Mortal Kombat Trilogy

"The best MK game out of the 7 that were made"

Face it. The Mortal Kombat series crushes all other fighters and sits on the throne of fighting games. It features one feature I haven't seen in any other fighting game, realistic gore. But the best of all the MK games still didnt make the arcade. Mortal Kombat Trilogy. I guess Midway thought it would have been too similar to MK3 and Ultimate MK3 that were already in arcades. Mortal Kombat Trilogy puts 3 games and smashes it into one. It doesn't lack anything except for 10 almost unnoticable features that I was able to spot. It is worth more than a rent. If you practice, then you can whoop your friends in it and they'll pretend and say that they are bored with it. Anyway, on to the review.

GRAPHICS 8/10: Midway ruled here. The graphics are great. The previous MK backgrounds resemble every detail too. The characters are played by real actors making it more realistic, such as John Turk, Beck Gable, Richard Divizio...I could name em all but that really isnt that important. Projectiles are fantastic-looking, and the character movement looks real too (maybe that's because it is real).

SOUND/MUSIC 10/10: The sound is real good. The voices are realistic and everything sounds nice. Dan Forden did real good on the music, which throughout the game is basically electronica/chinese music, withc just a touch of rock.

GAMEPLAY 9/10: The gameplay is okay. Characters are easy to control, and the gameplay is usually fast paced. Secret moves and most combos are easy to pull-off. But you suffer tremendous lag time after you perform an uppercut. If some moves are blocked, you are left wide open for basic attacks and combos.

FUN FACTOR 9/10: This game is better if played in two player of four player (if yu have an adapter) mode. The 1-player mode is for when you have nothing to do. But competing with a human challenge, or in a tournament is much more fun. It we'll keep joy in the hearts of the bloodthirsty and merciless people who play.

REPLAYABILITY 7/10: It depends. 1-player mode can get real boring. Especially when your're stuck. There is a big different when playing against real people. It is a lot more fun. Get this game if you are an MK fan, or if you know someone who can play you often.

Finally, what was left out that appeared in previous MK games that was supposed to be in MKT. I might be the only person on this entire Earth who might have recognized some of these, since I am a MK fanatic. 1. The background with the Buddha from MK-1 (I think it was called the Courtyard) did not appear in MKT. 2. The background know as The Hall Of Champions from MK-1 did not appear in MKT. 3. Another MK-1 background known as The Throne Room didn't appear, I happen to remember its tune of music and that was lost as well. 4. The blinking yellow eyes in the background of Goro's Lair were removed from the PS version. 5. The original music for the Kombat Tomb I believe to be removed and replaced with the same music for The Armory. 6. Also, the original music for The Pit stage is replaced with the Pit III tune. I remember the eerie sound of The Pit's music. 7. The original name for Kung Fu Part 1 was removed, I can't recall what its real name was. Its music was replaced too. Its original background music resembles that of The Street's music. It was a remake. 8. Only does Shao Kahn not appear in his throne like he originally did in MK-2, only in Kahn's Arena. He only does this when you play as him on that stage. In the other stages that he is seen sitting (Kahn's Kave and Kung Fu Part 1) there is still a double of him in the background. 9. Liu Kang's Red Bicycle Kick is not the same on PS as the N64's Shadow Bicycle Kick. I think the N64 one is better. 10. Originally in the arcade of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, Shao Kahn's Shoulder Rush, and Shadow Rising Knee, were a blueish-white. On PS, it is Green. I don't know what color it was on N64. Well, that is a long list of glitches, but just to keep the searching video game customer aware of what the game is like.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/12/00, Updated 07/12/00