N64: Mortal Kombat Trilogy Review

[retro junkie]

This review is taken from a series of reviews I did a couple of years ago concerning the fighters available for the N64.

Disclaimer: I have never played a Mortal Kombat game until this one. I purchased this one especially for this series of reviews and impressions. In the past I never had an interest in the games. When passing the games in the arcade they always looked dark and gloomy to me. The graphics looked unattractive. The blood and guts were never a draw for me either. So I paid them no attention. I was always a "King of Fighters, Virtua Fighter, Street Fighter" sort of guy. I never was that violent. I would rather just kick, beat, and pound someone senseless than to rip something out of them. Ummm.........yeah, something like that.


This being my first experience with the Mortal Kombat franchise I am heading into this with no bias expectations. I have no idea as to what is missing in the game so there will be no disappointment, or crying. I have the impression that the fatalities, blood, guts were the center of their popularity, controversy, praise, and criticism from the beginning. That was their selling point, right? Although I feel that everyone, through the years, finally got over that. So the big question in my mind is, by turning off the blood, fatalities, and such, is there a real fighting game underneath?



To all button mashers, "Move along, these are not the droids you are looking for." You want to, and need to, learn the character moves, that is the only way you are going to enjoy and have satisfaction in playing this game. There is no way you are going to get anywhere just mashing buttons. That is the way this game is designed. A novice is going to need to press their way out of their relaxed mode of play and develop some skills. And I think there is enough here to motivate. There is a real fighting game underneath all the blood and gore. Search through and find a character which appeals to you, try them out, then buckle down and get to work. You will enjoy the rewards.


The backgrounds, I personally find a bit disappointing. There could have been more animation, better use of colors, with things going on, needs a bit of activity, that would have made the environments more interesting, for me. Some stages you are busting through floors, I like that. My head went through every one of them. So there is that type of action. But I understand the backgrounds, this is classic Mortal Kombat, and this is the way it looked from the beginning, the way it is supposed to be. I understand that this particular release of the series was not released to the arcades but only to home consoles as, sort of, an update to Mortal Kombat 3. I have no idea if it succeeded in that goal. After all, this is all three of the first games crammed into one, right? I am baffled by the criticism that the N64 version received. But presently this game is not competing against anything, other consoles, or arcade releases. Nope, they are not here in this room with me. We are just considering whether it is a viable fighting game for the console. So...what we have here is a very solid game for the N64 of the Mortal Kombat franchise.


You have a ton of fighters to choose from. You can have up to 8 people sitting around playing together in a fighting tournament. Place on top of that, arcade gaming. (I have so got to get an arcade stick for my N64.) For those "single mode vs computer" gamers, even though this game has a "very easy" setting and a "novice" mode, both of those are not going to help you enjoy this game where you can just whizz through. This is not for casual gamers. Casual gamers really do not enjoy a game the way it was intended, if the truth be told. There is a lot of fun and enjoyment here to be had. This is one of those games in which you can sit down and sink your teeth into, master it. Fast, furious, tight gameplay, they nailed it. This game makes me want to purchase Mortal Kombat 4 for my N64 now. I will give Trilogy a thumbs up and rate it, "Awesome Game."