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Information About

Mortal Kombat 4




  developer Midway Games
  publisher Midway Games
  Series '' Mortal Kombat ''
  Released 1997 (Arcade)<br />Jun 24, 1998 (PlayStation port)
  Genre Fighting
  Modes Up to 2 players
  Platforms Arcade , Game Boy Color , PC , PlayStation , N64
  cabinet Standard
  arcade System Midway Zeus hardware<br />Main CPU : TMS32031 (@ 50 MHz)<br />Sound CPU: ADSP2104 (@ 16 MHz)<br />Sound Chips: (2x) DMA-driven (@ 16 MHz)
  monitor Raster resolution 512 x 400 (Horizontal) Palette Colors 32768
  input 8-way Joystick 6 buttons


''Mortal Kombat 4'' (1997) was the last game in the '' Mortal Kombat '' series to have an Arcade version and a number in its title. 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 Game s to have been described as having " 2D Gameplay ."

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).

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 Art s. 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.

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.


NEW CHARACTERS

''MK4'' introduced:
  • '' as the second boss character.

  • Jarek , the last of the Black Dragon Clan.

  • Kai , a Shaolin Monk and friend of Liu Kang .

  • Quan Chi , a mysterious evil sorcerer. First appeared in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero as the main antagonist.

  • Reiko , Shinnok's general.

  • Shinnok , an imprisoned Elder God . First appeared in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero as the final boss.

  • Tanya , a traitor to Edenia. She was rumored to be a glitched yellow female ninja from '' Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 ''.


''MK4'' also included the following Hidden Characters :


RETURNING CHARACTERS


Goro , not featured in the arcade version of ''MK4'', was added as a Sub-boss for the Console versions of the game.


BOSS AND SUB-BOSS


Boss



Sub-boss



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 Actor s 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, allowing one to take out a weapon using a set button combination (as opposed to the more recent single button), having an almost completely new movelist for the said character. The weapons can also be thrown and dropped, in similar fashion as the arena objects.

  • ''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).



STORYLINE

Thousands of years ago, during a war with the corrupt Elder God known as Shinnok, 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 ''). 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.


PORTS

''Mortal Kombat 4'' was ported to the Game Boy Color , PlayStation , Nintendo 64 , and PC .

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.

The Game Boy Color version of ''MK4'' is based on that console's version of '' clips. Also, the back of the game's box features an earlier character select screen, which has Johnny Cage, Kai, and Sonya instead of Quan Chi, Liu Kang, and Tanya respectively.


VERSIONS