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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The original standard setter., October 28, 2001
Mortal Kombat was released in arcades in 1992. The game feautured digitized actors as the fighters, realistic fighting, bloody moves and outrageous finishing moves. Unfortunately when Nintendo allowed Acclaim to release a SNES version of the game, they forced the release of a "softer" version of the game. The blood was removed and the fatalities were down-graded. As a result Nintendo suffered big losses in game sales compared to the Genesis version, which included everything from the arcade. Whatever the case, along with Street Fighter II and Virtua Fighter, Mortal Kombat is considered a landmark in the history of fighting games.Graphics and sound-wise, the SNES version is the best home conversion available. It manages to duplicate almost every animation and background detail from the arcade. The fighters look big and very realistic and have fluid animation. The sound effects are good and the music sounds like something out of an old kung fu movie, which is nice. It creates a true oriental atmosphere. Controls are a bit harder to stomach. Although the special moves are a breeze to perform, the simple actions such as walking and jumping don't respond like you would want them too. It makes the fighters feel a bit awkward and down-to-earth, literally. If you get Rayden crouching in a corner, just go near him and start punching low. He won't be able to get out of that situation! That's not good for the game, balance-wise. There are seven fighters who are Johnny Cage, Kano, Rayden, Liu Kang, Scorpion, Sub-Zero and Sonya Blade. A few of them look quite different from their newer incarnations. The hidden fighter is Reptile, and the bosses are Goro and Shang Tsung. A very old Shang Tsung, I might add. You see, this was before Shao Kahn restored his youth... Each kombatant has one fatality, which is a tamer version of its arcade counterpart. For example, Johnny Cage's decapitating uppercut is replaced with a weird "spear kick". The blood has become dust. Yes, I said dust. While this game is not as exciting as MK2 and MK3 (mainly due to the limited number of moves), it can still hold its own as a solid, realistic SNES fighting game. SNES owners looking for a worthwhile game to play for their now-dead system should buy this, especially if you are a MK fan. If not, I'd suggest you spend the money on Street Fighter II or SF2 Turbo.
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