Mortal Kombat II

"Mortal Kombat II is the simplest, goriest beginner's fighting game in the finest sense.."

Aaaaahhhhhhhh, Mortal Kombat. The first one was interesting simply for the sake of gore and as a departure from the standard arcade pit fighter fare, but the second one really broke the rules and started the mythos while creating a lot of fanboys and, well, maniacs in the process.
AND I WAS ONE OF THEM.

THE STORY: 1/10
A fighting game with a story?! Sacrilege! But Mortal Kombat wanted to be taken seriously in a quasi-mystical way, and a sequel had to be made although the story really wound up nicely in the first one. But money talks, and the first one really hollered, so the second one was apparently written in the space of about 15 minutes and proceeds like so:
After being beaten by Liu Kang at the end of the first (or should I say last??) tournament, Shang Tsung returns to Outworld, and begs Shao Kahn to allow him to live. His new plan is to lure the Earth warriors to Outworld, where they will face certain death at the hands of the (insert ominous music and thunderclap here) all-powerful Shao Kahn.

What a let-down. I thought that to enter the Earth Realm Shang Tsung had to win 10 consecutive tournaments, so if he lost the last one, why should this one matter? No tournament, no game.
But, fighting games are not really story-influenced, and progressing through these games never advances the story: you either win, or you lose.
So, THE STORY SCORE WILL BE OMITTED FROM THE OVERALL TALLY AT THE END OF THIS REVIEW.
Now, on to the meat of the review:

GAMEPLAY & CONTROL: 5/10
Painfully outdated compared to fighters of today, MKII was still quite the phenomenon at the time of it's release. And so, I will review it as such. Even the first time around, this game seemed painfully slow, even for fighters of the time. Although significantly faster than the first installment in the series, it longed for a turbo mode or some way to speed up the gameplay, if not to change the tempo of the game to a more frantic pace than to ensure that all fighters do not handle identically, a big no-no in fighters.
Still, this button-masher has it's moments, and this one does. All of the fighters have their strengths and weaknesses, and the only way to win in this game is to exploit them. But, all of these strengths and weaknesses are solely based on the special moves each character has. For instance, the only strategy in the game usually consists of playing defense, and waiting for your opponent to throw a projectile that you can jump over and deliver a kick to the face.
And it's rather sad when the most powerful move in the game (the uppercut) is available to all characters, as is all basic controls. There's no dynamics; every fighter controls the same way. The control consists of five options: a high-kick, low-kick, high-punch, low-punch, and a button to defend yourself from any attack other than a throw. AND EVERY FIGHTER DELIVERS THEM IN THE SAME WAY; every fighters a clone with different special attacks.
But, Mortal Kombat was never a franchise known for it's depth, and this is no exception; but that's not really what made it famous, now was it?

GRAPHICS: 8/10
I always dug digitized graphics, and the realism of the fighters makes it ten times more believable then, say, Street Fighter. Everything benefited from the developers' imaginations in this game: the leering, groaning trees in the Living Forest, the shimmering acidic water in the Dead Pool, the dark, bleak ruins of the Wasteland, and the guest appearances of classic MK fighters like Kano and Sonya in bondage in Kahn's Arena, to name a few. Also, Mortal Kombat II had the best fatalities of the series, before the cartoon caricatures of mayhem took over in the next installment. The gore was plentiful but never excessive, every fighter had exactly the right amount of organs when they exploded, and the bodies' grotesque, wriggly/spastic responses to the torture always put a smile on my face. Now that may seem a bit grotesque, but that's gotta count for something.
Although, seriously. The attempt to ''soften'' the carnage with Friendships and Babalities was rather lame. Although funny the first time around, they seem to detract from the tone of the rest of the game, and are rather unnecessary. They also look rather silly, and are therefore included here in the Graphics section, though not affecting the score.

MUSICS & SOUND: 8/10
A great addition to the game. The music is especially good, with a slight Oriental/mystical journey-type feel to it that really sits well with the tone of the game. Many arenas have dreary, percussive rhythms that really resonate throughout the match, and really set the mood of the match. And that mood is: DEPRESSION.
What's worse is the sound effects. Most of the characters are mic'd well (as opposed to MK3), although one can only hear so many ''oofs'' ''aahs'' and death screams before going mad. Plus, the ring announcer (Shao Kahn himself) is menacing and raspy, and perfectly represents the BOSS. Plus, one wishes Liu Kang could listen to some Barry White and soak up the influences, because sometimes his girlie yelps made me wish that he had LOST that first tournament. The bosses sound great, the blood splattering on the ground sounds like a walk in the mud, and sound designer Dan Forden (in cameos throughout the game) is all but unintelligible.

FUN FACTOR: 6/10
Mortal Kombat games are always entertaining the first hour or two, but once you've seen every gory death and your favorite character's ending, the good times turn about as ugly as Shao Kahn mocking your broken body in the final round. You'll enjoy it, and then you'll want to pawn it, as the virtually non-existent gameplay becomes more of an irritation than an asset.

REPLAYABILITY: 4/10
After seeing all twelve fighters' endings and all of their finishing moves, their is actually no incentive to playing this game. Where other, better fighting games keep gamers playing to improve their abilities and become virtually unbeatable, most Mortal Kombat players play only to see the new model's version of finishing off contestants. And as mundane as the gameplay is, there is no reason to hone your skills on this basic fighter.

OVERALL CONCLUSION: 6/10 (average:62/100)
An average of Gameplay, Graphics, Sound, Fun, and Replayability. Stories don't factor in fighting games.

A good game for a quick minute; more of a beginner's game until he/she can get a handle of more technical and strategic fighting games, where the accent is on ability, strategy, and improvisation rather than pre-set moves, rehashed gameplay, and flashy finishing moves.
It may have kept me giddy when I was 10, but as I got older my tastes matured, and as any serious fighting-game enthusiast will attest, this ain't it.

Rent or Own:
Rent it for a weekend, and then forget about it. Because at the end of that weekend, even if it's ''newness'' and it's classic status is still enthralling to you, you should be able to realize that once every finishing move is viewed, the guts of the game- the gameplay -isn't deep enough to keep you in Kombat.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 07/10/03, Updated 07/10/03