Sonya Blade

If you’re going to have a Mortal Kombat title with Liu Kang, Sub-Zero, Scorpion and Johnny Cage – the classics that defined an entire era of fighting games – then Sonya Blade has to be there. It would also make sense from a narrative perspective: Sonya sacrificed herself heroically in Mortal Kombat 11 and was absent for most of the story (not counting her younger, past self). Bringing her back, especially in an era of peace when she’s fought for so long, feels poetic.

Kano

Of course, if you’re going to have Sonya, then there’s no way Kano can’t be present. Aside from his fun fighting style, which incorporates knives, lasers and grappling, his personality has always provided some much-needed humor. The question, now, is how his story intertwines with Sonya’s, if at all, and whether he’s on the straight and narrow or up to no good in the New Era.

Reptile

It feels less like we should ask if Reptile will be in Mortal Kombat 1 and more like we should ask, “Which version?” The Saurian has adapted both human and reptilian appearances throughout the years, though he’s always worked at the behest of Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn. Still, his invisibility and acid spit helped him stand out amid the other ninjas and could make an excellent addition to the reboot’s roster.

Ermac

Ermac has had a long and storied history with the franchise, whether it’s being controlled by Shao Kahn or working with Kotal Kahn for the betterment of Outworld. His sheer range of abilities has always been great, using teleportation and telekinesis to overwhelm opponents. Again, how his fate will play out in the reboot remains to be seen, but if Outworld does become involved, it wouldn’t be odd to see him step up to the plate.

Shao Kahn

It’s unknown if Shao Kahn would come back – we could maybe see Liu Kang reviving Shang Tsung for laughs, but Shao Kahn? The all-conquering and cruel ruler of Outworld? Given the state of Edenia and its relative peace, he either doesn’t exist in Mortal Kombat 1 or hasn’t invaded it yet. Nevertheless, his status is iconic, and even if his entire history is different, it wouldn’t be a Mortal Kombat title without him.

Goro

Goro was last seen in Mortal Kombat 11 on his throne in the Krypt. The last time we saw him alive was in Mortal Kombat X, where he served as a DLC character who wasn’t involved in the main story. Given all the time resetting shenanigans, surely he would appear in some capacity, right? He’s about as iconic as Shang Tsung or Shao Kahn when it comes to villains, after all.

Kenshi

Debuting in Deadly Alliance, Kenshi has always been a cool character. A blindfold-wearing fighter with heightened senses who fights on the side of good and has a sword? Who could resist? His role in the Shirai Ryu, with his son being trained by Hanzo Hasashi, and freeing Ermac from Shao Kahn, may be completely different if he ever returned in the reboot. Heck, he may not even be blind anymore. Regardless, we’d like to see him return.

Kintaro

If Goro felt shafted post-Mortal Kombat 9, spare a thought for poor Kintaro. He debuted in Mortal Kombat 2 and returned in Deception and Armageddon. While he had a decent role in Mortal Kombat 9, he was defeated by Stryker, of all people. Even if he didn’t figure in Mortal Kombat X, his heroic death in the comic series warrants some resurrection – and reparation – in the reboot.

Kollector

The Kollector was always a curious character, using a variety of weapons and tools to dismantle fighters. Still, despite his obsession with, well, collecting, he has a creepy vibe that’s almost somewhat endearing. If the major villains in Mortal Kombat 1 need a henchman just running around, collecting body parts, Kollector could be an option, especially since he only really appeared in MK11.

Jax Briggs

Even if he didn’t debut in the first game with Sonya and Kano, Jax’s fate feels intertwined with the two. Regardless, given the horrors he went through in Mortal Kombat X, and his alliance with Kronika in MK11 before returning to the side of good, it feels like Jax is ready for a new story. Besides, his style of punching things with metal arms is still appealing.

Jade

While the relationship between Mileena and Kitana as sisters has always been complicated, Jade’s motives have usually been clearer. She may have been loyal to Shao Kahn in Mortal Kombat 9 but always cared for Kitana and tried to protect her. On seeing the latter suffer from her actions, Jade sought to make amends, even remarking to Mileena how she was more of a sister to Kitana. So it’s more than a little odd to see Mileena and not Jade opposite Kitana in the reboot. It doesn’t mean she’s completely absent, but her inclusion seems a given.

Motaro

Despite being somewhat of a boss (albeit not the final boss) in Mortal Kombat 3, Motaro has always felt even less appreciated throughout the franchise than Kintaro. He was summarily disposed of by Raiden in Mortal Kombat 9 and hasn’t been seen since. If ever there was a time to bring the Centaurian back and start with a clean slate, the New Era would be it.

