. ... This article or section contains a plot summary that is overly long. ... Goro is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... Flag Ship from the video game Gorf In video games, a boss is a particularly challenging computer-controlled character that must be defeated at the end of a segment of a game, whether it be for a level, an episode, or the very end of the game itself (final boss). ... Four different video game consoles from different generations. ...

Boss and Sub-Boss

Boss

• Shinnok

Shinnok is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ...

Sub-Boss

• Goro - Home versions only

• Quan Chi - Arcade versions only

Goro is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... Quan Chi is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ...

New to the series

• MK4 is the first Mortal Kombat game to have entirely computer-generated characters, although the texture maps of the characters were taken from most of the live-action actors of the previous games and animations were all generated via motion capture. It was revolutionary at the time, although the character models now appear dated.
• MK4 introduces a limited weapon system to the series.
• MK4 also introduces 3D combat, although limited to sidestepping as opposed to the 8 way walk movements, of which can be found in the Namco Game; Soul Calibur.
• Finally, MK4 added a 'Maximum Damage' cap to the game's combo system, automatically breaking off combos if they deal over a set amount of damage to a player and, thus, preventing infinite combos (although this cap can be removed with a code).

Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ... Motion capture, or mocap, is a technique of digitally recording the movements of real things — usually humans — it originally developed as an analysis tool in biomechanics research, but has grown increasingly important as a source of motion data for computer animation. ... Soul Calibur is the second game in the Soul series of fighting games developed and produced by Namco, consisting of Soul Edge (Soul Blade in the US), Soul Calibur, Soul Calibur II, and Soul Calibur III. Originally an arcade game, Soul Calibur was ported and released for the Sega Dreamcast...

Storyline

Thousands of years ago, during a war with the corrupt Elder God known as Shinnok, Raiden was responsible for the death of an entire civilization. To avoid a repeat of this event, as well as to protect all realms from Shinnok's threat, Raiden waged a brutal campaign and, at a heavy price, exiled his rival to a dark place known as the Netherealm. A couple of years before the 1992 Shaolin tournament, the original Sub-Zero assisted the necromancer Quan Chi in obtaining Shinnok's amulet, the source of Shinnok's power (as recounted in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero). Now (1997), 2 years after Shao Kahn's failed attempt to seize Earthrealm, Quan Chi has allied himself with Shinnok and helped the god escape from his confines. With the help of an Edenian traitor, they enter the Heavens and kill most of the gods, but Fujin and Raiden escape and gather Earthrealm's finest warriors to fight them. The Raiden-Shinnok feud had burst open once again, but this time the battle could be won by mortals. The map of the Netherealm used in Mortal Kombat: Deception The Netherealm is a fictional world in the Mortal Kombat video game series. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Mortal Kombat was the first entry in the famous Mortal Kombat fighting game series by Midway, released in arcades in 1992. ... Noob Saibot is a character from the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... Necromancy is divination by raising the spirits of the dead. ... Shinnoks amulet is a fictional amulet from in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Earthrealm (Mortal Kombat: Deception) In the Mortal Kombat video game series, Earthrealm is the name that is most frequently used for Earth. ...

Ports

Mortal Kombat 4 was ported to the Game Boy Color, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and PC. The Game Boy Color , shortened to GBC) is Nintendos successor to the Game Boy and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan and in November of 1998 in the United States. ... The Sony PlayStation ) is a video game console of the 32/64-bit era, first produced by Sony Computer Entertainment in the mid-1990s. ... The Nintendo 64 ) is Nintendos third home video game console, and its third home video game console for the international market. ... The Altair 8800 was among the first microcomputers to be affordable by an individual, although it initially lacked peripherals and memory. ...

All ports of MK4, excluding the Game Boy Color, are notable for containing exclusive content not featured in the original arcade version. Possibly the biggest inclusion to the ports is Goro. He was not featured in the arcade game, but now serves as a playable sub-boss who is fought before Shinnok in single player mode. Also added to the ports is the Ice Pit, which is a snow-filled arena taking place in an icy, carved-out pit. Another new feature added to these ports are a second set of alternate outfits for all characters. The arcade version provided only one set of alternate outfits which the player could unlock.

