Mortal Kombat 30th anniversary: The Ed Boon interview

This week marks thirty years since the birth of the first Mortal Kombat hit arcades. The arcade-fighting game boom was capitalized by this game. Street Fighter 2 — it spawned a franchise that has endured over dozens of sequels, spinoffs, movies, and animated series.

The now defunct Midway Games Mortal KombatIt was created by an unlikely team of programmers Ed Boon, John Tobias (artist), sound programmer Dan Forden and John Vogel. The group was joined by Chicago actors and martial arts artists Daniel Pesina and Carlos Pesina as well as Richard Divizio (Ho Sung Pak), Elizabeth Malecki and Richard Divizio (Rich Divizio), and created an instant classic that features enduring characters such Scorpion and Sonya Blade. Mortal KombatThe revolution in fighting games was made possible by this multi-billion dollar multimedia franchise.

Creation of Mortal KombatAlso, video games have changed how we talk about violence. Aside from 16-bit shlock, Night TrapThe spotlight shines on Mortal Kombat — especially its wildly successful home console versions — was largely responsible for the implementation of a video game ratings system. You will be familiar with its signature bloodsprays, decapitations and other gruesome deaths. Mortal KombatIts graphic violence was more popular than the actual game’s gameplay. However, Mortal Kombat, thirty-years later, is still beloved for its outrageous presentation. Its AAA-quality.

Ed Boon, Mortal Kombat’s co-creator, has spent the last year looking back on the game’s creation and sharing footage from its development via Twitter. Those videos show the challenges of working with relatively young technology — digitized graphics of real-life actors — and designing a video game on the fly. Mortal Kombat lovers can see Tobias (Boon) riffing live about their game. There’s a DIY charm to these videos, which show martial artists and inexperienced game designers clearly unaware of the cultural phenomenon they’re about to unleash.

Earlier this week, I had a chance to speak with Boon, now chief creative officer at NetherRealm Studios, about his memories working on Mortal Kombat — and where the franchise is headed after the most recent entry in the series, 2019’s Mortal Kombat 11.

[Ed. note: The following interview has been edited and condensed.]

Polygon: I follow you on Twitter, and I’ve seen that you’ve been posting a lot of great making-of videosOriginal Mortal Kombat. What do you see when you think back?

Ed Boon I have to keep reminding myself that none of the 30 years of experience that we’ve learned is being applied there [laughs]. Everything was fresh and new — first fighting game, first everything. We were just making guesses. This should be possible.Please see the following: That should work.. There was also a lot more innocence. In our 20s, we were still young. [during the development of Mortal Kombat]It was, however, a very different time. However, I see it all very positive. It was very enjoyable. There was a lot of excitement — we had a lot of ideas that we wanted to try that we thought were going to end up being very cool. They did.

I’ve read interviews with you and watched interviews with you where you talked about how Street Fighter 2Was it big in those days? Did it only Street Fighter is popular and we would like to help.? Did Midway give a clearer directive to create a fighting-game? Mortal Kombat?

No directive was given. This is the insane thing about Mortal KombatIt was four men in their 20s that grew up with the idea RoboCop, The TerminatorPlease see the following: Get ready to be a Dragon — ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s movies — cut loose with pretty cutting-edge technology for the time — digitized graphics — and just hitting the sweet spot of our ideas, the acceptance of those ideas, [and]The technology. So I think it was the combination of these young guys with ideas, with state-of-the-art technology in their hands, nobody telling them what they can’t do, asking themselves, Cool!? Then we executed it. The ideas were able to be implemented. It was free from any limitations, which led to the success. Plus, there was a lot of luck and timing — and the attention we got from [U.S.]Senators and other political figures added to the flames. All of it was just a layer on top. It was released. The movie was simply unstoppable. We didn’t even know it.

How did Midway’s management react? What was their reaction to the Midway management’s concerns? They could have looked at it, and thought, Wow! We are on the verge of a big hit.

If anything, it’s probably the second. If there was something that we would even say, ‘Is this going too far?’ our CEO was like, You can go further!. Additionally, we also had [Midway game designer]Eugene Jarvis, our mentor. NarcIt was quite violent in itself. We were actually encouraged to push the limits. But I do remember a few times, like the Sub-Zero spine-rip fatality, I remember saying out loud, ‘I don’t think we can get away with that.’ But everybody was so excited about it. It was, in fact. You can’t take that out. They were correct, and I believe they are right at the end.

