Mortal Kombat Cheat Codes & Secrets

The SNES Censorship Situation (Read This First)

Every SNES player needs to understand what version of Mortal Kombat they are playing. Nintendo required Acclaim to strip blood (replaced with gray sweat), alter fatalities, and tone down gore for the 1993 SNES release. Unlike the Sega Genesis version — which shipped censored but could be unlocked with the code A, B, A, C, A, B, B — the SNES version has no blood restoration code whatsoever. The censorship is baked permanently into the cartridge. This is the single most common misconception among players coming from the Genesis version.

Changes made to the SNES version:

• Blood replaced with gray sweat splatter
• Sub-Zero’s spine rip fatality replaced with an uppercut that sends the opponent off-screen
• Several other fatalities altered or shortened
• Pit-bottom stage fatality removed entirely

Default Controls Reference

Button	Action
Y	High Punch (HP)
B	Low Punch (LP)
X	High Kick (HK)
A	Low Kick (LK)
R	Block (BL)
Start	Pause

All buttons can be remapped in the Options menu before starting a run.

Special Moves: All Characters

These inputs are the same as the arcade version, translated to SNES button names. Directional inputs assume Player 1 facing right.

Scorpion

Move	Input
Spear (“Get over here!”)	Back, Back, LP
Teleport Punch	Down, Back, HP

Sub-Zero

Move	Input
Ice Freeze	Down, Forward, LP
Slide	Back + LP + LK + BL simultaneously

Liu Kang

Move	Input
Fireball	Forward, Forward, HP
Flying Kick	Forward, Forward, HK

Johnny Cage

Move	Input
Shadow Kick	Back, Forward, LK
Split Punch (low blow)	Down + LP while crouching, point-blank range
Shadow Uppercut	Back, Down, Back, HP

Kano

Move	Input
Cannonball	Hold Back 2 seconds, then Forward + HK
Knife Throw	Down, Back, LP

Sonya Blade

Move	Input
Energy Rings	Down, Forward, LP
Leg Grab	Down + LP + BL simultaneously
Kiss Stun	Forward, Forward, Back + BL

Raiden

Move	Input
Torpedo	Hold Back 2 seconds, then Forward, Forward
Lightning	Down, Up

Finishing Moves (SNES Versions)

Performed after the announcer says “Finish Him/Her” with the opponent in the stunned state. Distance notes matter — being too far or too close will waste the window.

Character	Input	Distance	Notes
Scorpion	Hold BL, Up, Up	Any	Fire breath — unchanged from arcade
Sub-Zero	Forward, Down, Forward + HP	Close	Spine rip replaced with uppercut slam
Liu Kang	Forward, Forward, Forward, HK	Any	Bicycle kick series — largely intact
Johnny Cage	Back + LP + BL + LK	Sweep	Split-punch finish, decapitation removed
Kano	Hold BL, Back, Forward	Close	Heart rip animation altered
Sonya Blade	Forward, Forward, Back, Back + BL	Any	Kiss explosion — retained with visual edits
Raiden	Hold BL, Forward, Forward, Forward	Close	Electrocution — retained

Finishing move timing on SNES is slightly more forgiving than the arcade. Use Versus mode against a second controller (or just let P2 idle) to drill inputs without pressure.

Hidden Opponent: Reptile

Reptile is a secret green-palette ninja who combines Scorpion and Sub-Zero’s moves. He is not selectable but can appear as a bonus opponent during the single-player ladder, awarding a large point bonus when defeated.

Conditions to Trigger the Fight

All conditions must be met within the same match on The Pit stage:

1. Stage: Must be The Pit — the bridge with the moon in the background. No other stage can trigger this.
2. Moon shadow: Watch the background as the round loads. A silhouette must fly past the moon at the very start of the round. If no shadow appears, the fight cannot trigger regardless of anything else you do.
3. No blocking: You cannot press the Block button even once across both rounds of the match.
4. Double Flawless Victory: Win both rounds without taking a single point of damage.
5. Perform a Finishing Move: End round two with a fatality — a regular ring-out KO is not sufficient.

Meet all five conditions and Reptile challenges you immediately after the match ends, before the next opponent loads.

