The game that started it all...

It was in 1993 when I got my first taste of gratuitous bloodshed and dazzling martial arts action in the form of the greatest 2-D fighting game ever created: "Mortal Kombat." "Kombat," as envisioned by creator/programmers Ed Boon and John Tobias, revolutionized martial arts video gaming with this awesome fighter. It also sparked an unprecedented controversy for its violence, something that would only help to further ensure its success, not defer it.

In "Mortal Kombat," we're introduced to the fighters, who include monk Liu Kang, martial arts movie star Johnny Cage, Special Forces agent Sonya Blade, Lord Rayden the god of thunder, shape-shifting sorcerer Shang Tsung, terrorist Kano, rival ninjas Sub-Zero and Scorpion, Shang Tsung's guardian Reptile, and the four-armed Goro.

"Kombat" received the big screen treatment in 1995 with British director Paul W.S. Anderson behind the camera; that movie was plain awesome, but unfortunately suffers from a bad reputation because of a horrible, disjointed sequel, "Mortal Kombat: Annihilation" (1997).

The series of games have gotten a better reputation over the years, especially with the release of two new advanced "Kombat" games, "Deadly Alliance" and "Deception," and a third - the upcoming "Shaolin Monks" - each of which takes full advantage of a revamped fighting engine.

The violence is shocking, the fights are brutal, and the blood flies but the martial arts action suffices over all of it. Though it's progressed significantly since 1992, the original hasn't lost any flare. The game that started it all, "Mortal Kombat."

10/10

10/10