Mortal Kombat was a game was nearly crushed because of a lack of evolution. I looked into the history and pointed out the problems of the 3D games. One of them was the overly repetitive use of high and low attacks (and that's why I prefer the use of one button per limb like Tekken), and the DAMN ANNOYING palette swap. Ed Boon gives this explanation himself:
Boon continued to detail the history behind the so-called "palette swap ninjas" in a Twitter thread. Boon said, "As the most recognizable Mortal Kombat characters, the origin of "palette swap ninjas" came from both a fantastic story rivalry and a technical solution we needed to fit the game in the limited amount of space (memory) we had. One reason we made them ninjas was to get two fighters out of the same motion shoot & memory footprint. But we did have some unique frames made exclusively for one ninja. For example, we felt giving them different stances was worth the 7 extra frames of animation it cost us."
Boon continued, "Since we thought of the idea during the shoot, the next step was to come up with a unique fighting stance for each ninja. They had to be different (to stand apart) but still work with all the attacks (punches and kicks) the two ninjas shared", before jokingly commenting on calling Sub-Zero the "cold guy", as it was so early in the project.
It was the 1990s after all. The fourth generation systems (ex. the Super NES) and the fifth generation systems (ex. PSX, Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64) had limited hardware. Who can remember how the arcade version of Killer Instinct had a downgraded version for the SNES? Who can remember the slow loading times of CD-based fifth-generation systems? Fifth-generation systems had a limit. The idea was nothing new as Ken and Ryu started out as clones until they became more unique to each other. Mario and Luigi in the Super Mario Bros. series were often palette swaps in the NES days.
The use of digitized graphics was probably to make itself "stand out". Of course, the game was meant for an OLDER AUDIENCE. The first game caused the creation of the ESRB rating board. It gets more interesting when Mortal Kombat started to lose its popularity. The Tekken franchise came in (and Mortal Kombat would keep getting inspired by it) and became a big competitor. Street Fighter introduced more stuff even in the prequel Street Fighter Alpha series. Clearly, Mortal Kombat needed to evolve. Hence, why I don't bother replaying the first eight games either!
The possible hurdles of Mortal Kombat's use of digitized actors
Fortunately, Mortal Kombat dropped palette swapping. Mortal Kombat 4/Gold might not be good games IMHO BUT they started to explore 3D models. Sure, I don't like the 3D era either but it was good to see NO PALETTE SWAPS for default costumes. I wish the Klassic Skins just stop getting released too. It was nice to see Hanzo Scorpion and Kuai Liang Sub-Zero WEAR more unique-looking costumes. It hit my head what if Mortal Kombat tried to use the different costumes while using digitized sprites back then. It would be cumbersome and may not even fit. I believe digitized sprites that resmeble real people consumed MORE SPACE than standard 2D sprites. That may mean the feat would be 100% impossible to do. Think of how Mortal Kombat Trilogy has HORRENDOUS loading times on CD-based systems!
Here are some animated GIFs I created to test my hypothesis. I remember the criticism I made that Midway was just "too lazy" to edit the sprites for the Pit II fatality. However, even if they would try to edit the GIFs -- there was LIMITED MEMORY. It's all thanks to the use of digitized sprites -- something they were probably not ready to give up on. Mortal Kombat 4 went 3D and we lost all the other -alities and only had fatalities. Mortal Kombat 4 in the PSX didn't even allow two Goros to face off against each other. I blame the lack of memory. Maybe, that's why Goro and Noob never had character endings either. The game probably has more memory used than Tekken 3 ever did! Tekken 3 was a fun game but I'd still pick up Tekken 5 over it from the older games!
The stage finishers back then were all UPPERCUTTING opponents. The GIFs I created (sprites come from Mortal Kombat Warehouse) are remakes of fatalities from the fan-favorite Mortal Kombat (2011). That game was for the seventh-generation consoles. Mortal Kombat (2011) was basically the big correction that Mortal Kombat Trilogy NEEDED. The uppercut motion was presumably to save space. Creative ways that were done in the seventh-generation consoles were just plain hard to do. Instead, Motion Capture was already used in Mortal Kombat before the reboot. The motions put in the GIFs I created (and I'm NO professional either) would've eaten too much space. Some people managed to edit several GIFs to show what could've been done back then -- if it wasn't for the lack of space! Most stage fatalities back then ended up pretty quick!
Here's my recreation of the Mortal Kombat (2011) Dead Pool fatality. The quick death introduced in Mortal Kombat II (and carried over in Mortal Kombat Trilogy) was probably done to conserve space. Probably, the Pit II's rather lengthy death sequence (a bird's eye view fall of the opponent) consumed much space. The Kombat Tomb and the Dead Pool had quick and easy deaths for the defeated opponent. Adding more stage fatalities into Mortal Kombat Trilogy would eat up that much space!
Fun theory: NetherRealm Studios may still be playing around with 3D sprites during planning
Here's an animated GIF I created of Ermac's "Pest Control" fatality. I believe NetherRealm Studios may have been playing around with sprites. I could imagine that they probably still refer to older games before DUNDUNDUN started making the 3D models. It's possible that they would play around with the sprites and say, "We weren't able to do this before!" A lot of fatality sequences ended rather quickly due to memory constraints. The planning department probably plays around with sprites before the 3D models and motion capture is done.
I imagine Liu Kang's Dragon Fatality underwent several test sprites during Mortal Kombat 4. It probably underwent that treatment before it got revamped for Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks and Mortal Kombat (2011). The classic dragon may have underwent some crazy sprite editing BTS before the 3D dragon came to the picture. One may have thought of testing Liu Kang's fatality sequences and say, "Well, what if we add the dragon into it." That's probably how "The Beast Within" was created in Mortal Kombat (2011).
Taking advantage of modern technology
The 3D era started to do 3D graphics. Who could remember the limits of 2D sprites? Stuff like Sagat's eyepatch or Kano's bionic eye changing direction happens. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was infamous for Cable's swapping bionic parts. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 brought every character from X-Men: Children of the Atom and that may have challenged even the sixth-generation console's space. That would explain why Capcom never bothered to create Marvel vs. Capcom 2 EX for the fifth-generation consoles. It would be plain D*MN impossible.
The use of 3D models fixed the problem of ambidexterous sprites. Mortal Kombat was already moving into 3D graphics to fit with the times. Having full 3D graphics was better and avoided ambidexterous sprites. Early on, who can remember Kano's laser eye switching sides depending on which side he was on? The gameplay didn't do much during the 3D era. However, it certainly provided NetherRealm Studios the knowledge they needed for designs. Mortal Kombat returned to 2D gaming and became 2.5D instead. Projectile-based gameplay and sidestepping aren't a good combination. Mortal Kombat worked better in 3D. Tekken can work with 3D given its gameplay style.
Digitized graphics were short-term. Long-term thinking was the use of 3D graphics and motion capture. The digitized graphics would also lack real flexibility for future projects. It's not just that it would encourage lazy editing. It's also that several character designs may require more complex costumes. Kabal finally got his trenchcoat. Shang Tsung finally got to dress in more regal costumes. Shao Kahn got to do more moves in his later incarnations. It's all thanks to the use of 3D models.
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