I’ve been a fan of Mortal Kombat since I can remember. One of my earliest memories is playing Mortal Kombat 2 on the Super NES. One of the reasons I like Mortal Kombat as much as I do now is because of Mortal Kombat 2 on the SNES, because even though I’d always lose, I couldn’t help but be drawn to the mystique and wonder of the game. Every time I’d play it I would always see if I could actually reach Shao Kahn, see if I could pull off a special move or fatality, discover something new, or just sit and wonder about the universe of Mortal Kombat.

For a while though, I was stuck playing just Mortal Kombat 2 or every once in a while, playing one of the new games on my brother’s consoles, but I yearned for more. More violence, more action, more secrets to discover and characters to learn, I wanted more Mortal Kombat. Eventually I got Mortal Kombat 3 on the Sega Genesis, and despite two of my favorite characters, Johnny Cage and Raiden, being absent, I finally had what I wanted; more Mortal Kombat. Until it broke, that is.

Then, just as I thought that I would be stuck playing only Mortal Kombat 2 for forever, my brothers gave me a gift, a PS2 with a whole catalogue of classics. Although I wouldn’t get to keep the PS2 and the games, my brothers would allow me to borrow it and play any of the games I liked. Five of the nearly one hundred games stuck out to me instantly, Mortal Kombat Trilogy, Mortal Kombat Deception, Mortal Kombat Armageddon, Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks, and Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance. I was drawn to each of the games, with the cover art inspiring awe and wonder; what new secrets were there to discover? What new warriors would I get to play as? Finally, more Mortal Kombat.

At first Mortal Kombat Trilogy was my go to, since I had always wanted to play as the boss characters, but the disc broke, and that meant I couldn’t play Trilogy anymore, so I tried some of the other ones. My brothers suggested Deadly Alliance, as it was technically the first of the four that I had, so I popped it in. A cutscene began to play, describing the backstory of the game. Quan Chi had escaped the Netherrealm, and had discovered the Dragon Kings long dead army and tomb. Quan Chi also made an alliance with another deadly sorcerer, Shang Tsung. First impressions so far, transitioning from MK2 and MKT to this was mind blowing to say the least, and I already had background knowledge on Quan Chi and Shang Tsung from MK2 and other Mortal Kombat games, so I knew them teaming up would be trouble. The next part of the cutscene shows them walking up to Shao Kahn while he’s on his throne. They both bow in a false show of allegiance, and then pounce. You see Shao Kahn’s helmet falling to the floor with blood on it, and this rocked me. Shao Kahn, final boss of MK2, MK3, UMK3, and MKT, the ruler of Outworld, and my favorite villain in all of gaming, was just killed by the Deadly Alliance.

The next scene showed the main character of all the previous mainline Mortal Kombat games Liu Kang performing a kata on a Shaolin platform. Kung Lao, his long time friend and Shaolin walks up behind him slowly, then it is revealed that it is actually Shang Tsung when he attacks Liu Kang, but Liu being a four time Mortal Kombat champion begins to gain the upper hand, and right when Shang Tsung is about to be defeated by long time foe Liu Kang, Quan Chi sends a projectile skull hurling towards Liu Kang and knocking him down. Shang Tsung rises and gets behind Liu, grasping his head. He struggles for a second, but then… CRACK! Shang Tsung snaps Liu Kang’s neck, and Liu falls to the floor. Liu Kang is dead.

This also took me from left field, I mean, a Mortal Kombat game without Liu Kang, this was insane seeing this for the first time, it’s one of those things that you have to be a fan to understand the weight of this and really feel the impact. The final scene is one of Raiden at a campfire with warriors of new and old surrounding it listening to the news from the thunder god himself. Everything about this cutscene was perfect to me. It had that gritty and dark Mortal Kombat feel to it that I love, the shock of Shao Kahn and Liu Kang both falling victim to the Deadly Alliance, and the new graphics hooked me in instantly.

Since I’ve been replaying this classic as of recently, and have been wanting to make an article on Mortal Kombat, I decided that it was now the perfect time to do it. So, here is my Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance review.

The Main Menu

Since I’ve already gone over the opening cutscene, I’ll just jump into the main menu. As you can see there is a lot of content to explore here. We have the classic Arcade mode, where you select a fighter and fight a series of opponents that get harder as you continue through it. Beating arcade mode will declare you the Mortal Kombat Champion and you will get an ending for the fighter you beat arcade mode explaining what happens to them after defeating the Deadly Alliance.

Versus allows you to fight a friend one on one, but with the new inclusion of profiles, which I’ll get to later, the koins you earn on that profile can actually be gambled and won if you win and lost if you lose.

