Tag Archives: Video Games

MORTAL KOMBAT: Who’s who? (Round 2)

Posted by ErikSlader on

Reblogged from Geek to Geek Media!

With the upcoming release of “MORTAL KOMBAT” (2021) – in theaters and on HBO Max on Friday, April 23rd, we figured what better way to prep than to do a deep dive into the rich mythology and ever-evolving backstories of this epic video game franchise? (Click here for Part One!)

Mortal Kombat II (1993) is often considered by many old school fans as the best game in the series, it built on the first game in a number of ways: increased the roster, added several new characters, deepened the story, upped the blood, and doubled down on the fatalities. Following Liu Kang’s victory in Shang Tsung’s tournament, Shao Kahn hosts a second tournament in Outworld with plans to invade Earth should Raiden’s warriors fail. It was a smash hit at the time, but also caused quite the controversy, eventually leading to the creation of the ratings system. The wave of popularity that followed soon lead to the first “Mortal Kombat” feature film in 1995 and a not-so-great sequel, “Mortal Kombat: Annihilation” in 1997.

ROUND TWO

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REVISITING “SCOTT PILGRIM’S PRECIOUS LITTLE LIFE” (VOL 1)

Posted by ErikSlader on

Reblogged from Geek to Geek Media

 

In honor of “National Drop Everything and Read Day” (D.E.A.R.), I figured this was as good an excuse as any to re-read one of my favorite graphic novel series of all time: Scott Pilgrim!

You might be familiar with that name if you’re a fan of Michael Cera movies, or retro-style beat ’em up video games, but you might not have read the original comics by writer/artist Bryan Lee O’Malley that started it all – and I’m here to tell you that you absolutely owe it to yourself to do just that.

saga, titled “Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life” opens with the line “Scott Pilgrim is dating a high schooler!” – and right away we meet our ‘hero’, Scott Pilgrim: a mild-mannered slacker in his early 20’s with very little ambition and no direction to speak of, which honestly sounds a lot like myself at that age. Scott’s part of a band (the Sex Bob-Ombs) and they kinda suck, but make up for it with determination.

Bryan Lee O’Malley weaves an intricate plot of weird and interesting characters with laugh out loud humor on every other page, nerdy references sprinkled throughout, and some of the most genuinely heartfelt moments in modern comics, in this ultra meta, video game inspired, coming of age story.

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MORTAL KOMBAT: Who’s who? (Round 1)

Posted by ErikSlader on

This article first appeared on GeekToGeekMedia.com

With the upcoming release of “MORTAL KOMBAT” (2021) – in theaters and on HBO Max on Friday, April 23rd, we figured what better way to prep than to do a deep dive into the rich mythology and ever-evolving backstories of this epic video game franchise?

In the original, somewhat controversial kontroversial 1992 arcade classic (created by Ed Boon and John Tobias), the evil sorcerer, Shang Tsung, hosts a tournament on a mystical island to determine the fate of Earthrealm. The game was revolutionary at the time, featuring 7 playable fighters who were all brought to life with digitized frames of live action actors. The game has since spawned 10 sequels, spin-offs, komics, action figures, kartoons, and three live action films.

As one of the longest-lived fighting game franchises ever, Mortal Kombat has always had a large, diverse, colorful cast of characters- sorry, kast of kharacters (this is exhausting). But after nearly a dozen games the sheer number of characters has exploded, and unless you’re a die hard MK fan it kan be a bit konfusing (UGH) trying to keep track of who is who and how they all relate to each other.

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