Mortal Kombat II
1994 · Fighting · SNES
Overview
Mortal Kombat II is the SNES home port of Midway's 1993 arcade fighting game sequel, featuring 12 fighters, improved combo systems, new Fatality finishing moves, and the digitized graphics that defined the franchise's controversial aesthetic. Unlike the first Mortal Kombat's SNES port, MKII retained the blood and finishing moves that Nintendo had required to be censored in the original.
Deep Dive
Mortal Kombat II arrived on SNES in 1994 without the censorship that had plagued its predecessor's home port — the first Mortal Kombat on SNES had replaced blood with sweat and renamed finishing moves 'finishing moves' to satisfy Nintendo's content guidelines, generating consumer backlash that embarrassed Nintendo publicly when the Genesis version retained mature content. For MKII, Nintendo reversed course and allowed the home port to include blood effects and Fatalities. The game expanded the roster from seven to twelve fighters, adding new characters from Outworld: Kung Lao, Mileena, Baraka, Kitana, Shang Tsung, and Noob Saibot as a hidden fighter. The story escalated the Mortal Kombat tournament into an invasion of Earthrealm, with Shao Kahn as a boss whose difficulty exceeded the first game's Shang Tsung. Each character received multiple Fatalities, a Babality, and a Friendship finishing move — the latter two added as a response to criticism about the original game's violence. Mortal Kombat II was the best-selling SNES game of 1994 in North America and represented the franchise's commercial peak. The SNES version sold over three million copies, demonstrating that Nintendo players had been willing to purchase the censored first game despite the compromised content. MKII's cultural impact extended beyond gaming — its release sparked congressional hearings on video game violence that led directly to the creation of the ESRB rating system.
Developer Story
Mortal Kombat II was developed by Midway's Chicago-based team, led by Ed Boon and John Tobias, who had created the original Mortal Kombat in 1992. The development team had direct involvement in supervising the SNES conversion to ensure the home version met the arcade original's standards — a lesson learned from the first game's controversial port. Midway negotiated directly with Nintendo to ensure MKII's mature content would be approved for SNES release, and Nintendo's agreement reflected the commercial reality that censoring the first game had been a strategic error. Acclaim handled the physical production and distribution of the SNES and Genesis cartridges.
Did You Know?
- Mortal Kombat II's SNES port included blood and Fatalities that were censored in the first Mortal Kombat SNES version — Nintendo reversed its content policy after the first game's bowdlerized port generated significant negative press and lost sales to the Genesis version.
- The game sold over 3 million copies on SNES, making it the best-selling third-party SNES game of 1994 and one of the best-selling SNES titles overall.
- Noob Saibot, the game's hidden fighter, is named after Mortal Kombat creators Ed Boon and John Tobias with their surnames spelled backwards — a self-referential Easter egg that became a recurring character.
- Mortal Kombat II's home release in September 1994 occurred during congressional hearings on video game violence that Senator Joseph Lieberman had initiated partly in response to the original Mortal Kombat — the game's release was timed to maximize its political symbolism.
