Mortal Kombat 4 is a 1997 fighting game created and released by Midway for arcade machines. It is the fourth main game in the Mortal Kombat series and follows Mortal Kombat 3, which was released in 1995. This game was the first in the series to use 3D computer graphics and the last to be released for arcades. In 1998, the game was made available for the PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Microsoft Windows, and Game Boy Color. An updated version, called Mortal Kombat Gold, was released for the Dreamcast in 1999.

The gameplay in Mortal Kombat 4 is similar to earlier games in the series. One major change is the addition of weapons and objects that players can use during fights. The story follows the battle between good and evil, as the corrupted Elder God Shinnok attacks his former allies who once trapped him in the Netherealm long before the series began. The other 17 playable characters join the fight, with the forces of light trying to stop Shinnok and the forces of darkness from taking over all realms.

During development, Midway faced challenges in creating the game’s graphics, as it was one of the first 3D fighting games they made. Co-creator Ed Boon said the team wanted to make Mortal Kombat 4 more violent than earlier games, removing the humorous finishing moves that appeared in previous versions. After its release, the game received mostly positive reviews from critics, except for the version released for the Game Boy Color.

Gameplay

Mortal Kombat 4 is played similarly to earlier games in the series. Players use the run button and combos as before. Even though the game has 3D graphics, characters mostly move in 2D, except when sidestepping. MK4 adds a limited weapon system, allowing each character to use a special weapon by pressing a specific button combination. Once equipped, weapons are controlled mainly with punch buttons. Players can swing, club, or toss the weapons. Weapons can also be intentionally dropped, like arena objects such as severed heads and rocks, a new feature in the series. If an opponent drops their weapon, the other player can pick it up and use it.

MK4 introduced a "Maximum Damage" rule for combos. If a combo deals too much damage, it automatically stops, preventing infinite combos (though this rule can be removed with a code). Unlike Mortal Kombat Trilogy, which had many finishing moves, MK4 gives each character two standard Fatalities. It also includes two Stage Fatalities, which can only be used in specific arenas and involve throwing the opponent into a part of the arena where they are killed. Unlike the first three games, this version does not include non-playable boss characters, except for Goro in the home versions.

Plot

Long before the first game was created, Shinnok, one of the powerful Elder Gods who rule the six realms in the Mortal Kombat universe, tried to take control of all realms. Raiden, the thunder god, fought Shinnok in a war that lasted for hundreds of years. Raiden defeated Shinnok and sent him to the Netherrealm, a place where he was trapped forever. Recently, Shinnok escaped the Netherrealm with the help of the sorcerer Quan Chi. He now wants to punish the Elder Gods who banished him. To achieve his goal, Shinnok first conquers the realm of Edenia with the help of a traitor named Tanya, while preparing to attack the Elder Gods. To stop Shinnok's threat, Raiden asks Earthrealm warriors—those who previously saved the realms from Emperor Shao Kahn—to help again.

Characters

The game features 15 characters that players can choose, along with some secret characters. Below is a list of the characters available in the Mortal Kombat 4 character selection screen.

• Fujin — A helper to Raiden, the Wind God who first appeared in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero.
• Jarek — The last member of the Black Dragon after Kano’s supposed death.
• Kai — A Shaolin monk and friend of Liu Kang.
• Quan Chi — A mysterious evil sorcerer who helped Shinnok escape from the Netherrealm. Quan Chi previously appeared in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and the animated series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm. This game is his first playable appearance in the series.
• Reiko — An assassin from Outworld and a general for Shinnok.
• Shinnok — A fallen Elder God who appears as both a playable character and the final boss of the game. Shinnok first appeared in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero as the final boss.
• Tanya — A person who betrayed Edenia.

Returning characters include:

• Goro — A Shokan warrior and former tournament champion who returns as a sub-boss in home versions, repeating his role from the first game.
• Jax — A U.S. Special Forces officer who hunts Jarek after learning he is still alive.
• Johnny Cage — A Hollywood actor who returns to make a new movie.
• Liu Kang — A Shaolin monk and Mortal Kombat Champion who fights to defeat Shinnok.
• Noob Saibot (secret character) — An undead servant of Quan Chi.
• Raiden — The thunder god who continues to guide mortals.
• Reptile — A Zaterran warrior who serves Shinnok to save his realm.
• Scorpion — An undead ninja who seeks revenge on Sub-Zero and Quan Chi for killing his clan.
• Sonya Blade — A Special Forces lieutenant who tries to arrest Jarek.
• Sub-Zero — A former Lin Kuei member who is hunted by Scorpion.

