"ARCADE PERFECT"

ARCADE PERFECT!, what more can I say. Ok maybe its missing a couple tiny little details, hardly noticable though and realy dont matter at all.

Story- 10

Ok Mortal Kombat has always had the most original story for any fighting game, its not the usual story of everyone trying to stop some bad guy taking over the world, its more deep than that, it involves demons and sorcerers and emporers form another dimension, all trying to conquer the universe. There is a lot more to the story than that, each character has an interesting and original background and the conflict between Scorpion and Subzero is the best part.

Graphics- 10

Ok let me start off with saying I hate 3-d fighting games, 3d graphics suck imo and will never captivate me, MK II has teh MOST realistic graphics you can get, they use REAL people for crying out load, its almost as cool as wathcing a movie. Ok with that said lets get on to the reveiw. This version is the only one worth buying, cuz the graphics are dead on perfect translation of the arcade. There are a few tiny little things missing form some of teh fatalities, like teh body parts sometimes just fall off the edge, but thats forgivable. The characters look as good as teh ever did in teh arcade, not as good as MKT for PS1 or Saturn but still better than genesis or SNES. Also the story boards and character bios are all here and match the arcade perfectly. Also the backgrounds looks so much more realistic than any other version, even MKT, this version doesnt have the scrollong objetcs looking all unrealistic, the scroling is smoothe and looks just like it would if you were following along in real life with the fighters. All teh colros are in this game where many were missing form teh genesis and even SNES versions, they even added colors to the SNES version that amde it looks worse IMO.

Gameplay- 10
Awsome, plays just like teh arcade, if yo have 6button controler, or arcade stick is even better. Dont botehr playing if you have 3 botton, you cant do the move corectly and uppercuts are a pain in the rear end to exicute. But the best part of teh gameplay is teh timing is dead on acurate to teh arcade version, combos are actualy possible and the are easier here than Genesis.Combos were misisng form SNES version so that one losses points. This game is the only fighting game that is even remotley chalenging, and believe me its challenging alright, not as hard as the Genesisn version but learning teh moves and timing takes time. Combos dont wokr here liek Street fighter and other lame games wher ecombos just happen and you dont knwo what yo did.In MKII you have to time your moves rigth to count them as combos, like Scorpiuon where you have to hook them first, uppercut, telkeport before they hit teh ground then jump kick, hard combo to do but worth it when you exicute properly, and does some serious damage. Fatalities are easy to do here also, in fact they are os easy I cant even explain how to do them any more its all reflex, Shao Kahn says Finish Him and its like the fatality happens before I even knew I put in a kode, tehy are so easy, unlike otehr fighting games like Killer Instinct where fatalities are so hard you can never get them to work.

Sound- 9
It was hard for me to give this game anything less than 10 but theres some things I noticed about teh sounds, every single sound is tehre that made the arcade so fun to lay and listen to, the backrgound music is dead on, but just a little bit muted and a little bit slower than teh arcade, but still very good to listen to. The only sounds that are missing form teh game is the trees yelling in teh Living forest and the Lightning in the Portal stage. Other than that they are all here. Shao Kans taunts are here even though hes missing a couple and they are said a little fast, tehya re still good and make this version better than Genesis, but SNES had a few more sounds this one is missing. Thast the only compalint I have with teh game, the trees dont yell, which realy take away form that level. but every otehr osund that is missing doesnt affect the game at all. and inlike the SNES versions this version is in true stereo and realy sounds so awsome on a good sound system, like mine, it rings out even loader than the arcade could.

Replay value- 10
I bought a 32x specificaly for this game, and anyone who buys a 32x will want this game also. the 1 player mode is cool and chalenging cuz you have 15 warriors to fight against before winning the game, 6 various difficulty levels, very easy which is a sinch to beat, easy which takes practice to beat but not too hard, medium which about as hard as the arcade and is very chalenging indead, hard whcih is just than HARD, and VEry HArd which is right next to impossible, even for someone who is good at the game. Not to mention there are three extremely chalenging hidden fighters to find and the bosses are very chalenging as well. 1 Player mode is cool, 2 player is great, get a friend to play with you and you can play for hours on end. Plus its always cool to go back and play this game just to watch the finishing moves again and again, cuz they are so realistic here,unlick latter Mk games where they look fake and realy stupid sometimes.

Over all- 10
This is the absolute best version of MKII, even better than teh arcade because of the Soak Test wicj lets you watch teh compuetr fight against itsealf and do teh finish moves without you having to do anythoign but sit back and watch. The graphics are perfect and even better than deadly alkliances cuz they use real actors and it looks like REAL peopel getting killed in REAL ways. VERY Violent game.The Sounds are ''excelent'' and the extras maek this game so good its a shame they havent made a MK Collection for the new systems including this game. If you played MK2 on SNES or Genesis and werent satisfied, get teh 32X. Of youve only played trilogy and got bored cuz teh fatalities are so ugly and stupid looking, get 32x for MKII, the Fatailites LOOK real and are COOL Looking! When Johny Cage punches a guys head off, it looks like a real head fell off,the blood pours out like it should and thebodies FALL OVER like in real life. This game is PERCET for fighting fans, MK fans, and people looking for a gory violent game. FINISH HIM again and Agian!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 10/27/03