Mortal Kombat II (Arcade)

Mortal Kombat II
Developer: Midway Games Publisher: Midway Games Platform: Arcade (Midway T-Unit) Released in US: April 3, 1993 This game has unused code. This game has a hidden developer message. This game has hidden developer credits. This game has hidden development-related text. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused abilities. This game has unused sounds. This game has debugging material. This game has revisional differences. This game has a development article

Mortal Kombat II is the second incarnation of everyone's favorite slasher/soap opera. More characters! More gore! More -alities!

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Development Info

EJB Menu

The EJB Menu is an alternate test menu that can be accessed through this button code in attract mode:
1P Block (×5), 2P Block (×10), 1P Block (×2), 2P Block (×8), 1P Block (×2)

The timing on this code is extremely tight, so you might have to try multiple times before it registers. Put the following MAME code in mk2.xml to simplify the code to 2P Block, 1P Block, 1P Block:

  <cheat desc="Simplified EJB Code">
    <script state="run">
      <action>maincpu.mw@00439F4=D5A0</action>
    </script>
  </cheat>

• Diagnostics Tests - Identical to normal test menu.
• Coin Bookkeeping - Identical to normal test menu.

• Game Audits - Acts like the normal test menu, but with five extra audits on the first page:

Sec Chip Failure

Error Traps

System Lockups

Illegal Opcodes

Clue Counter (related to the hidden character fights)

• Volume Adjust - Identical to normal test menu.

• Hello - Displays this screen of shout-outs for ten seconds, then exits the EJB menu.
• Enter Initials - Jumps to the high score initials screen. The number of wins seems to be random, but it increases every time.

• Character Endings - Jumps to a new sub-menu. This displays the selected character's ending and the game credits.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Unused Sprites

A World Wrestling Federation logo found inside the game. Possibly meant for an advertisement that was scrapped. Midway would develop WWF WrestleMania two years later.

Smiley faces of unknown use. The first one is displayed in the PlayStation version whenever the game loads.

A red sky background meant to be seen inside the grates on the wall of the Dead Pool background like in the SNES port of this game and the Nintendo 64 version of Mortal Kombat Trilogy. In the normal version, the background is merely dark green.

Acid bubbles meant for the Dead Pool background.

Acid splash meant for the Dead Pool background.

This can be seen in the Portal background by using a MAME cheat to break the screen limitations (so you can walk off the edge). It was later used in Mortal Kombat Trilogy.

Silhouettes from the Pit background in Mortal Kombat.

Kintaro, assumed to once be in the intro of MK2. The face portion of this image would later be used for Kintaro's character select portrait in Mortal Kombat Trilogy.

(Discovery: ZPaul2Fresh8)

Silhouette which seems to be Kintaro. May have been meant for an intro screen like Goro's intro screen in the original Mortal Kombat.

Silhouette of Kahn with MK1 Shang Tsung going through portal. Possibly an alternate Storyboard Screen

(Discovery: TehDrewsus)

One of the male ninja characters throwing something on the ground. A non-broken version (called "Tornado") of this animation exists in the leaked source files, oddly stored among the "general background" graphics.

Baraka's blades were probably meant to sparkle during his win pose.

Looks like Baraka was meant to have some sort of flip move with his blades extended.

A spin move for Baraka, later used in Mortal Kombat Trilogy.

Kintaro standing. The shading implies it was meant for Kahn's Arena.

Kintaro grabbing and hitting an opponent. This move was later incorporated into Mortal Kombat Trilogy.

Shine meant for Kung Lao's hat during his win pose.

Had this been used in-game, it would have made Kung Lao's headbutt move less confusing, as it shows that he's actually attacking by using his hat.

This was used for MK2 Kung Lao in Mortal Kombat Trilogy for the PlayStation, PC, and Sega Saturn.

Lightning meant to go around Raiden during battle like in Mortal Kombat. The design is the same as in that game, but redrawn to match the style of the lightning in MK2.

Raiden lifting up and shocking someone, likely a Fatality. Raiden would eventually use a similar Fatality in Mortal Kombat 4.

