Check out our other episodes! UMK3 - ua-cam.com/video/Nbo9df9SuCo/v-deo.html MK9 - ua-cam.com/video/j-22bdVy12s/v-deo.html MK Armageddon - ua-cam.com/video/wrrHL1kJl70/v-deo.html Special Thanks to Shock, Summoning and Konqrr for helping me with this video. I also want to thank Ded for his legendary forum presence over the years to make a lot of this info possible.
Scorpion was my main in the arcade for all MK games. Negative edge wake up teleport beats Sonya's attempted leg loop (very strict timing). Standing high kick beats jump ins. After Sub-Zero throws you, you simply duck the ice blast on wake up (very easy). Scorpion had the highest damaging cornerless combo in the game.
There is one thing I wanted to add about your video. The MK1 Players didn't have to learn the moves, combos or fatalities on their own. Magazines at the time we're cashing in on it for the fighting craze so they all had it in their issues. I.E. Game Players, Electronic Gaming Monthly, Game Pro, etc. That's how they got you to buy their magazines. But the players definitely had to learn the frames and timing and all that. I was part of that craze back in the day and I remember first playing the original revision at Water world back in early 93. In Arizona, the rules weren't as strict. The no throw rule didn't really come into effect until the late 90's. Before that, people complained but dealt with it for the most part. People would put their quarters on the lip where the monitor bezel was for the next turn. There were some people who could play with 25 cents all hour, and beat pretty much anyone because they knew how to cheese w/ certain characters. Then they'd beat the game and walk away. Fun times. Great video.
Yeah, we had Mortal Kombat, which we called MK1, Mortal Kombat 2011, which we called MK9, and now we have MK1. Although could it be considered "Mortal Kombat 1-2?"
Oh yeah, I remember the "no throw" rule. I was playing Street Fighter II as a kid against this adult Zangief player and he'd would get REALLY mad if I threw him. "Throws are cheap! Only Zangief can throw!" he'd argue. "If you throw me, you have to let me throw me back!" I allowed this ONCE when I threw him with my Chun-Li. In return, he threw me back with Zangief's Spinning Piledriver. It was a wrap after that. After that, I would always argue with him and anyone else that whined that throws weren't cheap and tell them to stop blocking all day if they didn't want to be thrown. It got really nasty, but I held by this rule. I liked throwing and I'll be damned if I'm not allowed to do it because you want to block all damn day.
yeah, that's an stupid rule, fighting games rely a lot on ground control, throws need to be executed close, so if you got thrown it means your oponent tricked you on giving up space. The only rules of that type that we had here was: we don't attack if our oponent is stunned and, in samurai shodown, you always allow your oponent to have his sword back.
The thing is throws aren't very useful in an MK game; they're probably your worst move. You can do more damage with an uppercut and it has about 20 less frames to pull off. Some characters, like D'Vorah, and Ermac, can do grab finishers and these are quite powerful, all things considered. But I'm sure you guys know this
@@javierortiz82 _"in Samurai Shodown, you always allow your opponent to have his sword back."_ I see you and your Arcade Pals were true adderents to the Code of Bushido.
The Reptile Hints from arcade revision 4 are all over MK11's loading screens. The tips included the following: *TIP EHT FO MOTTOB *Patience is the Key. *Flawless is the Key. (May have alternately been presented as "Perfection is the Key".) *Look to La Luna. *Blocking will get you nowhere.
For the most part she's the most powerful character in MK1, and by the time MK2 comes around that becomes Jax; who then keeps her spot as a mid/high tier for 15 years.
Best MK series on UA-cam! All that you mentioned about the arcade scene is true. I first began as a SF2 player and people HATED being thrown and that carried over into MK. I would jab throw loop in SF2 and not care. People used to punch the screen, threaten me, want to actually fight. I was 12 years old and 20+ year old men wanted to kill me lol. I grew up in the North East of the US in NJ. Like you mentioned in this video, this area was huge for arcades. At my local arcade we had 3-5 cabinets of all the most popular fighters and on any given weekend there would be 50-100 people playing on them and waiting their turn at a chance to compete. There weren't any real tournaments thrown though until UMK3. At my arcade I would dominate those events. Among my friends we had players who specialized in specific games. We had a Tekken 2 guy, Virtua Fighter 2, Sam Sho, and Street Fighter. At that time there was no real internet, so knowing all the finishers and combos was not an easy task. So to support our gaming habbit we used to walk across the street to the library and type up and print out all the fatalities, babalites and friendships and sell them in the arcade. It was only a few cents per copy but we would sell them for a dollar each to the large crowds. It was the perfect way to keep playing the games that we loved. Those times were really special and a great experience in my life personally. I am really fortunate to have experienced them. Great video! I can't wait for the next one.
Man, I can't believe you guys were able to get an early version of MK1 4 years before launch, and be able to break down what the meta would be so far ahead in the future. Really next-level stuff.
