Midway wins: FATALITY
Written: Aug 24 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Graphics, fatalitys, best Mortal Kombat, music,
Cons: having to press a button to block, 6-Button pad really required
The Bottom Line: MK2 is a must for all fans of retro fighters, one of the best 16-Bit scraps you will ever play.
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| flash-hammer's Full Review: Mortal Kombat II for Sega Genesis |
MK2 was the game in which Mortal Kombat delivered not only the awesome atmosphere of the series, but also good gameplay. While in both its arcade and home format ports Mortal Kombat had oozed an awesome atmosphere with excellent music, stages and presentation, it had been more than a bit lacking in terms of gameplay.
Mortal Kombat 2 was released to a genuine wave of excitement amongst fans of the original. And it delivered more than they could have hoped for. I remember back when my local video rental shop used to rent out games, MK2 was pre-booked for weeks in advance. The shop had to get in 2 copies (a first) to cope with the amount of people wanting to play it. I remember as soon as I had enough money I went out and bought it, no thought of buying another title at all.
The game picks up after the original where several things happened. Liu Kang won the tournament after defeating Goro and Shang Tsung and restoring the title to the Earth realm. Kano escaped Sonya's clutches into the Outworld, where she pursued, and hasnt been seen since. Scorpion killed Sub Zero and gained the revenge he had longed for.
But all was not right, Shang Tsung begged his master, the emperor Shao Kahn for another chance, and the evil lord decided to host his own version of Mortal Kombat in his own outworld back garden. Despite this breaking the rules, there is nothing the Earth Realm fighters can do but journey to the Outworld and try to save ours.
Returning to the fray is Champion Liu Kang, a Bruce Lee lookalike, who will fight to save the world at any cost, Martial Arts movie star and Jean Claude Van Damme wannabe Johnny Cage,God of Thunder Rayden, who now fights on our side, Shang Tsung, who has absorbed enough souls to regain his youth, and is now out to try and backstab the emperor, his sidekick Ninja Reptile, who hid in the shadows during MK1 and Scorpion, who enters the tournament upon discovering, to his surprise, that Sub Zero has entered. It turns out that this is the original Sub Zero's younger brother, and to repay him for killing his brother, Scorpion becomes his guardian.
Also entering is Sonya' s super-strong partner Jax, who is out to find her, and Kano, Kung Lao, a relative of Liu Kang's who shares the name of the hero whom Goro killed all those years ago, the new Sub Zero, here to stop Kahn on orders of his Clan, Shao Kahn's adopted daughter, and rightful Princess of the Outworld Kitana, her mutant clone Mileena, Mileena's hideous sidekick Baraka and the three hidden fighters, Kitana's friend Jade, and the two mysterious Ninja, Smoke and Noob Saibot.
Shao Kahn has also enlisted the help of a member of Goro's Shokan race, named Kintaro.
For those unfamiliar with the series, its a one-on-one fighting game where the winner of two out of three rounds is declared victor. Where Mortal Kombat stood out from the crowd, was that when your opponent was defeated, you had a limited time to enter a specific button sequence to finish them with a 'Fatality'. This, along with the streams of blood that come out when you hit your foe, led to the controversial reputation of the series. MK2 expanded on the Fatalitys, by giving each character two, as well as a Babality and a Friendship. A Babality transforms your opponent into a baby. A friendship makes your character do something goofy as a peace offering. The point in these was always lost on me, but it is made up for by the fact that some of the fatalitys are awesome. Liu Kang has lost his goofy upercut thing, and gained an awesome Chinese Dragon transformation that sees him bite the top end of his foe.
It should also be noted that instead of just being able to uppercut your opponent off the bridge on this game's pit stage, each character also has a 'Pit Fatality' code, which lets you knock them into the acid on the acid pool, off the bridge on the pit and up into spikes in the tower. To be honest, I don't like the new pit level, the character who is knocked off falls to his death on a concrete floor. Painful? yes, but not quite the same as falling onto spikes.
On the plus side, you no longer had to enter a code to get the blood filled version of the game here.
The graphics in this game are a definite improvement over those in the original game. The sprites are much clearer, and have a generally less 'fuzzy' look to them than those from the first game. The cameo appearances from Sonya and Kano in the background of one of the stages boasts more detailed sprites than those in MK1!. The stages themselves are pretty awesome, ranging from a variety of Outworld locales such as Shao Kahn's courtyard, a wasteland, haunted woods and an acid pit. The blood still looks like red bean bags, but its inclusion is still what gives the game much of its charm.
The sound is also good. Shao Kahn's deep, booming voice announces the fights, and he talks himself during your final battle. The music is also up to the standard set by MK1. It really builds up an atmosphere of a cheesy martial arts fantasy film, and while people can complain about the Sega's sound capabilities, they do just fine here.
The controls in the game are the same as in the original. If you are stuck with the original pad, A is Punch, B is Block and C is Kick. However, if you are lucky/sensible enough to have tracked down a 6-Button, X is High Punch, A is Low Punch, B and Y both block, C is low kick and Z is high kick.
The response for all of these is as good as you can expect, and the system doesn't take long to master. For some reason, the game requires you to manually change the controls to 6 Button, this is the only game I have that does this, and while minor, can lead to some annoyance if you forget.
MK2 outdoes its predecessor in every category apart from atmosphere, and even then it comes close to catching it. The game is just plain fun to play. It has single player replay in the form of each character having individual endings, and the last fight, with Shao Kahn, is one of the most memorable in fighting game history.I don't recall any other fighting game in which the boss, who is horrifically strong, stops to verbally taunt you mid fight. Awesome.
The game's only clear fault I can think of, is the fact that having to press a button to block in a 2D fighter isn't expected, and really isn't any fun. The amount of times I get hit while accidentally hitting backwards on the D-Pad is astounding. But that, and really requiring owners to have at least one, preferabley 2, Six Button pads, the game is near flawless for a game its age.
Get a friend around, and it becomes an essential multiplayer experience, along with either of the Streetfighter 2 Megadrive conversions, this is essential gaming for fighting game fans with a retro sweet tooth. One of the best fighting games ever, and possibly the best 16-Bit fighting game that isn't part of the Streetfighter series, MK2 is a must have for those who like their fighting retro and gory.
Related Reviews
Games
Mortal Kombat for Sega Genesis
Mortal Kombat for Super Nintendo
Mortal Kombat 2 for Super Nintendo
Video/DVD
Mortal Kombat
Recommended:
Yes
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flash-hammer
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