Mortal Kombat

モータルコンバット (Mōtaru Konbatto)Arcade, SNES, Genesis, Master System +141992

  1. JP1992
  2. NA1992
  3. EU1993
  4. RUDendy

Mortal Kombat kept its name in every region; in Japan it is sometimes shortened to Mōkon. The easiest legal way to play it today is Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection (2025), which contains the arcade, SNES, Genesis, Game Boy and Game Gear versions; the MS-DOS version is sold on GOG in Mortal Kombat 1+2+3.

Mortal Kombat is a fighting game released in arcades by Midway in 1992, with Taito licensing it in Japan. It was created by programmer Ed Boon and designer John Tobias, with art by John Vogel and sound by Dan Forden. Its fighters are digitized sprites of real actors, filmed by Tobias with a Hi-8 camcorder. The secret fighter Reptile, a palette swap of Scorpion and Sub-Zero fought on the Pit stage, was added in a later arcade revision.

The SNES, Genesis, Game Boy and Game Gear ports launched together on 13 September 1993, a date Acclaim promoted as "Mortal Monday". The versions differed sharply: the SNES port replaced blood with grey sweat, while on the Genesis the code ABACABB, a nod to the band Genesis's album Abacab, unlocked blood and the original Fatalities.

The game's violence was a focus of the 1993 US Senate hearings led by Joseph Lieberman and Herb Kohl, which led to the creation of the ESRB. In 2025 Digital Eclipse and Atari re-released the arcade game and four home versions in Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection.1234

Names and releases

RegionTitle on the boxPlatformDatePublisherSrc
NA Mortal Kombat Arcade August 1992 Midway 1
NA Mortal Kombat"Mortal Monday"; port by Probe Software Game Boy Sep 13, 1993 Acclaim 1
NA Mortal Kombat"Mortal Monday"; port by Probe Software Genesis Sep 13, 1993 Arena Entertainment (Acclaim) 2
NA Mortal Kombat"Mortal Monday"; port by Probe Software Game Gear Sep 13, 1993 Arena Entertainment (Acclaim) 1
NA Mortal Kombat"Mortal Monday" launch; port by Sculptured Software SNES Sep 13, 1993 Acclaim 1
NA Mortal Kombat Sega CD April 1994 Arena Entertainment (Acclaim) 1
JP モータルコンバットLicensed by Taito; released mid-December 1992 Arcade December 1992 Taito 3
EU Mortal Kombat Genesis Sep 13, 1993 Arena Entertainment (Acclaim) 2
EU Mortal KombatPAL regions only Master System Sep 13, 1993 Arena Entertainment (Acclaim) 1
JP モータルコンバットSuper Famicom SNES Dec 24, 1993 Acclaim Japan 5
JP モータルコンバットMega Drive Genesis May 27, 1994 Acclaim Japan 2
EU Mortal Kombat Sega CD July 1994 Arena Entertainment (Acclaim) 1
EU Mortal KombatPort by Probe Software; sources disagree on late 1993 vs 1994 MS-DOS 1994 Virgin Interactive 1
WW Mortal Kombat Arcade KollectionCompilation with MKII and UMK3; also Xbox 360 and Windows PlayStation 3 Aug 31, 2011 Warner Bros. Games 1
WW Mortal Kombat: Legacy KollectionDigital Eclipse compilation (also PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, Switch 2, Windows) with the arcade, SNES, Genesis, Game Boy and Game Gear versions; physical edition 12 December 2025 PlayStation 5 Oct 30, 2025 Atari 6

Also known as: モータルコンバット JP3Mōtaru Konbatto JP3モーコン JP3Смертельная битва RU7

Box art by region

  • Mortal Kombat box art, North America release
    NA Mortal Kombat
  • Mortal Kombat box art, Europe release
    EU Mortal Kombat
  • モータルコンバット box art, Japan release
    JP モータルコンバット

Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.

Version differences

  • CensorshipSNES

    Under Nintendo's content policy, the SNES port replaced red blood with grey "sweat" and softened most Fatalities into milder finishing moves.1

  • CensorshipGenesis / Mega Drive

    On the Genesis/Mega Drive the code A-B-A-C-A-B-B unlocks red blood and the uncensored Fatalities, which gave Sega's version an edge over the SNES port; the game was rated MA-13.1

  • CensorshipGame Gear

    The Game Gear version stays censored unless the code 2, 1, 2, Down, Up is entered.1

All differences (7)

Translations

  • English Official

    Midway / Acclaim1992ArcadeReleased · complete

    The original arcade game and its 1993 home ports are in English.1

  • Spanish Official

    Digital Eclipse / Atari2025PlayStation 5 · Mortal Kombat: Legacy KollectionReleased

    The 2025 Legacy Kollection lists Spanish (Spain and Latin America) screen text, but this covers the collection's interface and extras; the emulated games themselves stay in English.8

Where to play legally today

  • GOG Purchase

    Mortal Kombat 1+2+3

    MS-DOS version (runs via DOSBox)

    Checked: 2026-10-139gog.com

  • PlayStation Store Purchase

    Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection PS4 & PS5

    Arcade, SNES, Genesis, Game Boy and Game Gear versions of Mortal Kombat (1992), plus later games

    Checked: 2026-10-1310store.playstation.com

  • Steam Purchase

    Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection

    Arcade, SNES, Genesis, Game Boy and Game Gear versions of Mortal Kombat (1992), plus later games

    Checked: 2026-10-138store.steampowered.com

Reception

About 6.5 million home cartridges had been sold by 2000, most of them for the Genesis, whose version was the best-selling console game of 1993 in the US; the Game Boy version added roughly a million more.1

In lists

Sources

  1. 1en.wikipedia.org
  2. 2tcrf.net
  3. 3ja.wikipedia.org
  4. 4gematsu.com
  5. 5tcrf.net
  6. 6en.wikipedia.org
  7. 7ru.wikipedia.org
  8. 8store.steampowered.com
  9. 9gog.com
  10. 10store.playstation.com
  11. 11tcrf.net

Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13

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