Mortal Kombat Trilogy

"Put 1 part of MK, 3 of MK2 and mix it up with UMK3... No, it's not chemical!!!"

It all started in 1992: the first Mortal Kombat invaded all the arcades all over the world. Everyone was surprised by the innovative (even though it had been used before by Pit Fighter) graphics that it used. The feature that granted it the fame and the success (and some legal troubles) was the violence: for the first time, you could literally kill your enemy, using that famous move called “Fatality”. A sort of “Arcade Blockbuster”, which confirmed its success with many conversions on every console systems.
Just a year later, in 1993, Ed Boon and John Tobias assured their fame of good game designers with the astonishing Mortal Kombat 2: better graphics, more characters (with a lot of new buddies), more moves and more “Finishing moves” (Friendship and Babality). A bigger success than the one of the first MK and a lot of conversions followed.
Then, it followed a lot of expectations for the third episode.
Exactly a year later, Mortal Kombat 3 was released. Compared to MK2, it was darker and refined. Graphically astonishing (CG backgrounds, more fluid animations and better sprites), a perfect atmosphere sound, again a brand new set of characters and the introduction of “Mercy” and “Animality”. But it is true that everyone noticed that something was wrong: the game was fun, enjoyable but there wasn’t any true innovation like MK2. Maybe also Boon and Tobias saw this “crisis” and decided (after a photocopy-conversion on PSX and many other systems) to add something to hid it. And this way was Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3: brand new stages, different fighting modes, more hidden characters and some of the characters lost in MK2 regained. It had the same success. It wasn’t enough. The last divertissement of MK3 was this Mortal Kombat Trilogy, a sort of celebration of all the three (or four?) MKs. And what about it?

Story: Essentially, it develops like the one of MK3. Shao Khan has broken the rules (as he lost the tenth time in order to enter the Earth Realm and take control of it); Shang Tsung summons the soul of the dead-queen Sindel, who reincarnates herself on the Earth. With her help, Shao Khan is able to open a massive dimension portal and takes over the Earth. All the human souls are taken and reunited under his power. But not the ones of Liu Kang and the other heroes… IT HAS BEGUN!!! 7.5/10

Graphics: Midway promised to focus it on the use of DirectX libraries and made it good. A massive mix of every stage you have seen in these years in MK (some from MK, MK2, all from UMK3) and they are very good (even though you can notice the difference among them). The sprites are very well coloured, with good animations and the scrolling is always very fluid, though it sometimes freezes for one second when you pass from a stage to another (in order to let the CD to change the music). Good work, Midway! 8/10

Sound: CD streamed music, every special effect you could expect. Well Done!! 8/10

Gameplay: Have you ever play MK? Well, this is the fastest, the richest and the funniest. Not too hard, not too easy. The controls are easy to learn, you can configure everything (from the blood to the violence). It is difficult to learn the combos but it is also true that, when you have, you will have a lot of fun! You can also choose how to play: 1 player (or 2); 2 on 2; Tournament. This is a good chose because, after you’ve finished the game, you can always try them (remember to find a friend too!!!!). The fact that after ending a game, a fine, little present will be given to you! The finishing moves are always very hard to execute but… well, it’s the same story for the combos.
All that you could expect from MK is here… 8/10

Replayability: Well, it depend if you have someone who will play with you after you have learnt all the moves, all the combos, all the finishing moves of every character. And they are 34… Er…
As usual, there are some codes, cheats and hidden characters that you have to find. So, try to play a little with it and THEN take the FAQ! 8/10

To rent or to buy it? : What a question… Buy it immediately, if you liked the others! If you didn’t, you should buy too: there aren’t good fighting games nowadays so pick this one. And don’t complain that it isn’t 3Dimensional!!!!!!! HURRAY FOR 2D FIGHTING GAMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/16/01, Updated 08/16/01