To call the 1992 release of Mortal Kombat a game changer would be the understatement of the century. Arriving in the wake of the mega popularity of Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat totally rewrote the fighting game playbook, taking the one-on-one martial arts throwdowns of Street Fighter and introducing a mythos inspired by hokey kung-fu movies and digitized actors. Oh, and blood. Lots and lots of blood. Yes, Mortal Kombat featured buckets of the red stuff, with plenty of heart tearing, spine ripping, and body immolation included for good measure. While the then-baffling displays of violence drew unprecedented controversy, this violence also earned something else: money. So much money, in fact, that soon every mom and pop video game developer on planet Earth was looking to cash in.

As Mortal Kombat gobbled quarters at arcades and topped console sales charts, developers saw money signs, and soon a wave of Mortal Kombat rip-offs followed. So blatant were these knock-offs that it was easy to spot a Mortal Kombat wannabe: digitized actors, tons of blood, and, most importantly, "Fatalities," the genre defining kill moves that had made Mortal Kombat famous. The rip-offs borrowed from Mortal Kombat liberally, and soon a whole sub-genre of fighting games arose: the Mortal Kombat clone. While most of these knock-offs were awful, ugly, downright uplayable messes, a couple Mortal Kombat wannabes managed to overcome their knock-0ff origins and find a voice of their own. So join CBR as we take a look back at 15 of the most blatant Mortal Kombat knock-offs ever (and 5 MK clones that are downright kool!)

20 BAD: SURVIVAL ARTS

When Mortal Kombat took off like a spine-ripping rocket, every two-bit developer in the world wanted in on the action. While MK primarily found popularity in the West, over in the Land Of The Rising Sun, developer Scarab was cooking up a decidedly Japanese take on the Mortal Kombat rip-off.

Hitting arcades in 1993, Survival Arts took the digitized actors and buckets of blood of Mortal Kombat and mixed it with Japanese fighting game tropes, pitting evil pro wrestlers, ninjas, and aliens against each other in clunky, butt-ugly battles to the death. Publisher Sammy expected big things from Survival Arts, even announcing a Super Nintendo port, but when the game flopped in arcades, this half-baked knock-off quietly slipped into obscurity.

19 BAD: XENOPHAGE: ALIEN BLOODSPORT

What do you get when you mix Mortal Kombat's fountains of gore, B-Movie space monsters, and hilarious awful gameplay? Why, you get Xenophage: Alien Bloodsport, an oft-forgotten PC fighter that was as blatant in its Mortal Kombat rip-offery as it was terrible to play.

Essentially "Mortal Kombat in spaaaaaace," Xenophage presented a story in which a shadowy council called, well, The Council, abducts several alien creatures and forces them to fight to death for their amusement. If you ever wanted to see an office secretary battle a space vampire, before one is decapitated, causing the announcer to delightfully shriek "MEAT!," well, maybe this game is for you, but everyone else should stay far, far away from this knock-off.

18 BAD: TIMESLAUGHTER

Sounding less like a Mortal Kombat knock-off and more like the title of a forgotten Slayer album, Timeslaughter would be just another forgotten Mortal Kombat wannabe if it wasn't for its cast of characters. Seriously, when your Mortal Kombat rip-off has a bloodthirsty French painter named Pierre, you know you're in for a weird game.

Released in 1996, Timeslaughter was similar to its fellow time-based Mortal Kombat rip-off Time Killers, as the cast was composed of various individuals plucked from time. But while Time Killers filled its roster with chainsaw wielding bikers and future cops, Timeslaughter went weird with it, giving us characters such as Dracula, a crazy man in a straight jacket, and a caveman named Ug. As awful as it is ridiculous, Timeslaughter is the kind of Mortal Kombat knock-off you need to see to believe.

17 BAD: ULTRA VORTEK

No no, not Ultra Vortex. That would make too much sense. No, this is Ultra Vortek, a confusingly named, bafflingly blatant Mortal Kombat rip-off released for the Atari Jaguar, filled to bursting with eye-rolling characters and ludicrous buckets of gore.

Set in a war-torn post-apocalyptic future, the world's seven best fighters assemble to do battle, with the winner being sent through a portal to battle Satan. Standard stuff, really. With characters such as "Skullcrusher" and "Volcana," Ultra Vortek leans heavily on the ridiculous, filling the roster with silly, ugly-as-sin characters. To its credit, the game has crisp sprites and hilarious fatalities (here called "Annihilations"), but this couldn't save Ultra Vortek from being a big, clunky mess of a Mortal Kombat rip-off.

