The first three “Mortal Kombat” arcade games have secret menus, according to a YouTube user—20 years after the games were released.
The uploader, YourMKArcadeSource, who goes by the name Mike, used a series of button inputs, showing the menus in “Mortal Kombat” 1, 2, and 3, as well as “Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.”
He said in the Feb. 21 video that the secret menus were only discovered in the past week or so, meaning that these menus have been “dormant” for 20 years—despite the massive popularity of the fighting games.
Mike wrote in the YouTube description: “This video was never intended to reach as many people as it has. I never expected anything like this to happen.”
The MK1 and MK2 videos allow one to watch the various endings, input initials in the high score area, and run diagnostic tests on the arcade. There is also a “Hello” option, which he speculates as a list of people Ed Boon wanted to thank. The first name on the MK2 list is “mom.”
The M3 menu is a bit more elaborate, including the “Penacho/Miller Game,” which is a clone of the old-school space shooting game “Galaga.”
And he explained more:
I just wanted to report on these codes being discovered and show them in action but I also wanted to give a little backstory for the people who might not know it. I’m sorry if you think I’m repetitive and long-winded, but I’m not good as coming up with stuff to say off the cusp and I tried my best to explain what these entailed. I was also not aware at the time I made this video that these had actually been discovered last October at TCRF and not a few days ago. I was under the impression that it was a few days ago based on the conversation I had with the person who told me about them. Sorry about that.
The codes can used here:
The code is P1 Block (x times) then P2 Block (x times) then P1 Block (x times) etc...
MK1...
P1 (5), P2 (10), P1 (2), P2 (1), P1 (2), P2 (3), P1 (4)
MK2...
P1 (5), P2 (10), P1 (2), P2 (8), P1 (2)
MK3/UMK3...
P1 (5), P2 (10), P1 (3), P2 (1), P1 (2), P2 (2), P1 (3), P2 (4)
