Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance Review (PS2)

When Deadly Alliance was first announced we feared the worst. Another version of the series that peaked in its second installment seemed to be the last thing we needed. To say we weren’t looking forward to this game is somewhat of an understatement. However, it turned out to be a nice surprise.

The first noticeable thing about Deadly Alliance is that the graphical style has been completely re-done. Instead of digitised characters we get more puppet like creations and this allows the game to reach whole new levels. Now fully in three dimensions the new style allows for much more freedom of movement than digitised characters would not have allowed.

Also, healthy selections of new Combatants (or should that be ‘Kombatants’ ) are added and some of the weaker ones removed. Most noticeable in this respect is that annoying Bruce Lee wannabe Liu Kang is not only removed from the game but we get to see him have his neck broken in the opening scene of the introduction.

The arenas and characters look decent and solid, not up to something like Tekken 4 or Soul Calibur but good enough. Every one of the characters seems to suite this new style perfectly, with scorpion and subzero looking meaner than ever before. The arenas also really do benefit from a fully 3D feel. The only thing which could have been improved are the objects within the arenas- as most are fairly empty despite the odd acid spitting statue or icicle hanging around to throw opponents through. The game would have really benefited from the multi level effect in the surroundings that Tekken 4 began to lean towards.

Sound wise it’s absolutely spot on and you can almost feel the tearing of flesh as someone sticks a sword through their opponent. Along with the moody music playing over the action it all adds up to the overall effect of creating some very tense and atmospheric battles. The booming voice of the fight announcer still sounds as sadistic as ever, and it all helps add to the feel. Most impressive.

Luckily, Deadly Alliance also has some solid gameplay to match the looks and sound. The basic concept of Mortal Kombat has been re-built from scratch in order to try and make a dent in the PS2’s fighter catalogue. Each character has three unique styles of fighting, two forms of martial arts and one weapon based. These styles can all be linked together in devastating combos reminiscent of the Killer Instinct series.

Everything moves smoothly enough, each style is different to the next, some flow together, while others are more slow paced styles. The skill comes in knowing which style that your character possess is the most appropriate to beat your opponent.

Luckily the characters themselves are as diverse as the new styles of kombat, each being given far more of an individual feel than in previous instalments of the game. Whereas before the set of characters all had the same basic controls, (press up and high punch to perform an uppercut for example) only the special moves separated the individuals, now these generic move sets have all been removed.

Furthermore, what adds to the charm of the game is the variation in the ways you can travel through the story. As well as the arcade mode you also get the Konquest mode, not essential but a nice touch as it helps teach you how each character moves and attacks work while expanding on the background of the current tournament. This coupled with some nice extras such as documentaries and the history of Mortal Kombat all adds up to a nice package. Adding longevity is the krypt, with over six hundred goody laden caskets which will take forever to open.

To sum up, Deadly Alliance represents an improvement on a stale series. There’s still room for improvement (a few more fatalities would have been nice), and more detailed arenas to fight in would take the game up a level. If only someone would look at Legend of Fighters on The 3DO- it had all the right ideas. But it shows how a stale franchise can be reborn.

Overall 7/10

Mortal Kombat Review (Mega Drive)

Launching in 1992 amidst huge amount of hype and outrage, Midway’s Mortal Kombat went on to become a landmark title. The main selling point was of course blood in vast quantities, which set a trend for future video games. During matches the combination of punches, knives, spears and much more besides causes your opponent to shed pints of blood. 

Such oozing was on a scale never before seen and the levels of violence apparent were topped off with a brutal ‘finishing’ manoeuvre. Subzero, on reflection, was perhaps the main culprit with a move which had the Ninja removing the head of his victim with the moving spinal cord still attached. Surprisingly perhaps, Mortal Kombat was not all style over substance, as beneath the blood lay a decent (if not spectacular), game in its own right. 

