Mortal Kombat 1 is the newest entry in a legacy franchise that dates back to the early 90s. Starting from gaming cabinets, the franchise is now available on every major gaming platform and has spawned a series of movies, comics, and TV shows that have further fleshed out the universe.
Created by Ed Boon and John Tobias, the franchise is now one of the longest-running fighting game series in the industry. Over the decades, the games have offered some interesting and unique twists to the player, but none can compare to the surprise hidden between the lines of code of the original Mortal Kombat.
Ed Boon Hid a Fan-Favourite Character in the Original Mortal Kombat
It’s quite common for developers to hide easter eggs and secret messages within games. When players find these easter eggs, it enhances the experience of the game, giving the player a sense of accomplishment that goes beyond the stated objectives.
The franchise has a rich history of including easter eggs and hidden details within the game, and Mortal Kombat 1 is no exception. There’s a bunch of easter eggs within the game, and several characters such as Homelander, Omni-Man, and Peacemaker have joined the roster, adding to the easter egg smorgasbord.
But the original Mortal Kombat was able to do something that modern games just wouldn’t be able to: hide an entire character! That’s right, MEL reports that Ed Boon hid Reptile behind a series of complex clues so vague that the Sega team had trouble when porting the game. Boon’s intentions were a secret from even the development team.
Given the press and interest it generated, one would think more gaming developers would try to follow suit. But, the issue is that as games have gotten more intricate, it’s become nearly impossible to hide such big aspects within the code. There’s a good chance the secret code would conflict with other features and mechanics of the game, leading to what can only be described as a falling Jenga tower that took months, if not years, to build.
Mortal Kombat 1 Has Some Interesting Characters Coming to the Roster
Fighting games are only as interesting as their character rosters, and Mortal Kombat 1 understands that. While there are no hidden characters, Homelander will soon be flying onto the scene as well. With a plethora of moves acting as direct references to the show, fans of The Boys are going to be very satisfied.
Previously, the game added Omni-Man from Invincible and Peacemaker from the DCEU. Both of these characters come with unique moves that fans of their series will remember from the shows. More are slated to be added to the game, so we can expect things to stay interesting for a while.
While we can’t expect such large hidden easter eggs in games anymore, that doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Game developers are becoming more subtle with what they include in games, and there are always more simple titles that don’t have millions of lines of code that can try and attempt these feats.
Which character would you like to see added to the roster? Let us know in the comments below!
