Mortal Kombat 2 Review

Mortal Kombat 2 was released in 1993 for the Arcade. It was published by Acclaim and produced by Probe Software. The same year, they came out with numerous console version of MK2, one being the Game Boy. It’s surprising, this game is pretty good. Read on to find out why…

Good Points about the Game

The control in MKII is surprisingly well thought out, and it is very responsive, unlike the GB version of MK1. You can actually DO fatalities in this one! Let alone the moves are much easier to excicute. The graphics in this Game is pretty good to. The gameplay in this game is probably the reason why this game has a score over 5. It’s nice, quick-paced, and the music also fits in with it. Even when it is from a Gameboy game, the music is pretty cool, thanks Dan Forden for the cool soundtrack (Otherwise known as the ”TOASTY” guy that pops out on the corner of the screen) Yeah, that’s there too.

Bad Point about the Game

With all of that stuff I said above in the game, there has to be a dis-advantage in this port somewhere. Well let me start out with the crummy background selection you get, only 3. But that isn’t too bad, knowing MK4 for the GBC had only 2. There is also something that bothers me in this game. The fatalities. Even though they are easy to execute, they are incredibly cheesy. I know, I know, it’s a Gameboy processor.

But c’mon, this is MK; we have to have descent looking fatalities! Scorpion’s looks pathetic, and his is the best looking in the game. These major drawbacks minus some of the replayibility in this game. But it’s always good for a few fights.

Mortal Kombat 2 Graphics

Nice Probe. Even though it has some little jagged areas, you can still easily tell what ninja is which. Or tell the difference in-between Kitana and Mileena. But the rest of the characters look pretty good to. There sharp looks and various animations help the games gameplay and speed. And that’s pretty dang good for the little old Gameboy. But let’s face it. 90% of a Game gear game is focused on Gameplay.

Mortal Kombat 2 Music/Sound

Another good role in the game’s great gameplay. The fast paced tracks from the one and only MK Music man Dan ”TOASTY” Forden is here, and sound excellent for a Game Boy game. The fast and quickness the songs atmospheric feel gives the game really good replayibility. Somewhat re-mixes from the Genesis and SNES versions, there not really the same, but there pretty good anyways. The sound effects aren’t the best though. There are no punching sounds or guy’s screaming their brains out. But I guess that would be a good thing. It would most likely sloe the game down, bringing the replayibilty to a slamming ZIP.

Mortal Kombat 2 Gameplay

Outstanding! For a Gamegear game that is. The Gameplay is Really decent, it’s snappy and you never appear to get exhausted of it. Unlike MK1 for the Gameboy, the controls are more responsive, and the game moves at a way faster pace. Challenge is also pretty good. It’s not too cheap when you have it on hard or anything like that. The only real sheep thing about it is that Shao Khan will keep ramming you until you die. You will not even have a chance to jump kick him in this situation. Also, to reduce size of the game, Kintaro was took in out. But you get that ‘?’ battle before Shang Tsung (The one battle where you fight Jade). Each character has 2 moves and 1 fatality, and one stage fatality. The game also has a number of secret hidden within it. You can fight Jade, and Noob-Saibot, but Smoke was took in out. Let’s say you start out on the options the game gives you (You only get 2, the difficulty, and the number of continues you get), there are about 3 characters that don’t make an appearance in this version, Baraka, Raiden, and Kung Lao. So you have about 8 remaining characters. You start out on a battle plan that looks similar to the Genesis, Arcade, and SNES one. Shao Khan is at the top, and the characters you have to fight will come first.

You’ll start out on the ”Pit II” stage. As you can see already they made huge modifications to the stages. You’ll notice that the controls are more responsive, and the game is at a quicker pace. The only bad thing about the game though is the crummy AL they give you on ”easy” mode. You can easily beat the characters, but when you get up to Shao Khan, the game takes a dramatic turn for the worse. But if you really know your way around the GB version of MKII, you’ll fare well.

Final Word about the Game

This is an awesome Gameboy game. At a must-have for an MK lover. It’s small screen and B&W; graphics hide a huge game, with all all around great gameplay.