[7/9/08] Mortal Kombat II & III

[Devia Eleven]

 

Publisher: Midway

Developer: Midway

Genre: 2D Fighting

Release Date: 1993

Players: 1-2

 

Emulators: Too many to list

 

Mortal Kombat II, is a direct sequel to Mortal Kombat, an American fighting game created by Midway, to compete with street fighter in the arcades. The game received home console ports, making it to over 5 home consoles and hand held game systems combined. The series is highly acclaimed for it's abundance of blood and gore, along with gruesome fatalities. The fighting system is rather simple, and its simplicity also can make it very difficult at times, this brings me to Mortal Kombat II.

 

 

The game is faster, smoother, better looking, and even more gruesome than before. Some characters have been added, some have been taken out, and two new bosses have been introduced. The game's colors are much more vibrant, Midway took away the gritty and washed out effect from Mortal Kombat, which in my opinion, and makes Mortal Kombat seem darker. Stage fatalities have also been added; along with Friendships and Babalities, these have been added for comic relief. This game got many different ports; I would say that probably the PC and the PS ports rule supreme, the only thing faulting the PS port are loading times, which is inescapable in CD games.

 

 

The combat is all generally the same; all of the players play the same, except for the bosses, such as Kintaro and Shao Kahn. There are also even more unlockable characters; all of them are basic palette swaps on Ninja characters, and female Ninja characters. This is arguably the best Mortal Kombat game, because as a sequel this game succeeds at maintaining the same feel for the first game, while being better simultaneously. It brings more blood to the table, and that makes Mortal Kombat what it is, it's a legitimate upgrade from the first installment, where the fatalities are both humorously amusing, and grotesquely satisfying. There really isn't any flaw in this game, aside from the difficulty. It can get very ridiculous; the computer's action always precisely counters your attack. It's as if the computer can powerlessly predict every attack your about to make, before you make it. The only real way to overcome persistent AI is to abuse the natural glitches in the game, using them to your advantage.

 

 

For one on one match with another player, the game doesn't offer much variety in gameplay. Playing with a friend is a bit boring, and each hit takes a large chunk of health. With block being a separate button, as opposed to back, and you not having many different attacking options, the gameplay can become bland, and that's why the fatalities and the blood make up for that. This game is definitely the best 2 dimensional Mortal Kombat fighting game, there has only been generally three, 2 dimensional Mortal Kombat games anyways, excluding all of those small upgrades, we have yet to see another, and I doubt that we ever will.

 

Graphics - 8.5

Sound - 8

Presentation - 7.5

Gameplay - 7.5

 

Overall: 7.9

 

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Publisher: Midway

Developer: Midway

Genre: 2D Fighting

Release Date: Apr 1, 1995

Offline Modes: Competitive

Number of Players: 1-2

 

Emulators: Too many to list

 

 

Mortal Kombat III is a direct sequel to its predecessor, Mortal Kombat II. This game introduces the combo system, which is basically labeled as, (dial-a-combo). The new system was either loved or hated, and the run button didn't really make it any better. It feels like a completely different game, the combos had no variety. For each character there was only one complete combo that could be pulled off. There really wasn't a way to counter a long running combo, unless you blocked before a player before he/she started the combo. Not to mention, the combos themselves, if completed, would take around 44% of your health. And yes, the game does actually give you the percentage of how much a combo takes off an enemy. The new characters were so awkward and did not belong. Characters like Sektor and Cyrax, along with Kabal and Stryker, all somewhat killed the Mortal Kombat vibe.

 

 

They mainly introduced unwanted personal backgrounds, people using modern technology, Mortal Kombat II didn't have robots, or people who wielded guns. The atmosphere has totally changed, the characters all wear less bulky costumes, everyone looks smaller, they changed mostly all of the character actors, made Sub-Zero unmasked, and took out popular characters like Raiden and Scorpion. People like Liu Kang and Sonya, don't even really look the same, their attire and image does not atone to the games before. Then we are getting new features like Animalities, and Brutalities. I think we were fine with the first 3, and they didn't need to give the entire fighting system an overhaul. However, the system takes getting used to, and with this new fighting system included, the damage of attacks decreased.

 

 

The upgrades such as Ultimate Mortal Kombat III, and Mortal Kombat Trilogy both brought in needed characters that were ditched from Mortal Kombat II, but some sprites were recycled, while some got new actors. Johnny Cage in Trilogy looked completely out of place, and all of the Ninja characters were made into palette swaps once again, keeping both the original Sub-Zero, and his younger brother, who is unmasked. The difficulty still remains ridiculous, and surprisingly at the same level or ridiculousness as Mortal Kombat II. Trilogy is ultimately the better Mortal Kombat III, but it never really got great ports. The Aggressor was added, which in some ways tried to combat with Killer Instinct in speed. These three games are basically the only games the real fans have to marvel and reminisce at. The 3 dimensional installments are mediocre at best, clunky, and phlegmatic. Down the road, five thousand more characters were added, and some veterans were changed dramatically. I'm going a little off-topic here, but these games were good, and they had their own flaws, but overall they are worth playing at least once.

 

Graphics - 8

Sound - 8

Presentation - 7.5

Gameplay - 7.5

 

Overall: 7.8

[2eyez]

I wasn't much of a MK fan. I did like Mortal Kombat Conquest though.

[Weirdy]

IMO the PC port of MKII sucked ass. It's like they just ported the genesis version onto the PC. Now, the SNES version was a good 16-bit port that preserved a good chunk of the game (only problem was the resolution).

[Skythe]

MK2 on Gameboy was the most difficult. You could only pull off 2 special moves on the CPU before everything was blocked. And boring too. Only 2 stages. I'm seeing a pattern. Though only one fatality for each character and the game didn't have all the characters.