#1084 Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance (PS2) Hidden Characters (10/11): Blaze gameplay.

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AdmiralMcFish - Bosses and Hidden Characters

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Published on August 31, 2019 6:53:38 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtEo8n23Ru0

Game:

Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (2002)

Duration: 4:17

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Gameplay of the hidden/secret/bonus character Blaze in PS2 version of Midway’s/Netherrealm’s Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance.

Well, here’s an interesting one. Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance features two super-secret characters, both unlocked after completing the Quest mode of the game. Completing the trials of the last character will bring you to a screen stating that you have unlocked Blaze and that you can now access him. Given that he doesn’t have a character icon, Blaze is selected by highlighting Raiden, holding the down direction and then pressing the X button. Completing the mode requires you to have every single regular character unlocked, so these two are basically just completion bonuses. And boy can you tell.

Yet another example of a fan-created character come to life (after Ermac), Blaze was originally the name given to the flaming opponent in the background of the bridge stage of Mortal Kombat II, with his opponent, a green Liu Kang, commonly referred to as Hornbuckle. Mystery was a huge part of the arcade Mortal Kombat games, so bringing in two extra-hidden characters who you wouldn’t otherwise know of was a genius idea on Midway’s part, as a way to re-enact the that hidden, mysterious aspect which was common in the days of MK2.

Neither Blaze nor the next character coming up have fatalities, if only to really hammer in just how bonus these bonus characters really are. You see, Blaze here is more or less just a pastiche of other characters’ movesets, sharing three movesets from other characters and having no weapons of his own. His special moves are derived from other characters, and it’s rather clear that Blaze himself is just a modified version of the default male character model of the game. Sneaky sneaky, Midway. I hadn’t even thought about that until making this video, but hacking changes your perspective on some things after a while.

Blaze is simply a cheap bonus, meant to be a bit of fanservice in a game which is basically just filler for the next title. I suspect him and the other character were both probably added to the game late into development, which would explain why they don’t have character slots. Despite being quite plain, who cares. We finally get to see a playable version of Blaze in a game, and that’s awful in itself. Indeed, Blaze himself is typically associated with Deadly Alliance as a result of that alone, so they had the impact they wanted to with it.
We will be seeing Blaze again, and in his next incarnations he’ll have a much bigger part to play.

Next up however, it’s time to finish MK Deadly Alliance with the very last hidden character of the game.

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