Lost In Translation/Mortal Kombat II

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Mortal Kombat II
Manufacturer	Midway
Released	1993
Control Method	8-way Joystick 6 Button(s)
Main CPU	TMS34010 (@ 6.250 MHz) ADSP2105 (@ 10.000 MHz)
Sound CPU	Mono DMA-driven DAC
Video Details	Raster (Horizontal) 399 x 253 pixels 27.41 Hz 32,768 Palette colours
Screens	1
ROM Info	20 ROMs 16,777,216 bytes (16.00 MiB)
MAME ID	mk2 · mk2chal · mk2r14 · mk2r21 · mk2r32 · mk2r42 · mk2r91

About The Game

Mortal Kombat II is a one-on-one fighting arcade video game where 12 digitized fighters battle to stop Shao Khan and Kintaro from dominating the Earth realm! Regarded as the best of the series.

Additional Technical Information

Players : 2

Control : 8-way joystick

Buttons : 6

=> [1] High Punch, [2] Block, [3] High Kick

=> [4] Low Punch, [5] Low Kick, [6] Block

Trivia

Released in November 1993. This game was the first Midway release to use the DCS Sound System.

'Noob Saibot' backwards spells 'Boon' and 'Tobias' who are the names of the principal game designers.

'Jax' was originally supposed to be in the original "Mortal Kombat" game and named Kurtis Stryker. Jax was then moved to MKII and the Stryker character debuted in "Mortal Kombat 3".

'Kintaro' was originally intended to be a humanoid tiger, similar to the creature in Japanese mythology. This idea was scrapped, however, due to the fact that creating the costume would not have been feasable. However, thanks to this original idea, the Shokan we know as Kintaro has the tiger stripes on his back.

Real life : Philip Ahn, who played the regenerated Shang Tsung, is in fact a doctor.

Three of the cast members for MK2 filed a lawsuit against Midway shortly after the game was released. The claim? The physical instructors/martial artists Elizabeth Malecki (Sonya Blade), Catalin Zamiar (Kitana/Milenna) and Philip Ahn were under the impression that they were hired under typical acting contracts and were entitled to a small modicum of benefits including royalties of title sales, etc. The plaintiffs banded together against Midway, who took the case to court. Eventually the judge failed on Midway's behalf, citing that the work done by the plaintiffs for Midway was done strictly as a 'work-for-hire' and Midway owned all the property and benefits on the characters/titles/etc. As a consequence, all three left the project, and were recast for "Mortal Kombat 3".

SFII / MK2

Both games were supposed to be released within weeks of each other (at this time, "Street Fighter" and "Mortal Kombat" were the dominant fighting games). Capcom released "Super Street Fighter II - The New Challengers" early so that they could attract fans away from MK. At the same time, Midway released MK2 early for similar reasons. As you can see, the result meant that both came back to square one.

'Friendships' and 'Babalities'

(See 'Tips And Tricks' section for more info) in MKII were used in making light of the violence controversy in the first "Mortal Kombat" game.

Hidden Characters?

Two non-existent hidden characters were 'Torch', and 'Hornbuckle'. In MKII there is a location called 'The Pit II'. Far in the background of this stage there is another bridge across the chasm. Standing stationary on this bridge are two fighters : one of them is a Liu Kang sprite with green pants who was named Hornbuckle by fans. One of Jade's hints was 'Hornbuckle who?', which people thought was the name of a hidden fighter, and was apparently given to the guy opposite 'Torch' on The Pit II. If you watch the ending credits, one of the programmers' last names is Hornbuckle. The other fighter is a humanoid character that seems to be made of fire. As these two characters never move, it has been suggested that the 'other fighter' is actually a funeral pyre. Finally, there is a cloaked figure who floats in front of the window during fights in The Tower and Portal stages in MKII. This character was dubbed Cloak by fans, and was assumed to be a hidden character. The character of Torch, who had been very popular with fans, eventually showed up as a playable character in "Mortal Kombat : Deadly Alliance". Unfortunately, due to trademark issues, he had to be called Blaze instead of Torch. The true identity of Cloak was revealed in "Mortal Kombat : Shaolin Monks" to be one of Shang Tsung's servants, a shadow priest.

