Mortal Kombat Kard Game CCG

Mortal Kombat Kard Game is the Midway fighting-game adaptation released during the MK3 era, riding the peak of fatality-based pop-culture shock value before the cinematic universe adaptations began to soften the brand.

The game

Published in 1996 by U.S. Playing Card Company and licensed through Midway, Mortal Kombat Kard Game is a two-player fighter where each player picks a kombatant (Liu Kang, Sonya, Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Kano, Shao Kahn, etc.) and plays attack, defense and special-move cards in tempo-based exchanges. Finishing a defeated opponent with a Fatality card scores bonus prestige rather than directly winning.

The context

Mortal Kombat 3 was the current arcade iteration when the Kard Game launched, and the 1995 Mortal Kombat film was still in its year-after box-office afterlife. USPCC had mass-retail shelf space in drugstores and toy aisles, which is where most of this product actually sold. Mortal Kombat: The Card Game by MadDuck Enterprises, printed earlier in 1995 as an unlicensed version, is sometimes confused with the USPCC release.

The collector angle

Only the base set shipped; USPCC did not continue the line. The Fatality finisher cards for each character are the most collectable pieces for fighting-game fans, with Scorpion's Toasty! Fatality card being the best-known. Autographed cards exist in very small numbers from 1996 Midway promotional events and are almost impossible to authenticate without period paperwork. The MadDuck 1995 unlicensed release is a separate collector market with its own small but real price tier.