16 BAD: TIME KILLERS

Sure, this list is filled with awful, terrible, no-good Mortal Kombat rip-offs, but only one game has the distinction of not only ripping off Mortal Kombat, but potentially inspiring the beloved fighting game franchise Tekken, and that is the hilariously horrible Time Killers.

Sure, Time Killers cast of knights and Mad Max wannabes eviscerate and decapitate each other like Mortal Kombat characters, but what sets Time Killers apart was its then-revolutionary button layout, with each button corresponding to a limb, which would later be utilized to much greater success by Tekken. Could you say that, without Time Killers, Tekken might not even exist? Well no, that's probably a stretch, but it's an interesting tidbit for an otherwise uninteresting knock-off.

15 BAD: KASUMI NINJA

There are blatant Mortal Kombat rip-offs, and then there is Kasumi Ninja. While other Mortal Kombat clones at least had the common decency to add mechanics or features to differentiate itself from Mortal Kombat, Kasumi Ninja is so flagrant in its knock-off-ness that it honestly could have been titled "I Can't Believe It's Not Mortal Kombat."

Like Mortal Kombat, Kasumi Ninja features color-coded ninja protagonists, a Native American fighter, and more fatalities than you could shake a stick at. Add in sloppy controls, slow gameplay, a cartoonishly racist announcer, and a Scottish fighter that can shoot fireballs from under his kilt, and you've got one lackluster Mortal Kombat wannabe better left forgotten.

14 BAD: SHADOW: WAR OF SUCCESSION

There are some combinations of words that elicit disgust. "Orange juice" and "tooth paste." "Peanut butter" and "hot sauce." "Mortal Kombat rip-off" and "the 3D0." Yeah, that last one might be the most disgusting of all.

A low-budget knock-off of Mortal Kombat, Shadow: War Of Succession saw poorly-shot digitized actors battle it out for supremacy in, you guessed it, a tournament to the death. Ugly, sloppy, and downright unplayable, Shadow: War Of Succession is widely considered one of the worst games ever released for the 3D0, which, judging from the library of games released for the 3D0, is really saying something. You'd probably prefer a spine-ripping over having to spend 30 seconds with this busted Mortal Kombat clone.

13 BAD: PRAY FOR DEATH

No, not the awesome '80s ninja movie that we are surely all thinking of. No? Only Me? Well, okay. No, this is Pray For Death, a remarkably ugly DOS fighting game that not only ripped off Mortal Kombat, but did so in 1996, long after Mortal Kombat rip-offs had fallen out of vogue.

Opting for the "If you can't beat 'em, try to look better than 'em and fail miserably" approach, Pray For Death used 3D graphics a whole year before the first 3D Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 4, hit arcades. Unfortunately, this innovation is wasted on generic characters (suit of armor guy! Robot! Scantily clad lady!) and gameplay so slow and sluggish, it feels like you're fighting underwater. Throw in terrible Fatalities and ridiculous blood, and you've got one sad Mortal Kombat wannabe.

12 BAD: COSMIC CARNAGE

Poorly ripping off Mortal Kombat is a bad enough idea, but releasing your poorly made Mortal Kombat rip-off exclusively for the ill-fated Sega 32X? Why, that is a truly awful idea. Apparently, no one bothered to tell developer Givro this, leading to the largely forgotten Cosmic Carnage being released for the 32X in 1994.

Despite being yet another "Mortal Kombat, but also there are aliens" game, credit where credit is due, the game presents a unique spin on the fighting game story, framing the battles as the result of desperate fugitives crashing their hijacked prison barge into a military ship, leading the fugitives to battle the soldiers for the chance to escape the ships via one of the few escape pods. But the interesting story is just set dressing for generic Mortal Kombat wannabe gameplay and uninspired character designs, making this just another forgotten MK clone.

11 BAD: BIO F.R.E.A.K.S.

The term "spiritual successor" is thrown around a lot in video games, as new games release paying homage to games of yesteryear. But, traditionally, spiritual successors are supposed to improve on the mechanics of the game it was inspired by. Clearly, Midway missed this memo, leading to the busted mess of a "spiritual successor" that is the groan-inducingly named BIO F.R.E.A.K.S.

