Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance is a 2002 fighting game created and released by Midway for the Xbox, PlayStation 2 (PS2), GameCube, and Game Boy Advance (GBA). It was the first new Mortal Kombat game made only for home consoles, without being released in arcades first. It is the fifth main game in the Mortal Kombat series and follows Mortal Kombat 4, which was released in 1997. The story centers on the partnership between sorcerers Quan Chi and Shang Tsung, who plan to bring back an ancient army to take over Outworld and Earthrealm. This game is the only main entry in the series that does not include Liu Kang, a main character in most Mortal Kombat games. It is also the first official game in the series not to involve John Tobias, who left Midway in 1999 to work on other projects.

In addition to the original Game Boy Advance version of Deadly Alliance, a second version for the same console, called Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition, was released on August 25, 2003. Tournament Edition includes characters not in the first version, such as Sektor, Noob Saibot, and Sareena. Deadly Alliance received praise from critics. A sequel to the game, Mortal Kombat: Deception, was released in 2004.

Gameplay

The game Deadly Alliance focuses on its fighting modes, similar to other Mortal Kombat games. The gameplay is different from earlier games in the series. Each character now has three fighting styles: usually two hand-to-hand styles and one weapon style. However, Blaze and Mokap have three hand-to-hand styles and no weapon style. Players can switch between styles with a button press. In previous games, characters mostly fought the same way, with only special moves to show differences. Now, each character has fewer special moves (two to four), encouraging use of the new fighting system. Characters can no longer run, and there is no run meter. Movement in the third dimension is easier and can be used continuously, unlike in Mortal Kombat 4, where sidestepping required specific button presses. Invisible boundaries appear when fighters reach the edge of the arena to keep them in the fight.

Character models look more realistic, with flesh that moves or jiggles as characters move. Environmental interaction is limited but present, such as breaking pillars or statues to damage opponents nearby. Each character has only one Fatality, unlike earlier games that had multiple ways to finish opponents. Stage Fatalities are not included, similar to Mortal Kombat X and Mortal Kombat 1. However, the Acid Bath level includes "Acid Buddhas" that damage players who get too close.

Deadly Alliance introduces Konquest mode, which expands the story and teaches players about each character. The mode includes missions completed by characters. Between missions, a video shows a monk moving through locations, but this does not affect gameplay. After completing eight tasks with Sub-Zero, players must complete specific tasks with other characters, such as performing combos or defeating opponents. Each mission includes text instructions and a short story about the character. Blaze and Mokap can only be unlocked after completing all Konquest stages. Completing missions rewards players with "koins," which are used to open "koffins" in the Krypt and unlock secrets.

The Krypt is a section where players can buy extras using koins earned in regular play or Konquest. It has 676 "koffins" arranged in a grid, labeled from AA to ZZ. Each koffin has a price in koins (from 1 to thousands) and a type (Gold, Ruby, etc.). Players can unlock characters, arenas, costumes, videos, images, concept art, and the Mortal Kombat Collector's Edition comic book. Some koffins contain more koins, hints about other items, or are empty.

The minigame Test Your Might, from the original Mortal Kombat, returns. A new minigame, Test Your Sight, also appears. In Test Your Sight, players must choose the cup with the Mortal Kombat logo after cups move randomly. As players progress, the number of cups and their speed increase, and the camera moves to make the game harder. Success in both minigames rewards players with koins.

The GBA-only version, Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition, adds three new modes: Survival, Tag Team, and Practice, along with weapon Fatalities. Both GBA versions use 2D sprites, but Tournament Edition was the first portable Mortal Kombat game to use 3D-style gameplay.

Plot

At the end of Mortal Kombat 4 (which is Scorpion's official ending), Quan Chi reveals that he killed Scorpion's family and clan. He tries to send Scorpion back to the Netherrealm. Scorpion, filled with extreme anger, grabs Quan Chi at the last moment and takes him to the Netherrealm with him. In the opening of Deadly Alliance, it is shown that Quan Chi escaped the Netherrealm using an amulet he stole from Shinnok. He appears in a tomb with mummified remains and an ancient runestone. The runestone shows that the remains belong to an "undefeatable" army once controlled by a forgotten ruler of Outworld, called the "Dragon King." Learning this, Quan Chi teams up with Shang Tsung, offering him endless souls in exchange for helping him revive the army by transferring souls of defeated warriors into it. Together, they work to defeat and kill Shao Kahn and Liu Kang, who are the biggest threats to their plans. Raiden, unable to act as an Elder God, gives up his position after realizing that if Quan Chi and Shang Tsung succeed, Earthrealm will be destroyed.