You couldn’t walk away from that game when you saw it. You could just feel it. Wow, real people fighting. Layered on top, He just tore his head off… and there’s his spine! You could do so many things to make that game great. You couldn’t ignore it.

Original pitch Mortal KombatJean-Claude Van Damme was to be involved in some manner. He had a deal with another party which nullified Van Damme games at Midway. Do you remember speaking with him? Does he know about the franchise’s ties to him?

It’s a question I am asking myself. We’ve been pretty vocal with our story of wanting it to be a Van Damme game, and we actually made a presentation — like, a video [to show Van Damme]. It was found in my basement several months back. It’s an actual tape — I’m gonna probably release it online somewhere — but it’s our pitch to Van Damme. Images were taken Bloodsport and talked about digitized graphics and how it’s going to be [Van Damme]He was in the game. He eventually passed. However, we inquired again, possibly a few more times. [Mortal Kombat 9]He could, but he didn’t want to wear a skin. But it never materialized. It’s a shame, though. Johnny Cage was his supposed identity.

Do you have concerns regarding children at the arcades using this game? Are you a victim to violence or graphic images? Did you feel just the same? These are arcades., like, People come to this site for the best stuff.?

I don’t remember stopping anybody from playing the game, no.

But I do remember that when it started getting attention, and people were saying that there should be a ratings system, like music and movies have — I remember thinking, Yes, that makes sense.. It was amazing how technology evolved. There was no limit to the amount of things you could do in a videogame. All of a sudden you can see actual people being violently attacked on the screen. And then it’s natural to go, There should definitely be a gate. Everybody shouldn’t see this.

The Senate Hearings on Video Games, as it relates to violence and Mortal Kombat’s role in it, did that cause you any stress at the time?

It probably did, but I don’t remember a lot of it. Like I stated, I did remember agreeing with that argument. I don’t remember thinking, There shouldn’t be any rating.It was something I had not considered. It was something I thought about. Mortal Kombat didn’t come along, another game would have come along, and the ratings system was inevitable. Another game could have crossed this line at some point and gained similar attention.

We saw [the hearings] on the news and that was part of lightning striking — the news bringing it to more people’s attention. Everyone was there. I’ve gotta see this game everybody’s talking about. Then TheyI was hooked and the game just kept on going.

The first game involved just you four, spitballing each other and creating whatever idea you thought was interesting. What was it like to make the move? Mortal Kombat 2,? Because there’s got to be some amount of pressure there, right?

The one thing I remember most was the time we went. MK2Kano and Sonya were not included. And I think that gave us the impression that the characters weren’t sacred. This is it. Mortal Kombat III, we didn’t have Scorpion, and we didn’t have Raiden in the game. It was true, we were told. [from fans]. The blowback was heard. We did the first thing with Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3Scorpion and Sub-Zero were included in the game. We really learned our lesson that there are things you just don’t touch: Don’t you dare do a Mortal Kombat game without Scorpion in it!But MK2It was bigger than we imagined. Everyone wants to be a new character. Let’s do that. It turns out that they are just looking for more characters in addition to their favourites.

There are two MK1 MK2The results of the image captures were significantly improved by the new software and hardware that we purchased. We knew that we were going to see a significant improvement in presentation and graphics in our graphics department. We also knew we were going to have more memory, so we knew we’re going to have more characters there. The first game taught us so many things that it’s something I regret. It’s almost impossible to play. Mortal Kombat 1. This gave rise to a certain level of. We are confident that we can achieve more. There was an assumption that of course it’s going to be better. So I don’t remember being nervous. It was just that I remember thinking. Yeah, we’re going to overdeliver on what people are expectingIt just worked out beautifully.

What makes you say that you can’t play the original Mortal Kombat?

Oh god. It doesn’t have cross-ups. It doesn’t have as nearly as good of a combo system. It doesn’t have as many elaborate combos. Some are just too difficult. I mean, the amount of special moves is so limited — I think, god, Sub-Zero has two moves? The slide and the ice, and that’s it! This is where a lot more confidence comes in. [in making MK 2 was]We must give them two more fatalities and show our support by giving them special moves. Then, they will be back for a slam-dunk.

We didn’t know what juggling was [when we were making Mortal Kombat]It was not until then that we discovered it. After seeing someone doing it, I thought: He can be hit before he even lands.We were, therefore: OK, let’s play up on that.

