Over the Winter holiday, someone filled all Mortal Kombat appreciators’ Christmas stockings up with something a lil’ extra: Mortal Kombat II’s source code on GitHub. The lawyers at Warner Bros. took exception to this by issuing a swift DMCA takedown notice that Github adhered to by disabling public access — but don’t fret, as there are other ways to check out the content dump.
Initially reported by Exputer, the Github post was uploaded to the internet hosting service on December 27 before getting reshared on the r/MortalKombat subreddit. While MK II’s entire source code is no longer available thanks to that DMCA takedown, that hasn’t stopped MK fans from reuploading sprites and artwork on social media.
#MK2 source code was dumped tonight. Found this as what appears to have been an early/alternate storyline panel. @thethiny @tabmok99 @calactyte @CMM1215 @ClassicMK @zpaul2fresh8 @AnEternalEnigma @MKO_FataLKaDe @DanielWClarkDWC @TerryxMasters @RetroRGB
(1/2) pic.twitter.com/O893jaiP8N— Drew (@tehdrewsus_MK) December 27, 2022
The most notable elements of content that the MK II source code dump unearthed was unused animations, artwork, and moves that didn’t make the cut for the game’s release in ‘93. One piece of artwork was an alternate attract mode screen featuring an oiled-up Shao Khan. Although the alternate panel of Sindel’s spurned lover looks the same as MK II’s final Shao Khan attract mode screen, the unused artwork has a bunch of cloaked wizards on floating platforms in the background instead of a roaring fire. According to Polygon, the original artwork is more imposing because it illustrates how stacked the odds are against Earth Realm. Honestly, yeah, a bunch of platforming wizards is leagues scarier than a generic flame, especially if you’ve had the misfortune of playing the ‘97 beat ‘em up spin-off, Mortal Kombat Mythologies.
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The MK II leak also showcased some previously unused sprite animation and moves. If you don’t have time to parse through a nearly-three-hour YouTube video of some dude scrubbing through the GitHub files, here’s a detailed Twitter thread compiling all of the most notable findings, Twitter user Pegasus Kid combed through the leak and uploaded a comprehensive thread of cut moves, stage art, and fatalities. My favourite sprite, since everyone was wondering, is Kintaro walk cycle animation because it’s timed perfectly to the music in the Metal Gear Solid but its the Dr. Livesey Meme video.
Kotaku reached out to Warner Bros. and Nether Realm studios for comment.
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