Shao Kahn standing up. Shao Kahn was probably supposed to stand up after you beat Kintaro since he is seen sitting in the background of the level. These would later be used in early versions of the Nintendo 64 version of Mortal Kombat Trilogy, in which this animation triggers when the "FINISH HIM/HER" prompt appears. Shao Kahn would alter do a similar animation in Mortal Kombat (2011).

Shao Kahn doing a clap. Perhaps he shot out a projectile or created a shockwave.

Shao Kahn glowing. May have been used as a shield when he is laughing, but it is more likely that this was intended to be used during the final defeat sequence where he teleports through all stages, since he uses that pose there.

Shao Kahn grabbing the opponent and hitting him. He would acquire this move in Mortal Kombat Trilogy.

Looks like Shao Kahn was originally meant to have a Fatality. These sprites show him punching the ground and a large hand which probably smashed the opponent. A non-broken version of the fist's sprite exists in the leaked source files.

Shao Kahn hitting the opponent with both hands simultaneously. This was later used in Mortal Kombat Trilogy.

Shao Kahn using a sledgehammer. These sprites would later be inserted, yet again unused, in Mortal Kombat 3.

Looks like Sub-Zero originally had the ability to do a freeze blast while in mid-air. Eventually, Sub-Zero can do so in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero.

Sprites of various staff members. Perhaps they were meant to be shown on the Pit II bridge during the credits, like the motion capture actors were? A non-glitched version of the sixth character exists in the source files.

(Source: Red Sumac)

Unused Sounds

To do: Are any of the sounds in here actually unused?

There are several unused sounds in this game, mostly carry overs from the first game. There are, however, several vocal tracks and sounds for both existing and unknown characters.

General

Male Vocal: Yeah!		Unknown purpose. Possible win pose vocal for an unknown character or something else entirely. Called "DFYeah" in the leaked source code, after Dan Forden.
Male Vocal: Yeaaaaaaaah!		Unknown purpose. Possible win pose vocal track for Jax. Called "JaxYeah" in the leaked source code
Female Sound: Kiss		Most likely an alternative to Kitana's normal kissing sound. Called "Kiss2" in the leaked source code
Male Sound: Kiss		Seems to align perfectly with Johnny Cage's win pose, but for some reason goes unused. Called "Cagekiss" in the leaked source code. This ended up used in the Nintendo 64 version of Mortal Kombat Trilogy in Johnny Cage's Friendship animation.
Female Vocal: Inflate Strain		Female characters use the male strain vocal track when Kitana's kiss is performed on them. It is unknown why this was left unused. Called "GExplode" in the leaked source code
Male Vocal: Muffled Laugh		A similar laugh would later be used in Mortal Kombat 4 but without the "Felcher" part at the end. called "JHFelch" in the leaked source code, likely after Jon Hey who worked on Sound.
Male Vocal: Attack 1		An attack vocal track for Jax. Called "JaxAhh" in the leaked source code
Male Vocal: Attack 2		An attack vocal track for an unknown male character. Called "VPAttak1" in the leaked source code, after Vince Pontarelli who worked on sound.
Male Vocal: Attack 3		An attack vocal track for an unknown male character. Called "VPAttak2" in the leaked source code, after Vince Pontarelli who worked on sound.
Male Vocal: Attack 4		An attack vocal track for an unknown male character. Called "VPThrow" in the leaked source code, after Vince Pontarelli who worked on sound.
Male Vocal: Damaged		A vocal track of an unknown male character receiving damage. Called "VPWast1" in the leaked source code, after Vince Pontarelli who worked on sound.

(Discovery: Abystus)

Developer Tools

Display Hitboxes

Setting RAM address 1061FB0 to a non-zero value will enable a hidden development tool that was most likely used to help the developers position hitboxes correctly with their corresponding moves. This tool is also hidden within the 32-bit home console ports, where it has been expanded to display damage areas (marked in red) on the opponent in addition to the attack-related hitboxes (marked in green).

(Discovery: Abystus)

Red Herrings

Audits

In the test menu, there is an audit screen that lists several statistics that the game keeps track of. Some of these don't actually do anything and never go up, being there simply to stir up rumors and hype among the game's fanbase, something seen in other Mortal Kombat games.

