New Mortal Kombat Impresses Old School Fighter Fans
By Joseph Tresca
If you know that the latest rendition of Mortal Kombat would, from a chronological standpoint, be named Mortal Kombat 9, then there is a good chance you’ve been paying close attention to the series since its earliest days as a 2D fighter. For the rest of us, MK has by and large rendered itself obsolete and almost irrelevant. Ed Boon, Mortal Kombat’s original creator and Creative Director, has every intention of changing that – and to evoke memories of its glorious popularity of the 90s, this latest rendition will simply be known as “Mortal Kombat”. To say that MK’s fall from grace began at Mortal Kombat 4 would definitely be an understatement. While some fans welcomed the world of 3D to a francise built on the rock, paper, scissors styled 2D fighting, many like myself, found the world of 3D added needless complication to a simple concept that otherwise worked extremely well. Personally I found the dial combos, run mechanic, and projectile dodging of the 3D world mixed with weapons which seemed cartoonishly over sized, served only to remove the gritty realism and cheesy kungfu movie simplicity which made the first 3 Mortal Kombat games so much fun. You played the original Mortal Kombat for the surprises, the mystique of the environments and of course the gory finishing moves, which as we grew older, began to appear less gruesome as disproportioned characters seemed to be going through the motions. Perhaps as fans of the series we were too – bored with the same old characters, performing the same old moves only in frustrating 3D.
Well after watching the demonstration for MK9, I’m officially excited for the series once again. Everything from the graphical detail in the environments, to the incredible animation of the characters, reminds me why I fell in love with the series all those years ago. The first thing you should know is that Mortal Kombat has returned to the 2D fighting mechanic of the good old days. Graphically the game is rendered in superb 3D but the fighting takes place on one two dimensional plane. Also the run button has been removed and there are no signs of dial combos anywhere to be found. Instead this new system ops for juggle combos which can be creatively linked together with any special move or projectile attack. Also the series introduces combo breakers which should inject an element of strategy against those who can perform them too easily. What remains then is a fighter that is deceptively simply and not without depth. The addition of a new type of move, which has your character delivering x-ray styled bone shattering moves performed in slow motion, look particularly painful and serve as a graphical reminder that this Mortal Kombat has returned to its gritty, violent roots. The characters look great on the outside, but Boon and his team have paid particular attention to rendering each characters insides with impeccable detail. That means of the few finishing moves I witnessed, I was able to recognize a complete bone, organ and artery system amidst the bloody insides of a freshly “finished” victim. Yes the finishing moves are properly disgusting and I shameless enjoyed viewing every second of them.
Many of the environments are slightly modified 3D renditions of those in Mortal Kombat 2, which is generally heralded by fans as the pinnacle of the series. That means I had a glimpse of the Dead Pools, Living Forest, Arena and Pit II rendered the way I always wished that they were. Simply put, the environments are teaming with the personality and mystique that’s been missing from the game for a long time. The demonstration featured well known MK favorites such as Jonny Cage, Reptile, Subzero and Scorpion to name a few, but with over 24 characters on the selection screen and space for a downloadable one in the future, there is a good chance that your favorites from past games will return.
If Boon and his team can come through, we may be witnessing a fighting genre renaissance that hearkens back to the days when MK was fresh on the scene. Mortal Kombat is scheduled to release on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 in 2011.