Nightwolf

Even if his character design has had mixed opinions throughout the franchise’s history, Nightwolf did play a central role in Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath. Not only did he reject Kronika, but tried to stop Shang Tsung when his deception became clear. To that end, it feels like he has unfinished business with the sorcerer. The question now is whether he’s popular enough to get in over everyone else.

Havik

Of the many characters who never really made the jump to the previous timeline’s video games (not including the MKX comics), Havik has always felt underappreciated. Hailing from Chaosrealm, he’s an agent of chaos above all else, which plays into his erratic fighting style. Who else in the reboot could claim to snap their neck and then back to restore health? He could be an unexpected wild card in the new story.

Kabal

Besides looking cool, there are plenty of reasons to bring back Kabal. He’s always had a fun fighting style which mixes speedy attacks and grapples with his hook swords in awesome ways. Even if he was on Kronika’s side throughout Mortal Kombat 11, his connection to Kano could see him return in the reboot, one way or another. Whether that’s part of the Black Dragon or with Earthrealm and the side of good remains to be seen.

Ferra and Torr

One, or rather two, of the most bizarre fighters in the franchise, Ferra and Torr were bodyguards for Kotal Kahn in Mortal Kombat X. While Torr is the muscle, possessing exceptional power, Ferra is a quick and agile warrior. They’re essentially a symbiotic duo and serve as an incredibly interesting combat option but ultimately, they would be set aside after being defeated by Sub-Zero.

Leatherface

Other fighters in Mortal Kombat X are undoubtedly more effective but the look and feel of Leatherface is well done. Whether you’re driving a chainsaw into an opponent’s shoulder, stunning opponents with Chain Sparks or going into Berserker Stance, there are some decent to good ideas here. It’s almost enough to make you forget about literally everything that’s gone wrong with the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise. Unfortunately, it’s not enough to help the mass murderer rise from the bottom of the rankings.

MIKE TYSON (PUNCH-OUT!!)

One of the greatest athletes of all time is just as formidable in 8-bit form as he used to be in real life at his prime. Starring as the final hurdle in Punch-Out!!, Mike “Iron Mike” Tyson pulled no punches. Right off the bat, he hurled a barrage of attacks at the player that required a series of precise dodges, while what followed was a series of fast, hard-hitting attacks that could make even the most season players sweat.

Sindel

Everybody screams in Mortal Kombat but there’s only one screamer who revels in it – Sindel, the Queen of Edenia. Sindel’s powers are actually derived from air magic – she can hover in mid-air, channel magic to shoot fireballs and of course, screams at enemies to stun them. Not content slaying with her voice, she also uses her hair to grab opponents and toss them around (or slam them multiple times into the ground like in Mortal Kombat 9).

Systemic issues with AAA development in the video games industry have come to the surface with greater force than ever before in recent times. From the likes or Riot Games and BioWare to others like Rockstar and Epic Games, issues with the internal workings of several studios have come to light, and said surfacing of issues has blessedly empowered other members of the industry to speak out about their own experiences.

Recently, several former employees and contractors who worked with NetherRealm Studios on several projects, including Mortal Kombat and Injustice, have taken to Twitter to speak about the issues at the studio, and their accounts paint a bleak picture, from crunch to harassment to poor working conditions.

James Longstreet, former programmer at NetherRealm Studios, spoke about his work on Mortal Kombat 9, where he described overbearing crunch conditions, which saw crunch not as something voluntary that employees would volunteer for, but something that was mandatory. “This was not a wink-wink-nudge-nudge ‘passionate hardworking’ thing,” he wrote. “This was a mandate.”

Longstreet says that the Mortal Kombat team sees crunch as necessary, and as something that has always worked for them in the past, in light of which they see it as “clearly the right thing to do”. He also describes poor working conditions for contractors, saying the studio hires “as many contractors and interns as they can, pay them s**t (much less than I started at 12 years ago), and work them to death”.

Beck Hallstedt, a contractor concept artist who worked on Injustice 2, also recounts her own experiences during the five months she spent working at the studio, calling their practices “predatory and abusive”. She describes poor infrastructural issues and a culture of harassment, such as contractors being stuffed into small workspaces with not enough room to work, female contractors being paid less than the usual rates, female employees not being allowed into certain meetings, contractors getting treated poorly and blamed for several issues by the higher-up employees, and them not getting credited with the nature of the work they are doing.