The game also includes a hidden character and skin called Meat, which changes the player’s character into a bloody, fleshy skeleton. The game introduces alternate costumes instead of the color-swapped outfits used in earlier versions. Mortal Kombat Gold adds five new characters and one additional secret character.

Development

Ed Boon, co-creator of the series, found it difficult to lead the development team for Mortal Kombat 4 because the team had grown much larger since the first Mortal Kombat game, where he was the only programmer. To help manage the team, Todd Allen and Mike Boon (Ed’s younger brother) joined as programmers. Midway staff wanted to remove the funny parts from earlier Mortal Kombat titles, so they focused on creating Fatalities. Animality finishing moves from Mortal Kombat 3 were removed because making characters turn into animals was hard to do in 3D graphics. To make Fatalities more fun, the team showed some of them from different camera angles. Since actors were no longer needed for character movements, except for some motion capture parts, the staff found it easier to create Fatalities using computer animation. Some team members had previously worked on War Gods, Midway’s first 3D fighting game. However, they stopped using the “digital skin” technique from that game because the new Zeus hardware could create characters with enough detail that digital skin would not help much; Zeus could generate up to 1.2 million polygons per second.

The gameplay was planned to be similar to earlier games, but this would be the first Mortal Kombat game made in 3D. Ed Boon was unsure about the quality, thinking the gameplay might be slower than previous titles, so he chose to hand-animate frames with timing similar to Street Fighter EX. Several people, including Boon and Richard DiVizio, performed fighting moves to serve as the basis for the animation.

To advertise the game, Midway organized a 35-stop road tour of the United States. The version shown during the tour had nine characters, including Noob Saibot, who would later become a hidden character in the console versions. Art director Tony Goskie created a 3D model used when characters got skinned, which he called “Meat.” Later, the team decided to make Meat a secret playable character. Players first learned Meat’s name when the text “Meat lives!” appeared on Ed Boon’s website promoting Mortal Kombat 4’s third arcade version. Years after the game’s release, Ed Boon commented that he and the staff should not have made Shinnok the final boss, as earlier games used very large characters for bosses. The team used an EPROM instead of a hard drive for the arcade hardware because it was cheaper and allowed faster access for features like changing backgrounds during fights.

Release

The arcade version of Mortal Kombat 4 was released in September 1997 in North America. It was later released in Europe the same year. The game was made available on the PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and Microsoft Windows. A version for the Sega Saturn was considered, but Midway believed a Sega Saturn port would not sell enough to justify the effort. An upgraded version called Mortal Kombat Gold was also released exclusively for the Dreamcast. A Game Boy Color game based on Mortal Kombat 4 was released as well.

Eurocom, which had previously developed the Sega Saturn version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was responsible for creating the console versions of Mortal Kombat 4. They spent about eight months completing the Nintendo 64 version. One of their main goals was to ensure the game ran at a consistent 60 frames per second. While all features from the arcade version were included in the home version, Eurocom had to reduce the number of polygons due to the Nintendo 64's limited resources. Eurocom was also helped by Ed Boon and the lead artist from the arcade game, Dave Michicich. The port added the Ice Pit, a snowy environment where players fight in an icy, carved-out pit. Another new feature in these versions was a second set of alternate outfits for all characters. The arcade version only provided one set of alternate outfits that players could unlock. The PC and PlayStation versions used FMV (full-motion video) for intros, bios, and endings. The Nintendo 64 version, being a cartridge game, used in-game character animations for these sequences, just like the arcade version. The platforms that included FMV endings showed a different ending for Reiko, where he enters a portal leading to Shao Kahn's throne room, sits on the throne, and has Shao Kahn's helmet placed on him. On other platforms, the ending fades to black after Reiko enters the portal.

An expanded version called Mortal Kombat Gold was developed by Eurocom and released in 1999 as a launch title for the Dreamcast in both regions. It was released on September 9 in North America and on October 14 in Europe. The game added several new characters (Baraka, Cyrax, Kitana, Mileena, Kung Lao, and hidden Sektor) and new stages. It also introduced a new weapon select mechanism.