The head that occasionally appears after an uppercut and says 'Toasty' is the digitized head of Dan Forden who worked on the sound and music for the game.

Jimmy Cardenas holds the official record for this game with 282,000 points.

Midway released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Mortal Kombat II: Music from the Arcade Game Soundtrack - 123770-C1) on 01/12/1993.

Updates

REV. 1.1

• First version released to the public even though unfinished.
• Contained almost all moves but not many fatalities.
• Kintaro and Shao Kahn very difficult to beat.
• No ending stories.
• Baraka's blade swipe had no sound.
• Shang Tsung had the ceiling walk bug.
• Could beat Kintaro by just punching the entire match.

REV. 1.4

• Mileena's ground roll move added.
• Kung Lao's aerial kick added
• Sub-Zero could do the first part of the freeze-uppercut fatality during the match.
• Danger indicator added.

REV. 2.1

• First 'official' release version.
• Intro text slightly changed.
• Reptile's slide added.
• Ending story and credits added.
• Computer intelligence improved.
• Nearly all fatalities were added.
• Friendships and babalities were added.
• The pit/spike fatality was added.
• Smoke and Jade were added.
• Kintaro and Shao Kahn easier to defeat.
• Could keep Kintaro and Shao Kahn up in the corner by using repeated punches.
• Could crash the game through baby brutalization.
• Doing Shang Tsung's soul stealing fatality against Jax could sometimes crash the game.

REV. 3.1

• More amounts of blood added.
• Dead Pool fatality added.
• Noob Saibot added.
• Raiden's super uppercut fatality added.
• Kung Lao's friendship added.
• Pictures of the creators added after the credits.
• Revolution X and DCS ads added.
• Comic and CD offer shows picture of CD.
• Computer intelligence increased.
• Computer has ability to do missile weapons in the air.
• Multiple babality problem fixed.
• Repeated punches in the corner against Kintaro fixed.
• Kitana's multiple fan lifts in the corner fixed.
• Sub-Zero freeze - punch - freeze - punch... fixed.

REV. 4.2 (hack)

• Faster Uppercuts.
• Jax has a faster Face Smash.
• Jax's Face Smash has Liu Kang's sound FX.
• Cages Shadow Kick goes twice as far.
• Cage has full time Red Shadow moves.
• Multiple Dead Pool Fatality (Normal Uppercut will knock the person in, then you can continue to hit them while they're in the acid).
• Play against Noob Saibot after 6 wins.
• Play Pong on battle 16 instead of 250.
• Fight Smoke whenever you catch the "Toasty" guy (not just the portal stage)

Not confirmed yet but still possible for REV. 4.2 or above

• Secret characters vulnerable to missile weapons.
• Liu Kang has a red dragon fatality.
• Kung Lao has a bones in his hat fatality.
• Barakas roundhouse has awesome range.
• Mixed ladder, and probably more.

REV. 9.1 (hack)

• Faster Uppercuts.
• Jax has a faster Face Smash.
• Jax's Face Smash has Liu Kang's sound FX.
• Cages Shadow Kick goes twice as far.
• Cage has full time Red Shadow moves.
• Multiple Dead Pool Fatality (Normal Uppercut will knock the person in, then you can continue to hit them while they're in the acid).
• Play against Noob Saibot after 6 wins.
• Play Pong on battle 16 instead of 250.
• Fight Smoke whenever you catch the "Toasty" guy (not just the portal stage)
• Play against Jade after 4 wins (Only change from 4.2 to 9.1?)
• Still more to find out!!!

CHALLENGER version (hack)

• Faster Uppercuts.
• Jax has a faster Face Smash.
• Jax's Face Smash has Liu Kang's sound FX.
• Cages Shadow Kick goes twice as far.
• Cage has full time Red Shadow moves.
• Multiple Dead Pool Fatality (Normal Uppercut will knock the person in, then you can continue to hit them while they're in the acid).
• Play against Noob Saibot after 6 wins.
• Play Pong on battle 16 instead of 250.
• Fight Smoke whenever you catch the 'Toasty' guy (not just the portal stage)
• Play against Jade after 4 wins
• More difficult fight ladder that often begins with Kintaro or a hidden character.
• All of the secret characters can appear on the fight ladder.
• Super extended time to perform fatalities.

