Mortal Kombat lead Ed Boon would like to remaster the original trilogy

Mortal Kombat is one of the foundations of fighting games. Ultra-violent and controversial as it was, it was also a test bed for some of the earliest working designs in fighting games opposite of Capcom’s Street Fighter and SNK’s Fatal Fury/King of Fighters. Ed Boon still has plenty of love for the first games of the series too and would like to return to them with everything NetherRealm Studios has learned over the last decades. The Mortal Kombat co-creator would like to tackle remastered “director’s cuts” of the original trilogy.

Ed Boon recently shared his remaster aspirations via an AMA he hosted on Twitter over the weekend, starting on December 10, 2022. In said AMA he answered quite a few questions, including which characters come back in each entry versus those which are benched and which guest characters Boon would like to pursue versus which ones might not happen. However, in one of the more interesting answers, Boon revealed he’d like to go back to Mortal Kombat 1, 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 to remaster them. He’s also quick to point out he means full remasters and not just upscales.

Ed Boon tweeted several times in his AMA that he would like to revisit the original 3 Mortal Kombat games and remaster them with everything NetherRealm Studios has learned over the decades.
Source: Twitter

The prospect is exciting to say the least, especially with Mortal Kombat passing its 30th anniversary. NetherRealm fans have been chomping at the bit to learn what’s next for the studio in terms of a Mortal Kombat 12 or Injustice 3, but it seems like a good time to revisit the original games that served as the foundation. This is especially true in a time where we’re seeing all sorts of classic remasters and bundles such as Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Cowabunga Collection, and so much more. Many fighting game fans would likely be happy to see a Klassic Mortal Kombat Kollection (as it would undoubtedly be named) in the vein of Capcom Fighting Collection and other lovingly remastered classic bundles.

Of course, this is all wistful thinking thus far, but the fact that Boon wants to pursue this project should have old-school fighting fans excited. Stay tuned as we watch for further updates on such a project, should it come to happen.