Platforms

Arcade, PC, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color.

Release Dates:

Arcade: November 9th, 1997.
PC: July 31st, 1998.
PlayStation: 1998.
Nintendo 64: 1998.
Game Boy Color: February 28, 1999.

Playable Kombatants:

Arcade, PC, PlayStation, Nintendo 64: 15: First 3 rows of the select screen.
Game Boy Color: 8: Raiden, Quan Chi, Fujin, Liu Kang, Sub-Zero, Reiko, Tanya, Scorpion.

Hidden (Playable) Kombatants:

Arcade: Meat.
PlayStation, PC: 3: Meat, Noob Saibot, Goro.
Nintendo 64: Same as above plus Kitana. (Unlockable using a Gameshark code)
Game Boy Color: Reptile. (?)

Bosses:

Sub-Boss: Goro
(except Arcade and Game Boy Color)
Boss: Shinnok.

Finishers:

Each character can perform 2 Fatalities and 2 Stage Fatalities.

Thousands of years ago in a battle with the fallen elder god known as Shinnok, I was responsible for the death of an entire civilization. To rid all realms of Shinnok's menace I waged a war that plunged the earth into centuries of darkness and banished Shinnok to a place called the Netherealm. Now after Shao Kahn's defeat at the hands of the earth warriors, Shinnok has managed to escape his confines of the Netherealm. The war is now being fought once again, and this time it can be won by mortals.
- The Words of Raiden

Secret Menu:

PlayStation: Start a 2 Player game and at the versus screen press these buttons to enter a kombat kode: (Player 1) Low Punch x3, Low Kick x2 - (Player 2) Low Punch x2, Block, Low Kick x3. After the match starts, pause and exit the to the main menu, select Options, highlight "Vs Screen Enabled" and hold Run + Block. Hold the buttons down until the Cheats menu appears.
PC: Go to the options menu and highlight Continue, Hold Low Kick + Block, the cheat menu will appear after you hear "Outstanding!".
Nintendo 64: Same as above, but holding the buttons Block + Run instead.

Secret Characters:

Noob Saibot: Beat the game with Reiko. Then, at the character select screen, choose the "HIDE"(?) box, and then select Reiko while holding down Run+Block until the fight begins.
Goro: Beat the game with Shinnok. Then, at the character select screen, choose the "HIDE"(?) box, and then select Shinnok while holding down Run+Block until the fight begins.
Meat: To get to play as Meat, the bloody skeleton, you much select Group mode and win all the way through it. Once done, you then get to choose a character at the select screen. During gameplay, you will have a bloody skeleton with the moves of the character you chose. You continue to play with him until you lose.