Mortal Kombat 1 welcomes Johnny Cage with iconic Jean-Claude Van Damme skin cover image

Mortal Kombat 1 welcomes Johnny Cage with iconic Jean-Claude Van Damme skin

There are different editions of Mortal Kombat 1, and a couple of them feature a skin for Johnny Cage!

A new era has begun! The official Mortal Kombat 1 trailer is here, and players can preorder the game starting on May 19. There are different editions of Mortal Kombat 1 as well, and two of them feature the Jean-Claude Van Damme skin for Johnny Cage. Read on for details!

Mortal Kombat 1 Johnny Cage Jean-Claude Van Damme skin

Those who get either the Mortal Kombat 1 Premium Edition or Mortal Kombat 1 Kollector's Edition will receive the Kombat Pack that includes the Johnny Cage skin. This Kombat Pack also features six new playable characters and five new Kameo characters.

Both of these editions will come with some in-game currency. While the Premium Edition will grant players 1,250 Dragon Krystals, the Kollector's Edition will grant 2,700 Dragon Krystals.

Mortal Kombat 1 edition differences (Image via Warner Bros. Games)
Mortal Kombat 1 edition differences (Image via Warner Bros. Games)

Why Johnny Cage and Jean-Claude Van Damme?

Johnny Cage was originally called Michael Grimm in 1992 Mortal Kombat. He was also created as a parody of Belgian actor Jean-Claude Van Damme. In addition to sharing the same initials, Johnny Cage even had the split-legged crotch punch from Van Damme's Bloodsport film.

Using pictures of Van Damme from the Bloodsport movie, the Midway Games team put together a demo and sent it to the actor. The demo included mocked-up graphics of the team's vision for the game, but the deal fell through. Despite this, the team resumed their project and leveraged the technique they had perfected in the Van Damme demo. All they needed to do was create their own characters, and the rest was history.

Of the original characters of the 1992 Mortal Kombat, Johnny Cage had the silliest backstory. He entered the Mortal Kombat tournament just to prove he didn't need rely on special effects in his movies. He was also the only character to have no link to any of the other playable characters at the time.

Mortal Kombat 1992 Johnny Cage gameplay screenshot (Image via <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSDt_mYcK-c" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">ToniToniTOP on YouTube</a>)
Mortal Kombat 1992 Johnny Cage gameplay screenshot (Image via ToniToniTOP on YouTube)

MK1 edition differences

All pre-order editions of the game will arrive with Shang Tsung as a playable character. PlayStation and Xbox players will also get access to the Mortal Kombat 1 beta in August. Below is the breakdown of what will be included in each edition of the game.

Mortal Kombat 1 Standard Edition
Mortal Kombat 1 Premium Edition
Mortal Kombat 1 Kollector's Edition
Pre-order content: Shang Tsung as a playable character
1 week of early access to the game
1 week of early access to DLC characters
Kombat Pack
Liu Kang sculpture
Exclusive steel case
Limited-edition COARSE art prints
Exclusive limited-edition Liu Kang in-game color variant

When can I preorder Mortal Kombat 1?

Interested players can preorder Mortal Kombat 1 starting on May 19 at 10 a.m. PT. According to the game's trailer, Mortal Kombat 1 will be released on Sept. 19.

That's all for now. Are you excited for Mortal Kombat 1? Stay tuned on esports.gg for more news and updates.