Image by NetherRealm Studios/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

It was mentioned that you can learn from the mistakes of others. MK2 MK 3 with these sacred cows that you can’t really sacrifice for games, but the series has also always tried to do something new with each iteration. You’re in a successful period right now with Mortal Kombat, but do you ever feel like there was a time when you didn’t really know where it was going? Perhaps you felt that the series was in a lower place or had diverged from your goals.

Sure. Yes, there was. MK4. You know, there were two adventure games — I actually didn’t work on them — but it was the Sub-Zero game [Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero] Special Forces: Mortal Kombat.

There was more! Mortal Kombat against DC [Universe]. Although it sold well, there was much compromise. If you were a Mortal Kombat fan, you didn’t get to see the gore and the fatalities and stuff like that. The cinematic format that allows you to fight and play the movie was a great way to tell our story. This was, in a way, the birth of our classic story-mode format. So there were things that hit, but you’d be surprised by the [compromises we faced] — not just from the ESRB of being a Teen-rated game, but the owners of the IP. This was an entirely different group of people and much stricter.

It was tough for me, because some of those games that didn’t do well, I wasn’t involved with them. It was hard to watch something come out that wasn’t up to standard, and for it to be out of my control. This was for me the most difficult part. That was a difficult time for us to overcome. Some people found the Mortal Kombat action game idea to be too much, but it was thankfully not so. Mortal Kombat: Shaolin MonksThis argument was countered, but it did come out. But it was an extremely difficult time. [has] passed.

You’re chief creative officer on Mortal Kombat now. Is Mortal Kombat under your control? What percentage of this control is in your job or your contract?

Warner Bros. is the owner of the IP. But I’m actually more involved now. I’m involved with the animated series, and the next movie that’s coming out, so it’s very exciting, because there’s some really cool stuff that’s being worked on. Just being involved in the scripts and which characters we’re going to include [in projects]It is exciting to me that I am involved with all of this stuff. Before I wasn’t in an official capacity, however, I was involved. Now, it’s a little bit more official. And it’s an exciting time — I can’t wait to see people’s reaction to some of the crazy stuff that’s coming out.

You’re in a great place right now with this series, where people love the cinematic storytelling and the fighting mechanics are in a really tight place right now. But I’m also wondering what lessons you think you and the team have learned from Mortal Kombat 11. What were your top takeaways from the trip?

There’s a whole bunch of micro decisions, like little moments that happen [in a fight]What should happen if you break a combination, or how to wake up. Every game is different. As for MK 11, we didn’t have a run like Mortal Kombat X had. Every game ends with a postmortem. [where we look at]The best part? Is there something better? We shouldn’t bring it back. Sometimes we don’t bring something back for the big picture of being different. MKXhad characters variations and then 11 had create-your-own-character variations. But when we do another game, we probably won’t have character variations. Even though it did well, it’s time to move on to the next thing. So there’s a bunch of little micro decisions that we make.

Image by NetherRealm Studios/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

There are also the macro-level things. These were the things I felt worked well. MK 11It was discovered that super moves are not tied to meters. You can use the meter as your currency. Are you able to improve this move? Are you looking to end this combination? Are you ready to break this combo? [a super move]? So you’re always using that currency, and for the moment-to-moment fighting, good players constantly use it. They rarely use it, and they seldom find the right situation to make the super-move. So we moved it out of that meter, and I think that was a good move, because now it’s more of a big comeback kind of thing. We then divided the currency from your meter to defense and offense.

We’re always doing things, [altering] the mechanics and how they’re implemented, just to try to hit the sweet spot of competition [and] showmanship. Special moves are what we need, and we also want to see X-rays, super moves, and all the rest. That’s fun to look at; it’s fun in a tournament. That’s part of the experience. It’s not just [about]The mechanics.

I know you’re probably thinking game to game at this point, but do you ever think about what the future of Mortal Kombat is going to look like in 30 years, what it’s going to become, and who’s going to take over for you?

One thing that’s cool about our team is we have team members who weren’t born when the first Mortal KombatIt was published. You can be sure that many of the new ideas and innovations come from them. That keeps everything fresh. It’s not just the same people trying to come up with yet something new. One of these team members could easily take over while I’m at the beach.

Und 30 Jahre [from now], I’m trying to think of where technology would even be… But if you had asked me, ‘Where’s Mortal Kombat going to be in 30 years?’ in 1992? I don’t think I would have been saying polygons, X-ray moves, friendship moves, and all these kinds of crazy things [we’ve done]. So it’s hard to predict. I think at its core, it’ll still be a fighting game. It’s likely to embrace new technology.