Arcade Fighting Game Review: Mortal Kombat II

Mortal Kombat II followed one of the most influential arcade fighting video games of all time. It had heavy shoes to fill, but Midway Games managed to not just match the previous title, but to expand upon it with smoother gameplay and more moves.

The plot of the game found the fighters of the first Mortal Kombat tournament return alongside more compartments. This time the tournament is held in the extradimensional realm of Outworld. The returning characters included the sunglasses-wearing Johnny Cage, ninjas Scorpion and Sub-Zero, the cyborg Kano, the lightning god Raiden, the Bruce Lee-inspired Liu Kang, the formerly secret character, the ninja Reptile, and the former boss character Shang Tsung. New characters include the mutant warlord Baraka and the shaolin monk Kung Lao.

The only drawback of the roster is that the first game's only female character, Sonya Blade has been kidnapped and her Special Forces partner Jax, a character new to this game, has traveled to Outworld to rescue her. It's sad to see her reduced to a sexist trope. On the other hand, she has been replaced by two new female characters, the twin ninjas Kitana and Mileena.

As in the first game, once all of these fighters are defeated, two boss fights await. Kintaro replaces Goro as the resident four-armed behemoth, and Shao Kahn is the emperor of Outworld.

Mortal Kombat II has the same style as its predecessor, with realistically depicted backgrounds and digitized live-action characters. As in the 1992 game, the exception is the four armed character, which is Kintaro this time around. He has a monster-like appearance that was accomplished via stop-motion animation. The over-the-top gore returns, with hits that spill copious amounts of blood, elements in some stages that impale fighters. 

The special moves that can be entered to finish fighters with a gruesome finishing move also return. However, this game adds multiple finishing moves for each character, the weird friendship finishing moves that end as the name suggests, and the even weirder babality finishing moves that turn the characters into babies.

The game once again features the deep voiced announcer, while the characters also still have realistic grunts and screams. The bass tones of the soundtrack were a huge part of the arcade experience, as they would draw people toward the cabinet. At every arcade that had a Mortal Kombat II machine, there would always be a throng of people watching the game being played and awaiting the moment they can play the game themselves. 

Mortal Kombat II is a game that improves upon the first game. With its smoother gameplay, expanded finishing moves, and larger roster of characters, it is vastly more re-playable than Mortal Kombat. The game's removal of Sonya from the roster is the biggest drawback, but this doesn't stop the game from being a bonafide classic.

Final Verdict:
4 out of 5

Arcade Fighting Game Review: Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat was an influential arcade fighting video game by Midway Games that took elements of previous fighting games and put its own spin on things to create something uniquely its own.

Like most arcade fighting games, the plot of the game was simple. Many fighters compete to become the champion of the Mortal Kombat tournament. The playable characters included the sunglasses-wearing Johnny Cage, ninjas Scorpion and Sub-Zero, the cyborg Kano, the lightning god Raiden, the spandex-clad Sonya, and the Bruce Lee-inspired Liu Kang. Once all of these fighters are defeated, two boss fights await. Goro is a four-armed behemoth, and Shang Tsung can take on the form of any and all of the fighters in the tournament.

Mortal Kombat set itself apart from the competition by having realistically depicted backgrounds and characters for the time. The characters were created using live-action actors who performed the various fighting moves which were then digitized into the game. The one exception is Goro, who had a monster-like appearance that was accomplished via stop-motion animation. The game was also famous for its over-the-top gore, as hits would spill copious amounts of blood, some stages contained elements that would impale fighters, and special codes could be entered to finish fighters with a gory finishing move. This game, along with other games from the time such as Night Trap, were the subjects of congressional hearings in the United States that led to voluntary video game ratings which still appear, albeit from a different rating board, on video game boxes today.

The voices are iconic, from the deep tones of the announcer to the grunts and screams of the various fighters. They are a big part of what made the game memorable. The music is also fantastic, and the remixed dance-style track from the Sega CD version is still used today, especially as memes on streaming sites.

Mortal Kombat is a great game that is still fun to play today. While its small amount of characters makes it not as re-playable as Mortal Kombat II and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, it is still a blast to play. The voiceovers, music, and over-the-top violence that looks rather tame today are a big part of what shaped the culture of the 1990s in the United States. It's worth playing at least once, to see where many of today's fighters got their inspiration.

Final Verdict:
3½ out of 5