"There is no MK game like this one that is not superbe"
"There is no Knowledge that is not Power" as the games opening line is…
It featured some things no other MK game had. A 8 player tournament mode and Kombat Kodes which could be entered in the VS screen. The Kodes all has a different effect. While some would make everything dark, so you had to fight blindly, others would let you play a bonus game like Space Invaders. The winner of the Tournament was allowed to choose his reward. From viewing the characters story line to a demonstration of the fatalities of ALL characters in the game.
Ofcourse there was also the 1 player Mortal Kombat mode and the 2 player mode. In which you were allowed to choose 2 characters. If, during the fight, your characters was out of life, he’d explode and the 2nd choosen fighter appeared to continue the fight. But since I mostly played the 1 player mode against the computer, I’ll go into that a but deeper.
The first thing I noticed once I got into the fighter selection screen was the huge choice I had. I saw familiar ones, previously secret fighters (from past MK games: Noob Saibot, Jade and (robot) Smoke) and new ones. The music the selection screen had really got me in the mood, it had a very nice tune. Then I had to choose my destiny, I could choose from 4 pillars. From left to right there were more opponents to beat before I got to Motaro and Shao Kahn. Before Motaro there was a E as opponent. The E stands for Endurance. Basicly I had to fight 2 opponents (3 in the highest pillar) in a row. Ofcourse I took me serveral retries before I defeated my first opp. Masked Sub-Zero was a real tough one, especially his 3hit combo. He runs at ya and kicks you right to the other end of the arena. My first loss… and I got to witness something new to MK series, a brutality. Similar to the ultra-combo from Killer Instinct. Basicly he made 2 7-hit combos in a row, the second one going twice as fast. The combo ends in me exploding and blood and body parts flying all around. Excellent.
Now down to gameplay. Each player has, as you already know, specials moves. The instruction booklet has the combinations to 2 moves for each character. They are quite easy to execute and along the way of me button smashing (only at first), I accidentily stombled along new moves and got to learn a few basic combo’s. Each combo starts with an ‘opener’, a basic 2-hit combo which allows it to be expanded by pressing the correct kick of punch button. A 7-hit was the highest, but ofcourse 1 or 2 more hits are always possible. The combo’s really give more speed and excitement to the game, as does the run ability. With the correct Kombat Kodes being entered in the VS screen, the gamespeed could be increased, resulting in some very fast matches.
Also new in the game were the multi-tiered arena’s. Though only a few were in the game, they were still fun. Uppercutting your opponent from the Netherrealm into Shao Kahn’s throne room.
The fatalities were, as always, very messy. Each character had 2 fatalities, except for Rain and Noob Saibot which had none. From a simple acid bath done by Reptile to being blended by Kung Lao’s tornado move. Babalities and Frienships were also present. And ofcourse the new Brutality.
The game’s graphics were impressive (for it’s time). Good looking arenas and characters.
The game’s difficulty, aside from the settings you do in the Options screen, very per opponent. Sub-Zero is lighting fast, Jade evades almost every ranged attack and runs towards you to kick your *ss. Mileena loves to shoot her Sai blades and Sektor teleport uppercuts when ever you stay in 1 place too long. Each character has his own way of fighting. Therefore you can win easily at one time while you could just scream in frustration the other. Motaro and Shao Kahn are both difficult to beat at any setting. Motaro teleports almost everytime you shoot at him and Kahn simply comes at you with his knee and kicks you aside. Combos can do wonders against them, especially fast ones (like the 3-hit leg combo from masked Sub-Zero).
My overal rating: this is an excellent (MK)game. I kept playing it over and over again, there was so much to discover, so many characters to beat and play with. When playing with friends it was even more fun. The Kombat Kodes really made it a lot more fun. It ranks as my number 1 most favorite fighting game. MK:Deception inhereted a bit of UMK3’s spark and comes in as my 2nd fav.