Mortal Kombat has long been a fighting genre laughingstock among the more serious competitive players, and with good reason – with the exception of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, the entire series has been horrendously bug-ridden and imbalanced. At the same time, it has brought forth a style and storyline that has gathered an absolutely massive fanbase of more casual players.

Normally, this isn’t a series I’d even bother writing about, but in the wake of E3, we now know enough about the 2011 franchise reboot to conclude that it will be a game to watch, regardless of what approach you take to the genre.

At first glance, players are most likely to notice the distinct return to the classic 2D gameplay style of the series. This move was necessary to make a full-blown return to form possible, as this is what brought us Ultimate MK3 back in the day. Upon further inspection, the uniform High Punch/Low Punch/High Kick/Low Kick attack layout of that era would appear to have been replaced, with whatever they’re using now making characters feel much more functionally unique than they did in the series’ early days. In fact, that was a recurring theme of most interviews Ed Boon gave at E3.

What was particularly surprising was a revelation that I first found while reading Hadoken.net, then tried for hours to source. That, of course, was the passing note that Mortal Kombat was being developed with an unprecedented emphasis on competitive balance. This has not happened before at any point, and would theoretically cover up the one issue that always left Mortal Kombat on the outside of that elite club of fighting game franchises that includes Street Fighter, SoulCalibur, Virtua Fighter, Guilty Gear, and others. While I did not find a statement making that exact claim, Boon did tell Giant Bomb’s Jeff Gerstmann that “this is the first Mortal Kombat game that we are actively targeting the more hardcore people as well as the casual guys.”

It should be noted that this is not a person unaccustomed to gross misplaced hyperbole – after all, the last time we saw him, he claimed that then-upcoming Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe would proceed to demolish impending competitor Street Fighter IV on the sales charts. “I think we’re going to kick [Capcom's] ass … We’re the wilder ride,” was among the quotes fired off by Ed Boon in 2008. The rest is history: Midway’s crossover had a respectable but unremarkable showing for itself, sticking exclusively to its established casual playerbase (and culminating with an awkward appearance at a poorly-planned South American Evo attempt), while Street Fighter IV went on to launch nothing less than the full-scale resurgence of the fighting genre to its early-1990s state.

Two years later, a much more humble Ed Boon actually cites Capcom’s success as his reason for believing a return to Mortal Kombat’s 2D roots was viable. “Street Fighter really showed that this whole classic return to fighting is where to be,” he told Gerstmann at E3. “I was a little nervous about it [before Street Fighter IV's home release], I didn’t know if that would be considered, you know, ‘retro’ or kind of just stepping backwards, but Street Fighter being embraced as it was really kind of energized us. It’s like, ‘okay, this is where to be.’”

Despite Boon’s history with misplaced hype, however, everything going into this new Mortal Kombat release lends a great sense of sincerity to his claims of going after the hardcore fighting gamers. His desire to get every character feeling substantially different from one another is evident in each of the eight characters shown at E3, and it cannot be understated, as that serves as an instant solution to one of the heaviest criticisms aimed at classic-style Mortal Kombat. Solving the other criticisms, such as poor character balance and the host of glitches, infinites, and other exploits that plague the usual Mortal Kombat release, will be what really tests how badly Ed Boon wants to go after the tournament players.

Based on the past, it’s not at all unfair to question Ed Boon’s talent or commitment to a hardcore playerbase, but so far, he is doing everything right – implementing a distinct feel from character to character, utilizing a super meter in much the same way as Street Fighter IV has, and ditching the canned combo system in favor of more fluid strings. No, it’s not at all unfair to question Boon for his body of work up to this point, but going by what we know about this new game, writing it off already would be a mistake. As someone who has watched many Mortal Kombat development cycles play out over the years, this is not an Ed Boon we’ve seen before. This is not the Ed Boon that’s just whipping up some fan goodies for a guaranteed, dedicated community that can’t (or doesn’t care to) digest a more sophisticated fighting game. The Ed Boon that we saw at E3 looked focused and determined, as if he knew deep down that he has a lot to prove with his new game.

For all of Mortal Kombat’s faults over the years, Ed Boon has always been one of the game industry’s “good guys”, and one of the easiest game designers you’ll ever find to root for. I for one am doing exactly that. I would love to see this revitalized Mortal Kombat franchise become a huge success and finally give the long-running brand a place among the all-time elite fighting series.

I have to say I’m very much looking forward to next Spring.

For Smashpad, I’m Patrick Mifflin, Sounding Off. It’s good to be back.

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About This Author: Patrick Mifflin

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