Mortal Kombat: Special Forces
Developer(s)	Midway
Publisher(s)	Midway
Series	Mortal Kombat
Platform(s)	PlayStation
Release date(s)	July 30, 2000 (NA) September 29, 2000 (EU)
Genre(s)	Fighting/Adventure
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: M
Media	CD

Mortal Kombat: Special Forces is an action game for the PlayStation. It was released in North America on July 30, 2000, and in Europe on September 29, 2000. The game focuses on Major Jackson Briggs as he tracks down the Black Dragon. It was widely panned by critics and fans alike.^[1]

Contents 1 Storyline 2 Reception 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Storyline

Special Forces is chronologically the first game in the Mortal Kombat storyline, as it's events take place even before Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero. The story of the game interprets Kano freeing his gang, the Black Dragon (Tasia, Tremor, No Face and Jarek) from a maximum security prison and Jax, seeking revenge upon witnessing the slaughter of his Special Forces comrades at the hands of the Black Dragon, undertakes a mission to stop them from retrieving an artifact of great power, the Eye of Shitian. The true power of the artifact is shown in the ending that it can open portals to other realms when Jax uses the artifact to teleport himself and Kano back to Earthrealm after defeating him.

[edit] Reception

Of all the Mortal Kombat games, Special Forces is considered by many to be the worst, though some^[who?] believe Mortal Kombat Advance holds that dubious honor (though, contrary to Special Forces, Advance is an adaptation, not an original entry in the series). This has much to do with the fact that many of Midway's staff, including series co-creator John Tobias, left the company in 2000 for various reasons while the game was still in production. The plot of Special Forces (which originally included Sonya) was greatly revised following Tobias's departure and the game was rushed to completion, selling so terribly that Midway placed the series on hold in preparation for Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (2002). Ed Boon even regarded Special Forces as the lowest point in the franchise, stating "The game had a pretty bumpy development ride and the game didn't turn out very good at all."^[2]

This was the second Mortal Kombat game developed by Midway that was more of a platformer than a fighting game, after having tested the waters with Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero in 1997. Tobias intended to work on a series of platform games to expand the Mortal Kombat universe, including titles centering around Baraka and Liu Kang; only the latter was actually released by Midway (2005's Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks) despite having sat on the drawing board for many years.

There were plans for a Nintendo 64 version but after Tobias' departure and the release of the PlayStation 2 and Xbox systems, Midway management decided on a budget release of the game priced at $20.00 for the PS1 only.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Mortal Kombat: Special Forces at MobyGames
• Mortal Kombat: Special Forces media and information archive at Total Mortal Kombat

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