[Mortal Kombat Trilogy Codes]
Mortal Kombat Trilogy Codes

The union of all that is MK (almost)!!



     Mortal Kombat Trilogy, the culmination (not compilation) of all 3.5 previous MK games was anxiously anticipated for months. While it isn't perfect, this game is quite easily the best that the series has had to offer thus far.
     Graphically, MK Trilogy borrows from MK1, MK2, MK3, and Ultimate MK3. While not necessarily bad, this does not provide anything new. There are now officially way too many palette swapped characters. New ones not in MK3 include: Scorpion, Reptile, Ermac, Rain, Noob, Classic Sub-Zero, Human Smoke, Chameleon, Jade, Kitana, Mileena....you get the idea. Overall, some new character designs would have been welcome. Character size is fine, and some missing animation from MK3 has been replaced, most noticably Sheeva's winning animation. Boss characters look great, but no fatalities were included for them (boo hoo). Censorship still exists, and is evident with Subzero's "nose-tweak" fatality. More fatality animations could have been done, as it would have made the game look more complete, instead of a shabbily thrown together culmination. The digitized sprites are very clean and well animated, but dramatic slowdown occurs during the annoying aggressor sequences. Palette swapping is here in all of its glory, but hey, it's part of the MK tradition, so you've gotta love it. The falling animation of the MK1 characters is, believe it or not, the best, and they did not alter it from its original form. One moderate annoyance is MK1 Kano's win pose. For some reason, his head was cut off and it was replaced by MK3 Kano's head. That's pretty lame. Overall, an MK2 interface would have been better, but the UMK3 style graphics get the job done.
     Music and sound are generally good on this disc, with a few minor exceptions. Music is crisp Redbook Audio, and the sound effects are always clearly audible. Some effects are just missing. There are no "Goro" or "Goro Wins" sounds, and there is no "Shao Kahn Wins" sound in one player mode. Also noticable is the skipping of sound effects, presumably caused by loading problems. Overall, sound effects are very nicely done, a tradition for Mortal Kombat games.
     Originality is a big problem here. Everything "new" that is put into this game is either a cheap rehash of something that's been done before or something so totally ridiculous that it's not even worthy of mention. The new aggressor mode is just plain dumb. It has very little effect on the gameplay other than to cause graphical slowdown. This new "feature" should have been simply left out, as it does more harm than good. Brutalities certainly aren't original, as they are just super Killer Instinct combos that end in the generic MK3 body explosion. New fatalities and animalities are just terrible, with as little new animation as possible. Noob's fatalities, for example, are just a repeating special move into a body explosion. As if we haven't seen enough of that already. The bosses are selectable, which is just about the only plus this game has going for it in the innovation department.
     For all its faults, MK Trilogy plays surprisingly well. Control is superb, and fluid animation allows good responsiveness. Dial-a-combos are as cheesy as ever, causing the game to be a bit easier to master than the most skill-requiring game of the series, MK2. The computer artificial intelligence is insanely difficult to defeat, often performing impossible combos or throw combinations. Aggressor combat does nothing to enhance gameplay, as it offers a marginal increase in power for the aggressor, which usually wears off before any major damage can be done. The new characters are interesting at best, redundant at worst. The bosses are a lot of fun, but the lack of fatalities is a major disappointment. Johnny Cage is also a major disappointment, mainly because he is missing his trademark "nut punch." Essentially, if you like how all of the other MK games play, you'll have no trouble picking this one up.
     Even though this entire review has been pretty harsh to MK Trilogy, I'm still an MK addict. MK continues to be a phenomenal two player game, and with the few worthy additions, this sequel is worth it to any MK fan!

And now for the grades...

Graphics-18/20
+ Smooth animation
+ Nicely Digitized Characters
- Slowdown
Sounds-4/5
+ Crisp sounds, Redbook audio
- Missing effects, skipping
Originality/Innovation-2/5
-No solid improvements
- Could have used MK2 engine for better game
- Lame finishing moves
Play Control/Gameplay-35/40
+ Excellent Play Control
+ Easy to learn
- Dial-a-combos
FunFactor-28/30
+ Great two-player action
+ Presence of fatalities
+ Excellent character development
- Repetitive
Total Score-87/100
Good, solid title

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