Tips and tricks

• Disable throws in Versus Mode : hold Down+HP on player one and two's controls after both fighters have been selected. A message will confirm correct code entry.

• Display Top Fifteen Players : press Down during attract mode.

• Fight against Jade : progress through the game until the match that precedes the '?' match. Defeat your opponent using just low kicks. Jade will now be your opponent during the '?' match.

• Fight against Noob Saibot : win 50 consecutive matches.

• Fight against Smoke : press Down+Start when Dan says 'Toasty' on the Bridge stage.

• "Pong" : accumulate 250 battles at the versus screen. Both players can play the Pong mini-game.

• Random character : press Up+Start at the fighter selection screen without moving the selection box from its original position.

Fatalities

REPTILE

(jump distance) Back(x2), Down, LP - Reptile shoots his tongue towards the victims head, bringing it back where he goes about eating it.

(you must be invisible - close) Forward(x2), Down, HK - While invisible Reptile cuts the torso off the victim.

SUB ZERO

(far) hold LP, Back(x2), Down, Forward, release LP.

(one step distance) Forward(x2), Down, HK - Sub-Zero will ice the victim over, putting them in a deep freeze.

After deep freezing the victim, press Forward, Down, Forward(x2), HP - Sub-Zero will shatter the top part of the body.

SCORPION

(two step distance) hold Block, Up(x2), release Block, HP - Scorpion removes his mask and breathes fire at the feet of the victim, which then twitches and explodes.

(anywere) hold Block, Down(x2), Up(x2), release Block, HP - With the addition of the two downs at the beginning, Scorpion may do the fatality at any distance, and always get the "Toasty!".

(close) hold HP, Down, Forward(x3), release HP - Scorpion slices the victim across the neck then cuts them in two.

JOHNNY CAGE

(close) Down(x2), Forward(x2), LP - Cage grabs the victim and rips their torso off, throwing it to the ground.

(close) Forward(x2), Down, Up. Cage crouches and punches off the head of the victim with a powerful uppercut.

To knock off three heads, hold Down+LP+HK+Block until the first head is knocked off.

BARAKA

(close) Back(x4), HP - Baraka extends his blades from his arms, then decapitates the victim with one swipe.

(close) Back, Forward, Down, Forward, LP - Baraka stabs the victim and lifts them up, then they slowly slide down the blade.

KUNG LAO

(one step Distance) Forward(x3), LK - Kung Lao removes his razor hat and slices the victim down the middle.

(far) hold LP, Back(x2), Forward, release LP, Up - Kung Lao throws his hat which decapitates the victim. Make sure to guide the hat up so it hits the head.

RAIDEN

(close) hold LK for 3 seconds and release - Raiden grabs the victim and lifts them up, then proceeds to shock them.

After a dose of the shock treatment, press Block+LK repeatedly - The victim will explode into bits.

(close) hold HP (soon before the 'Finish Him') for 5 seconds and release - Raiden explodes the top half of the victim with a powerful uppercut. A few moments later the head falls to the ground.

JAX

(close) hold LP, Forward(x3), release LP - Jax claps the victims head with a loud pop, and the skull crumbles in pieces to the ground.

(one step distance) Block(x4), LP - Jax grabs the victim by the arms and rips them off the body.

LIU KANG

(close or one step distance) hold Block, 360 degrees - Liu Kang will do a cartwheel kick then a massive uppercut.

(close) Down, Forward, Back(x2), HK - Liu Kang will transform into a dragon and bite the victim in half, leaving the legs standing.

KITANA

(close) Block(x3), HK - Kitana draws her fan and decapitates the victim with one swipe.

(close) hold LK, Forward(x2), Down, Forward, release LK - Kitana leans and kisses the victim, which then expands to unnatural proportions and explodes.

MILEENA

(close) hold HK for 2 seconds and release - Mileena removes her mask revealing Baraka-like teeth and inhales the victim, spitting out the bones.