• Shawn Attacks: Who knows? Doesn't seem to be any Shawns listed in the credits. However, in an interview with a fan in 2008, Ed Boon said the fake counter was named after his cousin Shawn/Shaun, also possibly a shoutout to Shawn Liptak who wrote a program called "Imagetool" which everyone at Midway used. The counter is hooked up to "# of times Security Chip Powerup", however.

(Source: TotalMK - Interview with Ed Boon (2008))

• Kano Transformations: Kano is present in the game, but solely as a background element. (This is actually just a different name for the "Sec Chip Failures" audit.)

(Discovery of "Kano Transformations" and "Shawn Attacks" functions: ZPaul2Fresh8)

Win Text

The following win text is located on ROM chips ug12/uj12 (interleaved) starting at 0x04832. They were most likely put in as a joke. This is the first mention of a character named Tanya, who eventually made her debut in Mortal Kombat 4.

KANO WINS
SONYA WINS
TANYA WINS
ERMAC WINS
ED BOON WINS
JOHN TOBIAS WINS
MARK TURMELL WINS
SAL DIVITA WINS

Unused Audits

There are two unused audits in the game. Audit text starts at 0x491FC:

   S TAKEN
DOOR SLAMS

" S TAKEN" is probably a coin counter, while "DOOR SLAMS" would count the number of cabinet tilts. Similar audits appear in games that use the Midway Y-Unit system.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Unused Stage Name

Usually you can only fight in the hidden Goro's Lair stage when fighting against the hidden characters (Jade, Smoke, and Noob Saibot). If one uses hacking or cheats to choose the stage in a two-player game, it will show up on the VS screen as "No Name".

Oddities

Forgotten Logo

Daniel Pesina as Johnny Cage was filmed wearing Otomix-brand athletic pants with a very visible logo. Most of the sprites had this edited out, but when doing Shang Tsung's soul steal Fatality, it can be seen briefly before his corpse withers away. Likely a simple oversight, as the sprite is only ever used in that one specific Fatality.

Hidden Audit

There is an audit located at 0x1400A40 in NVRAM which tracks the amount of times Shao Kahn has been defeated. Strangely, this is not used on the standard Game Audits screen, even though Mortal Kombat had a similar one for Shang Tsung.

(Discovery: ZPaul2Fresh8)

Hidden Credits

Present at 0xFFA29102 in the main CPU.

THIS IS MORTAL KOMBAT II
COPYRIGHT (C) 1992,93 MIDWAY MANUFACTURING
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Present at the beginning of the sound CPU.

Mortal Kombat II (c) 1993 Williams - DWF

Revision Differences

A number of different versions of MK2 were released over time.

To do: Perform additional research.

Revision 0.1

The first revision and unavailable to the public!

• No blood except for some Fatalities.
• No announcer.
• No "Round" or "Fight!!" text.
• The Fatality jingle is noticeably different.
• The "moaning" sound effect is absent when the bleeding Fatality letters appear.
• Points are given to the round winner for "Time Bonus", "Flawless Victory" and "Double Flawless". This point system was removed in all future revisions.
• Liu Kang yells different jibberish during his Bicycle Kick.
• Kung Lao doesn't yell during his throws.
• Johnny Cage has the Otomix-brand name visible on his pants in most of his sprites.
• Reptile's Forceball sound effect is slightly different.
• Sub-Zero's Freeze move gives the opponent a different frozen color palette.
• Kitana's Kiss of Death Fatality uses a different sound effect and explosion.
• Jax doesn't yell "gotcha!" during his Gotcha Grab and his Ground Pound has no visual effects and has more delay.
• Baraka has a Spinning Blade move that would later be omitted in future revisions.
• Scorpion doesn't speak when his Spear connects.
• Raiden doesn't yell during his Torpedo and Electrocution moves and his victory pose lacks lightning.
• Multiple characters use different color palettes for player 2.
• The Battle Plan lacks Shao Kahn, Kintaro, Shang Tsung and "?".
• The Dead Pool, Kombat Tomb and The Tower use what would be the Wasteland and The Pit II's background music in Revision 3.1. The Wasteland uses Rev 3.1's Armory music.
• The Kombat Tomb lacks visible spikes on the ceiling and a yin and yang symbol on the center of the floor.
• The Tower includes two terracotta statues on, presumably, both ends of the stage.

