"A great series gets off to a slippy start"

Anybody who likes fighter platforms will know what Mortal Kombat is. Even if someone doesn't play many games, they'll probably know what this game is. This game has produced a huge franchise right from the kick-off in a much simpler fighter game at the time, with seven fighters, a few arenas, and the desire to knock the life out of the other guy to be declared the winner. The series has made many new sequels (including the new Shaolin Monks adventure), a TV series and even two movies that are well worth watching.

But let's go back to the beginning. In 1992, the world was introduced to the very first Mortal Kombat game - it first hit the arcades and later made appearances on many different home systems - mostly the Genesis and SNES as well as a few other systems (although those ports were so poor it's insulting). This original just featured the same seven characters who were to become some of the more well-known fighters in the later games. You could punch, kick, throw in a special move here and there, and finish your opponent off with a fatality (if you knew how to execute it).

So you got your seven fighters, as well as two computer-only characters, Goro and Shang Tsung. Basically, it's an all-out fighting tournament to declare the greatest fighter of them all. So now we know the background of Mortal Kombat, but what is the game actually like?

Game Play: 7/10

For one of the premier fighting games ever released, Mortal Kombat has all the elements to make it a good fighter. Two fighters on opposite sides. You can move closer towards each other or move further away, you can jump, crouch, punch, kick and block. You can also do a few simple special moves like projectiles or throws, and each different character has some features that make them better in some aspects of fighting (for example, one could be rather weak with punching but have a strong uppercut move, while one would be strong but slow in movement). It's simple, but a good fighting concept.

Story: 2/10

Damn, I'm sick of these same old storylines for fighters. A load of guys, and they all duke it out to declare the grand champion. Street Fighter II, Killer Instinct, Dragon Ball Z, eat your hearts out...

But then again, who cares about a storyline, right?

Audio/Video: 6/10

I liked some of the music in Mortal Kombat at first. Some of the tunes were rather catchy, and they go quite well with some of the stages they're in, and there's a good tune for the main menu, and when you finish off your opponent there's a tune there too. As well as this, there are some nice sound effects which aren't bad at all for their time. Like the battle announcer shouting "FIGHT!" or "FINISH HIM!" There's also some bland grunts made when a fighter throws or receives some punches or when a projectile is thrown. Overall they're rather nice but a bit blurred at times. Could this have been improved? Hmm...possibly.

There are some well-designed graphics in this game, too. The backgrounds look rather attractive and well-made, as well as colourful in some places and the effects look nice, such as dull colours and darkness in dungeons, light blue sky in the temple level and so on and so on, you get the idea. The characters are well-designed too but look a little 'blocky' from the pixels, and considering graphics of arcade games released before 1992 look clearer than this, I'm sure if Midway had put in a little more effort, they could have had a better outcome. But, these characters are recognisable from one another, and their models have gone on to be used in later MK games (although more detail has been added to them since).

Replayability: High

This is a rather simple fighting game, but whether I'm playing on the SNES, Genesis or Arcade, I always love to play this game over and over, whether it's against someone else, a practise match against the computer, or taking on all other characters in the main mode. Also, there are different rewards for beating the game with all seven characters, so it gives you all the more reason to play through some more. You're bound to play again after the first try. You could eventually get bored, but it was the first installation of the series, so there's not as much as there was in the later games, so you'd have to forgive Midway for that.

Overall: 6/10

Mortal Kombat is a good game, but there are some definite flaws. Although it was the first game in the series, a little bit of improvement here and there would have made this game better than is already is. Perhaps more characters, clearer graphics or something along those lines could have notched up another point or two in my score. However, this game still stands as a classic, and it's made more classics along the way, and it's one of the best fighters out there.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/29/05