The game only appeared on arcades, as well as the Neo-Geo AES and Neo-Geo CD. But many years after SNK Playmore bought ADK properties after its bankruptcy in 2003, this game came back to the consoles as part of the 5-game compilation ADK Tamashii for PlayStation 2 in 2008 and later on Play Station Network in 2015. Characters from the game have also appeared in various SNK games after they bought ADK, especially Kisarah Westfield in NeoGeo Battle Coliseum and in the Days of Memories series.
Despite the name, it has nothing to do with the Mortal Kombat series.
This game provides examples of:
- Anime Hair: Joe Kusanagi's hair is styled upwards. Right before his finishing move, he combs his hair.
- Arcade-Perfect Port: The Neo-Geo AES version, being on the same hardware as its arcade counterpart.
- Assist Character: Joe has one for his Crazy Meter super move, Mini Mook Katsuo. Also, an unknown male in Kisarah's Jealousy Bomber.
- Color Motif: Joe (orange) and Goh (blue), also Fuuma (red).
- Comeback Mechanic: When you're grabbed, you can escape and grapple the opponent back. Sadly the CPU also can do this, and does it a lot.
- Childhood Marriage Promise: Kisarah goes after Joe because, as children, he promised to date her. And now she's willing to fight him, if that means she'll get him to keep it. She succeeds only in her own ending and in NGBC, making this ending Canon.
- Crossover: Kotaro Fuuma is one of the game's characters. Turns out his time machine had broken. Additionally, the characters of this game appear in ADK World, an ADK crossover game similar to Capcom's Capcom World series, and characters from this game also appear in the Card Battle Game SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS as part of SNK's side.
- Damn You, Muscle Memory!: Tapping the punch or kick button results in a weak attack whereas pressing and holding it triggers a stronger attack, a system also used in the earlier World Heroes games. Even if one is used to those, since up and down are used for movement rather than jumping or ducking, jumping is done via the third button.
- Finishing Move: Your character can perform a One-Hit Kill once your opponent's life meter has its last layer remaining and your Crazy Meter is full. A finishing move will fail if the timer runs out while the finishing move is being performed.
- Free-Floor Fighting: You can move around freely around the stage like a Beat 'em Up, and similarly there's a dedicated jump button.
- Fun with Acronyms: The Western title of the game is meant to spell out ADK, rather than being a take on Mortal Kombat (though it wasn't really coincidental, given that MK was all the rage back then). Though in reality the game really abbreviates to AODK.
- Hidden Supplies: During the battle, a crowd member can toss a weapon to the stage to be used by any of the fighters.
- I Know Madden Kombat: Bobby fights using a basketball.
- Kick Them While They Are Down: There are certain moves you can do to hit the opponent while they're down.
- Kid-Appeal Character: Bobby Nelson, a basketball playing child, is one of the combatants.
- Life Meter: Four layers per fighter. You can slightly get some back with every attack landed on your opponent.
- Lost in Translation: Leonhalt, a German guy who talks in Gratuitous Spanish.
- Market-Based Title: Released in Japan as Tsukai GANGAN Koushinkyokunote , usually shortened to "GANGAN".
- Mirror Match: One of the matches is a mirror match, possibly due to the small roster.
- Multiple Life Bars: Each fighter gets four life bars: blue, green, yellow, and orange in order of lowering health. When a fighter is down to his or her orange life bar, he or she is vulnerable to a Finishing Move that does a One-Hit Kill.
- Not Just a Tournament: Most of the roster have their own objectives to fulfill and rivals to fight.
- One-Hit Kill: A Finishing Move is one of these, but can only be performed when the opponent is down to his or her last life bar and your crazy meter is full. These finishing moves will fail if the time expires before they are completed.
- Put on a Bus: With the exception of Kisarah, all the other characters save Fuuma have yet to appear again as a playable character rather than a cameo.
- Red Baron: Every character their own nickname In-Universe. Yes, even Fuuma (who also has another one in World Heroes).
- The Rival: Joe and Goh are the most obvious with their Japanese Delinquent motif and their opposite colored clothing, but almost everyone's final stage is against a rival they are looking for.
- Rival Final Boss: Having no Big Bad or a greater menace, the Final Boss is The Rival for several of the characters. Other characters have story-related reasons for being other characters' final bosses.
- The Smurfette Principle: Kisarah Westfield, the only female fighter in the game.
- Spin-Off: Of World Heroes.
- Vibrant Orange: Joe wears orange attire and is a cocky martial artist who seeks worthy challenges.
- Victory Quote: Every character have specific quotes against all characters, included theirself.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Like in Street Fighter II, certain low attacks, particularly punches, have a chance of making a character vomit when landed, The taller the character is, the more likely its bound to happen.
- Wrestler in All of Us: Every character has a special throw.
- You Don't Look Like You: Fuuma's appearance and moves here differ a lot from World Heroes.
