One of my earliest memories in life? Video games. Getting my NES with the super mario bros and duck hunt combo cartridge started a life-long addiction.
Little did I know what was behind the colorful nintendo characters lurking on PC and Genesis. Games I had never even heard of. When I was about 7, I lived in a neighborhood with a ton of kids. When I made friends with the kid up the street, they had the latest and greatest. Doom, Jazz Jackrabbit, Super Street Fighter II and various other games of my childhood I saw for the first time there. Sure we did other things besides play games, but it was a main focus. This is where I first played Mortal Kombat.
Sure we didn't know how to do any moves but Scorpion's harpoon. Yes, his older brother had to be around to turn on the blood. 6 characters with about 5 moves each. The head punch unbreakable, eternal leg sweeps. Impossible bosses. 3 Overpowered characters. Really, It was broken. But something about this game spoke to not just us, but a generation who loved violence. All this bullshit we do now about "kids are too tender to handle this" is crap. Its all about context understanding "Yes ninjas shooting freeze balls who rip out spines are just for fun and not real. After the first, the sequel came out. Violence amped up, more characters, tons of different fatalities, It almost always stayed in our game rotation.
So its 20 years later and we have MK9. I haven't played much of the recent ones other than a few minutes here and there. But there had been something lost since the 16 bit days. They got too complicated. Stances, weapons, weird styles. The violence was still there but the basic mechanics had not changed. Even the head jab juggles and eternal leg sweeps were still there. Neversoft decided to hit the reset button after lukewarm entries for the past few years.
What can I say? Its everything we used to love, amped up, We have a 2.5 d engine (3d characters, 3d arenas, 2d plane for the fights), a full cinematic story mode, tons of unlockables, challenges, and mini games. Its fun as hell with a friend and the new x-ray attack and fatalities are simply badass.
Downsides? The best way to beat the computer is to spam 1 move. Certain guys are so overpowered (Scorpion) that when you play with anyone else, it takes a few fights to adjust. Beginner mode is far from easy. Combos windows are so narrow if you fuck up at all prepare to be pummeled.
Yet? I really dig this game. Don't worry about those weaknesses. You're not playing Mortal Kombat for a perfectly crafted masterpiece. You're playing it for sheer entertaining as fuck ninjas ripping each other apart.
I managed to pick up the Komplete edition for 10 bucks so I have the DLC characters but haven't really gotten to use them yet. Give it a look if this game has a place of honor in your gaming memories.
*Liu Kang Ninja Noises*
-Oz
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