In Deadly Alliance, players learn about the characters' backgrounds and relationships, mainly through Konquest mode and biographies found in the Krypt. The game takes place in a science fantasy world, mostly in fictional realms from the Mortal Kombat series. The story starts in the Netherrealm (though this level is not playable) and later moves to Outworld, Edenia, and Earthrealm. To fully understand the plot of Deadly Alliance, players must complete Konquest mode and Arcade mode. Finishing Arcade mode unlocks endings for each character, but only some of these endings are part of the main story. Some endings even conflict with each other. Details about what happened to the characters were later revealed in the sequel, Mortal Kombat: Deception. This makes Deadly Alliance the first game in the series to have an ending where the heroes lose and the villains win.

Characters

The game includes 21 playable characters, 2 secret characters, and 1 unplayable character.

Playable Characters:
• Blaze – A powerful fire being who protects the egg of the Dragon King (secret character).
• Bo' Rai Cho – A friendly Outworld native and former teacher of Liu Kang.
• Drahmin – A creature from the Netherrealm seeking revenge against Quan Chi for abandoning him.
• Frost – Sub-Zero's first trainee who lacks respect for others.
• Hsu Hao – A Red Dragon agent sent to destroy the OIA.
• Kenshi – A blind swordsman who lost his sight after the OIA's portal was destroyed.
• Li Mei – An Outworld native whose people are enslaved by the Deadly Alliance. She fights in a tournament to earn freedom.
• Mavado – A Red Dragon leader who ordered Hsu Hao to attack the OIA. He kills Kabal and takes his weapons.
• Mokap – A joke character who worked on motion capture for Johnny Cage's films. He is included to honor a game artist (secret character).
• Nitara – A cunning vampire who wants to separate her realm from Outworld.

Unplayable Character:
• Moloch – Drahmin's companion and the game's sub-boss.

Returning Characters:
• Cyrax – A former Lin Kuei cyborg helped by Jax and Sonya. He is trapped in Outworld and controlled by Nitara.
• Jax – Co-founded the Outerworld Investigation Agency with Sonya. He was betrayed by an OIA agent.
• Johnny Cage – A Hollywood actor whose career is now mocked. He wants to restore his reputation.
• Kano – Leader of the Black Dragon and enemy of Sonya and Jax.
• Kitana – An Edenian princess who allied with Goro and the Deadly Alliance.
• Kung Lao – A Shaolin monk seeking revenge for Liu Kang's death.
• Quan Chi – A selfish sorcerer who made a deal with Shang Tsung.
• Raiden – The thunder god who becomes a lesser god to fight the Deadly Alliance.
• Reptile – The last member of the Zaterrian race and a skilled spy.
• Scorpion – Quan Chi's tormentor who left the Netherrealm to chase the sorcerer.
• Shang Tsung – A sorcerer who wants to live forever.
• Sonya Blade – Jax's partner who feels responsible for two OIA agents lost in Outworld.
• Sub-Zero – A cryokinetic warrior who rebuilds the Lin Kuei and recruits new members.

Additional Information:
Deadly Alliance is the only main series game without Liu Kang as a playable character. He and Shao Kahn only appear in the introduction video. The deaths of Goro, Kabal, Motaro, and Sheeva are mentioned in Konquest but later appear in sequels. The Dragon King from the game later appears as Onaga in Mortal Kombat: Deception.