Versions

Game Boy Color Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

Nintendo 64 Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

Playstation Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

PC Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

• The PC and PlayStation versions run FMV endings as well as the intro and bios, thanks to running on CD-ROMs. The Nintendo 64 version, however, uses the in-game character animations to run endings as well as the bios and intro.

Impact

Initial reaction to the new 3D look of the series (as is often the case with long running series) was negative, but MK4 managed to be a financial success due to an aggressive advertisement campaign which included a set of live action adverts filmed in Mexico and a US-wide tour of the arcade version by the game's creators which helped spread the word. Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from...

MK4 was also to be the last Mortal Kombat game released in the arcades due to a dramatic drop in arcade popularity around 2000. 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Trivia

• MK4 is the first and only MK game to have animated endings.

• All the endings are visually enhanced, and are in essence, kept the same in the MK4 port, known as Mortal Kombat Gold, additional endings were added in for the new characters added for the newest version.

• MK4 was actually not the first game that was created by Midway with the new Zeus software. A fighting game titled War Gods was released several months before MK4's debut. Unfortunately, it bombed in arcades.

• Reptile makes his first playable appearance in the series without his mask.

• First game in the series (not counting Trilogy) where the boss is playable by default, probably to have a shapeshifter among the fighters.

• In the early stages of the game, Sub-Zero did not have his eye scar on either his character model or his character-select portrait, which lead to some confusion as to whether this was the first or second Sub-Zero. In the 2nd version of MK4, the scar was added to both his portrait and character model; an unmasked character model slightly resembling his MK3-outfit was added as a second outfit instead of a recolor.

• Noob Saibot was part of the original character roster in the early versions of the game, however, due to there not being enough new characters in the game, his clothing was altered and the character Reiko is designed, and he took the place of Noob Saibot. A "Noob Saibot mode" code that apparently did nothing was speculated to be a step in unlocking Saibot for play, although this was not the case. Noob Saibot would remain missing through all of MK4's arcade incarnations. He returned as an unlockable character for all of the home ports of the game, minus an ending however.

• In the home versions of MK4 where Goro is given a story screen, it says that he won the title of Grand Champion "...only to have it won from him by Lao's ancestor, Liu Kang." This further adds to the confusion over whether Kang is a descendant of the Great Kung Lao- not only does it misuse the word "ancestor" instead of "descendant", but Mortal Kombat II states that Kung Lao is the last descendant. This screen is identical in Mortal Kombat Gold.

• Kitana was originally planned to be in Mortal Kombat 4. However, her colour palette was changed to brown to make Tanya. Her coding is still in the N64 version of the game, and she can be accessed with a GameShark. Her coding is also in the PC version, but it can be only accessed via a trainer. While Kitana's model and textures were deleted from the PlayStation version, her moves were left in, and can be assigned to any character with a GameShark.

• Like Kitana and Noob Saibot, Kano was also planned for MK4, however, due to there not being enough new characters in the game, they left Kano out of the roster and put Jarek instead of him. Jarek directly had Kano's signature moves and fatalities, which caused a lot of complaints from fans.

• In MK4's earlier development stages, there were originally to be 12 selectable characters and 3 characters that would be unlocked using an Ultimate Kombat Kode. The unlockable character idea was dropped and all 15 characters were made automatically selectable.

• This is the first Mortal Kombat game without Shang Tsung, although his character transform technique was left almost intact for use by Shinnok.

• None of the characters introduced in Mortal Kombat 3 or Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 returned for MK4, until Cyrax and Sektor were added to the roster in Mortal Kombat Gold.

• This was the first Mortal Kombat game to feature weapon combat, allowing characters to pull out weapons, use them, drop them, pick them up and throw them.

• In few home versions of MK4, Goro is given fatalities that are identical to other characters, however, these versions are the ones that run on CD-ROMs. The N64 version lacks Goro's fatalities despite the game saying "FINISH HIM/HER!"

• The original arcade version of Mortal Kombat 4 featured some unique background designs in some of the stages, while these designs weren't seen in the home versions, they would later be seen in Mortal Kombat Gold.