The Game Boy Color version of Mortal Kombat 4 was developed by Digital Eclipse and released by Midway. It uses 2D graphics, unlike the other versions which use 3D. It features nine selectable characters: Raiden, Quan Chi, Fujin, Liu Kang, Sub-Zero, Reiko, Tanya, Scorpion, and the hidden character Reptile. Shinnok remains the final opponent. The game includes a few speech clips and uses short FMV clips for Fatalities instead of in-game graphics. The 2D engine reused the game engine from the Game Boy version of Mortal Kombat 3, including the same character select screen, "Choose Your Destiny" screen, and character movement and interaction. The background music was replaced with repetitive songs that matched the Game Boy's capabilities. The port does not include any blood outside of the Fatality videos. The combo system and weapons were also removed.

Reception

When the arcade tour began, news programs discussed the game's violence and worried about how it might influence players' behavior. Ed Boon responded by saying that other games were more violent than Mortal Kombat 4, which was only the most popular among violent games and thus the most well-known.

In reviews of the arcade version, Next Generation and GamePro noted that although the graphics were in 3D, the gameplay remained in the same 2D format as earlier games. Both publications praised the game's sharp visuals and the mix of returning characters with new ones. Next Generation described it as "a fast-moving, dark, and disturbing fighter that keeps many of the series' best features." However, the reviewer criticized the lack of new ideas and said, "It may not be what we hoped for, but it's much better than War Gods." GamePro pointed out that version 1.0 had several bugs, few fatalities, and less responsive controls than earlier games. They also mentioned that the weapons system, new characters, and music made the game worth playing. For version 2.0, they gave a more positive review, noting that it added true 3D movement and fixed control issues, though the camera still had occasional problems and some moves were hard to block.

GameRankings reported an average score of 76.07% for the Nintendo 64 version based on 20 reviews, 75.75% for the PlayStation version with 16 reviews, and 72.14% for the PC version with 14 reviews. While some reviewers found the game no more entertaining than earlier titles, they still praised the gameplay, which was very similar to previous Mortal Kombat games. The PlayStation and PC versions were said to have improvements, such as more responsive controls and exclusive FMV scenes. However, IGN said playing the PC version could become "stale" unless the player had an extra controller and a friend. The Official UK PlayStation Magazine called the game "the same old stuff with a fresh coat of pixels. Tedious."

The Nintendo 64 version received positive feedback for being faithful to the arcade version. GameSpot gave it an 8.9 out of 10, calling it "Great," and IGN gave it an 8.8 out of 10, also calling it "Great," though they noted the graphics were not as good as the arcade version. The game was praised for new 3D graphics, improved combos, and the fact that characters "are still as cheesy as ever" with their original movements slightly updated.

Next Generation reviewed the Nintendo 64 version, giving it three stars out of five, and said, "Mortal Kombat 4 is a guilty pleasure; although it's unoriginal, the game is fast and rewarding. MK4 is an excellent port and, though it's average in general, it is still one of the best fighters for the console."

Next Generation reviewed the PlayStation version, giving it two stars out of five, and said, "Overall, MK4 is by no means incompetent, and it's a fine port of the arcade game. Had it not been released on a system with many great fighting games, it might stand a chance, but on PlayStation, there's little to distinguish it."

The Game Boy Color version received poor reviews. GameSpot's editor, Jeff Gerstmann, gave it a 3.5 out of 10, criticizing how different it was from other versions and its unresponsive controls. IGN's Peer Schneider also criticized the limited gameplay and how easy it was to defeat opponents, giving it a "Poor" 4.0 out of 10.

In a later review, GamesRadar mocked the Nintendo 64 version's endings by using them in an April Fools joke, calling them hilarious due to their poor quality. Mortal Kombat 4 was ranked as having the third best Game Over screen of all time by GamePro in 2009. According to a summary by IGN about the series' history, "With interest in ultraviolence waning, 3D becoming commonplace, and the photorealism now gone, Mortal Kombat 4 was unable to replicate the success of its predecessors." In 2020, CBR positively reviewed the game, praising it for introducing "weapon styles" that would appear in future games and stating that the game is "still an integral part of the franchise's history."