The series serves as an alternative sequel to the events of the 1995 Mortal Kombat feature film while also drawing on Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.

It aired on USA Network's Action Extreme Team animation block back-to-back with the Street Fighter animated series, running for thirteen episodes from September to December 1996.

Although character designs were based on Mortal Kombat 3 and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 sprites, the episode plots had little relation to any of the games, and characters like Kung Lao, Johnny Cage, Mileena, Sindel, Goro and Kintaro were never shown or referenced.

The show provided the debut appearance of Quan Chi, a character who would later become a major antagonist in the Mortal Kombat game series.

Despite being portrayed as the archvillain of the series, Shao Kahn actually appeared in only four of the show's thirteen episodes.

In the United States only a select number of episodes were ever released individually on VHS, and the series never received a DVD release there, unlike in the UK, Australia, Russia, Brazil and Spain.

The series received a negative response from both viewers and critics and was canceled after just one season.

In 2011, 1UP.com labeled it 'a terrible, one-liner-packed train wreck of a kids' show,' and Dorkly ranked it sixth on a list of the worst animated video game TV adaptations, citing its lack of violence as a factor in its cancellation.