5 Best Mortal Kombat Games, Ranked

Ever since its debut in 1992, the "Mortal Kombat" franchise has made waves in both the fighting game scene and the wider gaming industry. The game series revolves around a conflict between Earthrealm and the fantasy dimension of Outworld, initially starting out as a martial arts tournament before exploding into a full-on war. 

In contrast to other games, "Mortal Kombat" featured gratuitous blood and gore upon its debut, including its notorious finishing moves that often reduced defeated fighters to little more than viscera. These elements made "Mortal Kombat" one of the most controversial retro video games of all time, but the series has an appeal that includes far more than just its on-screen carnage.

Over 30 years since its launch, the "Mortal Kombat" series is still a fan favorite and active franchise today. Everyone has their own beloved titles from its extensive history, whether it's the games featuring classic digitized actors or the 3D titles that gave the series its second wind. That said, there are a handful of games that rise above the rest as the series' clear frontrunners. These are the five best "Mortal Kombat" games ranked, showcasing the underlying appeal of the long-running franchise.

As a conciliatory gesture to arcade operators for porting "Mortal Kombat 3" to home platforms a mere six months after the arcade game's debut, Midway Games produced an enhanced update. Introduced in arcades the month after the base game's home ports, 1995's "Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3" rebalanced and improved upon the gameplay. The story remains the same as the base game, with Outworld Emperor Shao Khan resurrecting his bride Sindel as an excuse to invade Earthrealm. But the game adds seven fighters that were missing from the "MK3" roster, each with their own backstory to fill out the narrative.

If there was ever a '90s "Mortal Kombat" arcade game to play, it's "Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3," with its robust roster and faster-paced gameplay. The controls are more intuitive than the three games that came before it, including "MK3," with a stronger emphasis on stringing together combos. The set of classic characters reincorporated into the roster corrects a major gaffe, particularly with the return of Scorpion and his use of the most iconic "Mortal Kombat" move. "Mortal Kombat" co-creator Ed Boon once named "UMK3" as his favorite of the franchise's arcade titles, and we're inclined to agree with him.

It's hard to understate how much of a rebirth the 2011 reboot of "Mortal Kombat" felt like at the time. Released after a line of middling sequels and frustrating spin-off titles, "Mortal Kombat 9," as it's colloquially known, opens with Raiden fighting a losing battle against Shao Kahn. Moments before his defeat, Raiden sends a telepathic message to his past self to change history and prevent Shao Kahn from reigning supreme. This triggers an altered version of the events of the first three games, with unexpected consequences from Raiden's tampering with the timeline.

With the 2011 "Mortal Kombat," the franchise definitively entered the modern era of gaming, refining its gameplay and upping the technical presentation accordingly. The game went back to basics for the franchise, keeping combat on a 2D plane while retelling its classic initial story with a time-bending twist. Bringing the blood and fury in a big way, the game introduced modern flourishes as well, including X-ray attacks revealing the internal damage that the fighters endure. A crucial chapter in the stunning transformation of "Mortal Kombat," the franchise is what it is today because of this title.

1996's "Mortal Kombat Trilogy" isn't a compilation of prior games, but a standalone title combining and remixing elements from preceding entries in the series. Released exclusively for home platforms, rather than receiving an arcade version, the game distills numerous features from the franchise up to that point into a single experience. While building primarily off the engine used for "Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3," the game brings in stages and characters as they appeared in prior installments. The gameplay's key new feature is the addition of an Aggressor meter, encouraging players to stay on the offensive as it results in faster and more damaging attacks.

While the mish-mash of playable characters from different games does make the roster noticeably unbalanced, "Mortal Kombat Trilogy" makes up for it by being so ridiculously fun. The gameplay feels even tighter and faster than it had in "Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3" and the unabashed chaos adds to the appeal. Admittedly, not every version of the game across its numerous platforms is up to par but the PC and PlayStation iterations are standouts. A celebration of the entire "Mortal Kombat" series up until that time, "Mortal Kombat Trilogy" is the quintessential title from the franchise's classic era.

Building on the strong foundation from the 2011 reboot, "Mortal Kombat X" takes the franchise into its darkest experience. Set in the new timeline created by Raiden in the preceding game, Shinnok tries to invade Earthrealm, only to be defeated by a team led by Raiden and Johnny Cage. 20 years later, a new generation of fighters, including the classic characters' children, step up in attempt to stop Quan Chi from freeing Shinnok from his magical imprisonment. Every playable character, including a guest roster of modern horror movie icons, has multiple fighting styles, underscoring the gameplay's considerable depth.

While "Mortal Kombat" has long been a game that you shouldn't play around your kids, 2015's "Mortal Kombat X" truly goes that extra gruesome mile with its brutality. The on-screen violence is particularly graphic, and the gameplay feels much more intense than the preceding reboot. The game's DLC guest characters highlight those darker and more vicious tones, fitting in organically with the game's overall aesthetics. Still the most violent and sinister entry in the franchise to date, "Mortal Kombat X" provides a bloody good time.

The culmination of the timeline set into motion by Raiden in the 2011 reboot, "Mortal Kombat 11" introduces the cosmic keeper of time, Kronika. The new villain's rise causes a temporal storm, bringing together characters from across the timeline into a renewed conflict for the fate of reality. This development means that not only characters from the current timeline join the fight, but warriors from other temporal divergences enter the grand battle. And whereas "MKX" leaned into horror for its guest fighters, "MK11" brings in action movie and comic book icons for its DLC roster.

When it comes to the purest distillation of "Mortal Kombat," particularly in the modern era, no game does it better than "Mortal Kombat 11." The 2019 game represents the franchise at its most accessible and technically impressive in its presentation and variety of game modes. The gameplay is engaging and fun, not too complex to newcomers but rewarding to franchise veterans. As a testament to its wider appeal and clear quality, "Mortal Kombat 11" is the best-selling title in the franchise to date, and remains the high point in the series.