Mortal Kombat Trilogy

"Shallow's unbiased and fair review!"

I remember obsessing over the Mortal Kombat series game 10 years ago. Back then, it was one of the best fighters (and pretty much the only one besides Street Fighter). Now, people seem to have forgotten about it, and the newer series don't even seem related to the older series anymore. It was one of the few fighters that got it right, but there was still a lot missing.

SOUND/MUSIC: 7/10 -- The sound in this game (and in MK3 and UMK3, because it's the same music) initially doesn't sound too great. Most people don't even listen to the music because it is obviously not the focus of the game. But if you were to listen to the soundtrack separately from the game, you'd realize that it's really not too shabby. Some of the tunes are pretty catchy, and there doesn't seem to be anything better for a fighting game with this kind of atmosphere.

The sounds themselves are nothing to marvel. It's the same sounds: men/women/robots screaming/running/grunting/hurting and other sounds such as people getting hit, blood splattering and bones hitting the ground. It's nothing special at all.

GRAPHICS: 7/10 -- Most people give this area a low rating with other, more graphically advance fighting games in mind. Back in '96, it was so cool to see sprites and graphics of characters that looked like real people! That was because the characters (well, most of them anyway) ARE played by real people. There was no fancy animation for every character, just picture after picture of a person in a suit. It was quite simple, but effective.

The backgrounds (as in, the stages) were also simple. They were simply drawings of normal places (such as city streets or bridges) and not-so-normal places (the Outworld and it's various stages.) Again, it was very simple, but this was to establish the dark atmosphere in the game.

STORY 5/10 -- If you've played the other MK's, you already know what this is about. If not, then I can pretty much sum it up in one sentence: The evil Shao Kahn from the Outworld is attempting to take over the world so a tournament is held to see who will rule Earth. One of the most simple stories in the world, but back then, you didn't need to know the story to have a good time. It's also disappointing the the character's endings are short and you are only rewarded with a small paragraph telling you what happened to them. Oh wow.

GAMEPLAY: 7/10 -- I saved this section for last because it will undoubtedly be the longest. Mortal Kombat Trilogy had a really good idea going putting the last 3 games together because it was putting all the best characters in one game. However, they forgot a lot of things.

Firstly, the character's moves are quite lacking. Each character has only a set number of moves (some of them only have 3 special moves, and that's it!) and combos. You can't help but feel that some characters were just tacked on because of the huge lack of moves, combos and animations for them. I'm not asking for a thousand different combos, but using the same few moves and combos over and over again makes the game extremely reptitive. The problem with adding more moves is that it would make remembering every character's moves even more difficult than it already is. The number of people in this game is so many that you'll be hard-pressed to remember them all. Then again, it's not the idea of this game to become a master with every character. Like with all other fighting games, you're supposed to choose a few characters, learn and master them, and it'll become easier to fight more effectively.

The next thing is the loading. I realize that this game came out in the early years of the PS1, but the loading is ridiculous. It's not necessarily long, but the game has to load a lot. You start the game and choose 1 player, the game loads. Then it's time to choose a character. You choose Cyrax, the game loads. Then, the game gives you a choice of which path to take. You choose one and after the game shows you who your opponent is, it loads again. Finally, you'll get to fight your opponent. It's really annoying have to wait between every menu the game has to offer.

Perhaps the biggest problem with MKT is the enemy AI. In so few games are there enemies that are as cheap as in this game. Whenever you do a move, the enemy knows exactly what you're doing and how to counter it. For example, when you try to execute a low kick, the computer seems to start cheating: "No problem" the AI says, "I'll just dodge it AND counterattack by doing a sweep." This happens so many times in your fights that it becomes no fun to play. They counter almost every move the you execute. The only possible way that you ever win is when the AI briefly does nothing. It doesn't become a matter of besting the AI fair and square, but rather, by waiting and hoping for the computer to have one of these moments and try to take advantage of it.

However, when playing with a second player it's more fair. They obviously aren't as cheap as the computer who, by the way, throws you at every SINGLE OPPORTUNITY possible. You'll never get to throw the AI because it is set to throw you whenever you get close. Second players are human, so it's much more fair and fun to play.

OVERALL 6/10 -- Unfortunately, gamers nowadays probably won't be able to enjoy this game. This is because there are so many other games that are better. 10 years ago, we didn't have the choice so we played with what we had and learned to enjoy it. I'm giving this a 6 with that thought in mind. If you can't enjoy this game, then that's fine. I'd say it's at least worth a shot with a friend if you've never played it. If you can learn to cope with the simplicity of the game, you may come to like it better.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 02/21/06