I love how the Krypt in MK11 beautifully recreates Shang Tsung's island, and it's amazing to see MK1 stages now and know the exact location! The level with the statues blows my mind after being a fan for 27 years.
Are you referring to the outdoor stage where Tsung sits on his throne in the background far away? I thought those were masked guards standing ringside, but they're statues you say? Does MK11 make this more apparent or something? Very curious lol. Bc I still haven't played MK11 yet. 😞😞😞
Awesome vid! In my area’s arcades, throws and cornering were “illegal” in MK2. If you accidentally threw someone, you’d have to let your opponent give you a free hit, combo, or throw. If you were cornering someone, you’d have to stop mid-sequence and back out of the corner to let them out. Saw physical fights break out in some arcades over these things haha.
The "nearly choke out a 6 year old cause he knows how to play" rule Microplay went hard, my boy went hard... Almost lost his lil' neck back then poor guy~
I was a part of the Broward county (Florida) arcade scene in the 90’s (literally an arcade rat.) Spending all my time in front of fighting game cabinets. All the iterations of SF 2, and especially MK 1 !! This is such a comprehensive look at what went on back then. “I remember my friends and I would leave an arcade, if the cabinet was later than rev. 3, because it limited our air juggle combos so severely.” Ahh nostalgia. In my area sub zero was considered the most formidable fighter. The fast rising punches that could be done infinitely in the corners with Cage or Raider were called “Flea Punches” in our local slang. And were as you’ve shown often used within long combos. Great upload, and a slice of often overlooked history..
So many memories with the first Mortal Kombat. I used to play it on Commodore Amiga, don't laugh, and it was a blast. What an amazing job again Ketchup and I thank you for it and for all the memories.
I remember as a little kid getting in trouble by my parents because I would unlock the Blood code on Sega genesis 😂 my parents would tell me "NO BLOOD!" 🤣
I was lucky that my parents never cared about videogame violence, in fact, both of them agreed to buy me a Genesis and MK1 and 2 so I could stay away from the arcades where "the bad kids hang around".
I really hoped that - as 90s kids became parents - we'd remember how annoying the censorship attempts were back when and not be so sensitive with our own children.....................but it's even WORSE nowadays with MK kontent being age restricted online and clerks checking ID at game stores. We had the privilege of finding these games in the wild (even when our parents didn't approve); kids these days have to go through retina scanners and carbon dating just to boot it up.
I had no idea that some of the combos displayed in this vid even existed. We had an arcade scene for MK, MK2 & MK3/UMK3 in my town back in the early 90's, but watching this makes me realize how basic we all played. 😂😂😂 Great vid guys! ❤
I didn't know about those Goro cheese tactics, but when I was a kid I discovered Shang Tsung absolutely cannot defeat you if you just keep doing low kicks. He walks into them until you win. At least on the Mega Drive version
Duke Noneofyerdamn Duke Noneofyerdamn well, considering I didn’t grow up bear any arcades and the only version available to me was the Mega Drive version I’m gonna say I had fun with it.
@@dukenoneofyerdamn8650 it was good for the time. Seeing as how it was between the SNES and Genesis for most people, it lacked the sounds and colors but the SNES version had some really bad input lag. Neither was perfect but the fact that Genesis had all the violence pretty much sealed it
These kind of videos take an EXTREME amount of time and effort. Ketchup and Mustard go out of their way to make this great content and I am more than happy to have been a part of MK history since the beginning. Much love!
Great video man, made me super nostalgic for the arcade scene I frequented back in the 90's. I remember the arcade being packed whenever a new MK came out and waiting forever just to get a shot to play.
It's funny to hear a younger person who came up after the arcade scene talk about it. I have to be honest I was an arcade rat around this time, and I've never heard about the "throwback" rule. Throws were perfectly acceptable in any arcade I attended and I attended a lot of them. I lived in Atlanta at this time, and it seemed Atlanta had a strong MK scene back in the days. I would play at Gamewarp arcade all the way back in 1992. It was on of the few the stayed open until 2 am
MK1 i think is one of the few first entries to a 90s fighting series that is still fun to play, at least to me. comboing slide after freeze into uppercut with bi han and then ripping their head off will always be a great time to me
this was the very first video game I ever played...and it's no wonder I became such a fierce competitor...I was watching people get their heads ripped off at like age 6 lol...dad would wake me up in the middle of the night & wed play. Remember when he did a fatality on me with scorpion & fucking BLEW MY MIND. Kinda traumatized me lol...I wouldn't stop until I won. Definitely thank MK & my dad for all the memories. Super hype to watch this as I was a kid, I didn't know about free-form combos from any iteration in the series till Trilogy. So I'm very very very fascinated. Doing good work here man. Thanks so much. Make sure you archive these videos brother. P.S. SCREW TEST YOUR MIGHT (my 6yo self)
On the topic of throws, I always found that they had a seeming randomness to when they would come out. Because they relied upon a Low Punch input, you could attempt a throw only to find your Kombatant executing a jab. There was also no means to tech throws because of MK1's simplicity at the time.
