The reason for the Mortal Kombat 1 name has been revealed, as a co-creator of the fighting game series has talked about how the “1” aims to represent the new beginning for the series, even if it is a tad confusing. With the Mortal Kombat 1 release date already fast approaching, thee’s still a whole lot to learn about the reboot/sequel.
Mortal Kombat series co-creator and NetherRealm Studios CCO Ed Boone spoke about the recently revealed Mortal Kombat 1 in a quick “Kommunity Chat” after the game’s reveal, and yes, he addressed why it has that name. For anyone unsure, no, Mortal Kombat 1 is not a remake of the 1992 original, it’s a reboot.
“Mortal Kombat 1 is the beginning of a universe,” Boone says. “It is not a continuation of the Mortal Kombat 11 story so the characters have completely different roles in this new timeline and we really wanted to emphasize that with our title.
“This is Mortal Kombat 1, it’s a brand new beginning, you’re going to be seeing these characters reintroduced with new roles, new relationships, and that’s the main catalyst for it.”
You can hear Boon talk about the name at 9:10 in the video below.
I’m in two minds about the name after it was announced. On the one hand, I get it, a reboot requires a new naming approach to differentiate what NetherRealm is doing, and they already used up Mortal Kombat alone for Mortal Kombat (1992) and Mortal Kombat (2011), say that five times fast. Then again, it’s really, really silly.
Titles like Xbox One, Battlefield 1, and Mortal Kombat 1 might make sense in concept, but am I the only one that thinks it’s a bit weird? Granted NetherRealm is between a rock and a hard place considering two games in their 30-year series are already called just Mortal Kombat, but there’s got to be another way. Then again, Mortal Kombat is such a big series these days that I doubt many will be lost, I suppose it just depends on what they call the next one.
Anyway, if you’re curious as to exactly what the reboot of Mortal Kombat looks like, here’s the lowdown: series stalwart Liu Kang is now the Fire God, and the timeline has been rebooted resulting in famous characters like Johnny Cage, Raiden, Scorpio, and Sub-Zero all having slightly different personalities and storylines.
It’s a big year for fighting games, as Mortal Kombat 1 is joined by the Street Fighter 6 beta and full release, with both multiplayer games offering a lot of chances to put the virtual beat down on your friends.
