Why People Think Mortal Kombat 4 Had One Of The Worst Endings Ever
The dark and gore-filled saga of the Mortal Kombat series has put forth one of the more interesting storylines in fighting game history.
The continued struggle between the heroes and villains of Earthrealm and Netherrealm has captured the imagination of fans since 1992. Martial arts masters such as Lui Kang, Sonya Blade, and Raiden have regularly fought on the side of good to push back the threat of adversaries such as Goro, Shang Tsung, and Shao Khan. And with the release of Mortal Kombat 11, the time travel has been introduced, pitting past versions of iconic characters against their current-day counterparts.
1997's Mortal Kombat 4 went big and finally took the series into the world of 3D. With the introduction of fully modeled 3D character models came a bigger cinematic presentation. However, that aspect of the game didn't exactly hit on all cylinders, and MK4 is commonly considered one of the weaker entries in the series.
There's an especially infamous ending from MK4 that makes everyone who watches it laugh uncontrollably or cringe from overwhelming embarrassment.
Mortal Kombat 4's closing cinematic for Jax is supremely cringeworthy
If you were skilled enough to beat MK4 with Jax, you were immediately treated to an ending cutscene that's memorable for all the wrong reasons.
As Sonya comes to blows with an enemy by the name of Jarek, players' ears were treated to some pretty awkwardly flat voice acting from both combatants. On a visual level, the super awkward fighting stance animations and horrid walking movement from Jarek were especially cringeworthy. Hilarity soon ensues when Jarek goes flying off of a cliff and proceeds to belt out one of MK's signature over the top battle cries on his way down.
All of a sudden, players find out that Jarek held onto the cliff at the last moment. He then proceeds to fling Sonya to her doom and belts out one of the worst laughs anyone has ever had the displeasure of listening to. Jax soon arrives on the scene to get revenge for his partner and finally get rid of Jarek for good.
Jax's MK4 ending is pure schlock and a stark reminder of corny 90s fighting game storytelling. It's no wonder that fans of the series find it to be so entertainingly bad.