Last year was the tenth anniversary of Mortal Kombat's grand reboot. I wonder why Netherrelam Studios didn't decide to release the game on 2012 instead of 2011? It would've been a worthy competition to Tekken Tag Tournament 2. I decided to take a look at some villains in Mortal Kombat which I feel have bene underappreciated. One of them is how I'm a fan of Kintaro even if more people preferred Goro as that legendary sub-boss. Now, I'd like to talk about how Rain is a cool but underappreciated villain.
Rain started out as a joke character for Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for the arcades. The home consoles brought him in as a playable character. I never had UMK3 but I had Mortal Kombat Trilogy where it's one incredibly broken game better off forgotten IMHO. I did think about MK9 and how it's probably the best game ever. Sure, the next two games had some cool mechanics. However, I'm afraid that the next two reboot entries of MK have been more focused on getting more violent than writing the engaging story. Rain himself ends up as a victim of the bad writing.
Okay, in the original timeline, I remembered his MK Trilogy biography. Rain practically betrayed his own homeland rather than suffer under Shao Kahn's rule. Shao Kahn loves defectors, right? Well, Shang Tsung was a defector from Earthrealm. Rain is a defector from Edenia. Palette swaps were used to save space. However, there were deep stories behind every color swap ninja. Rain was no different. Yet, I feel Rain himself doesn't get enough respect even by the developers.
I remembered how broken Rain was in MKT. Back then, I used him to irritate human players. The CPU could also be outsmarted by Rain's water ball - a move that got depowered in MK9. If MKT had online then expect too many broken controllers. I remembered how it was to use the water ball, roundhouse, lightning, and some auto combos. Rain was just as broken as Noob Saibot. Heck, I felt like Rain was almost having SNK stats in that game.
After MKT, I could say Rain made a PROLONGED absence. Rain had a cameo in Mortal Kombat Deception - a game I regret owning because of how cool MK9 is. Rain entered Mortal Kombat Armageddon after a LONG absence. It's in MKA where it's revealed that he's actually the demigod son of Argus, protector god of Edenia, from an adulterous affair. Yeah, we know the gods can be lusty and he cheated on his wife Delia. I guess that's why Rain is screwed up after knowing his heritage. Still, that doesn't excuse his actions.
MK9 came and he was made DLC. What? DLC? I felt it's really as shocking knowing an actor you admire had died a few years back and you never knew it. It was as shocking as knowing Kevin Smith (who played as what I call the best Ares interpretation ever) already died last 2002 and I only knew it a few years later. Rain wasn't even integrated into MK9's story mode. As great as the game is - I think the Nostalgia Critic will probably point out some WTF moments in the story mode. Rain could've been made integral because of how interesting his story is. Instead, he was just DLC maybe due to fan request. Sadly, Rain NEVER contributed to ANYTHING in the story mode. It was also my beef in Mortal Kombat X with Goro as nothing more than a fanservice throwback to Mortal Kombat 4.
Well, Rain DID get into MKX but as what? He was practically a NON-PLAYABLE CHARACTER. Why in the world were Rain, Baraka, and Sindel made into NPCs while Tanya was later made into paid DLC? I find most of the DLC characters to be rather weird. Why have Alien, Predator, Jason Vorhees, and Leatherface? Sure, I can take Bo Rai Cho but we're having a Hollywood fest instead. Triborg seems to be nothing more than a fanservice. I could also point out that wouldn't it be cool if we had Rain, Baraka, and Sindel as DLC characters? Instead, it was quite disappointing as to how MKX (as cool as it is) really mock Rain yet again. Rain becomes a gag that's already too hard to bear.
Right now, I even wonder if I made the right choice getting into Mortal Kombat 11? I'm still aghast at the explansion and ultimate pack. Sure, I can afford them but just because I can doesn't mean I should. Rain becomes part of the second pack expansion for the Ultimate package. Yet, Rain is yet left out. I always felt Rain couldl've been cool if he was really part of the story. Instead, Rain gets EXCLUDED again after he had some depth in the MKX comic book series.
Sigh, I really feel Rain deserves more love to hate as a villain. I guess it's very easy to think about those vilains we love to hate like Shao Kahn, Shang Tsung, Kano, and Goro. Heck, I guess Kano was probably the reason why Jarek and the Red Dragon characters got hated so much. Kano was even used to rub salt on Hsu Hao's wounds. Goro is also the reason why Kintaro sadly gets overshadowed when the two are a force to reckon with. Shao Kahn still takes the top place as the best MK villain ever that Shinnok falls further as a fallen Elder God. Rain sadly gets hit and the guy has potential. So really, what happened?
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