(close) Forward, Back, Forward, LP - Mileena repeatedly stabs the victim, lifting them up as blood sprays everywhere.

SHANG TSUNG

(one step distance) hold HK for 4 seconds and release - Tsung turns into a mist and enters the victims body, which explodes.

(close) hold Block, Up, Down, Up, release Block, LK - Tsung picks up the victim with one hand, and drains their life force into his other hand.

(one step Distance) hold LP at the round start and release it 3 seconds after the 'Finish him' - Tsung turns into Kintaro, who punches the torso of the victim across the screen.

Fatality - Level 'Dead Pool'

All players

(close) hold (LP+LK), (Down+HP).

Oh Woah!

hold Down.

Fatality - Level 'Spikes' and 'PIT II'

REPTILE

(close) Down(x2), Forward(x2), Block.

SUB ZERO

(close) Down(x2), Forward(x2), Block.

SCORPION

(close) Down(x2), Forward(x2), Block.

JOHNNY CAGE

(close) Down(x3) HK.

BARAKA

(close) Forward(x2), Down, HK.

KUNG LAO

(close) Forward(x3), HP.

RAIDEN

(close) hold Block, Up(x2), release Block.

JAX

(close) hold Block, Up(x2), release Block, Down, LK.

LIU KANG

(close) Down, Back, Forward(x2), LK.

KITANA

(close) Forward, Down, Forward, HK.

MILEENA

(close) Forward, Down, Forward, LK.

SHANG TSUNG

(close) Down(x2), Up, Down+Block.

Spikes Trick

Hold Player1 and Player2 Down at the end of the fatality to send the character in the spikes.

Finish Him - Friendship

Don't use LP and HP during the last round:

REPTILE

(anywhere) Back(x2), Down, LK - Reptile attempts to sell you a Reptile doll.

SUB ZERO

(anywhere) Back(x2), Down, LK - Sub-Zero attempts to sell you a Sub-Zero doll.

SCORPION

(anywhere) Back(x2), Down, HK - Scorpion attempts to sell you a Scorpion doll.

JOHNNY CAGE

(anywhere) Down(x4), HK - Cage autographs his photo for his best fan.

BARAKA

(anywhere) hold Block, Up(x2), release Block, Forward(x2), HK - Baraka offers the victim a present.

KUNG LAO

(anywhere) Back(x3), Down, HK - Lao pulls a rabbit out of his hat.

RAIDEN

(anywhere) Down, Back, Forward, HK - Raiden creates Kidd Thunder, a miniature likeness.

JAX

(anywhere) Down(x2), Hold Block, Up(x2), release Block, LK - Jax creates a string of paper dolls.

LIU KANG

(anywhere) Forward, Back(x3), LK - A disco globe drops from the ceiling, and Kang gets down.

KITANA

(anywhere) Down(x4), hold Block, Up, release Block, LK - Kitana turns around and produces a cake with candles.

MILEENA

(anywhere) Down(x3), hold Block, Up, release Block, HK - Mileena grows a flower beneath her outstretched hand.

SHANG TSUNG

(anywhere) Back(x2), Down, Forward, HK - Tsung creates a rainbow above his head.

Finish Him - Babality

Don't use LP and HP during the last round:

REPTILE

(anywhere) Down, Back(x2), LK.

SUB ZERO

(anywhere) Down, Back(x2), HK.

SCORPION

(anywhere) Down, Back(x2), HK.

JOHNNY CAGE

(anywhere) Back(x3), HK.

BARAKA

(anywhere) Forward(x3), HK.

KUNG LAO

(anywhere) Back(x2), Forward(x2), HK.

RAIDEN

(anywhere) Down(x2), hold Block, Up, release Block, HK.

JAX

(anywhere) hold Block, Down, Up, Down, Up, release Block, LK.

LIU KANG

(anywhere) Down(x2), Forward, Back, LK.

KITANA

(anywhere) Down(x3), LK.

MILEENA

(anywhere) Down(x3), HK.

SHANG TSUNG

(anywhere) Back, Forward, Down, HK.

