Amongst all the Jack Thompson hate for violent and suggestive video games, one title stands tall as being one of the first to hold the collective parents’ breath in aghast and disbelief. Broken bones, superfluous amounts of blood, torn heads from their anatomical perches, a grotesque (if not over-the-top) idea of how your body would behave without a skeleton; and, the pleasures of zapping, burning, and throwing victims into sharp things. The list of brutal and unusual macabre goes on and on. Even if you don’t care for the Mortal Kombat series given its failed attempts at diversification and a dated (k)ombat system, its legacy is deeply rooted in the upbringing of the industry and also with how it impacted the view of interactive entertainment.

Times have changed, and unfortunately not for the better. Midway can no longer substitute its mediocre gameplay for a tired trademark that has come to define its image. Fatalities held the most noticeable bit of persuasion for the appeal to the game, something that now has backfired as superior fighters with more depth make their appearance. Hell, fighters in general don’t seem to be sticking around for long in the mainstreams eye before they are ditched for an FPS or RPG. As a result of these current economical predicaments, Midway has filed for Chapter 11. Whether they can seat themselves back on the blood gilded throne of their past or only fall into the dark, stank pit of failure (spikes included), all we can do is hope for the best. While we do all this hoping though, let’s indulge in some of those fatalities and remember why we love(d) them so much.

10. Liu-Kang -- Dragon Snack

What does this knock-off impersonator have over the authentic martial arts master from which he is inspired? Bruce Lee is a no-questions-asked case concerning his fighting prowess -- but -- could he turn into a dragon to munch the fleshy meat and gurgle on his foes’ blood? Bruce may have "Entered the Dragon" but Lui-Kang was the dragon, are you getting the implications? I’m not either.

Dragon. The ultimate one-upmanship.

9. The Pit -- Spike O’ Rama

Uppercut your enemy. Enemy falls. Spikes at bottom of fall. So simple a caveman could understand it. The pit was the one definitive fatality that you could perform by simply being in the right place, no right time needed. Basically a freebie, its still a satisfying venture to pop someone and watch them fall helplessly to their skewered fate. All we would need then is Scorpion for barbeque and shishkebobs.