If the current generation of gaming can be classified as one dominated by First Person Shooters, then the early to mid-’90s was definitely the era of the 2D fighting game. Once the groundbreaking Street Fighter II had opened the floodgates, an absolute deluge of copycats and competitors followed in its wake and, to be frank, most of them were entirely forgettable. However one of the few games to emerge from that crowd and become a reasonable success, was Midway’s Mortal Kombat.
Partly responsible for its popularity was the amount of blood and gore inherent. In particular, the games signature “Fatality” finishing moves where defeated opponents could be killed outright and dismembered in an elaborate and gruesome fashion. Coming at a time when graphic violence of this nature was rare in videogames and when far tamer titles were routinely censored (especially for release on Nintendo systems), Mortal Kombat caused something of a stir upon release and was hugely controversial.
Fueling the fire even further was the “realistic” nature of the graphics. As opposed to the traditional hand-drawn anime-style characters of the games originating from Japan, Mortal Kombat, instead featured digitised sprites, based on real-life actors.
It’s safe to say things have come a long way during the nigh-on twenty years since the original MK debuted in Arcades. Indeed, when one looks at the game now, the grainy, barely-animated characters and spurts of blood that once upon a time caused outrage, can barely raise an eyebrow and serve only to highlight how much the game has aged.
Not just visually either; with a mere seven playable characters available and all of them sharing the same handful of moves, MK also feels prehistoric. There are no real combos to speak of and only through the outlandish special moves (which admittedly embody the characters with some personality), do they actually differ in terms of how they play.
Thankfully, the sequels were much-improved and will be the deciding factor as to whether this compilation can tempt you into parting with some cash or not.
Even the original game has always been better than the sum of its parts (it just has something about it), but for many, Mortal Kombat II represents the pinnacle of the original Arcade games and it’s not hard to see why one would hold that view. It’s a massive improvement over the original in every way imaginable, especially in terms of gameplay thanks to an expanded character roster and more varied moves list. It also runs considerably faster and flows much better. In short, it’s a lot of fun to play, even today.
Completing the line-up in this “Kollection” is Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, which boasts an even larger list of playable characters, improved graphics, unlockable fighters and secret modes. However the introduction of a “Run” button and lengthy chain combos make it feel slightly complicated and unbalanced compared to the purity of MKII’s gameplay.
Anyone who was a fan of these games back in the day will surely appreciate some of the nostalgic touches on offer like the replica cabinets on the game select screen, or the fact that visual filters such as scanlines or a curved effect can be applied to help replicate that old-school CRT monitor look.
What they won’t appreciate, however, is how amateurish the package feels in other areas. There are various sound issues and other glitches, including an alarming 1-2 second period of the controls being dead when you return to the action after pausing the game. In a title that demands a high level of control and fast reactions, this is unacceptable.
It’s also worth pointing out that, since the games in this package are the Arcade versions, the A.I. when fighting against the CPU is infuriatingly cheap since it was clearly devised to swallow as many coins as possible in its native environment.
The real killer though, is the completely broken nature of the online mode. At the time of writing, online matches are virtually unplayable. Each and every matchup is plagued with horrendous lag, even when tested against local players within a few miles radius. As one of the main selling points for this release, it beggars belief that it could have been released in such a state. A patch to fix this and the other issues is apparently in the works, but currently this game can’t be recommended, even to hardcore fans of the series.
