Review: Now with Nudealities!... just kidding
For those of us who started playing games before Sony knew what a PlayStation was, Mortal Kombat II was a high-point of a legendary era, when arcades were in their final boom before the obscurity they enjoy(?) now. Back in these days without widespread Internet access, the game was something of a legend, as rumors of all sorts of weird things cropped up, an indication of just how popular the game was with its audience. In those days, there were rumors of hidden secret characters, added fatalities, Nudealities, Beastialities (which came around in Mortal Kombat 3, along with Brutalities), and all of that was part of the mystique of the game. Now in our more connected age, this legend of the old days has made an appearance on PlayStation 3's store, sure to bring memories back to those wilder, more barbaric days. And whaddya know? It's exactly how you remember it...good and bad.
The PS3 version of Mortal Kombat II is a direct conversion from the original arcade game, handled by the Xbox Live Arcade retro experts Digital Eclipse, which shouldn't surprise anyone since they've handled all of Midway's XBLA titles thus far (and Midway Arcade Treasures 2, where MK II last appeared in emulated form). However Midway hasn't involved themselves much with the game, licensing it out to Sony Online Entertainment, likely because of their experience with Sony's PlayStation Network. The pedigree at Digital Eclipse means the port is top-notch, effectively arcade-perfect, complete with all the characters, moves, fatalities, friendships, sound effects (TOASTY!), and the like. You'd think this would be a no-brainer with PS3's hardware, but half-assed ports can still happen. Sure the digitized graphics are a bit cheesy today (and lets be honest, they were cheesy in the 1990's too, but cheaper than actually designing character sprites), but they actually hold up well and the game runs very smoothly. The PS3 controller with its SNES styled d-pad is very effective, compared to the sketchy d-pad from the Xbox 360. Still if you have the Hori Virtua Fighter stick, that's the best way to go.
Of course, being based on the arcade game means all the things that made Mortal Kombat II a multiplayer heavy title are still here. If you play it solo, and perhaps only remember the slightly dumbed-down SNES/Genesis conversions from 1994, you'll be surprised at how fast you get annihilated by the cheap, cheesy AI that either blocks or anticipates your every move. It was quite a shock to get completely destroyed in just a few rounds by damn near psychic opponents, even though this exact thing happened when the game came out. And you thought AI was getting worse in modern times! Though there are a few difficulty levels, even the easiest setting is decidedly un-fun unless you out-cheese the cheese. Of course the reason for this is obvious, as the idea was to suck quarters (or in some places, 50 cents) out of you constantly back in those days and that's how it was done. In short, unless you have friends to play locally or over the PSN, this might be $5 dollars better saved for something that's more accessible to a solo player.
That said, if you did buy Mortal Kombat II for competitive play, it's the best 5 bucks you can spend right now on PS3. Obviously offline head-to-head is perfect, and can provide hours of entertainment (especially if you have two skilled players who know the moves and don't rely on cheese), but online works well too. It has unavoidable fighting game lag but since old-school Mortal Kombat isn't always about absolute precision it can be dealt with. There's also plenty of annoying griefers who quit rather than accept defeat, but that's a fixture of online games so most people are used to it. Unfortunately (or fortunately, in the case of the idiots there to ruin things) there's no voice chat so it feels a bit robotic and cold, but it's still better than dealing with 1993-era Artificial Intelligence.