Practice is exactly like it sounds. You choose a fighter and you can practice against a motionless, unkillable opponent for as long as you’d like to improve your combos, special moves, etc.

Konquest is a new mode introduced in Deadly Alliance where you can choose a fighter and play through ten missions that let you learn all the fighters moves and combos to better understand the fighter, and along with this you can learn and read about that fighter’s story in the Deadly Alliance story.

The Krypt is also a newly introduced mode in Deadly Alliance where you can spend the koins you’ve earned throughout the game. In the ominous Krypt you can unlock new fighters, alternate costumes for those fighters, secret fighters, new arenas, artwork, videos, soundtracks, biographies and more. There are a total of 676 koffins all with different things to discover inside.

Player Profile is also new in this game, that will let you play Konquest, unlock items in the Krypt and gain koins and save your progress in the game. You also need a player profile to get new characters in the game and new arenas, etc.

Kontent is where you can access all of the unlocked character biographies, arena biographies and art, soundtracks, koncept art, etc. There is also a Making of MK video in the Kontent tab that is accessible from the start which is a video showing a day at Midway while developing Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance, along with a History of MK video where you can watch a short history of every Mortal Kombat game up until that point, and a music video for Adema’s “Immortal” that was made for Deadly Alliance.

The Story

Following the events of Mortal Kombat 4, Scorpion, who recently found out that the one responsible for his family’s death was the Netherrealm sorcerer Quan Chi and not Sub-Zero, has been hunting down and tormenting Quan Chi in the Netherrealm. In response, Quan Chi gets the help of two Oni Drahmin and Moloch, to fight off Scorpion while Quan Chi escapes the Netherrealm using Shinnok’s amulet. Quan Chi then stumbles upon the ancient Runestone of the long forgotten Dragon King and former Emperor of Outworld, Onaga, unbeatable army. To gain control of the Dragon King’s army would guarantee him total dominance over the realms. In order to gain the army he would have to acquire the souls of warriors and use them to resurrect the long dormant army. To achieve this, he formed an alliance with another sorcerer Shang Tsung to help him resurrect the army, and also give them immortality and complete control over the realms. Before they can start their work on the Dragon King’s army, they would have to deal with the two biggest threats to their reign.

Travelling to Outworld first, they approach a battle torn Shao Kahn, who may not seem like it, but is still recovering from his fight with Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat 3. They walk to this throne, and bow at his feet in a false showing of allegiance, and then pounce at Shao Kahn, killing him.

With the now former emperor of Outworld Shao Kahn dead, they have one more target. In Earthrealm, Liu Kang practices a kata on a Shaolin platform. Kung Lao approaches the platform and watches for a second, and when Liu’s back is turned, Shang reveals himself. He circles Liu as Liu becomes aware and attacks. Liu thwarts Shang’s strikes though, and begins to overcome his rival when Quan Chi attacks Liu from behind, stunning him. Jumping at the opportunity to kill Liu, Shang grabs Liu by his jaw and snaps his neck, killing his bitter rival and steals his soul.

Watching from the heavens, Raiden asks the Elder Gods to assist him in stopping the Deadly Alliance before it gets out of hand, but the Elder Gods refuse and opt to let the situation play out without stepping in. Fed up, Raiden relinquishes his status as Elder Gods, returning as God of Thunder and rallies his allies. Around a campfire on Shang Tsung’s deserted island where Mortal Kombat had been held, Raiden informs them of the dire situation, and of Shao Kahn and Liu Kang’s death. Now, Raiden leads the fight in stopping the Deadly Alliance.

Kombat

Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance steps away from the Mortal Kombat norm of combat where you go side to side and can jump and duck, instead they expand on the feature of side stepping in Mortal Kombat 4 to the max. Now, moving from side to side is done by holding up and down on the d-pad or stick. Like in Mortal Kombat 4, this can be used to quickly get out of the way of an opponent’s attacks and counter, but now made easier in Deadly Alliance.

MK:DA also introduces multiple fighting styles with different combos for each different character. Each fighter has two different martial arts styles and one weapon that has their own combos and moves. They also can be used mid combo to transition to their other style and continue the combo to make it a style-branching combo.

Also, pressing R1 or RB will allow you to do the fighter’s ability with that fighting style. For example, Raiden has a parry ability in his Nan Chuan fighting style, a shove ability in his Jujutsu style and a two hit swing with his Staff weapon.

Special moves are technically the same, but with the new combat system, some moves were removed, like Raiden’s Flying Thunder God move, or Johnny Cage’s Nut Punch. Of course, not all moves were removed, but some were.

