What was the working title of the first Mortal Kombat game during development?

The working title of the first Mortal Kombat game during development was Dragon Attack.

The project began at Midway as an idea for a fighting game that could capitalize on the popularity of martial-arts movies and action stars. Before the final name was chosen, the developers used “Dragon Attack” as a temporary title. The name was later replaced by Mortal Kombat, whose deliberately misspelled spelling became one of the franchise’s visual trademarks.

The game was created by Ed Boon and John Tobias, with Tobias contributing character concepts and artwork and Boon handling programming. Its 1992 arcade release became notable for digitized performers, dramatic finishing moves, and a darker tone than many contemporary fighting games.

Dragon Attack is sometimes confused with a released game, but it was only a development title. It should also not be confused with Mortal Kombat’s later dragon imagery, including the dragon logo and the Dragon Challenge featured in later games.