All that throwings not allowed drama explains why the throwing disable feature would exist in the subsequent games. I always wondered why that was a thing in the first place, now I know.
I had NO idea there were MK1 combos. I remember how everyone loves talking about how combos started in SF but this is just as important! Excellent video!
I remember when I was a kid, and I had this on the Amiga A500.. one day I was just there, playing away, uppercutting everyone... and suddenly I was fighting a green guy at the bottom of the pit and absolutely freaked out wondering what it was, I died fast and never ever got it again, at the time it was so mysterious as there was no internet to google wtf just happened.
MK1 was great but MK2 was legendary, I was big on the arcades, we had the local wizard who got all the secrets from bulletin boards (early internet) and we all freaked out the day we saw Shang tsuns Kintaro fatality , good times, many happy memories
Great video! This game defined my childhood. Some of my best memories are from my local arcade lining up quarters in a real world king of the hill. Felt so good being able to stay on the machine and play for free when you won. Was a great incentive to practice and get better at the game. Figuring out, or accidentally pulling off a fatality was the most thrilling thing with the crowd of onlookers cheering and gasping. Good times indeed.
You guys are doing great work with these videos. Can't tell you how cool it is to be a massive MK nerd and to be able to learn more about the history of the game/s and why things are the way they are now. It's really so amazing. I actually didn't even know about MK1 being specifically inspired by Enter the Dragon. And I had no idea that the neutral game of MK1 was so interesting! Keep it up guys!
I think my favorite OG character is Raiden. I like the thunder gimmicks and his teleport had that cool sounding vorpal noise. And of course, the torpedo. He's also the character I've memorized every move and fatality for by heart. He's my main in Mk2 and Mk4 Hes my #2 in Mk9 and in tag, him and my boy Kabal wrecked tag ladders. I very much thank Raiden for getting me to top 100 in Tag Ladder. He's my boy in MkX too If Kabal wasn't in any of the other Mortal Kombat games. I'd always pick Raiden as my main. He is without a doubt my second favorite MK character.
This is such a golden fucking series. It seriously needs so many more views than this. So much effort on something that is pretty much undocumented unless you dig through decades old forums.
Little late to this but the reason throws were so taboo is likely coming off of the world warrior where reversals were yet introduced, tick setups were stupid easy and your only hope of escape was winning a 50/50 by throwing at the same time.
Thank you for these videos. The quality and production reminds me if a professional documentary. Its Unbeleivable to me the amount of history that these games had.
If you can rage flip a Midway arcade cabinet you are a beast. Those suckers are ridiculously heavy; I've moved several into (and out of) my basement. I remember playing this in the arcade as a kid and being intimidated by older teens who were dominating the machine. Just putting your quarter on the glass to say you were going to step up and fight was a big deal.
Great video, as always! The part about throws being cheap really takes me back... I never quite understood it either, but I definitely played at arcades where the unwritten rule was that if you threw the opponent, you needed to let them throw you back! My how times have changed!
MK1 on SNES was the 2nd game I played religiously, 1st being Super Mario on NES - Back when I was like 3 or 4. I never knew that the MK series had blood, gore and fatalities - So when I played MK4 on PS1, being my 2nd MK game, I always thought that seeing all that violence was normal in a *fighting* game haha
Old school salt is real hahaha Either way, man am I glad to find this video. I was always curious about old school MK meta info since records of it are not easy to find at all and your channel was able to satisfy that itch. Kudos to you man.
It is AMAZING you guys managed to make pull this off, I mean... getting so much information and compile it in such an understandable manner about this game, which I had No idea had this much crazy stuff.... Thank you so much for putting up such quality content as the true MK fans U R, and for true MK Fans ;).... PS: U guys R only missing MK2 and 4 now.... I wonder if it will happen, since MK2 is my favorite out of the classic 3
Where was that and where? I'd love to know more about old school events but they're not super documented online 😔 I remember winning an EU Championship for MK9 in 2011. I won an arcade machine for that too 🤣👌
It was conducted in regional “heats” at local arcades, and then a tournament at the Funland Arcade in London’s Trocadero for the players who won their region. It was pretty intimidating since I was only just 12 at the time.
I played a ridiculous amount of MK1 when I was 5 years old. Don't remember ever demanding anyone not to throw or anything like that. I guess that as 5 year old children, we didn't realize some things were incredibly cheap. Also, playing on PC changed the rules quite a bit. You'd have to share a keyboard with the other player and that made room for some strange tricks. My older brother would hold down, back and block together to flood the keyboard handler, completely disabling the other player's ability to throw.