Revision 1.1

The first public release. Despite this, it's very unfinished!

• Free Play is enabled by default.
• Almost all moves are implemented, but not many fatalities are in yet, and all the other -alities are outright missing:
  • Liu Kang is missing his Cartwheel Uppercut Fatality.
  • Kung Lao is missing his Dive-Kick and his Hat Decapitation Fatality.
  • Johnny Cage is missing his Head Uppercut Fatality, and as a result, the "3 Heads" version too.
  • Reptile is missing his Invisible Torso Rip Fatality, You can also do his Head Rip Fatality while Invisible.
  • Sub-Zero is missing both his Fatalities.
  • Shang Tsung has no Fatalities.
  • Kitana has no Fatalities.
  • Jax is missing his Backbreaker and his Arm Rip Fatality.
  • Mileena is missing her Teleport Kick, Her Roll, and her Eater Fatality.
  • Baraka is the most complete, he has all his Moves and Fatalities.
  • Scorpion is missing his Spear Slice Fatality, His Air-Throw works, but I was unable to get it to work against the CPU.
  • Raiden is missing both his Fatalities, his win animation also has no lightning and doesn't dim the screen, his Shock Grab is also ineffective against the CPU.
• Kintaro and Shao Kahn are very difficult to beat, although Kintaro can be cheesed by just mashing punch the entire match.
• No ending stories.
• Several sounds missing (Sub-Zero's freeze, Baraka's blade swipe, All of Shao Kahn).
• The Fatality jingle is missing, the stage's BGM carries on playing instead.
• "Toasty" can be heard occasionally from uppercuts, but Dan Forden doesn't appear in the corner of the screen yet.
• Kung Lao is extremely buggy, walls can block hat toss.
• Shang Tsung had the ceiling walk bug.
• Certain characters use alternate colors by default.
• You cannot throw the CPU.
• Fight ladder is static.
• Player 2 always has the 2nd palette.
• P2 Button 6 crashes the game. The cabinet doesn't have a Button 6 for either player, though, so...
• Briefly locks up/No announcement if character(s) remain unchosen.
• No Character Bios in attract mode.
• EJB menu hasn't been implemented yet.
• Oddly enough, the Armory Floor bug with Reptile hasn't been introduced yet.
• Kitana will return to her 1P palette after having her head eaten by Reptile.

Revision 1.4

• Liu Kang now has his Cartwheel Uppercut.
• Kung Lao has his Dive Kick move and is the only character on the game with a Babality.
• Johnny Cage now has his Single and Triple Head Uppercut Fatality.
• Sub-Zero now has his Freeze Uppercut Fatality, although there are no chunks of ice when the opponent explodes, you can also do the Super Freeze during the match, most easily to a frozen opponent.
• Shang Tsung now has his Invader Fatality.
• Kitana now has her Kiss Of Death Fatality.
• Jax now has his Backbreaker move, his Arm Rip Fatality has also been added.
• Mileena now has her ground roll move and the CPU can also utilise her Teleport Kick, her Eater Fatality has been added, but her Sai Frenzy Fatality has been disabled or had its button combination changed.
• Scorpion's Air Throw now works against the CPU.
• Raiden's Shock Grab move still doesn't work against the CPU despite all other grabs/throws working, his Electro Explosion Fatality has been added.
• Player 2 now only uses the 2nd palette during Mirror Matches.
• Added the "DANGER" indicator.
• Added the "Longest Winning Streaks" high score table.
• Dan Forden now appears after a "Toasty" uppercut.
• Scorpion, Sub-Zero and Reptile all have corrupted Baby palettes.
• Bio's and Endings added for all characters.
• Still no "Armory Floor" bug.
• Intro Text has been Rewritten.
• "Now The Kombat Kontinues" text added to the end of the Intro.

