Mortal Kombat Arcade Promotional Video (1992) [HD]

[@EverDownward]

I like how they never outright mention Fatalities, only so much as saying "most graphic of secret moves." One of Mortal Kombat's biggest strengths in the early days was the mystery surrounding the hidden features they were employing.

[@UnchainedEruption]

I think he's referring to what we now call the special moves. Look at the gameplay on screen associated with "secret moves." It's Kano's cannonball and Sub-Zero's freeze. He also says, "Learning to activate Rayden's secret weapon lets you fire electricity bolts."

[@fcukugimmeausername]

@@UnchainedEruption I think you were correct, mostly. However, when they specifically mention the "most graphic of secret moves", they were almost certainly referring to fatalities.

[@Essu_]

You can also see the blood is disabled as well in some of the earlier footage of the video.

[@Tempora158]

@@UnchainedEruption The OP is referring to "the most graphic secret moves" quote at 7:09, when the narrator is talking about the VIOLENCE ON dipswitch, which enables/disables fatalities.

[@davidespinozaortiz3956]

When Boon and Tobias didn´t knew if they were going to have luck with their game.....24 years later, here we are.

[@RTL2L]

30 years later, we are still here )

[@damin9913]

2024 mortal kombat is shiit now they was better when they did the arcade thing

[@OzLeedsCrew]

Played it as a 12 year old when it came out, blew my mind. Changed the game forever. GET OVER HERE!!!

[@sunchaser999]

Love that they don’t say anything about the fatalities. Just amazing.

[@ninjagrinder]

Thank you so much for sharing this. Pure history!

[@YourMKArcadeSource]

You're welcome!

[@dragonore2009]

For those of us around during that time, good luck finding a MK machine to play at the arcade, there was always someone on it.

[@JohnSmith-wi7nf]

So? You never challenged some one and took it over? Lol Your belly must be yellow.

[@lancepage1914]

Except for when blood was turned off, then no one played it.

[@blakfloyd]

@@JohnSmith-wi7nfdon't cut yourself on that edge.

[@TheBigb1973]

Galloping ghost in chicago has one

[@natalribeiro]

Man this is so cool, i remember the first time when i have seen mortal Kombat on the arcades here in Brazil, i am going to library to do home work and i stop in the arcade lololol i am thinking " wait, wait, It is a game but looklike a movie and spread blood from the characters?! What is this?!" Ok, i do my home work First and running back to the arcade lolol! Today you can play this in every place even in your smartphone ok but that time the world It is too diferent, thank you guys for share this gift with us, our childhood, the Warriors of the quarter!!!! Yeahhhhhh Ed Boon and John Tobias and his team thank you guys for this great art and work!

[@sumoni]

I never would have thought there were promoters for arcade games. Learn something new everyday!

[@UnchainedEruption]

sumoni They’re selling the arcade machines themselves to the operators, trying to convince them why people will put coins in their game.

[@mikeg.8904]

@@UnchainedEruption it felt like you could find an MK machine at any random mom & pop back in the day. I could see a video like this being very useful to sell to a 40+ year old owner in the early 90s who has no idea what a video game is to begin with but knows their competitors down the street has them and it's stealing their business.

[@lancepage1914]

​@@mikeg.8904 A 40+ year old in the 90s that has never seen a video game? That would have been very few and far between. Amusement machines have been around since the 50s, and arcade machines do the same damn thing, it's an amusement machine. Just because there was no internet back then, it doesn't mean they were retarded.

[@mikeg.8904]

@Lance Page I don't think that's what I said but interesting seeing someone get ass hurt over it.

[@damin9913]

I appreciate the 90s so much!

[@hgfffvgguu7077]

"Loser pays, winner stays."

[@jimdithomas408]

Been playing since I was 17 in 1992. I own both Mk1 & Mk2 cabinets and still play regularly.

[@rosevillereaper9230]

I'd kill for some local fights .. I went to Chicago for Kombat Kon a couple years back and played all the greats..I learned allot..mk1 kicks ass

[@gibbytffl]

Thank you again for sharing this with the MK fans!! I could tell it was a early promo build of the game before they showed the dip switch screen because of there wasn't any lightning for Raidens win pose and no names on the ladder!! Awesome video!!

[@ksw6513]

Midway should remake the game in HD like how street fighter did!