Wow it's amazing how the new game has carried over from the old ones. I didn't know scorpion had that teleport since the beginning. All these characters have the same special moves to the new mk11. And the corner combo thing. I would only want another new 3d mortal kombat 2d is great too
Please make my Christmas - The MK Meta : Mortal Kombat II I was one of the top 3 players in Manchester and know pretty much everything about that game and all its revisions. I want to see what you can do with it, seeing as your other MK Metabvideos are so amazing!!
Great video. i played this and sf2 a little in the arcade back in the day and religiously on the snes when they came out. I never knew it had this kind of meta. I thought it pretty basic and everything was win by special move & uppercut Anyway, a nice bit of nostalgia watching this and i just gained a greater appreciation for the game. Thankyou so much.
Check out our other episodes!
UMK3 - ua-cam.com/video/Nbo9df9SuCo/v-deo.html
MK9 - ua-cam.com/video/j-22bdVy12s/v-deo.html
MK Armageddon - ua-cam.com/video/wrrHL1kJl70/v-deo.html
Special Thanks to Shock, Summoning and Konqrr for helping me with this video. I also want to thank Ded for his legendary forum presence over the years to make a lot of this info possible.
So much knowledge... but with 1 thing you are *TERRIBLE WRONG:*
Quote: "The 2 Ninja's?" ... *SUB-ZERO IS AND WAS NEVER A NINJA!!!*
Wys Ketchup? Good vid bro! :)
Scorpion was my main in the arcade for all MK games. Negative edge wake up teleport beats Sonya's attempted leg loop (very strict timing). Standing high kick beats jump ins. After Sub-Zero throws you, you simply duck the ice blast on wake up (very easy). Scorpion had the highest damaging cornerless combo in the game.
I wouldn't be surprised if Bloodsport also inspired this game. :)
There is one thing I wanted to add about your video. The MK1 Players didn't have to learn the moves, combos or fatalities on their own. Magazines at the time we're cashing in on it for the fighting craze so they all had it in their issues. I.E. Game Players, Electronic Gaming Monthly, Game Pro, etc. That's how they got you to buy their magazines. But the players definitely had to learn the frames and timing and all that. I was part of that craze back in the day and I remember first playing the original revision at Water world back in early 93. In Arizona, the rules weren't as strict. The no throw rule didn't really come into effect until the late 90's. Before that, people complained but dealt with it for the most part. People would put their quarters on the lip where the monitor bezel was for the next turn. There were some people who could play with 25 cents all hour, and beat pretty much anyone because they knew how to cheese w/ certain characters. Then they'd beat the game and walk away. Fun times. Great video.
“Im going to call this MK1 to avoid confusion” 3 years later and now we have a game actually called MK1
Yeah, we had Mortal Kombat, which we called MK1, Mortal Kombat 2011, which we called MK9, and now we have MK1.
Although could it be considered "Mortal Kombat 1-2?"
I feel like we should give it a new name like; Mortal Kombat Klassic or something
M1K New Era maybe?
Just call it The Original One
@@Saver310mk92
Ahhh, yes, the game that got my first grade teacher to take away my red crayon!
tf did you do that made the teacher go "your crayon is mine"
@@cosmicdoodles2992 drew pictures of fatalities on the back of my math homework =P
@@exquisitecorpse4917 🤣
lol
😂 something similar happened to me. I was in 6th grade and my teacher took my folder away which I had a drawing of SubZeros fatality
Oh yeah, I remember the "no throw" rule. I was playing Street Fighter II as a kid against this adult Zangief player and he'd would get REALLY mad if I threw him. "Throws are cheap! Only Zangief can throw!" he'd argue. "If you throw me, you have to let me throw me back!" I allowed this ONCE when I threw him with my Chun-Li. In return, he threw me back with Zangief's Spinning Piledriver. It was a wrap after that. After that, I would always argue with him and anyone else that whined that throws weren't cheap and tell them to stop blocking all day if they didn't want to be thrown.
It got really nasty, but I held by this rule. I liked throwing and I'll be damned if I'm not allowed to do it because you want to block all damn day.
yeah, that's an stupid rule, fighting games rely a lot on ground control, throws need to be executed close, so if you got thrown it means your oponent tricked you on giving up space. The only rules of that type that we had here was: we don't attack if our oponent is stunned and, in samurai shodown, you always allow your oponent to have his sword back.
The thing is throws aren't very useful in an MK game; they're probably your worst move. You can do more damage with an uppercut and it has about 20 less frames to pull off.
Some characters, like D'Vorah, and Ermac, can do grab finishers and these are quite powerful, all things considered. But I'm sure you guys know this
Not to sound rude but he's kind of a hypocrite.
I mean, throws were incredibly powerful in SF2
@@javierortiz82 _"in Samurai Shodown, you always allow your opponent to have his sword back."_
I see you and your Arcade Pals were true adderents to the Code of Bushido.
"I'm gonna call this game 'MK1' to avoid confusion."