One of several 3D Mortal Kombat wannabes released in the late '90s by Midway, BIO F.R.E.A.K.S. mixed MK's buckets of blood with Time Killers limb removal system, with a bit of Mad Max set dressing thrown in for good measure. While the game was heavily promoted, with Midway expecting the fighter to be a big hit, BIO F.R.E.A.K.S. ultimately bombed, finally putting an end to Midway's parade of Mortal Kombat wannabes.

10 BAD: WAR GODS

Two years before BIO F.R.E.A.K.S. was a hilariously-named glimmer in the eye of the Midway executives, the company decided to test the waters of a 3D Mortal Kombat-style fighter with 1996's War Gods. Don't let the sweet name fool you (seriously, if War Gods isn't the name of a metal band, it should be): this was a mess of a game that was destined to flop.

Taking the tried-and-true Mortal Kombat "otherworldly fighting game tournament for supremacy" story and adding a touch of Primal Rage by making the combatants gods, War Gods sought to out-Mortal Kombat Mortal Kombat by adding fountains of gore, fountains of blood, and sickening finishing moves, all in eye-popping 3D. Despite pumping tons of money into the game, Midway saw the game land with a resounding thud thanks to uninspired character designs and messy gameplay, causing the company to return to the Mortal Kombat knock-off drawing board.

9 BAD: MACE: THE DARK AGE

While War Gods and BIO F.R.E.A.K.S. may have flopped, at least they are somewhat remembered, even if it's largely in a negative light. But that's more than you can say about Mace: The Dark Age, Midway's largely forgotten Medieval Mortal Kombat wannabe.

Taking a cue from SNK's Samurai Shodown, the combatants of Mace: The Dark Age all wielded unique weapons, which could be knocked from their hands over the course of battle. Not satisfied knocking off just one fighting game franchise, Midway threw in a heaping helping of gore and Fatalities, and even threw in expansive stages filled with dangerous terrain, a la Dead Or Alive. Yes, Mace: The Dark Age is the rarely seen triple knock-off, and it still managed to barely make a blip when it was released.

8 BAD: WAY OF THE WARRIOR

There's nothing more upsetting than a knock-off with some serious talent behind it. After all, when the parties responsible for said knock-off have been proven to be capable of producing fantastic original content, this just makes the knock-off all the more insulting. Such was the case with the glorified Mortal Kombat bootleg, Way Of The Warrior.

Developed by the legendary Naughty Dog Studios, of Crash Bandicoot and Uncharted fame, with a soundtrack from the Rob Zombie-fronted metal band White Zombie, Way Of The Warrior seemed to have it all, but the resulting game is a buggy, downright unplayable mess, with lame characters and even worse graphics. Still, despite the overwhelming awfulness of the game, Way Of The Warrior was essentially responsible for getting Naughty Dog the publishing deal that would lead to Crash Bandicoot, making this the only Mortal Kombat knock-off to kick start a beloved platforming franchise.

7 BAD: STREET FIGHTER: THE MOVIE

Try to wrap your head around this one: Street Fighter: The Movie is a Mortal Kombat rip-off that is a tie-in to Street Fighter, the movie adaptation of Street Fighter II, the fighting game franchise that was the primary competition for Mortal Kombat. Got all that? Yes, the path to Street Fighter: The Movie was a messy one, but even a game featuring Jean Claude Van Damme couldn't overcome this level of lameness.

Despite its fighting game roots, Street Fighter: The Movie opted to steal from Mortal Kombat, using digitized images of the film's cast to portray their respective characters. Sure, this meant you could make crummy sprite versions of Kylie Minogue and JCVD battle it out to the death, but the game's odd mish-mash of Street Fighter style speed and Mortal Kombat gameplay made for a clunky, sloppy game, making this perhaps the most high profile Mortal Kombat wannabe on our list.

6 BAD: BLOODSTORM

Ripping off a game is one thing, but saying you're going to dethrone the very game you're ripping off? That takes some serious hutzpah. Add in an advertising campaign based around one of the game's own characters mocking the game you're knocking off, and you've got a game legendary in its failure.

BloodStorm was marketed right out of the gate as the "Mortal Kombat killer," with a full-page debuting in EGM showing Daniel Persina, the actor responsible for portraying fan favorite Mortal Kombat character Johnny Cage, dressed as his character and promoting BloodStorm. Persina was sacked from Midway, and the controversial ad did little to help BloodStorm, as the game's blatant Mortal Kombat knock-off qualities and sloppy gameplay caused gamers to avoid the game in droves.

