Mortal Kombat
This ultra-violent fighting game's title is a variation on the name for Chang Cheh's old school movie Crippled Avengers, which was called The Return of the 5 Deadly Venoms and Mortal Combat in the US.
The violence featured in the movie undoubtedly provided at least some inspiration for the game's "fatalities."
Another Chang Cheh movie, the classic Five Deadly Venoms, provided the inspiration for the ninjas Reptile and Scorpion -- right down to their outfits (the outfit Lizard wears when he is out of "uniform" is very similar to what the ninjas wear).
Ho Sung Pak, who appeared in the climatic fight in Drunken Master 2, was a model for some of the game's characters like Liu Kang. Liu's backstory has him as a member of the White Lotus Society, who were Wong Fei-Hung's nemesis in Once Upon a Time in China.
The "role" of Johnny Cage was originally supposed to be played by martial arts star (at least he was at the time) Jean-Claude Van Damme, who got his start in HK/US co-productions such as Bloodsport (Cage's outfit in the game is very similar to what Van Damme wore in that movie). The game's original plot was to have revolved around Van Damme, who enters into the tournament featured in the game to prove that he is a "real" martial artist. After the departure of Van Damme from the game's production, the emphasis was placed on the evil Shang Tsung (played by Ho Sung Pak).
Robin Shou, who has appeared in about a dozen HK movies such as Tiger Cage, played Liu Kang in the US film version of the game (one of the only decent game-to-movie conversions) and its' less-than-successful sequel.
The character of Raiden (the "thunder god") was taken from "Thunder" (played by HK film alumnus Carter Wong) in the HK-inspired US movie Big Trouble in Little China.
Downloadable Files (PC - Windows/DOS):
Genecyst.zip (424 KB "Genecyst" Genesis emulator)
Mkombat.zip (997 KB "Mortal Kombat" Genesis ROM)
Note: both files are required; to activate the blood in the game, at the title screen press press Down, Up, Left, Left, A, Right, Down on your controller. This will open up a cheat menu option, in which (among other things) you can turn the blood on or off. If you need help learning the characters' moves and fatalities, click here for the info.