Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat is a 1992 fighting game developed and published by Midway for arcades. It is the first main installment in the Mortal Kombat franchise, and was subsequently released by Acclaim Entertainment for nearly every home platform of the time. The game presents a martial arts tournament in which ten characters contend with the fate of Earth at stake. It introduced many key aspects of the Mortal Kombat series, including the unique five-button control scheme and gory finishing moves called Fatalities.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA, read 5 September 2026.
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- Released
- 1992
- Developer
- Midway Games
- Platforms
- 8 systems
- Critics
- Not scored
- Steam Deck
- Unknown
- Download
- Not stated
The record
| First released | 8 October 1992 |
|---|---|
| Developer | Midway Games |
| Publisher | Midway Games |
| Platforms | Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Arcade, PlayStation Portable, PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Steam Deck |
| Genres | Fighting |
Source. Catalogue facts from Wikidata Q150294, seeded 30 August 2026.
How long is Mortal Kombat? How long to beat it
Total play time for Mortal Kombat is about 5.8 hours to do everything, and around 1.1 hours to reach the end of the main story. These are player-submitted times from HowLongToBeat, not our own, shown with the number of players behind each.
| How you play | Hours | Players logged |
|---|---|---|
| Just the main story: straight through the critical path | 1.1h | 173 |
| Main + the extras: story plus the side content most people do | 4.8h | 29 |
| Completionist: everything: 100% the game | 5.8h | 37 |
Source: HowLongToBeat community submissions, read 2026-10-19.
Where Mortal Kombat sits on the grid
The grid places every game in the catalogue on measured axes rather than on an opinion. This is where Mortal Kombat lands on each map it has the data for, with the share of the catalogue it beats on each axis.
- Year
- 47ahead of 5% of the catalogue
- Reach
- 55ahead of 92% of the catalogue
Percentiles are against the games that carry a reading on that axis, not the whole catalogue: counting a game with no figure as a zero would flatter everything that has one. How the grid works.
What readers say about Mortal Kombat
Reviews written by people who have played it. These are separate from the GamingPickz Score and are never averaged into it: that score comes from thousands of Steam reviews with a sample-size correction, and a handful of unverified ratings would distort it rather than improve it.
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Where Mortal Kombat appears
The ranked lists and finder pages Mortal Kombat qualifies for, from its own genre and platform to what it takes to run.
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Part of the Mortal Kombat series
Mortal Kombat is one of 13 Mortal Kombat games we track. See the whole series ranked by the GamingPickz Score, plotted on the grid, and listed in release order:
Common questions about Mortal Kombat
What platforms is Mortal Kombat on?
Mortal Kombat is available on Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Arcade, PlayStation Portable, PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Steam Deck. It first released in 1992.
Who made Mortal Kombat?
Mortal Kombat was developed by Midway Games and published by Midway Games.
How long does it take to beat Mortal Kombat?
about 1.1 hours for the main story, 4.8 hours with the main extras, 5.8 hours to complete everything, from HowLongToBeat's player-submitted times. These are community medians, so your own run may be shorter or longer.