Mortal Kombat 2

The gameplay of Mortal Kombat II is an extension of the previous game. Normal moves have been expanded: a crouching punch was added, and low and high kicks became differentiated be it crouching or standing up; the roundhouse kick was made more powerful and knocks opponents across the screen.

Both the theme and art style of Mortal Kombat II are slightly darker, although with a more vibrant color palette employed and a much richer color depth than in the previous game.

To create the character animations for the game, actors were placed in front of a gray background and performed the motions, which were recorded on a Hi-8 videotape, which had been upgraded since the development of the first title from standard to broadcast-quality. The video capture footage was then processed into a computer, and the background was removed from selected frames to create 64 or 128 color sprites.

All of the music was composed, performed, recorded and mixed by Dan Forden, the MK series' sound designer and composer. Mortal Kombat II was the first arcade game to use the Williams DCS sound system.

Mortal Kombat II: Music from the Arcade Game Soundtrack, an album featuring music from Mortal Kombat II and Mortal Kombat was released in July 1994. It could only be purchased by ordering it through a limited CD offer posted on the arcade version of the game's attract mode.

In conjunction with the release of the arcade game in 1993, an official comic book Mortal Kombat II Collector's Edition, written and illustrated by the game's designer John Tobias, was available through mail order, describing the backstory of the game in a greater detail. Malibu Comics also published a series of Mortal Kombat comic books featuring the characters from both MKII and the original MK. Other merchandise included a series of collectible stickers by Panini Group and two series of action figures, in Argentina (1995) and the USA (1999). The Mortal Kombat Kard Game, released in September 1994, was also marketed as "Mortal Kombat II trading cards".