[@yordanmontecinos8735]

That is my dream dude!!

[@KenMasters.]

They already did.

[@lancepage1914]

​@@KenMasters. if they have it's not Official. Because they haven't made an Official version. There is a recent interview with Richard Davizio who is Kano about a HD remake of MK or at least the rumours of it. He said it himself there is nothing in the works and even if there was they wouldn't be calling him about it.

[@aimfuldrifter]

And they've revolutionised the fighting genre, along with Street Fighter II. Thanks for sharing this video. They constantly say "secret moves", instead of "special moves" and "fatality" :D

[@UnchainedEruption]

LukeInside Maybe the special moves were secret moves. How would the player automatically know what they are?

[@s.m.withtheak3024]

Now this is some GREAT content!! Always loved MK Since the start .

[@justinosborne5280]

Being able to see real digitized characters in a video game was a big thing at the time. We have now gone back to doing that, but it's much more realistic now.

[@Donscottmusic]

Personally,I think these older MK games look more real compared to the newer ones. These Mortal Kombat games nowadays look too animated to me. That's just my opinion anyway.

[@thefonzkiss]

Don Scott totally agree. The new ones suck

[@megafanzach]

@The Fonz *you’re just a cry baby stuck in the past!* Sorry, I just really like mk11

[@britneyspearsvillarosa]

I've been playing mortal Kombat since 1993 I cannot wait to get mortal Kombat on Super Nintendo when my dad brought MK home in 93 it never left my Super NES

[@CMM1215]

Thank you SO MUCH for uploading this! Very glad to be able to watch this :)

[@kinggimpy]

I had a VHS similar to this as a kid, but it was a hype video for the N64. I remember it included footage of MK Mythologies: Sub Zero. I wore that tape out rewatching it and wanting and N64 and that game so bad. These old hype videos are awesome, this one would have gotten me to buy an MK cabinet if I'd owned an arcade instead of being a 7yo.

[@rickachumusic]

😂😂😂 3:03 the inaccurate description of how to do an upper cut

[@danmccarthy4700]

In MK1, you could do an uppercut using either high or low punch.

[@jorgeblast9756]

the description is ok, in mk1 theres no low punch

[@Honoryoursystem]

@@jorgeblast9756 So what’s the button under Block to the left?

[@jorgeblast9756]

@@Honoryoursystem Its a High punch too

[@MCENTRAL8G]

Why do they not mention the fatalities?

[@YadonTheCat]

They're hinted at in the DIP switches, but I'm guessing they wanted them to be secret

[@DragonSlayerKyo]

That was a part of the shock value. if they give away everything, they might lose money on it

[@MCENTRAL8G]

well, that makes sense.

[@RestoreEyesightNow]

well they admitted that some places will require a bloodless option. i doubt they would like fatalities either.

[@pliniogoiania]

Talking about the fatalities could turn the game into a no-seller. Better let people find out about the by then most innovative part of the game by themselves.

[@ph4ntomlord]

Oh the memories of where it all started...

[@megabigdump]

Meh, i don't see this game going anywhere. I'll pass *yawns*

[@matthewgg9286]

Back then, the narrator has no idea there's more than just secret moves the kombatants can do. He, the players, and numerous parents are in for huge shock when they discover the game's unique charm...FATALITY!

[@observer.b_e_l_l_i_s]

This shit changed the gaming world in such a major way.

[@unkles]

Liu Kang. The "Sholan" monk lmao

[@KenMasters.]

If you’re gonna introduce someone to MK, show them this vid.

[@mikeg.8904]

Video package was likely for shop owners who didn't understand what they were purchasing but knew it would bring in a crowd to their place. I say this because you literally could find a MK machine at almost mom & pop store back in the day.

[@greenknight9000]

6:24 Check it out! It appears all this recorded footage is from the Prototype 4.0 build of the game! You can actually play this early pre-release version on the internet!

[@DJHALFRO]

Great video! Thanks for sharing it with us!

[@YourMKArcadeSource]

You're welcome!

[@Jhonnykiller45]

"Mortal Kombat is quite simply, the most complete video fighting game available" Funny how this statement is still true, 20 years later, in even the modern releases...

[@UnchainedEruption]

jhonnykiller45 What about Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 or MK Trilogy? Or MK9 Komplete Edition?

