"Arm rippin'...nut crackin'...fireball flingin' slugfest..."

In the Mortal Kombat series, which has spawned several different games from role play-esque action games to spawns of the different character solo games, the action and intensity seems to come together in just this title alone. Featuring new characters that consist of Millena, Katana, Jax and Baraka, you'll notice that two combantants from the first are missing, but tied up in the background on one of the fighting stages! Mortal Kombat 2 also offered a new level of brutality in the form of bloodier fatalities that truly showed off the dark side of Mortal Kombat, but also added in a bit of humor with the new Babalities and Friendship finishing moves. All in all, the game play really hadn't changed much from the previous Mortal Kombat, save for deleting the Test Your Might and Endurance matches that made the first MK so much fun!

-Game Play 7/10-

It's the same Mortal Kombat with the same goal in mind. Beat your opponent down in a best two out of three match, and then finish him or her off in the most violent way! Combinations were here, but not in the same technical style that Mortal Kombat 3 offered up, so special moves had to be linked together with plenty of timing and effort in order to make a hard hitting chain of attacks. Other features in the game play added three totally new characters, and three previously unplayable characters in the form of Jax, Shang Tseung and Reptile {who was a secret character in the original Mortal Kombat}! Long gone are the interluding Test your Might scenes and the ever popular Endurnace matches, which leaves a little to be desired, but doesn't take away from the overall game play.

-Control 9/10-

Tried and true to the series, you have your original array of high and low punches and kicks as well as your block button. The fatalities have been changed, so be prepared to take some time to learn the different movements, and then put them into use! Veterans of the Mortal Kombat series will find that the special attacks haven't changed a bit, but the fatality and other special finishers will take some practice to learn.

-Audio 9/10-

No more of that weird ass kung fu movie music! The music has been changed to match the dark style of the game, and every stage has an upbeat and almost dance like tone and style with it. The sound effects have been revamped to include a much clearer announcer and character voice track as well as brand new sound effects for the different characters that range more than just grunt, groans and screams. Squish Squish anyone?

-Visuals 9/10-

The cleanest Mortal Kombat to date, all of the characters have gone into a major overhaul since the first Mortal Kombat! With new characters like Millena, Katana and Jax, you'll find a new level of character detail and the revamping on the original characters is enough to make you stop and take notice! The fatalities have also been touched up to let the blood fly and squirt anywhere and everywhere the camera touches. Special moves have been thrown down with some new visual flare, and even the old school moves have been toned up for this particular outing.

-Quarter Crunching 9/10-

Just the sheer amount of things you can do with this game make the quarter spending high. With new fatalities and characters, any MK fan will find more of their attention drawn to this sequel than to the others that may be in the arcade! Increasing difficulty and two brand new, tough ass bosses round out the challenge that goes from moderate to insane in just ten stages or less.

-Overall 9/10-

The second best 2-D Mortal Kombat to ever grace the Arcades is right here, with new characters, special moves and fatalities as well as a new story line that rivets gamers to the game! With new backgrounds, cleaner visuals and an audio track that brings to life the true meaning of Mortal Kombat, fans of the series will find little to complain about, until they reach the Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 machine and realize that MK II, in all it's glory, is relatively old!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/02/01, Updated 10/02/01