Game Ports:
Because of the Game Boy Advance's technology limits, the port includes only 12 playable characters: Frost, Jax, Kano, Kung Lao, Kenshi, Kitana, Li Mei, Quan Chi, Scorpion, Shang Tsung, Sonya Blade, and Sub-Zero. A second version, Tournament Edition, includes only Quan Chi, Scorpion, and Shang Tsung but adds Bo' Rai Cho, Cyrax, Drahmin, Hsu Hao, Johnny Cage, Mavado, Nitara, Raiden, and Reptile. Tournament Edition also adds three new characters: Sektor (a version of Cyrax), Noob Saibot (a version of Scorpion), and Sareena from a spin-off game. Both versions exclude Blaze, Mokap, and Moloch. Tournament Edition is the only Mortal Kombat fighting game without Sub-Zero. However, Noob Saibot is later revealed to be the original Sub-Zero in Mortal Kombat: Deception.

Development

Midway announced in early 1998 that work had started on a fifth mainline Mortal Kombat game. The game was being created for Midway's new Zeus II arcade hardware.

Although Mortal Kombat 4 was successful, the series faced challenges by the late 1990s due to too many projects being released. The 1996 animated series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm only lasted one season and received poor reviews from critics. In November 1997, the film Mortal Kombat Annihilation, which followed the 1995 movie, did not do well in theaters and was criticized by audiences. The 1998 live-action series Mortal Kombat: Conquest had strong ratings but also ended after one season. On the game side, Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, a side-scrolling game, had little interest. The 1999 Dreamcast version of Mortal Kombat 4, called Mortal Kombat Gold, also failed to attract players. The 2000 game Mortal Kombat: Special Forces received bad reviews and sold poorly.

Deadly Alliance was the first mainline Mortal Kombat game designed directly for home consoles. Midway had stopped making arcade games after releasing The Grid in 2000, as the arcade market was declining. Producer Ed Boon explained that without requiring players to pay a quarter every two and a half minutes, the game could focus more on single-player experiences.

Release

To help advertise the game, the American rock band Adema created a song called "Immortal" for the game. They also made a music video featuring the character Scorpion. This song was used in many of the game's commercials. The music video is included in the game's extras, along with a short live video from Adema's performance at the 2002 Electronic Entertainment Expo. Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance was released in the United Kingdom on Valentine's Day, 2003. One special advertisement showed a girl hugging her boyfriend, and when she pulled away, there were bloody handprints where her hands had been on his back.

After the original Game Boy Advance version of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance was released, a second version called Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition came out on August 25, 2003. This version includes the remaining playable characters who were not in the first version (only Quan Chi, Shang Tsung, and Scorpion returned) and adds three new characters: Noob Saibot, Sareena, and Sektor. Both Game Boy Advance versions were later re-released as part of the Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection compilation in 2025.

Reception

The reception for Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance was mostly positive because it helped revive a series that had been losing popularity since the late 1990s and introduced many new features. Jeremy Dunham of IGN praised the game for changing the Mortal Kombat formula, especially noting Ed Boon’s work with "real 3D fighting, different fighting styles, and a more complex combo system." Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot highlighted the game’s smooth animations and graphics, and said the character lineup was a "good mix of old and new characters." Benjamin Turner of GameSpy welcomed the new characters and praised the fighting system, saying, "You can relax and enjoy the game without needing to think too hard." Craig Harris of IGN praised the Game Boy Advance version for its quality and content, stating that "a lot of effort went into this project, from the fighting system and graphics to the extra features that made it a strong single-player game."

GameSpot ranked Deadly Alliance as the second-best GameCube game released in November 2002. It also received annual awards for "Best Fighting Game on Xbox" and "Best Fighting Game on GameCube." The game won the Best Brawl award at G-Phoria in 2003 and later appeared on budget lists for all three consoles: PlayStation 2’s Greatest Hits, GameCube’s Player’s Choice, and Xbox’s Platinum Hits. At the 6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Deadly Alliance for "Console Fighting Game of the Year," but it lost to Tekken 4.

When the game was released, it sold more than 350,000 copies in nine days, 1 million in its first month, and over 1.3 million by January 2003. The soundtrack album Immortal by Adema sold 24,000 copies in the United States.

By July 2003, IGN reported that Deadly Alliance had sold 2 million copies. In April 2011, Ed Boon stated the game had sold 3.5 million copies. According to a later review by Jeremy Dunham, Deadly Alliance "won over critics and fans quickly, earning the best reviews of the series since Mortal Kombat II and selling 1 million copies within six weeks. The game eventually sold more than double that number."