Welcome to 30 Ridiculous Retro Rumors, a brand new series that will run daily between November 26 and December 25, 2015. This is a series where we debunk some of the craziest rumors and predictions of all time. Today we're taking a look at Mortal Kombat. Just a month after Midway's gruesome fighter hit store shelves, there was already gossip about a "Champion Edition." Let Die Hard Game Fan explain it all in today's episode of 30 Ridiculous Retro Rumors.


This is a real rumor taken directly from the October 1993 issue of Die Hard Game Fan ...


There are two types of gamers in the world -- people who line-up on day one and those who wait for the "Complete Edition." These days it's usually just downloadable content added to the package, but that wasn't always the case. Twenty years ago, patient gamers might be rewarded with a better playing version filled with extra content. This was especially true of Capcom, who found themselves in an annual push to release new versions of Street Fighter II.

That likely explains this Mortal Kombat: Champion Edition rumor. Reported only one month after the gruesome fighting game hit home consoles and handhelds, Die Hard Game Fan predicted that Acclaim would double dip and follow the groundwork laid out by Capcom.

Coming to Genesis and Super NES, this brand new version of Mortal Kombat would feature exactly 22 improvements. I'm not entirely sure where that weirdly specific number comes from, but the list of upgrades sound more like a fanboy's wish list than reliable news. This version would contain better speech, more frames of animation and the blood added back into the Super NES iteration.

While the technical improvements sound nice, it's the prospect of playing as the bosses that makes this rumor so interesting. Unfortunately, this is a rumor they came back to time and time again. Whenever a new Mortal Kombat was announced, Die Hard Game Fan was quick to predict Shang Tsung and Goro would be added to the roster. This never happened, but tricky Game Genie owners were able to turn Goro into a playable character ... kind of.

When it came right down to it, Acclaim didn't have enough time to rush out a Champion Edition. While Capcom was slow to count to three, Midway had no problem pumping out arcade sequels. Mortal Kombat II hit home consoles exactly one year after the original, and fans never looked back. That said, had Midway been just a little slower, you probably would have seen Mortal Kombat: Champion Edition, Mortal Kombat Turbo and, of course, Super Mortal Kombat Turbo.