Hahahahahahahaha
2:05 "Im gonna call this game MK1, to avoid any confusion" oh if only he knew...
Calling it MK1 to avoid confusion has aged hilariously.
30:00 “Mustard and myself“
I’ve been watching 30 mins thinking that he was Mustard
get mixed
@@PNDKM stronger 50/50's than MKX! XD
I can never tell them apart
Sonya has been top tier since the early 90s wtf
@humaneshadowx71 that's good to hear, but she recovered for MK5, she was top 5 in Deadly Alliance according to Tom Brady lol. Sonya is unstoppable
there were no tiers back then you dolt. that was something millennials with tiny dicks came up with 20 years later.
Jonathan Albertson thats not true lol
@@johnalbertson79 WTF?!?
@@johnalbertson79 and now everyone knows you suck at fighting games lol
Imagine getting hit in a modern fighting game like 5 or 6 times and taking 80% damage
Makes me miss MvC
Oh you mean mk 11
Ah you mean Guilty Gear Strive
Samurai Showdown features plenty of 1 and 2 hit KOs, and earlier versions of Guilty Gear had instakills, it's not unprecedented
Me being a Chipp main in Guilty Gear Xrd. :(
Calling this MK1 aged like milk.
"We're going to call this one MK1"
Me:😬
2:05 we’ll it took at least it wasn’t confusing for a couple years
I couldn't of ever imagined MK1 being remotely competitive. I love these videos.
It was HIGHLY competitive
so that's where that tip in MK11 came from that says blocking will get you nowhere
The Reptile Hints from arcade revision 4 are all over MK11's loading screens. The tips included the following:
*TIP EHT FO MOTTOB
*Patience is the Key.
*Flawless is the Key. (May have alternately been presented as "Perfection is the Key".)
*Look to La Luna.
*Blocking will get you nowhere.
Wow, Sonya being broke in a mk game. Haven’t seen that one before
the misspelling makes it so much better
I have Mk 1 and she’s just a fucking nightmare to fight but hard for me to play as
Of course you haven't, this is the first Mortal Kombat game
For the most part she's the most powerful character in MK1, and by the time MK2 comes around that becomes Jax; who then keeps her spot as a mid/high tier for 15 years.
Best MK series on UA-cam! All that you mentioned about the arcade scene is true. I first began as a SF2 player and people HATED being thrown and that carried over into MK. I would jab throw loop in SF2 and not care. People used to punch the screen, threaten me, want to actually fight. I was 12 years old and 20+ year old men wanted to kill me lol. I grew up in the North East of the US in NJ. Like you mentioned in this video, this area was huge for arcades. At my local arcade we had 3-5 cabinets of all the most popular fighters and on any given weekend there would be 50-100 people playing on them and waiting their turn at a chance to compete. There weren't any real tournaments thrown though until UMK3. At my arcade I would dominate those events. Among my friends we had players who specialized in specific games. We had a Tekken 2 guy, Virtua Fighter 2, Sam Sho, and Street Fighter. At that time there was no real internet, so knowing all the finishers and combos was not an easy task. So to support our gaming habbit we used to walk across the street to the library and type up and print out all the fatalities, babalites and friendships and sell them in the arcade. It was only a few cents per copy but we would sell them for a dollar each to the large crowds. It was the perfect way to keep playing the games that we loved. Those times were really special and a great experience in my life personally. I am really fortunate to have experienced them. Great video! I can't wait for the next one.
Love your videos man!
I remember too these days. MK2 when that hit the arcade was insaaaaane.
Man, I can't believe you guys were able to get an early version of MK1 4 years before launch, and be able to break down what the meta would be so far ahead in the future. Really next-level stuff.
This is why i fucking love british people. Its 6am and this is the perfect video to listen to at work. Thanks guys
Most welcome!
(Good Morning)
Hah true, only its 9am and two days later, but yea it really is a good video to listen to while working
Ah yes, MK1. The only game with this name in the series. I'm glad there's still no confusion as to which game is called Mortal Kombat 1.
I love how the Krypt in MK11 beautifully recreates Shang Tsung's island, and it's amazing to see MK1 stages now and know the exact location! The level with the statues blows my mind after being a fan for 27 years.
Are you referring to the outdoor stage where Tsung sits on his throne in the background far away?
I thought those were masked guards standing ringside, but they're statues you say? Does MK11 make this more apparent or something? Very curious lol. Bc I still haven't played MK11 yet. 😞😞😞
ConkyJoe89 he’s referring to the Warrior Shrine with Goro and everyone else
"I'm going to call this game MK 1 to avoid confusion" 2:00
You have a 1 in 3 chance to be right at least
Awesome vid! In my area’s arcades, throws and cornering were “illegal” in MK2. If you accidentally threw someone, you’d have to let your opponent give you a free hit, combo, or throw. If you were cornering someone, you’d have to stop mid-sequence and back out of the corner to let them out. Saw physical fights break out in some arcades over these things haha.
