MK9 fatalities will once again be "crazy over-the-top"

Ed Boon has said the new Mortal Kombat may be a bit of a reboot, but it's going back to the basics of what made it a popular game with consumers to begin with: over-the-top M-rated violence.

Speaking with Gamasutra, Boon said it may feel to some that a MK title hasn't been out in a while, but it's only been a couple years since MK vs DC was released. The reason it feels like such a long while is because it was not an M-rated game and a departure for the franchise. That's all about to change, Raiden.

"You know, I think it hasn't really been that long since the last MK game came out. It's only been like two years, so from that respect, it's not like a reboot like we've seen... like when Tomb Raider went away for a long time, or Street Fighter, Twisted Metal, and all that. Those games had a long absence," said Boon.

"But from our perspective, the last game we did was probably the biggest departure for MK. It was the first T-rated MK game, and we added characters that had never been in a MK game, with DC -- you know, Batman, and Superman, and all that.

"So from that standpoint, we just heard a lot of feedback asking, 'Is the next game going to be back to an M-rated presentation,' and, you know, 'traditional' MK? So we really felt that now is just a really great time to explore a reboot of sorts.

"You know, we've actually kind of rebooted the presentation and the fighting and all that a couple of times in the past. With Deadly Alliance, in 2002, we did. And so we just really felt like, along with the post-MK vs. DC T-rated thing, and the fact that we haven't rebooted our whole presentation and fighting mechanic in awhile, it was just the perfect time for all that to happen.

"So from that standpoint, yeah, it did really well, but at the same time, it created a great opportunity for us, because it gave us a break in terms of a period of time which there hasn't been an M-rated Mortal Kombat, and created this hunger for a return.

"So I guess that I really feel like the planets are aligned, and in so many ways; it's the first M-rated MK on this generation of consoles, our last game was a T-rated game... You know, there certainly is a resurgence of games returning to their classic form; Street Fighter, Sonic the Hedgehog, now the more recent Twisted Metal, and there's just a good amount of this trend that's happening."

And the violence inherent in the MK system? Oh, it's just for fun and giggles, folks.

"Our goal with our violence and all that stuff is way more to just surprise, maybe entertain, just from the outrageousness of it all," added Boon. "You know, the fatalities are just so crazy over-the-top that they're more inventive than inherently violent. I mean, they're violent -- don't get me wrong -- but it's just funny, just such over the top ways of killing people, that you just can't take it seriously."

Mortal Kombat 9, a.k.a Mortal Kombat 2011 is slated for release next year on PS3 and Xbox 360.