Mortal Kombat 2 - Review

Author: Nanaki_Xii Date: Aug 25 2005 - 20:35 Score: 60 points

Mortal Kombat was revolutionary, both in terms of gameplay, and it's content. As it's popularity rised in the arcades, and home version were released, Midway made the obvious move and scuffled to make a sequel. Of course, sequels don't always turn out fantastic, but Mortal Kombat II managed to overcome the success of the original, and became a much better game than the prequel.

The formula is simple, it's a fighting game with a little sugar and spice thrown in. The story was most likely thrown in just so the game would actually have a storyline. But here it is... Shao Kahn (Did I spell it right?) is a warrior from another world, and following Shang Tsung's footsteps he set up a tournament for all kinds of combatants to prove their worth, little did they know it's all a ploy to gather souls from the hapless fighters that meet their end on the battlegrounds. Once enough souls are collected Shao Kahn can begin his "total dominance" of our world. The game never labels you as a savior, actually, as each character has his own reason to be there, and a nicely constructed background. Everyone from the hideous Baraka, to the several ninjas, Scorpion and Subzero included, have their own intro and outro sequence. Although not a full cinematic, these littles bits of text are more than enough reason to finish the game.

If you've played a fighting game before, then you won't really need a tutorial on the rules. You choose a fighter, a opponent is presented to you, you're positioned on the battlefield, and the fight begins. Along with all the generic punching, kicking, and jumping, a variety of "special" moves enter the fray, a few nice examples could be Sub-Zero's freezing projectile, Liu Kang's fireballs, or Sonya's sonic scream. Although many seem silly, the deaths you can deliver are grim and gruesome alike. When an opponent has been defeated (their health bar has emptied) they stand dazed, at this moment you can deliver a "fatality" that's unique to each character. These range to mutilations and sick, bizarre, and funny deaths. The game is very pretty for it's aged roots, characters look lifelike, animations are smooth, and effects dazzle the eye. But you'll hardly be paying attention at all, as the game demands your attention at all times.

Sound is satisfactory. Each character lets loose groans of pain, screaming, yelling, grunting as they spar. Along with that are the sometimes bizarre effects that're added in. Each time you deliver an perfect uppercut to your enemy, a anonymous head will pop up and exclaim "Whoopsies!". Music is minimal, and you'll hardly ever even notice it, as it's simply in the background to deliver more "atmosphere". The various sounds can become somewhat annoying, even to the point that I've sometimes turned off my speakers. So it's definatly not a plus to the overall game.

This game is difficult, no one but the seasoned veterans will be able to complete this game on anything but novice, although I've managed to reach the harder difficulties, it's from years in the arcades that I've even managed to defeat the game. But, almost everyone will find something to like in this game, unless you're looking for something "intelligent" to pass the time.

	Title / Type	Submitter	Date
	Review	Nanaki_Xii	Aug 25 2005

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