Showing posts with label mortal kombat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mortal kombat. Show all posts
Friday, September 14, 2018
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
Mortal Kombat Overview/Review
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
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
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Arcades, Part I: Local places
I am part of an era of video games where the arcade scene was experiencing a small boost in the early 90s due to the fighting game craze. By the time I was five in 1997, it was well into decline and today, the closest arcade to me is 50-60 miles from where I live. I've seen a good handful of arcades at points in my life, it all has to start from the beginning, starting with my local mall's arcade.
King's Castle Arcade was a mainstay for a while in the 90s where I lived. To be honest, I don't really remember going there too often, but around 1996 or 97, I can think of a few games that were there. OutRun was there with the movable car. The latest Midway NBA game (Hang Time) was there. One of the Mortal Kombat games and maybe a pinball game are the last things I can think of since my memory is a little fuzzy since it shut down around the late 90s. The mall did bring it back for a short while in a different location, but really had nothing. It had an NFL Blitz game (either the original of 99), a fighting game, and a couple pinball machines. A few places also had some arcade machines. The used game store had a Cruis'n USA for a while and most of the time one of those deer hunting games. The movie theater had racing games from time to time in the 2000s (Cruis'n, one of the Rush games). Overall, it was pretty sad to see not much of an arcade that still goes on to this day.
Not too far from the mall were a local roller skating rink and bowling alley. Most kids would have their birthday parties there or the school would have a day where the kids go to the rink. For most of the time I went there, it had essentially the same arcade games about every time. One of most interesting was the Battletoads game. Until Rare Replay came out a few years ago, the arcades were your only way to play it unless you used MAME. I think I got as far as the second stage before losing the last of my lives. There wasn't else much. It had Pac-Mania but that never worked. Cruis'n USA was pretty common for people to use. So was Off-Road Challenge. At one time, Sega's Lost World: Jurassic Park was something people played from time to time. There was an FMV type light gun game for a short period in the late 90s and early 2000s. Another rink from another town also had some arcade games, one of them being Donkey Kong and I failed at that game considering it was in the late 90s and was very young to handle 80s difficulty.
I really can't say much with the bowling alley. When I was very young, it had a cocktail version of Ms. Pac-Man. What that meant was it was like a table but with a monitor and buttons. A number of late 70s and early 80s games had that as a design before most went with standard arcade cabinets. It was something where you could put your drink on top of the arcade without fearing it would spill. My younger brother was there one time in the late 2000s or early 2010s and they had The Simpsons for arcade machines. At some point in the late 90s, a laundromat had a stand up version of OutRun.
In a different town not too far, either, there was a local bar. Just about everybody one year was either at the local pizzeria or getting their drink on. The high school football team won a sectional title and a few towns were celebrating that. For my parents, they went to the bar just to hang out for a little while as the celebrations were underway. Not too long, I leave the pizzeria and head into the bar. One of the things I noticed was an Atari Tetris machine, with the thought of maybe playing it sometime in the future. I never did and the place went under renovation, so the odds of it ever happening are gone compared to ten years ago.
Back in the summer this past year, I got to work at a baseball park. Since a lot of kids had plenty of cash on them, they would spend on all sorts of stuff. One of these was a small arcade area. You would think there would be a bit of baseball related stuff, but nope. Most of it was a bunch of those generic Raw Thrills arcade games. Games like Fast and Furious for example. It had a few baseball games like World Series Baseball and a pinball game called Slugfest, but that was it. There was basketball shooting, a WWE pinball game and a few machines where you can win toys or candy that you can easily get at a Walmart or grocery store.
Keep your eyes peeled for Part II when I talk about places beyond home and local places. Here's a couple of other game related blogs to check out.
http://sullivanentertainment.blogspot.com/2017/03/experiencing-sega-saturn.html
http://sullivanentertainment.blogspot.com/2017/02/retroblox-potential-future.html
http://sullivanentertainment.blogspot.com/2017/02/nintendo-switch-last-hurrah-or-comeback.html
King's Castle Arcade was a mainstay for a while in the 90s where I lived. To be honest, I don't really remember going there too often, but around 1996 or 97, I can think of a few games that were there. OutRun was there with the movable car. The latest Midway NBA game (Hang Time) was there. One of the Mortal Kombat games and maybe a pinball game are the last things I can think of since my memory is a little fuzzy since it shut down around the late 90s. The mall did bring it back for a short while in a different location, but really had nothing. It had an NFL Blitz game (either the original of 99), a fighting game, and a couple pinball machines. A few places also had some arcade machines. The used game store had a Cruis'n USA for a while and most of the time one of those deer hunting games. The movie theater had racing games from time to time in the 2000s (Cruis'n, one of the Rush games). Overall, it was pretty sad to see not much of an arcade that still goes on to this day.
Not too far from the mall were a local roller skating rink and bowling alley. Most kids would have their birthday parties there or the school would have a day where the kids go to the rink. For most of the time I went there, it had essentially the same arcade games about every time. One of most interesting was the Battletoads game. Until Rare Replay came out a few years ago, the arcades were your only way to play it unless you used MAME. I think I got as far as the second stage before losing the last of my lives. There wasn't else much. It had Pac-Mania but that never worked. Cruis'n USA was pretty common for people to use. So was Off-Road Challenge. At one time, Sega's Lost World: Jurassic Park was something people played from time to time. There was an FMV type light gun game for a short period in the late 90s and early 2000s. Another rink from another town also had some arcade games, one of them being Donkey Kong and I failed at that game considering it was in the late 90s and was very young to handle 80s difficulty.
I really can't say much with the bowling alley. When I was very young, it had a cocktail version of Ms. Pac-Man. What that meant was it was like a table but with a monitor and buttons. A number of late 70s and early 80s games had that as a design before most went with standard arcade cabinets. It was something where you could put your drink on top of the arcade without fearing it would spill. My younger brother was there one time in the late 2000s or early 2010s and they had The Simpsons for arcade machines. At some point in the late 90s, a laundromat had a stand up version of OutRun.
In a different town not too far, either, there was a local bar. Just about everybody one year was either at the local pizzeria or getting their drink on. The high school football team won a sectional title and a few towns were celebrating that. For my parents, they went to the bar just to hang out for a little while as the celebrations were underway. Not too long, I leave the pizzeria and head into the bar. One of the things I noticed was an Atari Tetris machine, with the thought of maybe playing it sometime in the future. I never did and the place went under renovation, so the odds of it ever happening are gone compared to ten years ago.
Back in the summer this past year, I got to work at a baseball park. Since a lot of kids had plenty of cash on them, they would spend on all sorts of stuff. One of these was a small arcade area. You would think there would be a bit of baseball related stuff, but nope. Most of it was a bunch of those generic Raw Thrills arcade games. Games like Fast and Furious for example. It had a few baseball games like World Series Baseball and a pinball game called Slugfest, but that was it. There was basketball shooting, a WWE pinball game and a few machines where you can win toys or candy that you can easily get at a Walmart or grocery store.
Keep your eyes peeled for Part II when I talk about places beyond home and local places. Here's a couple of other game related blogs to check out.
http://sullivanentertainment.blogspot.com/2017/03/experiencing-sega-saturn.html
http://sullivanentertainment.blogspot.com/2017/02/retroblox-potential-future.html
http://sullivanentertainment.blogspot.com/2017/02/nintendo-switch-last-hurrah-or-comeback.html
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