Man the flashbacks. The non-throw rules. the quarter on the machine '"I've got next" rule, the "punch you in the head" rule...
The "nearly choke out a 6 year old cause he knows how to play" rule
Microplay went hard, my boy went hard... Almost lost his lil' neck back then poor guy~
I am rewatching this and I find it funny that it would actually have to be called “The original Mortal Kombat” or “MK92” or something like that
"I'm going to call the game MK1 to avoid confusion."
Welp, can't do that anymore.
This game was actually officially referred to as MK1 on the secret characters fight screen in MK2.
You guys somehow only make good content. I gotta ring the bell. Your meta videos are insane
"I'm going to call this game mk1 to avoid confusion" rings different in 2023
"to avoid confusing i will call this game mk1" ...... in coming 2023 LOLOL
I remember a kid unplugged the arcade when he lost at a video rental spot I use to go to
"I'm going to call this game 'MK1' to avoid confusion"
Welp. That's now a dated statement lol
MK1 02:01 well that didn’t age well
The good old days of MK1, the beginning of the greatest fighting game series of all time. Fantastic work like always. Keep it up with the breakdowns!
nah, tekken came out a few years later. :)
love all mk games and lore (except mk sub zero - what an abomination!)
I literally screamed inside when I saw this video was up, I LOVE the MK meta videos so much, great stuff guys.
Enjoy!
Wasn't ed boon actually trying to make this game after the movie "bloodsport"?
It was originally meant to be a van damne video-game. Correct!
Then they had to change it, which would become mortal kombat.
I was a part of the Broward county (Florida) arcade scene in the 90’s (literally an arcade rat.) Spending all my time in front of fighting game cabinets.
All the iterations of SF 2, and especially MK 1 !! This is such a comprehensive look at what went on back then. “I remember my friends and I would leave an arcade, if the cabinet was later than rev. 3, because it limited our air juggle combos so severely.” Ahh nostalgia.
In my area sub zero was considered the most formidable fighter. The fast rising punches that could be done infinitely in the corners with Cage or Raider were called “Flea Punches” in our local slang. And were as you’ve shown often used within long combos. Great upload, and a slice of often overlooked history..
"I'm going to call this game *MK1* to avoid confusion."
Aged like butter milk lol.
So many memories with the first Mortal Kombat. I used to play it on Commodore Amiga, don't laugh, and it was a blast. What an amazing job again Ketchup and I thank you for it and for all the memories.
I remember as a little kid getting in trouble by my parents because I would unlock the Blood code on Sega genesis 😂 my parents would tell me "NO BLOOD!" 🤣
I was lucky that my parents never cared about videogame violence, in fact, both of them agreed to buy me a Genesis and MK1 and 2 so I could stay away from the arcades where "the bad kids hang around".
I really hoped that - as 90s kids became parents - we'd remember how annoying the censorship attempts were back when and not be so sensitive with our own children.....................but it's even WORSE nowadays with MK kontent being age restricted online and clerks checking ID at game stores. We had the privilege of finding these games in the wild (even when our parents didn't approve); kids these days have to go through retina scanners and carbon dating just to boot it up.
@@ViktorKruger99 oh yea, my parents were like that too.
@@exquisitecorpse4917 instead of fighting against censorship, we'll be fighting against gambling
@@exquisitecorpse4917 it terrible. how did the 80s and 90s become 2020/2021? cuck culture run amuck!
I had no idea that some of the combos displayed in this vid even existed. We had an arcade scene for MK, MK2 & MK3/UMK3 in my town back in the early 90's, but watching this makes me realize how basic we all played. 😂😂😂
Great vid guys! ❤
I didn't know about those Goro cheese tactics, but when I was a kid I discovered Shang Tsung absolutely cannot defeat you if you just keep doing low kicks. He walks into them until you win. At least on the Mega Drive version
Mega drive Genesis version was garbage except for the fatalities blood.
That's what I did to always beat Shang in the Genesis version LOL
Duke Noneofyerdamn Duke Noneofyerdamn well, considering I didn’t grow up bear any arcades and the only version available to me was the Mega Drive version I’m gonna say I had fun with it.
@@dukenoneofyerdamn8650 it was good for the time. Seeing as how it was between the SNES and Genesis for most people, it lacked the sounds and colors but the SNES version had some really bad input lag. Neither was perfect but the fact that Genesis had all the violence pretty much sealed it
I get that. I played the Genesis version recently and was let down sound wise mostly. The rest was tolerable
Mortal Kombat + intro music = permanently embedded into my ultimate frisbee/snowboard playlist.
"I'm going to call this game MK1 to avoid confusion."
Me in 2023: HA!
These kind of videos take an EXTREME amount of time and effort. Ketchup and Mustard go out of their way to make this great content and I am more than happy to have been a part of MK history since the beginning. Much love!
