Summary
A fighting game lives or dies by its roster. Whilea fighting gamecan have the flashiest animations in the world, and even the most satisfying mechanics, it’ll all be for nothing if fans don’t gel with the game’s roster of fighters - and that’s happened on more than one occasion. Thankfully, by most accounts,Mortal Kombat 1avoids this issue well, with a roster that’s packed with both iconic and lesser-known franchise characters, giving fans plenty of variety.
ThoughMortal Kombat 1definitely has some balancing issues right now, with the current meta essentially ensuring that players will seeRaiden, Smoke, or Scorpionin the vast majority of online matches,Mortal Kombat 1’s roster is actually a pretty diverse one underneath the surface. With a good mix of franchise icons and some more obscure 3D-era characters,Mortal Kombat 1’s roster gives both new and long-time fans plenty to experiment with, though that diversity has led to some usual franchise staples being relegated to the reboot’s new Kameo Fighter system, and some definitely deserved a full spot on the roster.
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Mortal Kombat 1 Kameos That Should Have Made It on the Full Roster
The most glaring omissions fromMortal Kombat 1’s full rosterare Kano, Jax, and Sonya. Though they all have a spot onMortal Kombat 1’s Kameo roster, Kano, Jax, and Sonya aren’t seen or even mentioned once duringMortal Kombat 1’s story. While fans have seen these classic characters more than enough times, it feels odd that they aren’t inMortal Kombat 1’s main roster. One of the big aims ofMortal Kombat 1was for it to be a celebration of the franchise’s entire 30-year history, and with Kano and Sonya both being on the original 1992MKroster, it seems strange that they aren’t in the game in a full capacity.
Another set of Kameo Fighters that deserved to be onMortal Kombat 1’s main roster is Cyrax and Sektor. First playable in 1995’sMortal Kombat 3, Cyrax and Sektor are two cyber ninjas that have appeared throughoutMortal Kombathistory. Though they’re mentioned by name inMortal Kombat 1’s story mode, they’re never seen in their new rebooted form. With Smoke getting a great new look, it would have been fun to see both Cyrax and Sektor get new human appearances, but they’re unfortunately relegated to their classic cyber looks inMortal Kombat 1’s Kameo roster.
Goro is one of the few fighters that appears quite a bit inMortal Kombat 1’s story mode, but is only present as a Kameo Fighter in the game. Much like Sonya and Kano, Goro has been a staple of theMortal Kombatfranchise since its very debut back in 1992, appearing as the game’s sub-boss. However, inMortal Kombat 1, he takes a backseat role, only appearing a few times in the story as a glorified henchman. Again, being such an iconic element of the series, it’s odd that Goro didn’t make it on the mainMortal Kombat 1roster, especially since it could use a few more “heavy” characters.
Another character that’s seen consistently throughoutMortal Kombat 1’s story modebut only appears on the Kameo roster is Sareena. A demon who works for Quan Chi, Sareena is often seen inMortal Kombat 1’s story as a Kameo for opponents like Nitara. While her moveset has made her one of the most popular - and irritating - Kameos in the game, it feels like a bit of a missed opportunity to not have her on the full roster.
Mortal Kombat 1is available now for PC, PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X/S.
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