[@The90sGamingGuy]

I remember when this game came out on home gaming consoles in the 90's and was just amazed at how real the characters in in the game looked because they were in fact real people my kid brain understood that after a few minutes of playing the game.

[@Sam-Lawry]

Back then...when you knew fatalities you were a king on arcade.

[@blakfloyd]

Never knew you could eliminate Johnny Cage's nut punch move in the settings. If that's what the "Low Blows" setting was for anyway.

[@figment1988]

and oddly enough, if your opponent is Johnny Cage and you are Johnny Cage, you cannot do the split punch on the other Johnny Cage.

[@thefonzkiss]

figment1988 not odd. They just forgot to film Cage getting hit in the nuts because the Mirror Match wasn’t originally planned. In those days characters typically didn’t fight each other. It was a big deal when it was introduced in SF2 Champion Edition. Or Champion Edition Hyper or whatever it was.

[@megafanzach]

Funny thing is I hate mirror matches.

[@srarcade]

This is great, thanks for sharing this. Even though this games violence is tame compared to todays games I remember what a big deal it was back then when it first came out. I wish more operators and owners could have seen this because I think many never knew you could simply disable the violence which I think limited this game from many "family fun center" style arcades. I know for a fact Disney never purchased a single MK cabinet for their plethora of arcades they had operating on their property down here in FL.

[@figment1988]

I did hear MK was at Disney World, but it had the violence and bloodshed dipswitches turned off to be more ''family friendly'', which was the same thing Malibu Grand Prix did in some locations

[@srarcade]

figment1988 That's news to me. I used to "arcade hop" at Disney in my teens, before they added security checks at the hotels. Never came across a single MK cab. I did frequent Malibu though! Those were the days!

[@YourMKArcadeSource]

srarcade I played MK3 in 1995 at Disneyland out in CA for hours many times.

[@figment1988]

srarcade about the hotels, they've pretty much relaxed it for those who non-hotel guests that often take the resort buses (as it's usually the only way to get to Downtown Disney). The one thing they aren't kind with is going into the main swimming pools that usually have some sort of feature like a slide (i.e. Stormalong Bay at the Yacht and Beach Club).

[@fatalexcerpts]

srarcade Damn, I did this too! I had no idea they added security checks, lol. We stayed at yacht and beach club which was a great resort, but no MK and the SF2 machine was some weird ass exercise(?) version, that had these big rubber knobs in place of buttons (expecting you to play in some quasi-wackAmole manner with hammer fist strikes every time you want to strike..?!). Man it was weird. But yeah, those sure were the days. Chasing girls, playing air hockey, getting up for a refreshing morning dip, running off to ride in the little single person lagoon boats, seeing the sights, feasting like a king! Wish I could do it all over again.

[@damin9913]

Been playing it since released and 2024 I'm still playing the genesis version

[@manolochapa8569]

Gran leyenda y juegazo increíble Mortal kombat

[@archon9000]

Cool piece of history!

[@bryanfury759]

My one fav game when i was grade school.

[@d.fortner6653]

I think it would be hard for me to play this game on the actual arcade machine because i'm so use to playing on console with the controller.

[@sammylane21]

I would so fucking love to own the Arcade cabinets and s of MK , MK II , MK III and MK IV in my house but I wonder about the maintenance cost ??

[@CAsh4kiDZ]

Crazy how they waited to version 4.0 to make this. Great share!

[@areaman5959]

prototype 4.0, not revision 4.0

[@kokichioma1901]

Theres a Secret character battle which is Reptile

[@patrickst-amour7260]

4:42 Goro is half human half dragon?? Boy, did they ditch that very fast, lolllll.

[@ElViperr408]

Hey put this in a museum please!

[@DarkbluesEXE25]

Happy Birthday MORTAL KOMBAT 30 YEARS FATALITY

[@GamerGee]

I want mortal kombat 4K edition. I can deal with new actors but the same game play physics but just real graphics and more finishing moves

[@UnchainedEruption]

GamerGee We were going to get a new MK game with digitized graphics of new actors, with leaked pictures proving it. Sadly that project never happened and instead we got the MK Arcade Kollection in 2011.

[@Exar_Kun]

3:04 isn’t it “hold down + tap high punch” the way you do an uppercut?