Great video man, made me super nostalgic for the arcade scene I frequented back in the 90's. I remember the arcade being packed whenever a new MK came out and waiting forever just to get a shot to play.
It's funny to hear a younger person who came up after the arcade scene talk about it. I have to be honest I was an arcade rat around this time, and I've never heard about the "throwback" rule. Throws were perfectly acceptable in any arcade I attended and I attended a lot of them. I lived in Atlanta at this time, and it seemed Atlanta had a strong MK scene back in the days. I would play at Gamewarp arcade all the way back in 1992. It was on of the few the stayed open until 2 am
Mortal Kombat, MK II, MK3 ... game's of my childhood and till these days my favourite one.
Fantastic video's. 👐
MK1 i think is one of the few first entries to a 90s fighting series that is still fun to play, at least to me. comboing slide after freeze into uppercut with bi han and then ripping their head off will always be a great time to me
this was the very first video game I ever played...and it's no wonder I became such a fierce competitor...I was watching people get their heads ripped off at like age 6 lol...dad would wake me up in the middle of the night & wed play. Remember when he did a fatality on me with scorpion & fucking BLEW MY MIND. Kinda traumatized me lol...I wouldn't stop until I won. Definitely thank MK & my dad for all the memories. Super hype to watch this as I was a kid, I didn't know about free-form combos from any iteration in the series till Trilogy. So I'm very very very fascinated. Doing good work here man. Thanks so much. Make sure you archive these videos brother.
P.S. SCREW TEST YOUR MIGHT (my 6yo self)
Yeah man. The beginning of everything in my childhood
The wait for the Meta series is long, but my God it is ALWAYS worth it. Incredible work!
On the topic of throws, I always found that they had a seeming randomness to when they would come out. Because they relied upon a Low Punch input, you could attempt a throw only to find your Kombatant executing a jab. There was also no means to tech throws because of MK1's simplicity at the time.
The throwing being unblockable is pretty cheap. There is a why in fighting games later now introduce a throw escape mechanic.
love the series and your commentary on the tournaments are top-notch. Keep up the great work. This is one of the best(if not the best) MK channels
Another great episode K&M, the nostalgia is real in this one. 🐉
These videos bring back a-lot of old memories thank you for your hard work
All that throwings not allowed drama explains why the throwing disable feature would exist in the subsequent games. I always wondered why that was a thing in the first place, now I know.
As a passionate fan I'm mad at myself for not having discovered these videos before. This one was absolutely fascinating!
happy memories of playing mk at my local chip shop back in the day. Thanks for the videos
I had NO idea there were MK1 combos. I remember how everyone loves talking about how combos started in SF but this is just as important! Excellent video!
Lovely work both in general and for the scene and its history!
Can't wait for the meta of MK4.
I remember when I was a kid, and I had this on the Amiga A500.. one day I was just there, playing away, uppercutting everyone... and suddenly I was fighting a green guy at the bottom of the pit and absolutely freaked out wondering what it was, I died fast and never ever got it again, at the time it was so mysterious as there was no internet to google wtf just happened.
This series is actually so good. Amazing work as always bro
Thanks man!
MK1 was great but MK2 was legendary, I was big on the arcades, we had the local wizard who got all the secrets from bulletin boards (early internet) and we all freaked out the day we saw Shang tsuns Kintaro fatality , good times, many happy memories
Great video! This game defined my childhood. Some of my best memories are from my local arcade lining up quarters in a real world king of the hill. Felt so good being able to stay on the machine and play for free when you won. Was a great incentive to practice and get better at the game. Figuring out, or accidentally pulling off a fatality was the most thrilling thing with the crowd of onlookers cheering and gasping. Good times indeed.
This video is pure gold.
You did a fantastic job.
I went to high school down in Chino California I remember playing in tournaments for MK1 at the local 7-Eleven I won one of them with Liu Kang
Absolutely love this series! Always get excited when that notification says another one has come out! Keep up the fantastic work, mate!
You guys are doing great work with these videos.
Can't tell you how cool it is to be a massive MK nerd and to be able to learn more about the history of the game/s and why things are the way they are now. It's really so amazing.
I actually didn't even know about MK1 being specifically inspired by Enter the Dragon. And I had no idea that the neutral game of MK1 was so interesting!
Keep it up guys!
These are the highlight of the channel. I love when these come out
Love it... Great job. This brings so many memories from my childhood I wanna cry.
I think my favorite OG character is Raiden. I like the thunder gimmicks and his teleport had that cool sounding vorpal noise. And of course, the torpedo.
He's also the character I've memorized every move and fatality for by heart.
He's my main in Mk2 and Mk4
Hes my #2 in Mk9 and in tag, him and my boy Kabal wrecked tag ladders. I very much thank Raiden for getting me to top 100 in Tag Ladder.
He's my boy in MkX too
If Kabal wasn't in any of the other Mortal Kombat games. I'd always pick Raiden as my main.
