Mortal Kombat Trilogy

"Wouldn't it be the typo of all typos if I called his game Moral Kombat Trilogy?"

OPENING STATEMENT
Oh it would be. Because the Mortal Kombat series is one of the most immoral game series of all time, if not the most immoral series. Not even Resident Evil can compare to the blood, gore, and political hatred that Midway's button masher brings. And, to be perfectly honest, this is by far and away the only decent Mortal Kombat game of the bunch, so the political controversy is basically a waste of time, because the games for the most part, suck.

GAMEPLAY--5
Mortal Kombat is nowhere near as deep in the gameplay department as better tournament fighters, such as Street Fighter, Tekken, or Soul Calibur. Randomly pressing buttons will basically win every single match, with a couple of well-placed jumps and blocks in between. Generally, pressing buttons constantly though will progress you quite adequately. Really, though, this mindless gameplay is not something I like. I like gameplay that makes me think, react, and have some skill, not just luck and the ability to tolerate Mortal Kombat.

In case you want me to get slightly more in-depth, I shall. And even if you do not, I shall anyway. You have four main buttons. They are light punch, heavy punch, light kick, and heavy kick. These buttons all carry out their obvious actions. You can string them together to get combos, or else carry out combinations already programmed into Mortal Kombat Trilogy by Midway. When a Kombatant is knocked unconscious in the last battle of a match, their opponent can do one of many special moves on them. These include the ever popular Fatalities, as well as Babalities, Animalities, and other types of special moves. Granted, they do not do a single special thing, but they can sometimes be amusing to look at.

GRAPHICS--3
The graphics in Mortal Kombat Trilogy are really nothing special to look at. The blood really looks like ketchup, and basically, no different than the famous blood from the Super Nintendo versions of the game. You think with the adding of so much more power, Midway would have made the game look better. But, the graphics were very underwhelming, and I was far more impressed with Mortal Kombat 3's look on the Super Nintendo. In fact, the graphics were about equal to each other. Luckily for everyone, Mortal Kombat 3 was one of the best looking sixteen bit games of all time. The characters look a bit fuzzy and blurry, and I really think that Midway should have done some more work to make them look clearer.

The environments are probably the worst looking aspect of Mortal Kombat Trilogy graphically speaking. Most of them look like exact copies from the earlier versions of Super Nintendo games, with only a little bit of touching up done, to make the backgrounds look slightly clearer. They are also completely filled to the hint with spears, torturing equipment, and the like. The color schemes have all gone for the most disturbing picture possible. Basically, Midway tried to use the theme that worked so well for Twisted Metal Black, but they were unable to pull it off, mainly because the graphics were not that good to begin with. And the Twisted Metal series is just a much better series as well.

MUSIC-4
SOUND-3
The music in Mortal Kombat Trilogy is really nothing special. Basically, take your typical tournament fighting game, add some mildly disturbing twists, and you have your music. Be prepared for lots of repetitive songs. Basically, there are only slight variations on the same basic theme throughout the entire game. Of course, Midway, a company who basically makes console games as a cheap way to make more money off of their arcade hits, can get away with this in their primary market, but the music really leaves a lot to be desired on the home consoles.

The sound effects are really annoying. The effects basically consist of the characters grunting and yelping in the actual battle. And, even though the guy is famous, after this long, the ''Ready…fight!'' thing has gotten old. The same voice saying the same thing, year after year, every time you play…it just makes you want to go insane. Also, the menu effects are not that impressive. But, then again, the menu noises are really my smallest complaint. I would have far preferred some new in game noises, and at least a different person after all of these years for the person who says ''Ready…fight!'' Midway could have included something new, anything. Although it really does not surprise me, that barely anything is new in Mortal Kombat Trilogy, because barely anything new has been done with the series since the first game in it.

CONTROL--7
The control is by far the best thought-out aspect of Mortal Kombat Trilogy. The four button system that Street Fighter, and most other tournament fighting games, could not work well with, somehow manages to work well with the Mortal Kombat series. Mainly, this four button system works well because Mortal Kombat is not as much of a 'hardcore' fighting game series, when compared with Street Fighter or other popular tournament fighting game series. Mortal Kombat Trilogy is more of a tournament fighting game for the casual gamer, a gamer who has not had a lot of experience with the better tournament fighting games. And this control scheme makes it really easy for people who have never played other games in this genre. But, if you have played other tournament fighting games besides Mortal Kombat, the use of four buttons instead of another number can take some getting used to, and that is why Mortal Kombat garners no higher than a seven in the control category.

FUN--2
Mortal Kombat Trilogy is the only game in the Mortal Kombat series that I will ever give a rating higher than a one to in the fun category. Why it was more fun than the others to me is inexplicable. It does not have to do with it being on the Nintendo 64, because I still detest Mortal Kombat IV and find it no fun at all. Maybe it has to do with the very large number of characters included. I am always pushing Capcom to include more characters in their tournament fighters, and perhaps I liked the fact that Midway included the most to the date of it's release, without any whining from me whatsoever. It is very curious and I am still baffled by it, although it really is obvious that it is a coincidence, and Capcom was simply ignoring me.

The guilty pleasure that you would think you could get for such a violent and condemned game does not exist. When a game is that bad, you really are going to be hard pressed to find any good points, no matter how optimistic you are. The only thing that really makes Mortal Kombat Trilogy different than other tournament fighters are the graphic fatalities and brutalities, something I would not like no matter what game they were featured in. They seem like a pathetic attempt to drum up publicity. And, when a game is as poor as any game in the Mortal Kombat series is, the publicity is almost always bad, so why even bother including it.

CHALLENGE--LOW TO MEDIUM
The first thing that you will notice about Mortal Kombat, which I have already told you, is that you can basically progress to the last three or four stages on button mashing alone, in any of the three tournament ladders. The 'most difficult' tournament ladder is really no more difficult. It is simply longer than the other two ladders. So do not pick that ladder if you want a harder game, only if you want to spend longer playing a bad game. If you want a more difficult, and better, tournament fighting game for the Nintendo 64, play the original Fighter's Destiny.

REPLAY VALUE--LOW
There are a number of people in the world who inexplicably love the Mortal Kombat series. So, unless you have a family member or a close friend, who is one of these people, you will probably never even finish any of the single player ladders in Mortal Kombat Trilogy. You will probably play it for five minutes, get disgusted with the simplicity and just how plain bad it is, you will flip off that Nintendo 64 of yours, and you may not use it again for quite a while. Basically, when you do not want to play a tournament fighting game again, you know something is wrong with it. And something is very wrong with the Mortal Kombat series, and Midway certainly marketed Mortal Kombat Trilogy as the Mortal Kombat series reaching new levels.

PROS
*Can easily be beat in a short period of time for those who have busy lives.
*Beginners can pick up and not only play, but succeed.
*Most characters in a tournament fighter on the Nintendo 64.

CONS
*Graphics could have been carried out on a Super Nintendo.
*Repetitive music and audio effects are always going.
*No real reason to ever play Mortal Kombat Trilogy once, let alone again.

CLOSING STATEMENT
There you have it. One of the worst games on the Nintendo 64, but still by far the best Mortal Kombat game. Really, the only decent tournament fighter on the Nintendo 64 is Fighter's Destiny (the original one). So, if you only own a Nintendo 64 and you are desperate for a tournament fighter, get that. Otherwise, by all means use other consoles to get your tournament fighting fix.

OVERALL-3

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 07/03/01, Updated 07/18/01