Her accounts are backed up by former QA analyst Rebecca Rothschild, who says she can “confirm everything” described by Hallstedt, before saying there are “lots of amazing people work at NRS [NetherRealm Studios], but there are serious, systemic issues that need to be addressed.”

You can read the aforementioned accounts in the tweets below. One can only hope that with such issues having come to light, NetherRealm Studios will be forced to take action and get to work on fixing these internal issues, which are clearly not sustainable or healthy in any way. Accounts don’t mention whether similar issues have persisted with the development of their most recent project, Mortal Kombat 11, but in the absence of evidence to the contrary, in light of what’s surfaced, it would be hard to assume that anything has changed- not until change is forced, at the very least.

on MK9 crunch officially began after new years day 2011. of course, we did a bit of pre-crunch before that, just to make sure we were in a good spot for crunch. this was on schedule documents. this was not a wink-wink-nudge-nudge "passionate hardworking" thing, this was mandate.

— Jiminy Snackmouth 1 (312) (@jlongstreet) April 23, 2019

i took one day off between jan 1 and the day the day1 patch was approved. it was my birthday, and it was on a sunday, so it was ok if i was just on call. i was allowed to go to a friends' wedding (on call of course) on a saturday night, after working an 8 hour shift first

— Jiminy Snackmouth 1 (312) (@jlongstreet) April 23, 2019

those were the only two days i didn't work from at least 10 am to at least midnight. we were all doing this. i mean, except the bosses, of course, who would leave after dinner

— Jiminy Snackmouth 1 (312) (@jlongstreet) April 23, 2019

from what i've heard the crunch cycle has gotten worse since i've left. a friend i talked to in september said they were crunching already. they hire as many contractors and interns as they can, pay them shit (much less than I started at 12 years ago) and work them to death

— Jiminy Snackmouth 1 (312) (@jlongstreet) April 23, 2019

the MK team's stance is that crunch works, and MK games are always profitable, so it's clearly the right thing to do. it's wrong — crunch doesn't work, the workers don't see the profit (bonuses at WB games are capped to a small percentage of salary), and it ruins lives

— Jiminy Snackmouth 1 (312) (@jlongstreet) April 23, 2019

https://twitter.com/beckhallstedt/status/1121119595279077376

https://twitter.com/beckhallstedt/status/1121120822956105730

https://twitter.com/beckhallstedt/status/1121121981129199616

https://twitter.com/beckhallstedt/status/1121122835005628422

https://twitter.com/beckhallstedt/status/1121125042719547393

https://twitter.com/beckhallstedt/status/1121126497190805504

https://twitter.com/beckhallstedt/status/1121129316711063552

https://twitter.com/RBonksR/status/1121253077716275206

Head Inflate (Kabal) – Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3

In a way, this movie is kind of embarrassing for the opponent. Who likes to be filled with air until their head balloons up and they float away, only to explode in the sky? However, when you think about it, the Fatality itself is absurd. It’s almost too over-the-top and comedic, from the set-up to the underwhelming pay-off.

Mortal Kombat Special Forces

Mortal Kombat Special Forces released after Mythologies and some how turned out worse. The “story” saw Jax trying to stop Kano and his gang from obtaining an artifact. Yes, that’s really it. Combined with awful action, no real gore and pathetic design, Mortal Kombat Special Forces could only be possible if many members of the development team, including co-creator John Tobias, just up and left. Which is exactly what happened. Co-creator Ed Boon would further confirm the various problems plaguing development, even though he didn’t work on it either.

Reptile, the Secret Boss – Mortal Kombat

Back in the boom period of arcade fighting games, Reptile was a super secret fighter in Mortal Kombat that couldn’t be fought unless certain conditions were met. In fact, Reptile himself would provide clues on reaching him, which meant obtaining a Double Flawless victory in the Pit in single-player mode and finishing the match with a Fatality. Once fans actually fought Reptile, he revealed just how cold-blooded and brutal he could really be. Such was the positive response to Reptile’s inclusion that he became a series regular from the second game onwards.

Death Egg Robot – Sonic 4 Episode 1

While we’d all like to forget this game and pretend that Sonic Mania is the real Sonic 4, Sega did play around with the idea of episodic titles using that loaded name. The final boss lifts the iconic Death Egg Robot nearly wholesale from Sonic 2. Nearly. When on the final hit, the mad doctor will stomp one more time, and crumble the entire floor beneath the player with no warning, unless they somehow know when and how to intercept that attack, they’re back to the start of the boss rush.