Mortal Kombat
Arcade
I remember the first time I ever heard about Mortal Kombat. I must have been about 9 or 10. My brother was having a conversation with someone about how there was this new game in the arcade with blood, guts, and gruesome violence in it. Being a relatively morbid kid (and I guess I still am the same way) my interest was instantly piqued. Up until this point, games were relatively harmless. Mario and Sonic were big, and the most heinous act of violence you would ever see in a game was a punch or someone getting shot and then falling over and vanishing.
I had an image of the game all formed in my head. It would be a 2D side scroller like Contra. You would run around blowing people away, and they would explode into a red mist of blood and body parts. It was going to be awesome.
And then when I finally did play the game in the arcade, reality set in. And I was very, very disappointed. Fighting games weren't really that big back then. The only one I had played was Street Fighter 2, and I didn't really like it at all. I had this game all built up in my head only to be crushed that it was in a genre that I didn't even like.
But still, games were bloodless back then and I wanted to see what the title had to offer. I was willing to at least give it a shot and see if it was something I would like. And it did grow on me. It wasn't until the game hit home consoles that I truly fell in love. I was fortunate enough to have a Sega Genesis, which presented a version of the game in all it's bloody glory.
The Super Nintendo version left out the blood and also watered down the fatalities. It's true that for the Sega version you had to enter a code to be able to play with blood (which is basically a laughable concept when you look at games nowadays), but hey this was all new to everyone back in 1992.
I played this game like there was no tomorrow. It was the first fighting game that I truly actually liked (I'm still not really big on the genre) and I was able to discover all the game's secrets, like finding Reptile. I also, of course, played through the game with each character and performed all the fatalities which I was able to find in a video game magazine.
The thing about the Mortal Kombat series is that it expanded and got better with each subsequent entry. So when Mortal Kombat 2 came out, I really had no reason to go back and play the original. So let's say I got the first game in 1993. The second one came out a year later in 94. Even if I didn't get the sequel right away, the longest I would have played the original for is 2 years. So that means the last time I would have played this game is 1995. So it has been at least 20 years since I have played the original Mortal Kombat. Yes, now I feel really, really old.
How does the game stand up after all that time?
Unfortunately, not very well.
Before I proceed any further, I must note that this game was played on Mortal Kombat Kollection for the PS3. I am counting this as the arcade version since it is a straight port, with the exception of trophy and online support (which I didn't even bother with).
I had grown up playing the Genesis version, and since it is so long since I have played it, I can't really discern any major differences from that version with the arcade version. I'm sure the graphics are slightly better here, as well as the sound. But it is really nothing too noticeable.
Everything looks and sounds.... fine. This is an old game, so you have to expect the technical side of things to be a bit dated, which they are. It simply isn't fair to judge this game by today's standards. What I am really looking at is the fun factor.
Despite growing up playing this game, and thoughts of it bringing such fuzzy, happy memories to my mind - I really didn't have much fun here. There is a limited number of characters you can use. Aside from their special moves, they all move and control basically the same.
The single player mode is very basic. You fight everyone else (including yourself) and then must suffer through three endurance matches where you have to fight through two characters on one life bar. After you do this, you go on to the end where you face off with Goro and Shang Tsung. And then the game is over. Okay, so this is an old fighting game. You don't expect it to be very long. So I won't hold that against it.
It's just not very fun. Certainly not as fun as what I remember as a kid. First of all, the difficulty level. The first few fights are laughable easy. Then as you move deeper into the game, the game becomes just like that unbearably hard. Don't even bother trying to use your special attacks because the computer will block them EVERY SINGLE TIME and then beat the shit out of you when you are recovering from using them.
By the time I got to the endurance rounds, which were a huge pain in the ass, my strategy basically became to just pepper my opponents with jump kicks, because that seemed to be the only thing that would work on them. Or, oddly enough, just standing still and punching and letting them walk into it. Like I said, forget about your special moves. You can't do anything too fancy. The game devolves into jump kick and punch for the last 6 or 7 fights of the game. And even then it is still very hard.
I understand that fighting games weren't that big back then. And that this was the first game in the MK series, so the makers of the game were learning this all as they went along too. Plus this is the arcade version. They want people to die a lot the further they get into the game so they keep feeding quarters into the machine. But seriously. This was fucking hard. Maybe my memory is just playing tricks on me, but I don't remember the Genesis version being this difficult.
I always did enjoy the story of Mortal Kombat. So I really wanted to go through with each character and see all the endings. But I just couldn't do it. It is SO not worth the anger. I was approaching "chuck my controller out the window" levels of frustration. What should have been a game I could beat in under a half hour turned into a 2 plus hour affair because I kept dying so much. Of course, I don't want things to be too easy, but seriously. Some of the fights were flawless victories for the computer. It was embarassing. I don't know how I did it, but I finally made it through. I beat the game twice, and that was enough for me.
Usually when I play a game that I loved as a child, I enjoy the rush of nostalgia that comes with playing through it as an adult. But those feelings just weren't there for Mortal Kombat. I kind of hated this. The only thing that really kept me going was seeing everyone's fatalities. Which really aren't that gruesome or outrageous to begin with.
If you grew up playing the game like I did, you will probably feel the same way I have if you replay it. It has not aged well. At all. And if you missed out on this game the first time around, I would advise you to not waste your time or money.
I'm torn on how to grade this. Do I give it a high mark based on my old feelings for it? Do I give it an F because I hated it so much this time around? Do I compromise and give it a C? The last game I reviewed, Home Alone 2, I gave a C. And I had a much better time playing that than I did this game. So I feel a C is too high.
Nostalgia will keep this game from failing, but I haven't disliked a game like I disliked this in quite some time. Take your D and run with it, Mortal Kombat, before I change my mind.
Overall:
D
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