The shift to 3D was the headline feature of Mortal Kombat 4. Following the massive success of competitors like Tekken and Virtua Fighter, the pressure was on Ed Boon and his team to modernize. Using the "Zeus" hardware for the arcade release, the game traded the famous photographic actors for character models made of polygons. While this changed the aesthetic significantly, the developers utilized a clever "limited 3D" approach. The gameplay largely remained on a 2D plane, ensuring that the tight, twitch-based combat fans loved wasn't lost in the transition, though players could now sidestep projectiles and attacks using the run button.
MK4 features 15 playable characters (plus hidden ones). Mortal Kombat 4
And then there’s the . My god. Mortal Kombat 4 features what might be the single worst voice performance in gaming history. Listen to Quan Chi’s grating screech or Jarek’s infamous ending line: "This is not a brutality... this is a FATALITY." He says it with the enthusiasm of a DMV employee. It’s so bad it’s legendary, but at launch, it was just embarrassing. The shift to 3D was the headline feature of Mortal Kombat 4