Mortal Kombat 4 for the Nintendo 64 platform is an awesome game, one that I'd recommend for all fans of fighting games.


Introduction

Mortal Kombat 4(MK4) is a fighting game, the fourth in the Mortal Kombat series. MK4 has also been developed for the Sony Playstation system and for computers. Other MK games include : Mortal Kombat 1,2&3,MK Gold, MK Trilogy, MK Mythologies-Sub Zero and Mortal Kombat Advance, to name a few. In addition, there are a couple movies,as well as a few books based on the Mortal Kombat series.



MK 4 VS. the other Mortal Kombats

I've always been a fan of the MK series...to date, I've played Mortal Kombat 1,2&3 for the Super Nintendo, and own MK1&2 for the Game Boy, as well as Mortal Kombat: Trilogy for the N64. Of course, I've also played the game in this review: Mortal Kombat 4, and I now own it.

A few of the main differences include:

*WEAPONS

Weapons have been added. Who would have thought: weapons CAN be included in a video game! I'm surprised that the brains behind the Mortal Kombat fighting game hadn't thought to add weapons before now! There's a huge selection of weapons-one for each character-and one of the characters can even steal his opponents’ weapons. Basically though, all the weapons are used for the same purpose-to club your opponent, smacking them into the wall. One exception to this rule is Fujin's weapon, which is a gun. While there have been weapons in MK before, you've never really been able to use them to maximum effect-for example, you could do one move with the weapon and that was it. To make use of the weapons in MK4, you must know how to make the weapons appear-usually including use of the directional pad and controller buttons.
Update I've been told weapons have been included in previous games such as Samurai Showdown,Time Killers,etc. However,this is the first game I've played that allows you to use weapons to maximum effect-ie. if you get a few good punches/kicks in and then bash your opponent,you'll eliminate a good 30%+ of their health



*Finishing Touches

AFTER you've beaten your opponent to a pulp, MK4 allows you fewer options. While Mortal Kombat 2&3 had Friendships, Babalities, Animalities, etc., Mortal Kombat 4 only has Fatalities. In this aspect, I preferred MK 2&3. Of course, Mortal Kombat 4 has brought back the cream of the crop as far as fatalities go-they've kept the good ones from before and invented new ones when needed. For example, Sonya's Kiss of Death, Sub Zero's Head Rip and Liu Kang's Dragon fatality. As always, there are level fatalities-but not as many as in MK2 or 3.


Game Options

Before you start fighting, you have several options at the main game menu : you can :-
-Practice against an opponent (active or inactive), where there's a screen that gives you all of your character's moves. Please note that when you select the practice option, there is no time limit so you can beat up on your opponent for as long as you like!

-Play a tournament against your friends or against the computer (this is an excellent way to practice combos and fatalities, as the rounds seem much shorter)

-Play an elimination game, where you keep fighting the computer or your friend until you lose.

-Change the options : this includes changing the configuration of the controller, accessing the cheat menu, changing the game sound, etc.

-There's also a game mode where you can have 2 on 2,4 on 4 or 8 on 8 fighting action-that is once your first fighter dies, another one pops up with full strength and you continue fighting.


*Characters

You'll notice there are fewer characters in the game. That's unfortunate, although MK4 does bring back a few key characters from previous games-such as Raiden, Liu Kang, Scorpion, Sonya, Sub-Zero, Jax, Goro, Noob Saibot(hidden). New characters include Quan Chi, Reiko, Shinnok and Kai. You'll notice that Kano, Baraka, Kitana, Kung Lao, Mileena, Shang Tsung, Cyrax, Kabal, NightWolf, Sektor, Sheeva, Sindel, Stryker,
Ermac, Rain, Motaro and Kintaro are all MIA(missing in action)!



*Fightin' Style

As per usual with the MK series, each character has an abundance of moves to choose from. I counted an average of 5 special moves for each character, not including the moves you can do with weapons. Liu Kang still has his dragon ball moves, as well as his kicks, Raiden has his teleport, Jax can still punch the ground, you get the idea! In Shinnok's level, he can pick up the obstacles on the ground (mostly rocks). To do each move, you have to use your controller's directional pad, and press one of, or a combination of the low kick, low punch, high kick or high punch buttons. Another excellent feature of MK4 is the combinations you can do. If you practice lots, you can perform combos that'll sap 20-30% of your opponent's health!


*Backgrounds/Levels

The development team involved with the Mortal Kombat series always seem to come up with new and imaginative backgrounds. Though few of the MK4 backgrounds are interactive, I counted 2 or 3 that incorporated level fatalities. If you wanted, you could perform one of the level fatalities on all the backgrounds!



*Blood

Ah, and now we come to one of the controversial issues! Few other games have dared to include blood in their games, but Mortal Kombat was one of them. In MK4, you have the ability to include or exclude the presence of blood. It didn't really make much of a difference to me, I enjoyed the game with or without the blood.



*Fatalities

"FINISH HIM/HER" is Mortal Kombat's trademark. Each character can make use of the various level fatalities, and every character has 2 fatalities of their own. Some examples include Jax's arm rip, Quan Chi's leg beat & Shinnok's hands from hell.



*Story/Plot

I didn't pay too much attention to this-it's same old/same old...all the same to me. However, after beating the game, I soon found that the endings were weak! They looked like they'd been done in a hurry, with very little attention paid to them. That , or the producers were trying to humor us. Still, the graphics with the endings were good, and the sound quality was good too.



*Codes

You don't have to look far to find codes in MK4. For example, you can play as Goro, Noob Saibot or even change the colors of the character's clothes ! Also, you can change the 'cheat' options so that you only need to press one button to perform character fatalities or level fatalities-though you can't have one button for each-IE. you must choose which of the fatalities you'd prefer, and that's the one that'll be done when you uppercut your opponent for the whole game(after you hear "finish him".



The Game Itself

Mortal Kombat 4 was very smooth in operating on my N64. There are hardly any delays while playing the game, the only exception being before a VS fight, where you can put codes in. The characters all look realistic, I was really impressed with that. Another cool thing about MK4 is the ability to side-step. At any time during the Combat, you can sidestep left or right-this enables you to get further away from your opponent, and you can also see more of the background! The controls are awesome, the best of any MK game I've played yet, even better than the arcade!

Overall, here's my ratings for the game :
GRAPHICS 7.5 out of 10
SOUND 7 out of 10
REPLAY VALUE 6.5 out of 10
CONTROLS 7 out of 10
CHARACTERS 6 out of 10

Thanks for reading. Please leave me a comment if you have a moment,let me know what you liked about this review and what you didn't like :)


Recommended: Yes