He is without a doubt my second favorite MK character.
This is such a golden fucking series. It seriously needs so many more views than this. So much effort on something that is pretty much undocumented unless you dig through decades old forums.
I remember those days of not allowing certain techniques or exploits like keeping people trapped in the corner. That was serious business back then.
Little late to this but the reason throws were so taboo is likely coming off of the world warrior where reversals were yet introduced, tick setups were stupid easy and your only hope of escape was winning a 50/50 by throwing at the same time.
Thank you for these videos. The quality and production reminds me if a professional documentary. Its Unbeleivable to me the amount of history that these games had.
If you can rage flip a Midway arcade cabinet you are a beast. Those suckers are ridiculously heavy; I've moved several into (and out of) my basement.
I remember playing this in the arcade as a kid and being intimidated by older teens who were dominating the machine. Just putting your quarter on the glass to say you were going to step up and fight was a big deal.
Great video, as always! The part about throws being cheap really takes me back... I never quite understood it either, but I definitely played at arcades where the unwritten rule was that if you threw the opponent, you needed to let them throw you back! My how times have changed!
MK1 on SNES was the 2nd game I played religiously, 1st being Super Mario on NES - Back when I was like 3 or 4. I never knew that the MK series had blood, gore and fatalities - So when I played MK4 on PS1, being my 2nd MK game, I always thought that seeing all that violence was normal in a *fighting* game haha
Old school salt is real hahaha
Either way, man am I glad to find this video. I was always curious about old school MK meta info since records of it are not easy to find at all and your channel was able to satisfy that itch. Kudos to you man.
It is AMAZING you guys managed to make pull this off, I mean... getting so much information and compile it in such an understandable manner about this game, which I had No idea had this much crazy stuff....
Thank you so much for putting up such quality content as the true MK fans U R, and for true MK Fans ;)....
PS: U guys R only missing MK2 and 4 now.... I wonder if it will happen, since MK2 is my favorite out of the classic 3
There's a lot more left. Not just MK2 and 4 ;)
It's kinda cool to see how the concepts in these early games grew to make the modern stuff, like juggles and what not.
I won the first ever UK championship of MK1 back in the day. I won an arcade cab.
Where was that and where? I'd love to know more about old school events but they're not super documented online 😔
I remember winning an EU Championship for MK9 in 2011. I won an arcade machine for that too 🤣👌
It was conducted in regional “heats” at local arcades, and then a tournament at the Funland Arcade in London’s Trocadero for the players who won their region. It was pretty intimidating since I was only just 12 at the time.
@@Walboro trocadero!!!!
Man that brings back memories. We used to play mk9 tournaments in the UK there as well.
I played a ridiculous amount of MK1 when I was 5 years old. Don't remember ever demanding anyone not to throw or anything like that.
I guess that as 5 year old children, we didn't realize some things were incredibly cheap.
Also, playing on PC changed the rules quite a bit. You'd have to share a keyboard with the other player and that made room for some strange tricks. My older brother would hold down, back and block together to flood the keyboard handler, completely disabling the other player's ability to throw.
Next level Older Sibling strats right there. God damn~
Man the meta is strong with the first MK game :))
I didn't know about Reptile until playing the Snes port, where he sometimes popped in to give hints like revision 4 arcade
The first three MK games are my favorite in terms of competitive fighting. Silly, maybe, but they’re still cool.
The amount of times i clicked on this video expecting mk4 is concerning
This was the my very first game back in 1999 and i still have my og copy on my computer table
Love that classic MK is getting some exposure. I get my friends to play the classics with me as much as possible lmao
Well worth the wait, fantastic breakdown as always!
Wow it's amazing how the new game has carried over from the old ones. I didn't know scorpion had that teleport since the beginning. All these characters have the same special moves to the new mk11. And the corner combo thing. I would only want another new 3d mortal kombat 2d is great too
The only time I've ever been escorted off of the premises of a business by the police was at a Mortal Kombat tournament.
Well, don't leave it there! What's the story?
Really enjoy this kind of video's, thanks K&M
Please make my Christmas - The MK Meta : Mortal Kombat II
I was one of the top 3 players in Manchester and know pretty much everything about that game and all its revisions.
I want to see what you can do with it, seeing as your other MK Metabvideos are so amazing!!
Fun Fact: The color green from Reptile came out from the mix of blue and yellow. And Reptile in this game had both Scorp and Sub's moves combined.
Great video. i played this and sf2 a little in the arcade back in the day and religiously on the snes when they came out. I never knew it had this kind of meta. I thought it pretty basic and everything was win by special move & uppercut Anyway, a nice bit of nostalgia watching this and i just gained a greater appreciation for the game. Thankyou so much.
How many of you had a book store in the mall that carried gamepro? We would go in find death moves and write them down on paper.
I love this kind of videos, amazing! Thanks!