NetherRealm Studios finally revealed more on what their newMortal Kombatgame would be, and the rumors were right: it’s arebootand a sequel at the same time.Mortal Kombat 1continues whereMortal Kombat 11left off with Fire God Liu Kang’s new reality, where he’s now mentoring Kung Lao and a new, mortal Raiden.
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Scorpion and Sub-Zero return and appear to be allies, while Kitana and Mileena appear to have a more uneasy alliance. Shang Tsung’s still willing to be a pain in Kang’s neck, so not everything’s changed. But this isn’t the first timeMortal Kombathas reset the clock, nor is it the only game to hit the reset switch. Here are a fewfighting games that also got rebooted, and how successful those reboots were.
8Street Fighter 3: New Generation
First off,Mortal Kombat’s classic rival has had different gameplay styles with each new subseries. ButStreet Fighter 3was meant to be the next big step. After 3 years of reinventingStreet Fighter 2, and 2 years of itsAlphaseries prequels, 1997 finally saw an actual sequel inStreet Fighter 3: New Generation. It got rid of every classic character, save for Ryu and Ken, and slowed down the action to a more measured, methodical pace.
This didn’t turn out to be a popular move. TheAlphagames had more of the old favorites like Chun-Li and Cammy, while theMarvelgames were faster, flashier, and had combos approaching triple digits.SF3had parries and only allowed players to select one out of three Super Arts. It would lead to the more popularSF3: Third Striketwo years later (complete with Chun-Li), but it would take even longer for theSF3series to receive itscult classic status.
7Tekken 3
Another factor againstSF3was that it was released in the same year asTekken 3. While it followed on fromTekken 2, it acted as a soft reboot of the series because it skipped ahead by 19 years. The old guard like Kazuya Mishima, Jun Kazama, Wang Jinrei, and Baek Doo San were replaced with more dynamic youngsters like Jin Kazama, Ling Xiaoyu, and Hwoarang.
Then the ones that did return got new looks that helped them stand out from the pack. Paul Phoenix went from being the typical blonde, red-clad rival to the wild, middle-aged pugilist everyone knows and loves. While Heihachi became more intimidating as an old man than when he was in his 50s. Most of the classic characters would end up returning in the sequels, but the series’ highest point was arguably when Namco gave them the boot.
6SoulCalibur
The originalSoul Bladewas pretty popular back on the PS1, as it brought weapon-based combat into the genre more successfully than stodgy forebears likeBattle Arena Toshinden. Even so, despite being one game in, Namco would shift the series into a new direction by renaming itSoulCalibur.Blade’s stiff movement and breakable weapons would be replaced with a silky-smooth 8-way run for maneuverability, and a wider variety of sturdier arms with new moves.
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Blade’s best characters would join newcomers like Kilik and Ivy, who’d become just as iconic to the series if not more so.Producer Hiroaki Yotoriyama wanted to make “the greatest weapon-based fighting action game in the world”, and he succeeded. It would become Metacritic’s best-rated game on the Dreamcast, and the site’sjoint-2nd best game of all timealongsideGrand Theft Auto 4andTony Hawk’s Pro-Skater 2.
5SoulCalibur 5
It’s a shame that the series' momentum would eventually run out, as theSoulCaliburfranchise would end up spinning its wheels for the next few entries. Aside from a few experimental perks (e.g.SC3’s RTS mode,SC4’s Instant Kills), the characters were still hunting down the cursed blade Soul Edge, vowing to destroy it but never doing so. Otherwise, there would be nothing left for them to do. So,SC5would shake things up by doing a time-skip of their own.
The problem was, aside from the game suffering from a tight budget, a tighter deadline, and other issues, the new characters weren’t popular. ZWEI and Viola had potential, but Sophitia’s kids Patroklos and Pyrrha were particularly annoying. Natsu and Xiba didn’t live up to Taki and Kilik’s benchmark either, while Talim, Yun-seong, Seong Mi-Na and others didn’t have successors at all. Hence, why the series undid that and brought the old guard back forSoulCalibur 6anyway.
4Samurai Shodown
BeforeSoulCaliburswung its swords around, SNK’sSamurai Shodownruled the roost as the arcade’s top weapons fighter. Though like its 3D counterpart, the series never really progressed much story-wise. It was still basically Haohmaru and co slicing at each other across feudal Japan for one reason or another. Nevertheless, whileArt of FightingandFatal Furyhad attempted reboots that failed to spawn followups,SamShomanaged to fit in three.
SamSho 64andWarriors’ Ragetried to take the series into 3D and push the timeline into the early 1800s, but it didn’t play so well.Samurai Shodown Sendid the 3D thing again, only it tried to copySoulCalibur’s homework with a fewMortal Kombat-like fatalities to a less-than-stellar reception. It was only when it wentback to basicswith 2019’sSamurai Shodownthat a 3D entry in the series caught on with audiences.
3Killer Instinct 2013
The originalKiller Instinctwas great to watch in action, and its soundtrack was a joy to the ears, yet its gameplay and character designs aged pretty quickly throughout the 1990s. Enough forKiller Instinct 2to feel less inspired by comparison. Yet it always remained popular enough for fans to hope thatKI3would become a reality. They got their wish in 2013, only the Xbox One’sKiller Instinctwas a different beast.
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The characters looked meaner, tougher, and less fanservicey in the case of Orchid and the other women. Building combos became more intricate, as players could repel their opponent’s attempts to break free (“C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!”) by countering their counters (“LOCK OUT!”). As promising as it was, it didn’t get recognized as a cult classic until around Season 2 of its DLC and updates. But maybe someday there will be aKI4too.
2Street Fighter 6
Street Fighter 6isn’t billing itself as a reboot to the series, as it does follow on from the events ofStreet Fighter 3: Third Strike. But likeTekken 3,SoulCalibur 5, and others, it skips ahead in time in order to redesign the classic characters and introduce a bunch of newbies. While this didn’t really work out forSF3, it’s become more promising forSF6. For one, it doesn’t have 4-5 otherSF-adjacent series to squeeze between in the hunt for sales.
The new characters also caught on fast, with Kimberly, Lily, Marisa, and Manon in particular developing fanbases before the game’s release. The gameplay is interesting, particularly with the new, open-worldSaints Row-esque single player mode and crazy party mode. There’s no sign of Shadaloo or M.Bison either. It’s a bold, new step forStreet Fighter, and it looks like it’ll pay off.
1Mortal Kombat
Then there’sMortal Kombat, which is no stranger to reboots of any variety.Deadly Alliancewas a soft reboot, as it killed off Liu Kang and Shao Kahn and introduced a host of new characters like Kenshi to start off a new trilogy of games. The two would come back for theDeceptionsequel, but altered to acknowledge the changes, like making Liu Kang a zombie, and Shao Kahn a Gamecube exclusive character alongside Goro.
Then 2011’sMortal Kombatreset the timeline by essentially remaking the first three games with new outcomes (e.g. making Jax’s arms actual prosthetics instead of enhancements). This led into the sequel,Mortal Kombat X, which did the time-skip deal to introduce the old cast’s kids like Cassie Cage and Jacqui Briggs. WithMortal Kombat 1resetting the dial again, fans are left wondering who will return, and how will they be redesigned.
