Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimateis available now, bringing NetherRealm Studios' acclaimed fighting game to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X alongside the Kombat Pack 2. Included in that pack is 80s action hero Rambo, as well asreturningMortal Kombatveterans Mileenaand Rain. Now that players have had a little time to try out these characters, they are discovering interesting references in their movesets.
One such reference that has caught peoples' attentions comes from a Rain Fatality.Rain was introduced in 1995’sUltimate Mortal Kombat 3after being a joke character meant to trick players into searching for a secret fighter who did not exist. In fact, NetherRealm Studios Creative Director Ed Boon told PlayStation Blog in 2011 that the purple ninja’s name and overall design was just a reference to Prince’s hit song “Purple Rain.”
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Understanding the musical history behind the character makes it more clear why one of Rain’s Fatalities inMortal Kombat 11would have an otherwise random Queen reference. In the Fatality animation, Rain blasts two gaping holes in his opponent using pressurized water jets. As the camera flies through the chest cavity to focus on the victor, he is joined by the ethereal heads of three others as a rock guitar stinger plays against a dark backdrop; clearly referencing the music video for “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
Though Queen has an extensive catalog of iconic hits, “Bohemian Rhapsody” is no doubt one of, if not the band’s best-known songs - so much so that the2018 Freddie Mercury biopic was namedBohemian Rhapsody. Fans of music andMortal Kombathistory should all be able to get behind this quick, fun tribute, which joins untold other references found in the various finishing moves acrossMK11’s ever-growing roster.
Song references in Fatalities are not the only secrets hidden in the new content introduced byMortal Kombat 11 Ultimate. One of the ethereal heads that joins Rain for his Queen tribute is the green-clad ninja Reptile, but modders have also found a secretReptile fight hidden inMortal Kombat11’s codethat can be “triggered using summon keys.”
Whether Reptile or any other characters will be added to the game following Rambo, Mileena, and Rain is currently unknown, but anyone who does make an appearance will no doubt be full of personality.Mortal Kombat 11developers are not the only ones who have used their game to make classic rock tributes this year, asRare recorded a Van Halen cover inSea of Thievesstylefollowing Eddie Van Halen’s death.
Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimateis available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