Fatalities are still in the game, and are still to be performed after you win the fight, but each fighter now has only 1 fatality due to the engine and system limitations. To perform them, you’ll need to press L1/LB, the same button to switch fighting styles, to switch to your Fatality style that allows you to put in the Fatality input and perform it.

Returning Characters

Shang Tsung – The treacherous sorcerer and Mortal Kombat (1992) final boss returns, now in an alliance with Quan Chi plotting to take over the realms by resurrecting the ancient Dragon King’s long forgotten army, and achieve eternal life.

Quan Chi – Another mischievous sorcerer who appeared in Mortal Kombat Mythologies Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat 4, he shares the same desires as Shang Tsung and plans to reach those desires through the Dragon King’s army.

Scorpion – After the sorcerer Quan Chi discovers a way out of the Netherrealm and into Outworld, Quan Chi enlists the help of two Oni named Drahmin and Moloch to protect him from Scorpion. After a lengthy chase, Quan Chi jumps through the Outworld portal, and Scorpion follows him. Though they were teleported to different areas in Outworld, nothing will stop Scorpion from hunting down and killing Quan Chi.

Sonya Blade – Sonya had a mission destroying any inter-realm portals from Outworld to Earthrealm to stop any more invasions, but one remained open that was made by the Earthrealm Special Forces and had a base on Outworld. That was until Jax discovered it was destroyed, leaving two agents stranded in Outworld, Cyrax, who had gone missing some time ago, and Kenshi, who was sent in to find Cyrax. Jax and Sonya aren’t sure how they’re going to save the lost agents, but Sonya is determined to get it done.

Johnny Cage – Johnny’s recent project, “Mortal Kombat: The Death of Johnny Cage” had grown boring to Johnny, and left him yearning to return to action. That’s when Raiden’s call came, and Johnny answered. He showed up on the island where Shang Tsung once held Mortal Kombat, and met back up with old and new friends, such as Sonya Blade, and Frost. There, Raiden informed them of the Outworld Deadly Alliance, and Johnny’s new path was clear; defeat the Deadly Alliance.

Sub-Zero – After fighting the cyber-ninja Sektor for the Lin Kuei’s Dragon Medallion and emerging victorious, Sub-Zero became the new Lin Kuei Grandmaster. He relocated the Lin Kuei to a mountain in the arctic, and aimed to rebuild the Lin Kuei’s reputation, and when Raiden approached Sub-Zero to help Raiden defeat the Deadly Alliance, Kuai Liang realized that this would no doubt help the reputation of the Lin Kuei, so bring along a new member of the Lin Kuei named Frost, they set off to aid Raiden in the fight against Shang Tsung and Quan Chi.

Kano – After Shao Kahn’s failed invasion of Earthrealm, Kano became incarcerated by Shao in Outworld, but after helping defend the weak Shao from Sheeva’s assassination attempt, Kano was promoted to General. He then rallied more Black Dragon troops to help defend the emperor, but Kano understood that Shao was weak and that with the right amount of firepower, could be taken down easily. Watching Shang Tsung and Quan Chi approach Shao, he was aware of what was to come next. He waited and decided to side with the winner of the fight, and the result was Kano setting his allegiances with the Deadly Alliance.

Kung Lao – Kung Lao was the first to find the body of his close friend and fellow Shaolin Liu Kang, and later found out the Shang Tsung was responsible for his death. Filled with rage and a lust for revenge, Kung Lao would forsake his Shaolin beliefs and would travel to Outworld for further training directly from the man who teaches Liu Kang; Bo’ Rai Cho. After informing Bo’ of Liu’s death, the devastated master decided to teach Kung Lao the flying kick that Liu used to defeat Shang Tsung. After tedious and strenuous training, Kung and Bo’ set out to deal with the Deadly Alliance.

Jax Briggs – Jax barely escaped alive after the Special Forces traitor Hsu Hao destroyed the Special Forces Outworld portal in Earthrealm leaving Kenshi and Cyrax stranded in Outworld. With Raiden’s help, Jax would be able to make his way to Outworld, and now he would begin the hunt for Hsu Hao, swearing to show no mercy to the traitor Hsu Hao.

Kitana – After fighting against the Emperor’s forces for control for Edenia and Outworld with the help of the Shokan army in addition to her own army, Goro was slain in combat, leaving the Shokan leaderless. Then, Shao Kahn had been slain as well, and it seemed as if Kitana would rule over Outworld and return Edenia to Outworld. Shao’s army began to retreat, but before Kitana could claim the throne her army was attacked by undead warriors bewitched by Shang Tsung and Quan Chi. She watched as her soldier’s souls drift towards a giant green beacon of souls far away. She would now have to deal with the Deadly Alliance if she would bring peace to Edenia and Outworld.