[@obliviousmode575]

It’s funny that the basic attacks low punch and low kick were animated high up. A low punch should have been a gut punch or midsection punch. A low kick should have been a kick to the legs or midsection.

[@NinjaNinjaaas]

........ and so it BEGINS !!!!!!!!

[@Skub_]

Is that a young Boon narrating?

[@blakfloyd]

3:03 They legit gave incorrect info on how to do an uppercut by saying to uncrouch before hitting low punch. I wonder if that was a legit fuckup or if that was how it was done during developmental stages and they changed it later on. Also, this just gave me warm, fuzzy memories of the pre-MKII days cuz I now remember you could actually use either punch for uppercuts in this one since they hadn't yet implemented that fairly weak ducking low punch move. I always used low punch for my uppercuts in the MK days.

[@jvega6381]

What are the best mortal Kombat revisions out there?

[@Cage820]

thanks for sharing this!

[@JohnSmith-wi7nf]

I would love to get this exact artwork for my arcade 1-up.

[@aldinmarchetti]

Excelente video!!! gracias.

[@lancepage1914]

I remember seeing MK games at many arcades as a kid. When the blood was turned off, it would move on very quickly. I do not understand why you would turn the blood and violence off because people simply wouldn't play it. Thankfully there were more good arcades around than lame ones.

[@Punk93Metal]

Neat video! Thanks for the upload.

[@danmanx2]

I love this video!

[@henrold__]

6:05 Someone’s about to fight Reptile

[@AchtungBaby77]

Nah... he blocked 😂

[@richardwilton6478]

Thank you for sharing! :-)

[@darthvader4alemon792]

my favorite mk is mkx

[@madmaks1980]

Mine's either the first or second one.

[@ThomasCarnillJr]

Pretty great video, my favorite part is how bad the control panel art is aligned to the buttons.

[@scottkeeney5485]

Only 5 Buttons in Mortal Kombat (1992) the Arcade Video Game.

[@dub_cl]

Hey! thanks for sharing

[@malachiroy8858]

Mortal Kombat in 1992 (Midway best video game 🎮) has an always been arcade games 🕹 last time was the kids moment quest part series going through coins and money 💰 millions dollars 💵 his life didn’t get too great 👍🏼 because they combat Mortal Kombat 1992.

[@romuloigor7653]

que relíquia em esse jogo um dos melhores de todos os tempos top 👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@Richtofen1121]

Is that Carlos Pesina narrating?

[@ashleyholroyd91]

Did any 1 see Santa at 6.05

[@figment1988]

yep. it's one of the few hints that enable the presence of Reptile (and it's also the cue for the player to refrain from using the block button and prove himself/herself worthy by getting a double flawless and performing their character's fatality)

[@xicorblack5962]

You mean 6:05

[@Honoryoursystem]

No one noticed this is the beta and it looks it’s slightly different

[@jcivic9499]

How did fatalities work if you turned the blood off?

[@charlesdeichman5115]

If they turned the blood off, they probably turned the fatalities off too. If not, it was probably similar to the SNES

[@maxxdahl6062]

There were switches to turn both off. If you turned off blood only you'd still get blood during fatalities but not the fights,

[@manlivinginyourbasement904]

Santa clause is in the pit near the moon.

[@UnchainedEruption]

Man living in your basement TIP EHT FO MOTTOB BLOCKING WILL GET YOU NOWHERE 10,000,000 POINTS IF YOU DEFEAT ME YOU MUST FIND ME TO BEAT ME

[@stevino89]

Does anybody know the exact release date of the arcade version? Thanks

[@blakfloyd]

I don't know the exact day but supposedly October 1992.

[@CoTheme303]

How come they didnt mention Fatalities 😣😤

[@rocketcon]

The developers wanted them to be a surprise for the players to find, so they tried to keep them a secret.

[@victormikhail]

Santa Claus in mortal kombat 6:04

[@xsinyxx]

Notice they left out the fatalities. Guess they thought it might turn off sales.

[@TheMarioMan247]

Not completely. It was that and It was meant to be a surprise to those in the arcades.

[@dionisio89420]

Excellent material, as always Source! But how they could recorded the footage on the Arcade? I know how to do it on consoles platform, but in the Arcade... Thanks in advance for your answer.

