Mortal Kombat 4
Platform: Nintendo 64
Media: Cartridge
Genre: VS Fighter
Release Year: 1998
Developer: Eurocom
Publisher: Midway Games
Players: Single-player, multiplayer
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Plot

Thousands of years before the start of the series, Shinnok, one of the Elder Gods who control the six realms in the Mortal Kombat universe, attempted to become the conqueror from all of them. Thunder God Raiden fought and defeated Shinnok in a war that spanned hundreds of years, sending him afterwards to the Netherealm, where he would be trapped forever. Now, Shinnok managed to escape from the Netherealm with help from the sorcerer Quan Chi, and seeks revenge to the Elder Gods who banished him. In his plan, he first conquers the realm of Edenia, with the aid of a traitor, Tanya, while he prepares to attack the Elder Gods. In order to stop Shinnok's menace, Raiden requests the help from the Earthrealm warriors who managed to save the realms from Emperor Shao Kahn in previous titles.

Gameplay

Mortal Kombat 4 is played in a similar way to the previous titles from the series. It however introduces a limited weapon system, allowing one to take out a weapon using a set button combination, having an almost completely new movelist for the said character. The weapons can also be thrown and dropped, in similar fashion as the arena objects; if an opponent's weapon is dropped the other character is able to hold it and use it. By sidestepping the player is able to move the camera, making both characters unable to hold up the weapons or objects they had in the ground.

MK4 added a "Maximum Damage" cap to the game's combo system, automatically breaking off combos if they deal over a set amount of damage to a player and, thus, preventing infinite combos (although this cap can be removed with a code). Unlike Mortal Kombat Trilogy which contained multiple finishing moves of various kinds, Mortal Kombat 4 only gives two Fatalities per character and two Stage Fatalities that can only be done in a certain arena and involve the character throwing the opponent to part of the arena where he can die.

MK4 also contains a game over countdown which showed the player's defeated character falling down what appears to be a never ending well. When the timer hits zero, the camera pans to the character's side. The character then screams as they hit a spike pit with a crunch. "Game Over" then appears.

Characters

The following is a list of the characters included in the Mortal Kombat 4 character selection roster.

New characters

MK4 introduced:

Fujin - Raiden's ally who first appeared in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero known as the Wind God.
Jarek - The last of the Black Dragon after Kano's death.
Kai - A Shaolin monk and friend of Liu Kang.
Meat - A bloody skeleton. An unlockable character.
Quan Chi - The mysterious evil sorcerer who first appeared in Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm and then would later reappear in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero as the main antagonist. Quan Chi poses as a boss before the battle against Shinnok.
Reiko - Shinnok's general.
Shinnok - An imprisoned Elder God. First appeared in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero as the final boss. Shinnok appears as the boss for all characters and sub-boss character when playing as Goro.
Tanya - A traitor to Edenia.

Returning characters

Goro - The four-armed menace, giving the game a new style in playability. He's the sub-boss of the game. An unlockable character.
Jax - A U.S. Special Forces officer who finds out that Jarek is still alive.
Johnny Cage - The Hollywood movie star who will produce his next movie.
Liu Kang - A Shaolin monk who seeks to destroy Shinnok.
Noob Saibot - The undead original Sub-Zero. An unlockable character.
Raiden - The thunder god who again guides the mortals.
Reptile - A Zaterran warrior who seeks to serve Shinnok to save his realm.
Scorpion - An undead ninja who again seeks revenge on his nemesis Sub-Zero and Quan-Chi.
Sonya Blade - A Special Forces lieutenant who seeks to destroy Jarek.
Sub-Zero - A Lin Kuei ninja again stalked by Scorpion.