Customer Reviews

Mortal Kombat

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I missed the original Mortal Kombat in arcades, and was introduced to the series through word-of-mouth about how violent the title was. Really if this was the only version I'd played, I would've never gussed what all the hype was about.

Graphics and audio are pretty good, far surpassing what the Genesis version was offering and staying pretty true to the arcade version. Gameplay however, is a failure. Nevermind that the fatalities have been changed and the blood turned to sweat - the actual fighting is stiff and unresponsive, and it feels like the fighters have their feet glued to the floor. The only move that works well here is Scorpion's spear, and it's so smooth in its execution that it becomes the best way of landing cheap hits.

Look at MK objectively: bad controls, less characters than Street Fighter, less moves, a limited number of environments with no background animation (though the Pit idea was rather cool). The first installment was truly one that sold based on the strength of its gore, and on the SNES we're deprived of that as well.

MK fans might or might not want this version for completion purposes (since it looks graphically like the arcade but removes all the violent content). Everyone else should jump to MKII, which really got the series started.

When Mortal Kombat 1 was released on the arcades nearly a decade ago, it immediately became a HUGE hit. It was so realistic, and the hand-to-hand combat style was so extreme. The game also centered around controversy due to the incredibly unique violent content. Fans anxiously awaited for the game's arrival on home video game consoles. When it was released to the Super Nintendo, fans wasted no time purchasing it. However, the happy fans were quickly disappointed when they discovered Mortal Kombat to be edited. Thanks to Acclaim and Nintendo, this game has NO blood & guts! The fatalities are edited and toned down. The blood has been changed to sweat. MK fans were ripped off and very angry about the censorship in the game. At least the Sega Genesis version of MK had a blood code. The Super Nintendo version plays a lot like the arcade hit. The graphics, sound, music, and animation play equivelant to the arcade. But without the bloody violence and original fatalities, it's just not the same. This is still an okay fighting game though, which is why I gave it two stars instead of one. Too bad it's so old. I could do without it. MK II and MK III are a heck of a lot better. Don't waste your money on this. Rent it if you can.

Mortal Kombat was really weak on the SNES because it was so censored. No blood, some people had different fatalities (ex: Johnny Cage's foot in your stomach). Blood was traded for sweat (?!?!) and because of those 2 reasons, the game was truly brought down a notch.

Yes it's still a classic but it's not worth it on SNES. You're better off getting it on the SEGA system because that way you could overcome the censorship and at least put in a "blood code".

Personally, I'd skip this one anyday and go straight to MK II because that was just all out better than MK and it was a lot more enjoyable, had better replay and a lot more characters. Trust me, skip MK on SNES and go straight for MK II on SNES.

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.

Mortal Kombat, back in 1991, dominated the arcade scene and gave Street Fighter II a run for its money. So when news broke that it was coming out for the SNES and Genesis consoles, everyone rejoiced and the bragging rights for best version of this game was up for grabs. When the dust cleared, it was obvious each version had its pros and cons.

For the SNES this was, for the most part, a faithful port of the arcade game. It had all the stages and the "Test Your Might" mini-games, the original music, the original characters plus the secret character and the end boss, Shang Tsung. The graphics were crisp and clear while the music sounded just like in the arcade game; controls were easy to get used like in the arcade game. However, the game came heavily censored; the blood was changed to look like sweat. Some of the fatalities were toned down considerably and replaced with "non violent" finishing moves (Kano, Sub Zero, Johnny Cage and Raiden.) They even went as far as to make sure you could not send anyone through the spikes at one stage that takes place on top of a bridge when you wanted to fulfill the requirement to fight the secret character, Reptile. The controls, while easy to get used to, were slightly changed from the arcade game and some of the basic moves were taken out entirely.

So it was a major gamble for Nintendo that didn't pay off; the Genesis version, while regarded as inferior to the SNES version because of its fuzzy graphics and featured different music for the stages, had the gore and fatalities available as long as you entered a secret code. Sales wise, it beat out the SNES version as punishment for the backlash against Nintendo's family friendly policy.

Pick this one up only for nostalgic reasons as Mortal Kombat II, is the sequel and better game and it came out fully uncensored.

I can understand if you're a Mortal Kombat fan that may be a bit upsetting, but it's still MK, a good fighting game, and a great port.

This features a totally different button configuration that people were used to with Street Fighter 2 games. It also offers some very intense fighting with blood, bone breaking moves and a single fatality for each of the seven kombatants. You play as Liu Kang, Sub Zero, Scorpion, Sonya Blade, Kano, Rayden and Johnny Cage, and fight your way up through a ladder tournament. Eventually fighting in a handicapped match against two people (one after the other), and working your way to the boss Shang Tsung who can take the form of anyone! However infront of Tsung awaits the four armed 8 foot tall bodyguard known as Goro, who is the biggest challenge of the game. Good luck! A huge downfall of the game for the SNES and Sega is that there are no fatalities, instead you need a special code to enable them.

You can play two player on it, it's not bloody at all when it's for SNES. (Don't listen to the other reviews.) The only bad things in it are: Teeth flying out of the mouth, and some scary images. This game reminds me Tekken, but it probably took the same game format. If you enjoy really good fighting games like, Altered Beast, Tekken, Soul Blade, Soul Calibur 1+2, Golden Axe. Then this is the game for you!

This was my first introduction to the Mortal Kombat series and thankfully Nintendo owners would get much better versions of the follow on games on SNES and N64. Graphics and sound were pretty good on this version, but the gameplay is terrible. Plenty of reviewers have covered how stiff and unresponsive the controls are, but I want to hit some of the more unbelievable glitches and errors that were allowed to pass QC (if it was even done on this game):

Projectile Glitches: for some reason in this version, if each combatant throws a projectile simultaneously, only the first one lands. The other one mysteriously disappears. Although that sometimes gives you a fighting chance against the computer AI, I really can't see how this made it past the testers.

Scale Glitch: the whole scale of the game is off - the size of the combatants versus screen size renders the jump kick nearly useless because you will jump over your opponent if they move practically one step towards you. This is especially apparent in a one player game. It just reeks of a rushed conversion.

Raiden Glitches: Where to begin...they just butchered my favorite character. His projectile generates from behind him...nowhere near being lined up with his hands, and then it is just a big blob instead of rotating like other versions. There are multiple issues with the "superman" move. First, he will often come up short trying to land it so instead of hitting or bouncing off, he simply ends up standing in front of an opponent vulnerable to attack. When he does hit, he pushes the opponent for about a half second. This is more of an aesthetic problem as it does the right damage, but it just looks terrible. Raiden's superman attack also does not fly under the appropriate projectiles like it did in the arcade significantly altering gameplay. As a final insult to the character, Raiden's victory lightning summon is not synced with the sound except if you beat an opponent with a lightning throw. Small, but again shows how poorly this conversion was done.

Thankfully Sculptured Software regrouped and did a good port of MK2 for the SNES, but it is unfortunate that SNES owners missed out on a good experience with MK. I really didn't care that the blood was removed. Some of the fatalities I thought were pretty good and seemed to inspire later fatalities in MK2 and beyond (Raiden and Sub Zero for example). The gameplay is what really matters and this is where MK fell short...very short.

I remember being 6 years old and sitting in my room and putting in this game and getting so mad because i could never get past the endurance rounds. This game is classic, regardless if your a mortal kombat fan or not. This game, to me, brought the fighting games to a whole new level. The best fatalities, the best moves.