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Review: Mortal Kombat 4 |
Let me start out by saying, I hate the Mortal Kombat series. I think its the most overrated fan-popular series in the history of games. I hate the combo system, controls, and gameplay. I just hate the games. Now after reading that, you’re probably thinking, “Well why the hell should I read your review then?” The reason you should: I actually liked MK4 on the Playstation. Let me explain why.
Graphics are as close to the arcade as possible. The Playstation isn’t quite as powerful as the Zeus arcade board (that’s an understatement), but it does a respectable job. It runs at a constant 60 FPS with smooth animation and fully rendered polygonal characters. The backgrounds are similar to Tekken 3’s, they’re 2D but present a 3D presence when the camera shifts after hitting your opponent to the side with a weapon and such. The non-game graphics are simply awesome. The intro and endings are Namco/Square quality FMV, with fairly good voice overs accompanying them to explain the story.
Sound has always been the strong point of the Mortal Kombat series in my opinion, and MK4 is no exception. The voice overs are some of the best on the Playstation, especially the “announcer”. His deep booming voice is a perfect tone for the mood of the game. Music is pretty well done too, with remixes of a few older MK tunes, like the Living Forest. A few sound effects get on my nerves, such at Tanya yelling “OH MY GOD” when she gets hit by certain things.
Now here is the thing that always gets me talking about MK, the gameplay. MK4 is more like MK2 than MK3, which is a DEFINITE plus. No crappy button tapping combos or extremely difficult AI. There are problems that lie still, such as the weapons system. Now, overall its a good idea, but when players are dependant on their weapon for their main form of attack, the game gets very bothersome, because it gets dropped whenever the player is touched. So the whole round is spent trying to regain their lost weapon instead of actually playing the game. And as for the other problems, some of the characters are unbalanced. Such as old favorites Sub-Zero and Scorpion. Because they have some of the only ways to freeze or disable their opponent for an easy uppercut or combo, they are overused and ONLY used for the ice and spear.
When compared to Tekken 3 or Soul Blade, Mortal Kombat 4 definitely pales in comparison in the sea of Playstation fighters. But don’t let that discourage you from purchasing this game. It is 100% better than Mortal Kombat Trilogy and Mortal Kombat 3, and will please even the most cynical MK-hater, with its stunning graphics, better than average gameplay, hidden characters, and different modes of play. If Midway can better the series like they have now, Mortal Kombat 5 will be a wonderment to behold, and an awesome fighting game at that.
- Stormhawk