5 GOOD: WEAPONLORD

It's like the chocolate and peanut butter of the fighting game world: take Mortal Kombat and add a heaping helping of Conan The Barbarian, and voila! You've got WeaponLord, perhaps the most metal Mortal Kombat wannabe ever.

You'd be forgiven for thinking WeaponLord was just another Mortal Kombat rip-off, what with the buckets of blood and fatalities, but WeaponLord hides a surprisingly deep combat system, with parrys, counterattacks, and even ground attacks. Closer in play style to the robust fighting system of Soul Calibur than Mortal Kombat, WeaponLord nonetheless drew knock-off accusations, causing this under-appreciated hidden gem to sell poorly and slip into obscurity.

4 GOOD: PRIMAL RAGE

There's not other way to say it: Primal Rage is a dumb game. Telling the tale of blood-thirsty ancient deities on a war torn "Urth," the combatants of Primal Rage barfed, farted, and peed their way to stomach churning, gore-spewing victory. No, Primal Rage was far from high art, but this Mortal Kombat rip-off still managed to be a lot of fun.

This Atari Games developed fighter featured a colorful cast of claymation combatants, including dinosaurs and fire-spewing apes, who were just as likely to snack on the puny humans watching the brawl as they were to rip their opponent to shreds. Thanks to its unique look and over-the-top nature, Primal Rage was one of the few Mortal Kombat knock-offs to achieve success. A planned sequel was ultimately scrapped, but Primal Rage remains a cult fighting favorite to this day.

3 GOOD: ETERNAL CHAMPIONS

The year is 1993, and Mortal Kombat fans are growing bored with ripping out the same old spines. Where's a fighting game fan to turn to scratch their violent fighting game itch? Enter Eternal Champions, Sega's foray into the burgeoning field of Mortal Kombat knock-offs.

Yet another entry in the surprisingly popular "Mortal Kombat knock-off about fighters being pulled from throughout time to battle to the death" sub-genre, Eternal Champions mixed things up by introducing an Art Of Fighting style special bar and special stage deaths dubbed "Overkills," which would allow players to dispatch opponents in spectacularly gory ways. While far from the best Mortal Kombat clone around, Eternal Champions was competent enough to earn a following of its own, and remains a beloved Sega franchise among diehard fans.

2 GOOD: THE KUNG-FU MASTER JACKIE CHAN

As far as Mortal Kombat knock-offs go, they don't get much stranger than The Kung-Fu Master Jackie Chan. After all, this is a fighting game featuring three different versions of kung-fu movie star Jackie Chan battling an array of digitized combatants, with fighters controlling hawks and dressing up as traditional Chinese parade dragons. Also, whenever someone is defeated in combat, they immediately spring back up and give you a thumbs up, letting you know they are a-okay. Yes, it's bizarre, but it makes for a surprisingly fun fighting game.

Spawned from an agreement between developer Kaneko and Chan's production company, Chan starred in the fighting game in exchange for funding for his film Thunderbolt. Despite the oddball origins, The Kung-Fu Master Jackie Chan manages to add unprecedented speed to the Mortal Kombat formula, playing closer to Marvel Vs Capcom than the game series that inspired it. While largely forgotten these days, The Kung-Fu Master Jackie Chan managed to overcome its weirdo rip-off origins to become a surprisingly fun fighter.

1 GOOD: KILLER INSTINCT

The statement "Killer Instinct is a rip-off of Mortal Kombat" might be seen as fighting words by hardcore fans of Rare's beloved fighting game franchise, but it's the truth. Presented as a Mortal Kombat killer, Killer Instinct took the violence and ridiculous nature of MK and took it in an entirely new direction, creating a combo-heavy fighter that remains a cult favorite among fighting game faithful.

If Mortal Kombat's roster was weird, the Killer Instinct roster was pure lunacy, loaded with fighting skeletons, velociraptors, and a robot with a ponytail. While Killer Instinct may have borrowed its violence and finishers from MK, the game blazed a gameplay trail of its own, focusing on allowing players to pull off combos that reached into the high 80s. Overcoming its knock-off roots, Killer Instinct is considered one of the best fighters of the '90s, and remains a fighting game institution to this day.