Reptile’s Hints

Leave the game idle on the title screen and watch the attract sequence. Reptile delivers scrolling cryptic messages hinting at his existence:

• “Look to la luna” — points to the moon shadow condition
• “Alone is how you’ll find me” — the fight only triggers in single-player

Fighting Reptile

Reptile uses both Scorpion’s Spear (Back, Back, LP) and Sub-Zero’s Ice Freeze (Down, Forward, LP) and is noticeably faster and more aggressive than either. He does not have his own unique fatality to receive — defeat him with a standard KO. The round ends and you continue your ladder with the point bonus applied.

Easter Eggs

Dan Forden’s “Toasty!”

Sound designer Dan Forden appears as a small pixelated portrait in the bottom-right corner of the screen after a successful uppercut sends the opponent airborne. He says “Toasty!” in a deliberately squeaky voice.

• Trigger: Land an uppercut that launches the opponent vertically — not every uppercut qualifies, only ones with a clean vertical launch
• The audio in the SNES version is compressed compared to the arcade but audible
• This is purely cosmetic in MK1

Important note for players familiar with MK2: The interaction where you hold Down and press Start during the “Toasty!” frame to access a hidden Smoke fight was added in Mortal Kombat II. That mechanic does not exist in the original MK1 on any platform.

Reptile’s Attract-Mode Messages

The title screen demo cycles through Reptile’s hint messages if left idle. These are intentional developer Easter eggs left in the game to hint at the hidden fight. Watching the full attract loop reveals all the clues.

Difficulty and Options Setup

Options Menu Access

From the title screen, select Options to access:

Setting	Range
Difficulty	Novice / Easy / Medium / Hard / Very Hard / Warrior / God
Rounds	1, 2, or 3 rounds per match
Timer	Slow / Medium / Fast / Infinite
Controls	Full button remapping per player
Credits	View credits (no unlock effect)

There is no button code to bypass difficulty. Set it to Novice before your run — it is the most effective legitimate shortcut for players learning the game.

Two-Player Endurance Mode

From the main menu, select 2 Player, then Endurance. Both players face back-to-back opponents without health refills between rounds. This mode is frequently missed in the menus but requires no code.

Exploits and Beneficial Glitches

Sonya Corner Trap vs. CPU

The CPU has poor responses to Sonya’s Leg Grab (Down + LP + BL) when performed repeatedly in the corner:

1. Push the opponent into the corner with normal attacks
2. Land the Leg Grab
3. As they recover, throw another immediately
4. Repeat until the round ends

At Novice through Medium difficulty, the CPU almost never punishes this sequence. It stops being reliable at Hard and above where the CPU starts breaking out with reversals.

Shang Tsung Transformation Window

Shang Tsung morphs between characters during the final boss fight. His transformation animation has two exploitable properties:

• He cannot block during the morph animation — hit him freely the moment the morph starts
• Any knockdown during a morph extends his recovery time slightly, giving you an extra attack window before he acts

Bait the transformation by backing away at mid-screen when his health is low. He frequently morphs during pursuit.

Goro Anti-Air Exploit

Goro’s four-arm grab has a specific startup window that jump kicks beat cleanly:

• Jump at him from about 2/3 screen distance with HK
• The deep angle of the jump kick hits before his grab command activates
• After landing, immediately walk back to reset to mid-screen distance
• His rush attack (charge forward with all four arms) has several recovery frames — punish with any normal attack as soon as he stops

Raiden specific: The Torpedo (Hold Back 2 sec, Forward, Forward) travels under Goro’s overhead attacks and starts pressure from either side of him.

CPU Blocking Pattern Abuse

At lower difficulties, the CPU follows predictable blocking behavior:

• CPU opponents rarely block crouching low attacks — mix in crouching LP and sweeps (Back + HK) heavily
• After the CPU lands any jump attack that you block, there is a reliable 2–3 frame window where the CPU does nothing — this is your guaranteed counter hit
• Scorpion’s Spear (Back, Back, LP) catches the CPU during its backward-walk recovery animation consistently at Novice and Easy

Passwords and Save System

Mortal Kombat on SNES does not use a password system and has no battery backup. Every session starts from the beginning of the ladder. Continues are unlimited and free at the countdown screen, but using a continue:

• Resets your score to zero
• Restarts from whichever opponent you lost to (continuing past Goro puts you back at Goro)

High score entries on the title screen are lost when the SNES powers off. There is no way to preserve scores between sessions without leaving the console running.