neilioo's Full Review: Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance for GameCube
At first I wasn’t impressed with Mortal Kombat when I first got it. Sure there is the realistic graphics of blood and gore associated with beating the life out of someone that’s typical to the Kombat series, but the game just seems too simple on first play.
I started to get addicted to Mortal Kombat when I found a character I liked and began to learn her moves. With 21 characters you’re sure to find a few you like. Personally I like playing with the voluptuous girls and their high kicks even though there is something slightly enhanced about their figures.
This game is entirely based on learning a character’s combos and using them to desecrate your enemy. These combos range from 3 to…hell I don’t know 20 hits. You can go crazy on someone. Game play seems a little boring at first because the timing of the game is something to get use to. This isn’t a button mashing fighting game; it requires a lot of timing to master the art of combos.
Fighting Styles
Another great thing about Mortal Kombat is that every character has three fighting styles. Two are difference stances for hand to hand kombat with different movies and combos and one is pulling out your favorite weapon to beat some a. The styles can be switched between very easily with the L button in mid punch and some combos actually require the use of two or all three styles! You can start your combo is one style switch to your second for a few kicks to the knees and finish him off with a nun chuck to the head. Sounds like great fun to me.
Weapons
These weapons are great but don’t get too carried away with them because not only do you inflict more damage, but you also take more. So there is some strategy on when to pull them out. Some characters can impale their enemy with the weapon. This is interesting because your enemy will slowly loose life throughout the match as he tries to defend himself with the weapon sticking out of him!
Graphics/Sound
My TV is pretty tiny but I’ve played this game at a friend’s house and it was like playing a whole different game. The graphics are really well done. The arenas are very creatively done. One in particular stands out: There are four Buddha statues with acid bellies circling the ring and if you beat your opponent close enough the Buddha will spew acid all over him taking some of his life. This is the first stage I’ve played where there is this kind of interaction between the characters and the arena.
The levels are all top-notch. I haven’t unlocked all of them yet but so far I’m really impressed.
Sound is nothing too unrealistic and doesn’t really stand out in my mind as I write this. There isn’t an background music or anything annoying like that, there is just the effects of the level and the sounds of a beating.
2Player Mode
The real reason for this game is the two-player mode. Nothing is more fun than a heated battle between you and your best friend. Mortal Kombat make this even more fun with the ability to wager Koins (the reward you accumulate throughout the game that unlock new things). Now the battles actually have a consequence! This makes things a little more interesting.
Gameplay
The D pad:
Mortal Kombat requires the use of the D pad that takes some getting use to and a lot of people complain about it. I personally don’t mind the small size and I think that people who complain are just too comfortable with the joystick. There really would be no way to play this game with the joystick and it would make each move much less calculated. With the D pad you can control exactly what move you’re looking for.
Other Controls:
A, B, X, Y : 4 action buttons that are used in combination with the D pad
Z: a special button. Some characters grab and others do special movies.
L: Change fighting style
R: Block
The Bad Stuff
The reason this game doesn’t get 4 stars is because the fatalities leave a lot to be desired. With the amazing level graphics you’d think that the fatalities would be as good, not even close. The fatalities look like the programmers were under a tight deadline and had to get them out as fast as possible. Some of them are just plain boring. It was also disappointing to find out that there is only one fatality per character.
The special moves are also a little weak. Cyrax is the only character that I’ve unlocked so far with special moves that are cool. Other than this, the special moves leave a lot to be desired.
This game is too bloody and graphic for children under normal mode. You can turn the blood off but you’re still letting two kids beat the crap out of each other. Get them Mario Sunshine and they’ll be entertained for hours.
All in All
Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance has grown on me because it takes a lot of practice to master. There are twenty-one characters all with different combo moves and some of them are really tough (almost impossible) to learn. The graphics are great and the multiple fighting styles are fun to switch between. Weapons are something that was long overdue in fighter games and are well integrated here.
However the fatalities just plain suck and there should be more special moves.
Up for sale is a copy of ORIGINAL ( black label ) MORTAL KOMBAT: DEADLY ALLIANCE for GAMECUBE. It is in BRAND NEW FACTORY SEALED condition. I accept P...More at eBay
Choose from 21 characters -- old favorites are here like Scorpion, Kung Lao and more, alongside newer & tougher characters A completely new fighting s...More at Amazon Marketplace
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