Mortal Kombat II (Super Nintendo, 1994)

It was fourteen years ago that Midway decided to release their sequel to their successful and controversial arcade classic, Mortal Kombat. Mortal Kombat II took the franchise in a new direction, establishing it as arguably the best game in the series. Now, fans of the arcade fighting game can get their hands on the brawler anytime they want, without pumping in quarters or waiting in line in an arcade. Thanks to SOE, Digital Eclipse and Backbone Entertainment, Mortal Kombat II is now available for the low, low price of 5 dollars on the PlayStation Network. But is this game really worth the money for fans of the series? That's a simple question to answer: Hell yes.

Mortal Kombat II features 12 characters of the internationally known series, with favorites like Liu Kang, Scorpion and Sub-Zero leading the list of playable characters. Just like the previous title, players had access to a wide list of special moves, but Mortal Kombat II improved on the formula in a large number of ways. For one thing, players could easily capitalize on the various environmental hazards to kill their opponents, such as knocking them into pits of acid, off of bridges or into spiked ceilings. Another significant change came with the inclusion of Babalities and Friendships, which were a response to the controversial fatalities that the original title showcased. These weren't toned down at all in MKII, but it provided players with a level of choice when they wanted to finish off their opponent.


MKII hasn't aged a pixel in almost 15 years. It's still just as fun to play...
The ported version of MKII on the PlayStation Network manages to emulate the title perfectly. While the game does run in 720p, it does manage to retain the classic look and sound of the title. What's more, players have the option to choose either the D-pad or the analog sticks to move and trigger attacks. (While it may be somewhat easier to move around with the stick, the Mortal Kombat series was always about tapping directions, so the D-pad might be a better choice.) To add to the feeling of being in a "virtual arcade" the game displays images of some of the fighters along the sides of the screen as a "digital cabinet." Players are also given the option to adjust a few settings on the game, such as the difficulty of computerized opponents or whether blood will be displayed after a successful strike. Unfortunately, the menu screens for MKII look truly atrocious. It's almost like a middle school kid made up a generic Photoshop layout or PowerPoint presentation and slapped together selectable options. This is easily one of the weakest facets of the downloadable title, especially placed next to the game screens.

Unlike the arcade game, players also have the option to take on other people on the PlayStation Network. By using either the public or private match options to set up a room between two players, or searching for an open game, players can immediately jump into a head to head match up with each other for as long as they'd like. Easily, this extends the life of the game dramatically, since you're not forced to rely on your friends at your house to provide you with a challenge of your MK skills. However, there are some flaws that also come with the inclusion of the online game mode. For one thing, it's practically impossible to note who you might be playing against during a match (or a long series), especially because the game will not list your opponent's screen name. That can be somewha

Anybody remember when the sight of blood on your TV screen was a big enough deal to hold congressional hearings? Those were the days, man. Here is the game that sparked immense amounts of controversy for showing digitized characters getting murdered. But this particular version is even more infamous for censoring such content. Which is funny because by today's standards the game is extremely tame.

What the game does have is style and atmosphere. The backgrounds, characters, and sound effects all fit together with the evil announcer person to make it really feel like you're playing a video game version of Enter the Dragon. Each character from this game has over the years been elevated to the status of fighting game icon, Sub-zero and Scorpion are as famous as Ken and Ryu. This was also the very first fighting game to have a hidden character in it (Reptile) as well as a morphing character, and who can forget the first time you ever saw Goro? There is a reason this game spawned a franchise of sequels, toys, comics, a TV show, and two live action movies. The story kicks ass.

The game itself is actually pretty mediocre, and without the blood, guts, and controversy it probably would have died a quiet death in the arcades. Compared to it's competition the original Mortal Kombat is incredibly shallow. Yeah, the graphics were very nice at the time, but the actual fighting system is limited and slow moving. It encourages you to use cheesy loops and juggles instead of reacting and adapting to changing a changing situation. The main problem I've always had with this game is that all characters are standardized, each one does the same standard punches/kicks and moves at about the same speed. Plus I always thought pressing a button to block was lame. The specials each character has seems to be the only thing that differentiates them. But the game does get frantic, and expert players can appreciate the subtle differences between the character's basic attacks and exploit the intentional (or unintentional) combo and juggle potential of each character's special moves. When two experts get together the matches get intense, the blood flies (er... sweat flies that is,) and then yes, it is truly satisfying to tear your opponent's head off with spinal cord left dangling.

The big deal about the SNES version though was that the blood and guts was censored out, which took away the one thing that made this otherwise mediocre different. The blood was turned to white "sweat," and the more gory fatalities were altered (which happened to be the best three fatalities, including the Kano's aforementioned heart ripping fatality and Sub-Zero's Head and spinal cord fatality. Thankfully they didn't mess with Scorpion at all.) Well something happened; Without the gore people suddenly noticed the game wasn't as good as they remembered it, and that for some reason the Genesis version (which had crappier graphics) was. Thus the Genesis version sold a lot more than the Snes version, even though this version looked, sounded, and played a lot better. When MKII came out suddenly Nintendo changed their policy. Who says money doesn't talk.

The game itself is very primitive by today's fighting game standards. It's slow moving, the computer A. I. is always faster on the draw than you but always falls for the same tricks over and over again, and Goro is a cheap son-of-a-bitch. But the game is playable, and any fan of the latest Mortal Kombat games owes it to themselves t

Well, this is a pretty good game and a step up from the first Mortal Kombat. There are a few more characters to choose from in this game and the graphics are a little better.

To answer some of the most frequently asked questions, I will start by saying I bought this game Complete with the cart, box and book only because I am a collector of NES, SNES, SEGA, N64 and Xbox360. If you really want a good mortal kombat game on the SNES or SEGA (1990's) go for Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. It was released in SNES's final years and rarely gets boring to play.

There aren't any dislikes to this game except for the fact that you cannot pause during game play. I remember when it first came out and I rented it for the weekend and at the time this was the game to own. Mortal Kombat 3 was released a year or two later and that one wasn't much different from this other than the characters being completely different.

Hope this helps

Ever Since This Game First Came Out When I was 4 years Old It Has Always Been My Favorite And It Has Great Graphics Especialy For Its Time And In My Opinion Its The Best Of The Sequal I Mean Mortal Kombat 3 Ultimate has More Of A Variety Of Characters, New Moves And Combos And All That Good Stuff But For Some Reason I Still have More Fun Whooping Everyones Ass With Liu kang In Part 2 And It's A MUST HAVE Same If U Have A SNES Well I Would Say All 4 Mortal Kombats Are A Must Have But Make Sure U Get The Box & Manuel With This One Too LoL

the title says it all. the stage fatalities like the acid pool, the spikes up top on this game, and the long fall to the pit floor. the graphics were unbelievable. this game more than stands the test of time. the characters are awesome. the fatalities are the best in all the games. everything about the game is awesome. i was addicted to it back then and i still am today. oh yeah did i mention this game is awesome? those who know need no explanation, those who dont know well you've been missing out on the greatest game ever. everything is user friendly and easy to catch on to. to me this game absolutelty blew away street fighter series hands down