Revision 2.0

• EJB menu added.
• Inserting Coins at various times during attract mode can produce interesting effects such as a full machine lock and reset, or the background being missing completely from the "Press Start" screen.
• Kano, Kahn and Sonya added to "Kahn's Arena".
• Added "Fall From Spikes" to the Kombat Tomb.
• Added "Fatality" chime.
• Battleplan Randomised.
• Still no "Armory Floor" bug.
• Jade added.
• Smoke added
• Goro's Lair added.
• The Jade fight returns you to the fighter before the "?" theoretically allowing infinite Jade's.
• Activating Smoke disables the screen lock, so the screen will continue scrolling until the "Congratulations" text appears.
• No screen lock during the Pit 2 Fatality, allowing the game to scroll too far to the right or left and show there's nothing beyond.
• Liu Kang now has his Pit/Spike Fatality, Babality and Friendship.
• Kung Lao now has his Pit/Spike Fatality.
• Johnny Cage now has his Pit/Spike Fatality, Babality and Friendship.
• Reptile now has his Slide, Invisible Torso Rip Fatality, Pit/Spike Fatality, Babality and Friendship.
• Reptile no longer has his Invisible Head Rip Fatality.
• Sub-Zero now has his Slide, Ice Grenade Fatality, Pit/Spike Fatality, Babality and Friendship.
• Shang Tsung now has his Soul Stealer Fatality and Babality.
• Kitana now has her Fan Decapitation Fatality, Pit/Spike Fatality, Babality and Friendship.
• Jax now has his Pit/Spike Fatality, Babality and Friendship.
• Mileena now has her Teleport Kick accessible by the player, her Sai Frenzy Fatality has been re-enabled,and her Pit/Spike Fatality, Babality and Friendship have been added.
• Baraka now has his Pit/Spike Fatality, Babality and Friendship.
• Scorpion now has his Spear Slash Fatality, his Anywhere Toasty Fatality, Pit/Spike Fatality, Babality and Friendship.
• Raiden now has his Pit/Spike Fatality, Babality and Friendship.
• Using Shang Tsung's Soul Stealer Fatality on Jax crashes and resets the game.
• Using Shang Tsung's Soul Stealer Fatality on Mileena, Scorpion and Raiden gives a corrupted palette for some of the animation.
• Using Kitana's Fan Decapitation on a 2P Kitana results in the 2P Kitana changing to the 1P palette.
• Raiden's Shock Grab STILL doesn't work against the CPU.
• Raiden's Win animation now has appropriate Lightning and Screen Dimming.
• Shao Kahn now has Taunts and his Death Sequence.
• Text at the bottom of the Versus screen changed from "Battlezone" to "Kombat Zone".
• Ending sequences for every character added.

Revision 2.1

The first "official" release version, ready for prime time.

• Computer AI has been improved.
• Kintaro and Shao Kahn became easier to defeat.
• Could keep Kintaro and Shao Kahn up in the corner by using repeated punches.
• Could crash the game through baby brutalization.
• Doing Shang Tsung's soul stealing fatality against Jax will still crash the game.
• Raiden's Shock Grab STILL doesn't work against the CPU.

Revision 3.1

• More blood!!
• Added the stage fatality to the Dead Pool stage.
• Added Noob Saibot.
• Added Raiden's "super uppercut" fatality.
• Added Kung Lao's Friendship.
• Added pictures of the developers after the credits.
• Added the Revolution X ad and DCS Sound System logo to the Attract Mode.
• Added a picture of a CD to the Comic and CD offer in the Attract Mode.
• Computer AI has been improved.
• Computer can now perform projectile moves in the air.
• Fixed the "multiple babality" bug.
• Fixed an exploit where you could beat Kintaro easily by repeatedly punching him in the corner.
• Fixed Kitana's multiple fan lifts in the corner trick.
• Fixed Sub-Zero "freeze - punch - freeze - punch..." trick.

Revision 3.2

This version appears to have been only released in Europe.

• No changes in this version.

(Source: MAME History.dat)

(Source: MK Secrets)