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This installment of Mortal Kombat DLC Breakdown covers Rain, who is now available on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Find him on the Xbox Live Marketplace for 400 Microsoft Points (or as part of the 1200 point Season Pass plan) and on PlayStation Network for $4.99.
Background
Rain became an orphan when Shao Kahn invaded his home realm of Edenia. Taken in by the resistance and trained to fight, he quickly became a very skilled warrior. He also grew extremely arrogant and felt that he should be leading his rebel brethren. When they refused, he did the most logical thing he could think of. He joined Shao Kahn and helped him defeat his former comrades in exchange for the army he originally wanted.
Now, as one of Shao Kahn’s generals, Rain does the emperor’s dirty work, fighting against all who stand in the way of his rise to power.
First Appearance
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (1995)
Origin
Reptile, first seen in the original Mortal Kombat, was the first hidden character in fighting game history. Once in a while he would appear before a match and offer cryptic hints about how to find him. This theme of hidden-character pop-ups continued with Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, when series-creator Ed Boon and co. inserted a purple ninja named Rain into the attract mode to mess with fans.
Purple Rain, the Prince of Edenia. He was a joke character and never actually existed in the game in the first place.
However, fans were hungry for Rain, and demanded that he be playable. Always aiming to please, Midway eventually developed Rain into an actual character for the home versions of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and the janky Mortal Kombat Trilogy.
Kombat Breakdown
Rain is insanely skilled at delivering long, flashy combos, but he's less adept at actually beginning those combos. He has only one command normal that hits low, aside from the standard crouching attacks every character possesses, and no low or medium combo starters. His only mix-up is Watery Grave (High, Low) alternating with Waterfall (High, Medium). That second hit in Waterfall is Rain’s only mid-level attack, and though it bounces the opponent for big combo starting opportunities, it's easily predictable.
Consequently, Rain requires some extreme finesse to use well, unless the player relies heavily on his disabling special moves. Though their combo damage scales heavily, three specials have the potential to lead to Rain’s biggest, most destructive strings. Water Bubble is Rain’s classic MK3 projectile, and if it connects Rain can control the opponent and place them wherever on the screen he wants. Lightning is a high, pop-up attack, similar to Nightwolf’s move of the same name. Although it's blockable, Lightning chains easily off of most of Rain's combos and can squeeze out some long-range damage in a pinch. Finally, Rain’s infamous, physics-defying super roundhouse kick from UMK3 returns as Super Kick, a special that you can delay or cancel into Rain’s versatile Water-Port. When the Super Kick connects, it launches the opponent out one end of the screen and back through the other — leaving them open to an uppercut, but a skilled Rain player can easily employ multiple juggle opportunities to keep the Rain pain train rolling.
Rain also has the odd special move Aqua Splash: He issues a stream of water from his hand that looks like it would tickle more than damage. Used at the end of a combo and functionally similar to Sektor’s Flame Burner, Aqua Splash keeps an opponent on their feet as the warm waves massage them, pushing them back and keeping them from getting knocked down. This can lead to some interesting resets and mind games, which Rain relies on to start his most damaging punishers.
A few quirky moves round out Rain’s repertoire and will likely prove more and more useful as players explore his full potential. Geyser Kick is a vertical anti-air attack that beats Sheeva’s stomp attack and has an ambiguous hitbox that extends in front of and behind him as well. The aforementioned Water-Port, which can be done in the air, becomes a teleporting Geyser Kick in its an Enhanced version. Then there’s H20 Boost, which increases Rain’s damage temporarily but disables his ability to block (leading to some huge risk/reward situations). The Enhanced version, H20 Buff, is the best use of meter Rain has, and allows his blocked attack strings to do almost as much damage as a normal, unblocked combo!
Finally, we have Rain’s X-Ray, Rain Check. This move can hit a grounded, unblocking opponent from any range, leading to a two-hit bone crusher that launches the opponent off the screen in the same way that Super Kick does. This means that Rain can combo into and out of his X-Ray, if timed correctly, and though it’s not an efficient use of his meter, it’s a scary possibility that opponents must be wary of.
Finishing Move Inputs
Bubble Burst: B, F, D, B, BLOCK (Jump)
Does It Sting: U, D, B, F, BP (Jump)
Stage Fatality: F, D, F, BK (Touching)
Babality: B, D, F, FP (Jump)
Combo Video
Konclusion
As fun as he is to use, Rain isn't very new player friendly. While his move list may look fairly extensive, his lack of mix-up combos and the heavy damage scaling off of his best launchers can result in a mere drizzle of damage. Players who love coming up with creative combos, though, will have much better luck with Rain. He may have difficulty beginning a combo, but Rain can definitely finish what he starts in a variety of effective, visually pleasing ways. But with a little bit of practice, most players will find at least some success with this lavender bad boy.
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