Series

1. Mortal Kombat (1992)
2. Mortal Kombat II (1993)
3. Mortal Kombat 3 (1994)
4. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (1994)
5. Mortal Kombat Trilogy (1996, Nintendo 64, Sony Playstation, Sega Saturn)
6. Mortal Kombat Mythologies - Sub-Zero (1997, Nintendo 64, Sony PlayStation)
7. Mortal Kombat 4 (1997)
8. Mortal Kombat Gold (1997, Sega Dreamcast)
9. Mortal Kombat - Special Forces (2000, Sony PlayStation)
10. Mortal Kombat Advance (2001, Nintendo Game Boy Advance)
11. Mortal Kombat - Deadly Alliance (2002, Nintendo GameCube, Microsoft XBOX, Sony PlayStation 2)
12. Mortal Kombat - Tournament Edition (2003, Nintendo Game Boy Advance)
13. Mortal Kombat - Deception / Mystification (2004, Microsoft XBOX, Sony PlayStation 2)
14. Mortal Kombat - Shaolin Monks (2005, Microsoft XBOX, Sony PlayStation 2)
15. Mortal Kombat - Armageddon (2006, Microsoft XBOX, Sony PlayStation 2)

Staff

Design & Software

Ed Boon

Design & Graphics

John Tobias

Background Graphics

Tony Goskie

Sound & Music

Dan Forden

Additional Graphics

John Vogel

Senior Hardware Technician

Sheridan Oursler

Executive Producers

Neil Nicastro

Ken Fedesna

Hardware Designers

Ray Macika

Pat Cox

Cary Mednick

Ray Gay

Al Lasko

DCS Sound System

Matt Booty

Ed Keenan

John Lowes

Speechs

Steve Ritchie

Jon Hey

Vince Pontarelli

Dan Forden (TOASTY)

Ed Boon

Game Testers/Specialists

Kerry Marzo

Eddie Ferrier

Jeff Johnson

Cast

Baraka

Richard Divizio

Liu Kang

Ho Sung Pak

Raiden

Carlos Pesina

Johnny Cage, Sub-Zero, Reptile & Scorpion

Daniel Pesina

Kitana & Mileena

Katalin Zamiar

Kung Lao

Anthony Marquez

Shang Tsung

Phillip Ahn M.D.

Jax

John Parrish

Cabinet and Artwork

• 

  Mortal Kombat II arcade cabinet.

• 

  Mortal Kombat II flyer.

• 

  Back of the Mortal Kombat II flyer.

Ports

Box art for the Acclaim port of Mortal Kombat II.

Consoles

Nintendo Super Famicom (1993)

Sega Mega Drive (1994)

Sega Game Gear (1994)

Sega Master System

Nintendo Game Boy (1994)

Sega 32x (1995)

Sony PlayStation (1996)

Sega Saturn (1996)

Microsoft XBOX (2004, "Midway Arcade Treasures 2")

Nintendo GameCube (2004, "Midway Arcade Treasures 2")

Sony PlayStation 2 (2004, "Midway Arcade Treasures 2")

Sony PlayStation 2 (2005, unlockable feature in "Mortal Kombat - Shaolin Monks")

Microsoft XBOX (2005, unlockable feature in "Mortal Kombat - Shaolin Monks")

Sony PSP (2005, "Midway Arcade Treasures - Extended Play")

Computers

Commodore Amiga ("Mortal Kombat II", 1994, Acclaim)

PC [MS-DOS, CD-ROM] (1994)

PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (2006, "Midway Arcade Treasures Deluxe Edition")

Soundtrack Releases

Album Name	Catalogue No.	Released	Publisher	Comments
Mortal Kombat II • Music from the Arcade Game Soundtrack	123770-C1	1993-12-01	Midway	CD version.
Enix Game Music	28XA-178	1987-10-25	Alfa Records	CD version.
ENIX GAME MUSIC	ALC-22917	1987-10-25	Alfa Records	Cassette version.
ENIX GAME MUSIC	ALR-22917	1987-10-25	Alfa Records	Vinyl version.

References

The contents of this page are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
The sources used include MAME (version 0.113u2) and history.dat (revision 1.28 - 2008-10-18).
Please see http://www.arcade-history.com for credits.