• The Nintendo 64 version has an interesting glitch in the game that is used in Tournament mode. If all characters are CPU controlled and there were at least nine rounds selected, the characters would freeze and not attack, the only way the glitch stops is when time runs out.

• The Playstation home version of MK4 started one of the most widely argued and disputed events in Mortal Kombat history, when Reiko's ending was recreated to show him donning Shao Kahn's mask. Originally, the in-game animation ending simply showed Reiko walking through a portal. The FMV continued this sequence to show him sitting on a throne, followed by the mask of Shao Kahn slowly descending upon him. Fans went wild, with the MK community largely divided into two sides: "Reiko IS Shao Kahn" and "Reiko is NOT Shao Kahn". The debate raged for over 7 years until the release of Mortal Kombat: Deception, where it was revealed in the games "Konquest Mode" that Reiko apparently liked to sneak into Shao Kahn's chambers and don his helmet. The MK design team had previously stated that the Reiko ending was a joke, and was also created by Eurocom, so it technically was not considered to be canon to the storyline. Despite this, the debate still raged until it was ultimately laid to rest with the release of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon via the player discovering in the game's "Konquest Mode" that Reiko is in fact one of Shao Kahn's highest ranking generals, but he has aspirations to be emperor of Outworld and vows he will one day be wearing Kahn's helm.

• It was originally intended that the Noob Saibot/Sub-Zero storyline would be revealed in MK4, given that Noob Saibot was originally on the cast of main characters. Since Noob was removed from the primary roster, it is widely beleived that Noob Saibot's home version fatalities (Sub-Zero's freeze and shatter) were a hint indicating that Noob Saibot was actually the deceased older brother of the current Sub-Zero. A small handful of the MK Community's brighter and more observant fans caught this potential hint early on and for years vouched that Noob was the older brother of Sub-Zero, despite being literally ostracized from the MK community for quite a while. This small handful of people was elated with the release of Mortal Kombat: Deception when it was once and for all revealed that Noob was indeed Sub-Zero's older brother.

• Reiko is indicated as "Shinnok's General". However, in later MK games Reiko would be described as Shao Kahn's highest ranking general. Due to Reiko's controversial home version ending and original pointless arcade ending, his involvement with the MK4 storyline is to be disregarded; later games revealed his more accurate story of being Shao Kahn's general with aspirations to rule Outworld, effectively giving Reiko a complete retcon, making him a more rounded out character..

Mortal Kombat Gold is a fighting game in the Mortal Kombat series. ... War Gods is a 1996 fighting arcade game. ... The Great Kung Lao as seen in multiple MK endings The Great Kung Lao is a character referenced in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series and featured in the TV show Mortal Kombat: Conquest. ... Mortal Kombat II (also referred to as MKII) is an arcade game and the second title in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... Kung Lao is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... This article or section on a video game-related subject may need to be cleaned up and rewritten because it describes a work of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. ... GameShark is the brand name of a line of video game enhancers and other products for a variety of console video game systems and Windows based computers. ... The Altair 8800 was among the first microcomputers to be affordable by an individual, although it initially lacked peripherals and memory. ... Trainers are programs made to modify behaviour of a computer game, usually u addresses and values, in order to allow cheating. ... Kano is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... Shang Tsung (last name pronounced sung) is a video game character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... Mortal Kombat 3 is the third game in the Mortal Kombat series, released in arcades in 1995. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Cyrax is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... Sektor is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... Mortal Kombat Gold is a fighting game in the Mortal Kombat series. ... Mortal Kombat Gold is a fighting game in the Mortal Kombat series. ... The Sony PlayStation ) is a video game console of the 32/64-bit era, first produced by Sony Computer Entertainment in the mid-1990s. ... Mortal Kombat: Deception is the latest game in the controversial and bloody Mortal Kombat video game series by Midway. ... Look up canon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Mortal Kombat: Deception is the latest game in the controversial and bloody Mortal Kombat video game series by Midway. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

External links

• Mortal Kombat 4 at MobyGames