Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance

"I wish they would uppercut me instead...oh wait..."

I got to hand Midway one thing. They like to stick to things that work. So much so that I feel like I am still playing the same game I did back in the Genesis days. Okay, maybe not that drastic, but the same stiff gameplay that worked years ago simply does not work today. I loved the Mortal Kombat games on the Genesis, but the latest Mortal Kombat is far too rigid and slow by today's standards.

Stuck in the past…

When the first 2 Mortal Kombat games released for the Genesis, I had a blast playing it. It was still a bit slow and rigid back then, but it offered something different than the Street Fighter series. The gore and violent fatalities neutralized any flaw the older games might have had. But as the series evolved (if you can even call it that), the gore and fatalities became less of an attraction, and thus the game's gameplay flaws glowed like a firefly in the dark.

With some returning fighters from the beloved classics, I was eager to give them a try, as I was unfamiliar with the newer cast of characters. Lacing it up with Sub-Zero again brought back memories anew, but unfortunately, the lack of improvement over the years made the cons of the older games that much harder to embrace. This type of fighter worked during the Snes/Genesis era, but it doesn't work today. This is especially true when taking into consideration the evolution of faster fighters like Dead or Alive or Guilty Gears. Playing those games brought out a feeling with fluidity, as each move led to another with flow.

Unfortunately for Mortal Kombat, the flow of the game feels dense, slow, and sluggish. Transitioning from one move to another was like watching a snail move, especially when you take into consideration the other fighters today. Not to mention, the fatalities and gore don't give you the same satisfaction from before. This is due to the fact that so many games incorporate such violence nowadays. In the past, the fatalities felt fresh, but now it's just like a needle in a haystack, where Mortal Kombat is lost in a pile of much better violent games.

Mortal Kombat allows you to change between fighting styles. For example, you can use Sub-Zero to freeze someone, then switch to a weapon base style and slice and dice them. Unfortunately, the transition from one form to another does not work well. It is slow in its process, which makes the transition a horrible execution of gameplay mechanics. Not to mention, the simplistic combos and lack of fluidity with it showcased the problematic fighting system. To make matters worst, the developers decided to scratch one of the trademark moves that made its series so popular. The uppercut has been taken out, and it has been for the worst.

The controller interface certainly did not help the game's cause either. The controls were sluggish. Trying to perform combos was more difficult than it should have been because of the sluggish controls. The placements of the controls added to the issues.

Playing with a friend no longer holds interest either. It is certainly not on the same level of much better fighters today. Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance may entertain you and your friends for a little, while you try to perform fatalities on each other, it ultimately becomes a boring display of stiff character movements, backed by the lack of a more complex fighting system.
Moment of shining…

The fatalities and gore look good for the most part. With blood splattering everywhere, it's quite a brutal display of vicious slaughtering. Unfortunately, the positives pretty much end there. The character models lacked the details that the Xbox is capable of. Not to mention, the animation is one of the worst around, with the characters moving so sluggishly.

Looking at MK, it is a perfect outline for what fighters should not strive to be.

In the end, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance lacks any magic that made its predecessors so popular and fun. Mortal Kombat has been lacking ever since the days of the Snes and Genesis. In this day and age, MK is old and busted. Its outdated combat system leaves much to be desired, as you witness some of your childhood characters becoming nothing more than an image. What I mean by that is the lack of quality production to reinforce the reasons why you enjoy those games. Instead you are left with a slap in the face, as some of your favorite characters lack the same characteristics as the past. At this point in time, I would not recommend this game on any of the consoles. It is simply that bad. Buy at your own cost…

Graphics – 7/10
Gameplay – 2/10
Sound – 4/10
Value – 1/10
Overall – 3.5/10

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 10/23/06