Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks

"Fatalities are only the beginning..."

Mortal Kombat is an insane fighting game filled with bone-shattering face-smacking blood-splattering combat, or in the MK universe, Kombat. And that is exactly what you should expect in this game, well, all of this is shown on the intro cutscene alone. If you love Ninja Gaiden, Power Stone, and Mortal Kombat, this is a must have!

Gameplay 10/10:
Man, when I first started this game, I was expecting a short side scrolling beat 'em up fighting game with just some Mortal Kombat characters and Ko-Op mode. But this was a lot more. Load times are short, stringing 100 hit combos are fun and easy to use, and beating up bad guys have never been so fun (even though battles are avoidable, when you play this game, you want to go back to the same enemy and beat the living snot out of him!). Its like Ninja Gaiden, only wrapped around a Mortal Kombat universe (special moves, fatalities, combos, and a lot more). Not only that, but this game offers so much secrets, its impossible to get them all! Good eye sight, strategy, and timing are required to unlock a lot of content, ranging from Koncept Art to Ablilities, which can be used to back track and get even more secrets! The Ko-Op feature is unbelievable, where both you and a buddy can team up on Scorpion and Shao Kahn using aerial combos and fatalities!

Story 4/10:
Well, I was a bit disappointed with the story. Basically, after the first tournament (MK1) you are trying to stop Shang Tsung from ruling Earthrealm. As the game progresses, you meet new allies and enemies, which is pretty cool, seeing all the characters in the Mortal Kombat 1-2 universe. Other than that, the story is pretty simple, and characters aren't developed well.

Graphics 9/10:
Although load times are short, you have to expect something to be wrong. The graphics are pretty good, especially the fire and characters. Each button you press has a "fighting style", and with different fighting styles changes the character's pose, which is probably something you won't recognize. The CGI scenes are also great. Backgrounds and levels are fantastic.

Sound 8/10:
Well, the sound is pretty nice to hear. Especially if you set yoru Xbox to different languages, the characters speak that language. The sounds remind you of the Mortal Kombat you used to play at the arcades! However, the dialogue is extremely cheesy, as Raiden states "But Shang Tsung is a poor loser.", which dialogue like this can get really annoying.

Replayablility 10/10:
If you think this was an adventure game that would just last a day and you would forget about it, than your wrong! This game takes gameplay to the limit, where if you were rushing through the game without trying to get secrets and knew what you were doing, the game would last 2-3 days playing non stop. But if your like me, taking my time and having loads of fun, then it would take about a week to finish. You can unlock Mortal Kombat II (the 2D game), a bunch of extras like concept art and movies, characters, and levels! However, the replay value is only good if you have a sibling or a friend that comes over your house just about every day, for multiplayer and Ko-Op are the main reason to play this game (Playing Ko-Op can get you secrets that are impossible to get on single player).

Here is a recap of the pros and cons:
Pros:
-Good Graphics
-Its Mortal Kombat
-Excellent Ko-Op
-A new style of gameplay that is fun to the very last minute

Cons:
-Only get if you have a buddy to play this with
-Camera is horrible on Ko-Op (possibly can get you killed)
-Lots of Glitches

Well, if you really like long adventure games and have a sibling, don't be frightened to pick this up at the local gamestore. Most likely, it is cheap, so get it while you can!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/21/06