From playing a key role in the creation of theESRBto finding numerous and creative ways to annihilate your enemies,Mortal Kombatis easily one of the topthree fighting game franchisesof all time. The franchise is home to some famous lines like ‘Get Over Here’ and ‘Flawless Victory,’ what makes the latter of the two great is the sense of accomplishment you feel after going a perfect round.
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There was no greater feeling in the 90s than walking up next to someone who was playing, throwing a quarter or token into the machine, and fighting for thetitle of championof yourlocal arcade. For this list, we’re only going to be counting games that were straight-up fighters — sorryMortal Kombat Mythologies.
Updated by Chad Thesen on July 12, 2025:This list has been updated to include the latest entry of the franchise, Mortal Kombat 1. While it may not have taken the top place, it does a great job of delivering an amazing fighting game experience.
10Mortal Kombat 11
Mortal Kombat 11hasvarious towers— some that change and update over time — and you can play asSpawnand other famous pop culture figures likeRamboandThe Joker. But itsstory’s endingis whatholds it back. After defeating Kronika, Liu Kang — now a fire god —resets the timelineand goes back in time to visit The Great Kung Lao.
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The game’s story is just a setup toreboot the entire franchiseinstead of continuing to build on its story. Mortal Kombat 11 also doesn’t allow you to play asReptileand instead places him in the Krypt where you can kill him in one shot for currency. That’spretty lame.
9Mortal Kombat (2011)
2011’s Mortal Kombat aka Mortal Kombat 9 undid the wrong that was done in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon andbrought back regular fatalities. The game also gave you the freedom tocreate your own combosand the overall combat was more free-flowing than in the games prior to its release.
It was nice to play as Scorpion and mix his famous spear attack in between a flurry of hits. It was atrue return to formfor the franchise as it also brought back the gore — which was heavily reduced in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.
8Mortal Kombat X
Mortal Kombat Xintroduced various forms of each combatant that changed how they played. Scorpion’s ‘Ninjutsu’ form allowed him to use his swords during the fight, but he could also summon a demon to aid him in battle with his ‘Inferno’ form. Thehighlightof the 10th game was the introduction ofX-Ray moveswhich were carried over into Mortal Kombat 11. If your health got knocked down to around a quarter left, you could perform an X-Ray move. This not only had your character performing a deadly and automated sequence of attacks, but you could watch and see bones breaking as they were being performed.
The game also introduced a cool newonline team-based modecalledFactionsallowing you to team up with other people and try to earn as many points as possible bywinning fightsand pulling offfatalities. At the end of each week, thewinning factionand its members would be givenvarious rewards.
7Mortal Kombat: Deception
Despite havingthe worst version of Liu Kang, Mortal Kombat: Deception addedinstant death trapswithin stages, and madecertain areas breakable, giving the arenas more life. Kicking your opponent through a wall just to see them tumble to the ground below was avisual treatand made you feel even more powerful.
Deception also implemented acombo breaker systemand even allowed characters to kill themselves by performingHara-Kiriinstead of being killed with a fatality. If you wanted to take a break from fighting, you could complete puzzles and even aMortal Kombat version of chess.
6Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
The game thatsaved the franchise. Deadly Allianceoverhauled the gameplayin every way possible. There was no more running, characters hadthree different fighting styles, and move sets were cleaned up and shortened.
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The game also contained the mostshocking neck snapseen around the world as Shang Tsung — with the assistance of Quan Chi — killed the thought to be unkillable Liu Kang in the opening cinematic. Deadly Alliance was also thefirst Mortal Kombatgame toskip the arcadeand go right to the home console.
5Mortal Kombat (1992)
The game contained adecapitation so brutalit made politicians freak outcausing the creation of the ESRB. The first Mortal Kombat took arcades by storm with its bloody fatalities and even contained a secret boss fight.
By performing a fatality on the pit stage after back-to-back rounds of taking no damage and not blocking once, you got to fight Reptile — that is if a silhouette flew by the moon. The game also was thefirst fighter to use actual actorsin the game instead of animated character models — outside of Goro who was made using stop motion animation.
4Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
Aneight-player tournament mode,chain combosthat could be started in the air, and the ability tochange into an animaland kill your opponent at the end of each match. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 introduced some cool new features and somememorable charactersincludingJade,Ermac, andSmoke— whose ability to turn invisible made fighting Reptile very interesting, to say the least.
What also set the ‘Ultimate’ version apart from the regular version was its inclusion ofseveral new stagesincludingScorpions Lairwhich allowed you to uppercut your opponent into apool of lava.
3Mortal Kombat 4
When Mortal Kombat 4 was released in 1997, it marked the franchise’s move from 2D to3D graphicsand models; it was the first game to usefully computer-generated character models. Midway even developed its own hardware for the game’s graphical upgrade.
Eachcharacterwas alsogiven a weaponto use in combat, and it was also the first game in the franchise to showcasecharacters dying from a game over— they would fall down a pit, and when the clock reached zero, they would land on abed of spikes. Thestage fatalitieswere also some of thebest in the franchise. You could throw your opponent into a giant metal fan in the prison and uppercut them into ceiling spikes in Goro’s lair.
2Mortal Kombat 1
Mortal Kombat 1repeats thesame ideaintroduced for its 2011 installment by having the story be a direct continuationbyresetting time. MK11 saw Liu Kang become thenew guardian of time, and he used this new role to remake the entire universe into one ofpeace and prosperity.
Afterward, he gave it all up and assumed the new mantle ofDemigod of Fire. Seeing all thechangesto thetimelinethis time around keeps the storyfeeling freshwhile also offering bits ofnostalgiaseeing thefamiliar faces. The newKameo fighter mechanicallows for a ton of variationswithoutneeding to rely onmastering additional charactersthat you tag into battle.
1Mortal Kombat 2
Mortal Kombat 2is thebest game in the franchisebecause it was the first game in the series to give fightersmultiple fatalities,expandedtheirspecial move set, and addedmore stage fatalities. It also madeReptileaplayable characterand gave him his own move set and story.
The sequel to the original also introducedBabality— where you could turn your opponent into a baby — and offer your opponent agesture of friendshipafter matches. It also added aducking low punchyou could use instead of just uppercutting your opponent. It also had one thesweetest cabinet design of any of the gameswith Raiden on the side and lightning bolts arcing above and around him.