Raiden – Fed up with the Elder God’s refusing to stop the Deadly Alliance and no longer wishing to watch the Deadly Alliance grow in strength, Raiden relinquished his status as Elder God and returned to Earthrealm. He gathered his allies to Shang Tsung’s ruined island and told them of the growing situation. He then summoned Shang Tsung’s Nethership from the sea and transported them to a portal only know to sorcerers and deities. Entering the portal to Outworld, they stood ready for battle against the Deadly Alliance.

Reptile – Reptile had figured out Shang Tsung and Quan Chi’s plot to kill Shao Kahn, and began to travel to his emperor to inform when Nitara intercepted him and showed him the location of Kitana’s underground base. With this information and the info for Shang and Quan Chi’s plan, Reptile eagerly hurried back. He was too late though, as when he arrived Shao was dead on the floor. Without a master, he wandered aimlessly in Outworld until he met Nitara again, and pledged his allegiances to her. Her first task for him was to attack Cyrax for his overarching plot.

Cyrax – After the Special Forces returned his souls to his body he joined the Special Forces to thank them. He was tasked with being a scout in Outworld using the Outworld portal, and using his arm console he could travel freely from Earthrealm to Outworld. While travelling in Outworld he was attacked by Reptile and his arm console was damaged, which stopped him from being able to travel back to Earthrealm. That’s when a vampire woman named Nitara where she offered to fix aid him in returning in Earthrealm if he retrieved a mystery item from the molten depths, which he reluctantly agreed to.

New Characters

Bo’ Rai Cho – During the years that the Mortal Kombat tournament was still hosted by Shang Tsung, Bo’ Rai Cho trained fighters secretly in Outworld to fight for Earthrealm in the tournament, since he couldn’t compete himself since his win would be in the name of Shao Kahn. Years of training warriors for none of them to win finally changed when a Shaolin named Liu Kang came to Bo’ to be taught. Liu Kang would use Bo’s teachings to defeat Shang Tsung, Shao Kahn, and fend off Shinnok, but now that there is no tournament in place, Bo’ will use his abilities to take down the Deadly Alliance that threaten not only Earthrealm, but Outworld and every realm in existence.

Li Mei – Li Mei is of Outworld origin, living in a small village and community. When the Deadly Alliance ordered Kano to force the small population into slavery to build a palace fortress, a rebellion against Kano started quickly. Li Mei was a part of the rebelling, and fought Kano personally. Seeing the warrior spirit inside of Li Mei, Shang Tsung and Quan Chi offered Li Mei to participate in the Deadly Alliance tournament, and if she won, she would free her village and population from slavery. She had no choice but to accept if she wanted to save her people from slavery.

Kenshi – Years ago Kenshi travelled all throughout Japan challenging the greatest warriors all around Japan. Shang Tsung had seen what no one else realised; Kenshi was a part of a long lineage of warrior kings. Shang Tsung sought to gain these warrior kings souls, and Kenshi wanted to become connected to his lineage again. When they arrived at the well to free Kenshi’s ancestor’s souls, a burst of light erupted and blinded Kenshi, and allowed Shang Tsung to consume their souls. Years later, Kenshi could sense his ancestors to cry out for help as Shang Tsung and Quan Chi used them for the Dragon King’s army. He could sense Shang Tsung had travelled back to Outworld, and teamed up with the Special Forces to search for Cyrax in the Outworld, also allowing Kenshi to hunt down Shang Tsung. Then the agency and portal to Earthrealm was destroyed, leaving Kenshi alone to face the Deadly Alliance.

Mavado – Before the Black Dragon existed the Red Dragon, but reckless and more rowdy members of the clan disagreed with the codes and honours of the Red Dragon and thus formed the Black Dragon. The Red Dragon and Black Dragon would clash until the Black Dragon was thought to have been destroyed. One member remained though, and the Deadly Alliance knew of his whereabouts. They offered Mavado Kano if Mavado took care of the blind swordsman Kenshi who had been spying and stalking Shang Tsung for the past few months. Mavado would take care of Kenshi and would once and for all destroy the Black Dragon.

