Games Fighting Mortal Fight Kombat Refers Characters Body

"Mortal Kombat" is a series of "videogames" (games played electronically on a computer or an electronic game device), the first of which was "released" (made available to the public) in 1992. The most recent game, the ninth version, was released in April 2011.

"Combat" refers to fighting and "mortal combat" refers to "fighting to the death," or fighting until someone dies. The game "purposefully" (intentionally; on purpose) misspells words that begin with a hard "c" sound with a "k," so the result is the title, "Mortal Kombat."

The fighting games are very "violent" (showing dangerous, bloody, and deadly scenes or images). The characters have many "moves" (movements that a body can make) that are controlled by only a few buttons. Sometimes characters fight only with their body, but sometimes they use "weapons" (objects used to hurt or kill others). They also have "magic moves" and the ability to throw "fireballs" (balls of fire that can be thrown to hurt others). One character has "retractable" (able to extend from one's body and then be brought back into the body) "blades" (long, sharp pieces of metal like those on a knife or sword).

The games have movies at the end where the players can kill their "opponent" (the person one is fighting or playing against) in a "gruesome" (very violent and bloody) way. Those short movies have "generated" (created) a lot of "controversy" (discussion for and against something) about violence in videogames. The violence led to the creation of the U.S. government's rating system to show how violent games are and whether they are appropriate for younger age groups.

The Mortal Kombat games and their "associated" (related) TV series, comic books, and other products are very popular. The games regularly appear on lists of the "best" videogames.