Mortal Kombat is easily one of the most infamous fighting game series of all time. With its over-the-top violence and graphic imagery, it's been the bane of concerned parents of gamers everywhere. But what use are ninjas, elder gods, and mutants without a place to duke it out?
Enter the Mortal Kombat arenas with their various designs, traps, and layouts for different ways to play. Have a look at these ten arenas worthy of Shang Tsung's Kombat Tournament.
When most gamers think of a fight in any Mortal Kombat title, they usually see this iconic stage from the first game. An audience of monks and Shang Tsung on his throne watching the two Kombatants test their might in a fight to the death. Every good bloodsport deserves a proper audience, and this stage just sets the bar for the venues to come.
The Warrior's Shrine in the first title serves as the testament to the might of the game's cast of fierce Kombatants.
Featuring statues made in the likenesses of Goro, Kano, Liu Kang, Raiden, Cage, and the rest, it's a regular who's who of the Mortal Kombat Tournament. It might not be anything novel, but it has some major visual appeal.
Jumping from the arcade cabinet to the age of modern consoles, let's have a look at the Kove from MKX. A fighting stage where players can interact with a sea of corpses, pirate ships, and various crates of cargo to their advantage, how does this not sound like a good time? Although it uses the environment gimmick from Netherealm's Injustice, it surprisingly works perfectly for this series.
Though it could technically be considered a remade version of the Living Forest, the Dead Woods from MKX has a certain foreboding quality to it. Accompanied by the fact it was the main stage where Scorpion and Sub-Zero have their first of many battles in the tenth entry of the series.
Seeing a pair of fighters throwing blows in a snowy wood gives off an epic vibe that is exceptionally palpable.
Not only is this stage a fully-rendered update of a classic stage, but a throwback that presents the aftereffects of the ongoing fight between Outworld and Earthrealm. The familiar stage is in ruins, decrepit, and decaying right before the player's eyes. So why not add to the damage by pummeling an opponent or two in the ruins of Shang Tsung's personal battle arena? Not that the cast of fighters minds it.
Both versions of this venue are pretty awesome, whether in the arcade or on the PS3. A fighting stage composed of a demonic head with a swirling vortex of tortured souls in its jaws, that sounds like something more at home on a metal album cover than a fighting game, doesn't it?
The remake version even featured a dragon head with serpentine tentacles to go that extra mile, definitely earning it a spot on the list.
Although this is actually a remake of the same scene in Mortal Kombat Alliance, this one features a fully animated Shao Khan belting out insults at the player as the Kombatants fight in front of the armor-clad ruler of Outworld. Similar to Shang Tsung's throne room, the players have the opportunity to clash in front of the almighty final boss of the game. That's certainly one way to warm up the crowd.
No, not the merc with the mouth, but the torture chamber with the vats of boiling acid ready to dissolve any unfortunate martial arts practitioner to a slimy skeleton. Next to another entry on this list, it has one of the most gruesome stage fatalities featured in the series.
The franchise is infamous for featuring some seriously grotesque finishing moves, once interactive stages were added to the mix, the blood only ran thicker from there.
Certain fighting games feature console exclusives such as characters, stages, and other such content. One of these exclusives just so happened to be the Chamber of the Fire from the God of War series. It even featured a fearsome stage fatality that Kratos himself could be proud of, allowing the player to choose how the opponent met their demise. Variety is the spice of life (and death) after all.
Perhaps the most popular, most used, and most seen stage in the series, the Pit is what every fighting stage, interactive or otherwise, should strive to be. It looks like something out of a kung-fu flick and is comprised of a tall, narrow bridge over a bed of spikes, upping the suspense between the two fighters. Next to scenes like Shang Tsung's Courtyard, it's perhaps the most recognizable and iconic venue that any of the games have to offer.