Nitara – Nitara’s realm had been bound to Outworld through an Orb that she was unable to reach, but the Earthrealm cyborg ninja Cyrax could reach it. After careful manipulation, Nitara convinced Reptile to attack Cyrax and damage his arm panel, making it to where he could not traverse back to Earthrealm. Nitara stepped in after Cyrax fought Reptile and struck Cyrax a deal; if Cyrax retrieved the Orb for Nitara, Nitara would help Cyrax get back to Earthrealm via gemstone around her neck that allowed her to freely traverse the realms. Cyrax accepted the deal, and they began the journey, but they couldn’t shake the odd feeling that they were being watched.

Drahmin – Drahmin and Moloch are Oni resided in the 5th plane of the Netherrealm for centuries, but when Quan Chi offered them freedom from the realm, they saw the opportunity to escape and return to the living world again. All they had to do in return was offer protection to Quan Chi from Scorpion, which they did in brutal fashion. Drahmin then showed the ancient runestone and a stone carving resembling Shinnok’s amulet that dated back since the creation of the realms. Here Quan Chi learned that Shinnok’s amulet, which he had in his possession, could be used to open a portal to different realms. Unexpectedly to Drahmin and Moloch, the sorcerer stabbed them in the back and escaped the Netherrealm without them. Unknowingly to Quan Chi though, Drahmin and Moloch followed close behind him, and were hungry for revenge.

Hsu Hao – For years Hsu Hao had been in the Special Forces ranks, but he had a secret. He was a Red Dragon spy. He had been directing the Special Forces to the whereabouts of Black Dragon members until the clan was destroyed. He was then ordered to remain in the ranks until further notice, which came when Mavado ordered Hsu Hao to destroy the Outworld portal in the Special Forces base on Earthrealm. Sneaking past Jax, he activated the portal to Outworld and used a Ion pulse bomb to destroy it after he went through the portal. He now resides in Outworld waiting for his next objective from Mavado in Outworld.

Frost – After Kuai Liang reformed the Lin Kuei and assumed the role as Lin Kuei Grand Master, he held a tournament to recruit the best of the best. Frost, a mysterious woman with the abilities that Sub-Zero possessed called the Kori, won the tournament. Sub-Zero broke tradition and decided to teach Frost personally. As her abilities grew, so did her ego and cockiness. Later on, Raiden had approached Sub-Zero to aid in the fight against the Deadly Alliance. Sub-Zero accepted, and Frost joined him. He had hoped that she would gain enlightenment and direction from the real life combat experience, but unbeknownst to Sub-Zero, Frost had much more sinister intentions.

Where is Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance playable?

Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance was the first mainline Mortal Kombat game not released in arcades besides Mortal Kombat Gold and Trilogy. Instead, Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance was released to home consoles exclusively. Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance is playable on the following consoles:

• Xbox
• PlayStation 2
• GameCube
• Gameboy Advance

The Gameboy Advance port couldn’t render 3d models, and so all the models in the port are 2d. Another version of the Gameboy Advance version of Deadly Alliance called Mortal Kombat Tournament Edition was released a year later, and featured 3 characters not in the original Deadly Alliance on real consoles nor the Gameboy Advance version. The three characters are Sareena, Sektor, and Noob Saibot. Sareena wouldn’t appear again until Mortal Kombat Armageddon as well as Sektor, but Noob Saibot would be paired with Smoke in the sequel to Deadly Alliance: Mortal Kombat Deception.

Reception

Reviewers generally favored Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance, and in addition to that it resurrected the Mortal Kombat series that had been slowly losing its popularity since the late 1990’s.

GameRankings gave the PlayStation 2 port of MK:DA a 81.90%, the GameCube port a 81.82%, the Xbox port a 82.60%, and questionably the Gameboy Advance port got the highest rating out of them all with a 84.63%.

Metacritic only reviewed the GameCube and PlayStation 2 ports of the game, giving the GameCube port an 81 and the PlayStation 2 a 79.

GameSpot gave the same rating of 8.1/1o for the Xbox, PlayStation 2 and GameCube ports, but a 7.9/10 for the Gameboy Advance port.

GameSpy gave the same rating for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameCube ports with a 4/5, but did not rate the Gameboy Advance port.

IGN gave the same rating of 8.6/10 for all ports of Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance, but gave the Gameboy Advance port a rating of 8.8/10.

Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance won the annual Best Fighting Game on Xbox award and Best Fighting Game on GameCube award. It also got a Platinum Hits version for Xbox, a Greatest Hits version for PlayStation 2, and Player’s Choice version on GameCube.

Whether you’re a fighting game fan, or Mortal Kombat fan, Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance is sure to deliver on a deep and engaging fighting system and hours of content to unravel that is no doubt worth checking out if you haven’t played it before.