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| josh TX | Aug 20 2008, 05:04 PM |
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Review: Mortal Kombat (Arcade, 1992) With the release of the 8th Mortal Kombat title, MK VS. DC Universe on the horizon, I decided to take a trip back to the early 90's once again, this time for a look at the Father of the franchise surrounded in buckets of bloody controversy, the original Mortal Kombat. After the popularity of Capcom's one-on-one fighter Street Fighter II cause arcades to explode with popularity, Midway's John Tobias and Ed Boon helmed what would come to be the 2nd big fighting franchise of the 90's - a violence driven martial arts slugfest that used digitized characters of real actors as opposed to drawn sprites for a more realistic look, and probably most importantly, the much ballyhooed "fatality" move- a simple combination of buttons that could be input at the end of a match that would allow one of the onscreen martial artists to "kill" another in a violent fashion, such as punching their head clean off or burning them to death. Needless to say, Mortal Kombat received plenty of attention from the kiddies and the parents alike, though their attitudes about the game lied on opposite ends of the spectrum. The characters of Mortal Kombat were loaded with personality and one of the main reasons this franchise really took off. Unforgettable characters such as the undead ninja Scorpion and the thunder god Raiden felt true to their likeness with fitting wardrobe choices and prop stunts. Characters such as Earth warrior Sonya Blade and Black Dragon gangmember Kano, along with the rest of the cast, offered up enough diversity to keep players interested in everyone. The playable character roster felt a little slim, even back then, with just seven characters, but the game included two great boss characters in the four-armed Goro and shape-shifting Shang Tsung. There was even a bonus character to fight if you could find him, the mysteriously elusive Reptile. With all the hype of blood and gore aside, the real question remaining is whether or not Mortal Kombat is really a good game. While Street Fighter II was well-loved for it's precise control and balanced gameplay, Mortal Kombat burst upon the scene based on a much more gimmicky concept of digitized violence. With the smoke cleared the answer to that question is a yes or no, but it's really a matter of preference. Mortal Kombat's fighting system was a lot simpler than that of most other fighting titles- there were four attack buttons as opposed to SF II's six, plus a fifth button used solely for blocking. The "high punch" and "high kick" buttons, accompanied by the "low punch" and "low kick" commands allowed players to change up their attacks and holding back or down on the joystick would allow for more powerful attacks such as a roundhouse or an uppercut. Of the seven playable characters in the game, all of these moves were shared amongst them all, so the in-game animations were very similar and there wasn't a lot of variation in strategy between the characters. What did differentiate the characters was their special moves - a combination of joystick movements and button presses that would allow character specific attacks relative to that fighter's personal style- Sub-Zero could throw a ball of ice to freeze his opponent, while Johhny Cage could unleash a mighty Shadow kick to knock opponents off their feet. MK's fighting engine was usually either loved or hated - it was a hell of a lot stiffer and slower than the smooth flowing SFII but many fans still enjoyed it for it's preciseness. The style was still very playable- so it truly seemed like a matter of taste. Many arcade junkies condemned it's lack of "flow" while the much slower pace appealed to some. The graphics of Mortal Kombat, as noted before, were created using lifelike digitized motions of real actors. While this factor could be to blame as to why the game was stiffer and more lacking in animations than other fighter's of it's time, it could also be credited for why the game seemed so realistic. During these early days of motion capture technology, the actors involved acted out each and every movement of their respective on-screen character, lending not just their body movements but their voices as well for all the yells and screams of battle. The practice of motion-capturing a real person for game animation purposes, was, at the time a relatively new concept that has since become the norm for many games on the shelves now. Sports games such as Madden or NBA Live have since adopted the methods of capturing an athletes real motion. By the time MK was released on home platform video game systems, most parents had become aware of the violence, and the resulting controversy only made the title even more popular in the mainstream due to national media attention. MK far succeeded and surpassed Midway's sales expectations, and the bloody fighting formula would be immortalized in the numerous sequels and home console varaiations played to this day. Unlike some gimmick-driven games which were all hype and no fun to play, Mortal Kombat actually came through and delivered with a decent fighting mechanic, memorable characters, and a plethora of blood-soaked images that kept kids feeling rebellious and cool while parents continued to keep the game relevant with all the extra attention. The original Mortal Kombat is still played today in many pro tournaments gaming circuits. My Score: 8.5/10   Sub-Zero's famous fatality   Promo poster for the arcade release Edited by josh TX, Aug 20 2008, 05:15 PM.
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5:31 PM Nov 26
