Mortal Kombat II (Arcade)

This page details development materials of Mortal Kombat II (Arcade).

In December 2022, Mortal Kombat II arcade source files were leaked with a large amount of never-before-seen unused assets and even complete versions of sprites that appear (albeit unused and broken) in the final game.

To do: Everything posted on this page has been taken from this thread, including the pictures. If you could post higher-quality assets and even stuff that wasn't added here, it'd be great!

Character Sprites#

Ninjas#

An unused frame for the ninjas' uppercut.

An unused frame for Reptile's Acid Spit move.

An airborne version of Reptile's Acid Spit.

An unused extra frame for Reptile's Force Ball move.

An unused sprite for the ninjas. Probably used for Kitana's Kiss Fatality.

Kitana#

An unused "spin" move for Kitana. Could also have been used for a Fatality.

Johnny Cage#

Johnny Cage's knee attack from the first Mortal Kombat was apparently supposed to return for the sequel. In the final version, only the second part of the mini-combo exists.

An unused move called "PPunch" in the files (possibly standing for "Power Punch"). It's unknown if this was supposed to be a brand-new special move or a combo ender.

Johnny sticking his hand in his opponent's head and throwing something to the ground. There's also complete sprites for each character's head with a hole in it (see below). The Legacy Kollection archives feature this set of sprites, using it to show Cage embedding his fist through the victim's head in order to pull it off, before throwing said head to the ground.

This Fatality would eventually be re-imagined as his Brain Rip finisher in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance.

Kung Lao#

An unused combo for Kung Lao internally named "Backhand". It's probably missing some frames.

Jax#

An airborne version of Jax's Energy Wave attack. While unused in this game, it would later be reintroduced in Mortal Kombat Trilogy.

Liu Kang#

An unused question mark-like kick attack for Liu Kang. Possibly is his earlier close range with low kick animation.

An unused attack named "Backfist".

Shang Tsung#

An unused roundpunch attack for Shang Tsung.

An unused backflip animation.

Raiden#

An unused animation named "Short Zap". Possibly used for a Fatality or as part of a combo.

Baraka#

A mockup for Baraka's Fatality, which most likely involved him beheading his opponent before holding him up with his blades.

Kintaro#

An different walking animation for Kintaro.

Shao Kahn#

Shao Kahn originally had a Fatality where he would put his hand through a portal and crush the player with a giant fist. In the final version of the game, only a broken version of this sprite remains. The entire animation would be included in the archives of Legacy Kollection in full, with a portal effect added to Kahn's regular-size fist.

Background Assets#

General#

The original Mortal Kombat stages are all present in the source files, possibly used as placeholders for the new ones. The only Mortal Kombat stage that returned in the final version of II is Goro's Lair, which is used for the secret fights and is not normally accessible.

An animation for a ninja throwing something on the ground. It's called "Tornado" in the files and is actually stored among the general background sprites. Remains of these sprites (albeit unused and broken) are still in the final version of the game.

Battle Plan#

To do: Add individual images

An unused Thunder and different sizes of flames for the Battle Plan screen.

Wasteland#

Unused background assets for the Wasteland stage.

To do: Add individual images

Other various unused assets for the Wasteland stage. There's also an unused floor, which would later be repurposed for The Tower stage.

The Tower#

Terracotta soldiers that originally appeared in the background for the Tower stage.

Clouds meant to appear in the background of fhe Tower stage.

Living Forest#

A background prop for the Living Forest stage. "SANS" is written in the bottom-right corner, possibly a signature by whoever drew this graphic.

Other Sprites#

An unused blood burst animation named "BLDSPLASH".

Unused explosion animations.

To do: The list shown below includes names which were actually used in the final version. Remove them. Someone has found more names in the source files, such as Barada, Rancor, Katana, Siren, Asmodeus, etc.

A list of various different names that would've appeared in the life bars. Most of them seem to be jokes or placeholder names for the new characters (such as "Hat-Boy" for Kung Lao).

This sprite is unused and broken in the final version, while it appears intact in the source files.

A close-up animation of Kintaro roaring. Possibly used for attract mode.

Unused Palettes#

To do: Almost every character has a third palette, possibly used for a mirror match in Endurance mode. Add their sprites

An unused purple palette for Johnny Cage.

An unused palette for Scorpion that gives him blue skin. Purpose unknown.

Miscellaneous#

A picture of someone swimming at a beach (or a pool) named "MKVOG".