Reception and Cultural Impact
| Game | GameRankings | Metacritic |
|---|---|---|
| Mortal Kombat (1992) | (GEN) 84.17% (SNES) 83.33% (SCD) 60.00% (GB) 58.25% |
- |
| Mortal Kombat II | (SNES) 85.87% (GEN) 85.62% (PS3) 68.40% (GB) 61.75% (SAT) 57.50% |
(PS3) 72 |
| Mortal Kombat 3 | (SNES) 80.23% (GEN) 76.67% (PS1) 70.33% |
- |
| Mortal Kombat 4 | (N64) 77.31% (PS1) 75.47% (PC) 71.54% (DC) 54.97% (GBC) 46.00% |
- |
| Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance | (GBA) 84.63% (Xbox) 82.60% (PS2) 81.90% (GC) 81.82% |
(GBA) 81 (Xbox) 81 (GC) 81 (PS2) 79 |
| Mortal Kombat: Deception | (PS2) 82.05% (Xbox) 81.33% (GC) 77.43% (PSP) 70.88% |
(PS2) 81 (Xbox) 81 (GC) 77 (PSP) 70 |
| Mortal Kombat: Armageddon | (Xbox) 77.39% (PS2) 75.33% (Wii) 72.49% |
(Xbox) 77 (PS2) 75 (Wii) 71 |
| Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe | (PS3) 77.62% (X360) 75.28% |
(PS3) 76 (X360) 72 |
| Mortal Kombat (2011) | (PS3) 86.00% (X360) 85.64% |
(X360) 86 (PS3) 84 |
Ed Boon reported that the Mortal Kombat series have sold 26 million copies by 2007.
In 2009, CraveOnline ranked Mortal Kombat as one of the "goriest, bloodiest, nastiest" video games of all time, but it condescended on the series. Also in 2009, GameTrailers ranked Mortal Kombat as the ninth top fighting game franchise and as the seventh bloodiest series of all time.
Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2008 awarded the Mortal Kombat series with seven world records, including "Most Successful Fighting Game Franchise". In 2012, Complex ranked Mortal Kombat at number 37 on the list of the best video game franchises, commenting on its "legendary status in video game history."
In a 2009 GamePro poll, 21% of voters rated Mortal Kombat as their favorite fighting game series, ranking it third, behind Street Fighter and Tekken. In 2012, Capcom producer Yoshinori Ono said, "I actually get a lot of requests for Street Fighter vs. Mortal Kombat on my Twitter feed and elsewhere. I understand why people want it, but it’s easier said than done. Having Chun Li getting her spine ripped out, or Ryu’s head bouncing off the floor….it doesn’t necessarily match."
The series and its characters are also referenced in the various other works of popular culture, such as in the title of Powerglove's debut album Metal Kombat for the Mortal Man and the Workaholics episode "Model Kombat". According to Complex in 2012, "Years ago, MK became a phenomenon far outside gaming circles alone. Its name has become recognizable enough to be name dropped on sitcoms (Malcolm in the Middle and Married... With Children), found in movies (Christian Slater plays MK4 in Very Bad Things), and used as part of cultural studies (see Justine Cassell and Henry Jenkins' book From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games)."
Read more about this topic: Mortal Kombat
Famous quotes containing the words reception, cultural and/or impact:
“To aim to convert a man by miracles is a profanation of the soul. A true conversion, a true Christ, is now, as always, to be made by the reception of beautiful sentiments.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Somehow we have been taught to believe that the experiences of girls and women are not important in the study and understanding of human behavior. If we know men, then we know all of humankind. These prevalent cultural attitudes totally deny the uniqueness of the female experience, limiting the development of girls and women and depriving a needy world of the gifts, talents, and resources our daughters have to offer.”
—Jeanne Elium (20th century)
“Television does not dominate or insist, as movies do. It is not sensational, but taken for granted. Insistence would destroy it, for its message is so dire that it relies on being the background drone that counters silence. For most of us, it is something turned on and off as we would the light. It is a service, not a luxury or a thing of choice.”
—David Thomson, U.S. film historian. America in the Dark: The Impact of Hollywood Films on American Culture, ch. 8, William Morrow (1977)