Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon recently shared a behind-the-scenes video of Scorpion and Sub-Zero, two of Mortal Kombat's most iconic characters, being brought to life for the first time.
Beginning as an arcade game back in 1992, Mortal Kombat continues to grow in popularity over the course of its decade-long history. Mortal Kombat 11 sold over 12 million copies by July 2021. Recently, the franchise celebrated 30 years since its first game. In light of the occasion, the game's co-creator Ed Boon shared a video that offered a glimpse into what it was like to build the game in its early days.
The video showcases behind-the-scenes motion capture for Scorpion and Sub-Zero. At the time, the design for the first Mortal Kombat made both Scorpion and Sub-Zero look identical apart from the color. According to Ed Boon, this was done partly as a technical workaround to the limited memory problem at the time when developing the game. Thereby, both were given varying fighting stances as a way of differentiating the two and adding to the uniqueness of the characters. However, this tallied further animation costs to the production of the game. "We felt giving them different stances was worth the 7 extra frames of animation it cost us," mentions Ed Boon.
Explaining in his Twitter thread, the Mortal Kombat and Injustice 2 co-creator states that part of the challenge was to create unique fighting stances while ensuring they worked with the punches and kicks. Both characters shared the same attack movements at the time. As shown in the video, the process took several attempts at different stances before settling on the now-iconic poses. "You'd be surprised how much cutting-room-floor stuff never made it into the final game," says Ed Boon while teasing a future video on the subject.
Ed Boon has further stated that he will share more similar "fly-on-the-wall" videos to offer fans a closer view of the intricacies that went into making the first Mortal Kombat title. These updates come on the heels of a rumored Mortal Kombat 12 around the corner. Particularly considering the latest iteration of the franchise was launched almost three years ago. Back in August 2021, insider Jeff Grubb from Giant Bomb even claimed that Mortal Kombat 12 is being prioritized over Injustice 3. Most recently, Ed Boon himself teased that the next game is coming soon, name-dropping both titles. Although he didn't specify which title it will be.
Mortal Kombat 11 is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.