September of 1993 brought in huge hype for the port of Mortal Kombat to the home market. It was an institution in the arcades the year before and was more for its graphics and violence compared to Street Fighter II. With its release on the 13th known as Mortal Monday, it showed up on the SNES, Sega Genesis, Game Boy, and Game Gear. Within the next year, it was on the Sega Master System in Europe, DOS computers, Amiga, and the Sega CD. I'll have my thoughts on the SNES and Genesis versions.
All versions followed the same story as the arcade. The seven fighters all have their reasons for being in Shang Tsung's tournament. As far as intros, at least the computer versions retain the stuff the arcade had. Windows 3.1 and the Amiga were very capable of doing a lot more compared to home consoles.
With that in mind, graphics outside of the computer versions had to be toned down. If we're digging into the 16-bit ones, the SNES version was mostly accurate. A little toned, but it was there. Animations were very strong. The Genesis suffered from the color palette, but was decent on its own. Its animations were minimal. Audio, the computers and Sega CD version were in touch with the arcade, especially on computers. The SNES version was more accurate, but was very quiet and didn't have that oomph that the arcade had at times. On the Genesis, it was more lively and felt more action like. Everything except the Genesis handled sound effects and voices with strong efforts.
The emphasis for Mortal Kombat was on the blood and fatalities. It has the basic moves that most fighters had. You had to fight everyone including yourself, a few endurance matches and then the final bosses. With the SNES port, the controls were a little sluggish, but it wasn't unplayable. It took some time and once you got the hang of it, you could do some damage. Regarding the Genesis, it was a bit smoother despite the limited animations. There wasn't any lag or anything.
If I'm going to put a knock into those two ports, it's the very high difficulty. Even on easy, you will have problems. At least the SNES version allows for infinite continues. Of course, we can't talk about that one without mentioning the censorship. That was dumb on Nintendo's part.
If you're looking for a port of the original, it can go either way. The arcade version itself may still be on PS3 and 360 if you're looking for that. Mortal Kombat has its place in both success and controversy. It wasn't a slouch back then, but may change depending on your tastes in fighting games and the series.
Genesis: 6.5 out of 10 SNES: 6.5 out of 10
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