[@thefonzkiss]

Dionisio its an official video made by Midway noob. They know how to output video.

[@ILLRICARDO]

I really wish the mk games had a similar soundtrack to the movies.

[@PedroSilvahf]

Great video, and i see some cool images from the prototype. Do you have this revision? I believe some moves are missing in at this point

[@kevinmurguia706]

thanks!

[@metalbroga]

Just learned in this video that Goro is half Dragon

[@UnchainedEruption]

Emerson Brôga It says that in game.

[@thefonzkiss]

It’s in the attract mode bio noob.

[@romuloigor7653]

jogo muito bom esse altas sequências massa golpes e fatalites humilheite

[@نادرالیراحمان]

Shang Sung "the blood thirsty EMPEROR". Does he even know what he's talking about???

[@kuarel2401]

Considering he was basically told by the team who actually made the game or he was on the team. I'm pretty sure he does

[@maxxdahl6062]

Shang Tsungs story wasn't fleshed out yet. In MK1's time he WAS the big dog.

[@barnold23]

Sold!

[@thomasclarke2426]

MORTAL KOMBAT 3 WAS A GOOD TRANSLATION WITH HELP THATS ALL ITS NOT XBOX OR 3DO BUT SEGA CD SATURN MOUNT MK 2 AND 5 JAGUAR

[@Jake_Tucker]

6:04 LOOK!!! IT'S SANTY CLAUS

[@madmaks1980]

There's also a witch sometimes too.

[@TheLilFid]

Waiting for Mortal Kombat XL 😃 Great franchise 😉

[@worriorjack]

Was this tape for arcade owners?

[@YourMKArcadeSource]

Yup

[@Sctvita]

After Mortal Kombat Prequel Sub-zero 1997.

[@aszahala]

The old MKs were great. The problem with modern fighting games is that they are just brainless button smashing with billions of combos and moves. The controls in MK were really simple and thus great.

[@UnchainedEruption]

asahala Yeah, the combos and fatalities are a lot easier to remember. Plus, the juggling in the newer games is just ridiculous. It’s all about 15-20 move combos and X-Rays. Still, much better ai in the new games. AI in the original MK games especially MK2, was terrible. It was rigged so you lose. The ai was programmed to counter everything. Not to mention Kintaro and Shao Khan, who are basically impossible to beat without abusing exploits.

[@alexhardline2208]

@@UnchainedEruption to be fair, Kintaro is a pain in thecass in MK9.

[@thefonzkiss]

Nailed it.

[@ZakkHung]

I would kill for that VHS tape!

[@jacobnelson4150]

It's every 3 matches on sega

[@timf7413]

It's been ages since I played on an actual arcade, but I'm pretty sure it's always every 3 matches and this was just a mistake.

[@maxxdahl6062]

@@timf7413 I think it's actually 4 on Arcade and PC/Dos.

[@stevencliffordbell4518]

Steven The CliffordBell Liu Kang The Fighting Shaolin Monk

[@eric.1948]

Its 22 and im sold lol.

[@stevenhibbert694]

Shang tsung is not the emperor it's shao khan

[@figment1988]

of course, Shao isn't introduced until the 2nd game.

[@thefonzkiss]

Shao Kahn wasn’t even invented when this video was made noob.

[@Elnegro8527]

let Mortal Kombat begin...!!!

[@Johnnyafc]

Do people really stand like that while playing it lol

[@fatarry]

We used to play like that in the past

[@1ButtonDash]

the fact that you find it funny people stand to play is funny. when arcades existed in the 90's everyone was standing playing

[@fatarry]

Arcades are still remembered better than they actually were

[@vghchannel]

Actually, I think the guy on the right is believable... standing and playing like "normal". The guy on the left is clearly aware that he's being filmed and trying to "act" the part... oh, how I hate that.

[@okkeshh39]

Vji

[@thomasclarke2426]

MK JUST TWO ARMS GORO PUPPET MOTION MASTER ARMS FLO NOT CHONG LI ANYMORE NO ONE LIKED GORO ORIGINALLY OR THE KOMBAT CREW GO FIGURE ILL DEAL WITH THEM

[@loughlin14]

It's only a game.

[@Usagi1992]

A *revolutionary* game, 'Lex. :p