As a simple one-on-one 2D fighting game, Mortal Kombat implements the usual contrived story often found in the genre. This time around the greatest warriors from earth have to face off against the creatures of ‘Outworld’ in a battle that will decide the future of the planet. A selection of seven cliched warriors range from the usual Bruce Lee rip off to more obscure characters like the God of thunder 'Raiden' and a dead Ninja from hell. 

Mortal Kombat is an American series, developed in a genre dominated by Japanese heavyweights. However, to its credit it maintains a unique flavour, partially due to the character designs. Mortal Kombat managed to set itself apart at the time of release through digitised visuals for the fights. The characters were incredibly realistic, something that stands up quite well even today- at least until they move. 

While characters are digitised the backdrops are drab by comparison and static - creating an uneasy juxtaposition between the two. Each character has sufficient animation but a few more frames whilst walking would have been appreciated, but overall it's acceptable and the blood is lavishly red. 

Blood and hype cast aside, the foundation of the game relied on a decent engine. It's certainly not up to the standards of the Street Fighter series, but good enough to avoid frustration for the player. However, matches can become a mass of projectile moves at times, as normal punches and kicks seem to lack something in the heat of battle. This over-the-top opera of violence and bizzare finishing moves set Mortal Kombat apart - even today. With the blood activated it actually helps the gameplay as when attacking everything seems to be more solid, giving the graphical illusion that punches are connecting with the other character something that was sadly lacking in the Super Nintendo version of the game. 

If there is a criticism to be found with the game it would have to be that apart from special moves the characters on offer are not dramatically different from one another. This is especially noticeable with the Ninja characters. This is only a minor gripe in a surprisingly enjoyable and playable title though. 

Overall, despite the hype, Mortal Kombat is well designed and implemented and certainly put Midway on the map. It offers a welcome experience, different from those offered by the Fatal Fury and Street Fighter series'. The inclusion blood and fatalities helps to make it really stand out from the crowd. With so many versions released on multiple platforms it is worth noting that the Mega Drive version is really the only one worth owning and is a worthy addition to any Sega owner’s collection. 

Overall 7/10

(Enter Blood Code at 'Code of the Warrior' Screen - ABACABB)

 

Super Smash TV Review (SNES)

Smash T.V. is set in 1999 (at the time of release, the near future), and revolves around the idea that television has tapped into the violent aspect of human behaviour. It seems that only two things make for good ratings anymore; violence and game shows. Thus, Smash T.V. is born and contestants must enter into different arenas, and battle through whatever stands in their way in order to win. The prizes for success range from huge piles of cash to luxury vacations and quality luggage. So step up lucky contestants and enter the competition that makes the Running Man look like catch phrase.

The game sets itself out as a mix of classic retro shooter Robotron and an awful lot of adrenaline pumping action.  Viewed from a top down perspective, players move from room to room with each room needing to be cleared of monsters in order to proceed. During the shooting of enemies, money and prizes will appear offering bonus points. A huge range of death dealing weapons such as rocket launchers and giant spinning discs are also on hand. It all sounds fairly straightforward, but Smash T.V. is one of the hardest games ever.

Upon entering each room, monsters will enter from each of the four doors surrounding the area. The difficulty comes as creatures endlessly poor into the arena, literally hundreds of enemies could be heading your way. Other aspects to consider include mines laid all over the floor, wall mounted gunners and the fact your standard gun would do more damage if you threw it at them. Each room turns into a frantic race to keep your weapon powered up while weaving in and out of the mountains of monsters, and remember you are supposed to be picking up bonus points at the same time.

Graphically, things are as good as they need to be with each room looking more or less exactly the same and characters do not have a huge amount of animations. But Smash T.V. is about more than just graphics. A wide range of different enemies exist in three of the main levels - meaning that you are never shooting the same type of enemy from room to room. Furthermore, each room contains a good mix of each with six or seven different types of creature coming at you on numerous occasions.

The somewhat functional graphics allow the game to fill the screen with large amounts of potential targets without any noticeable slowdown or flickering. Controlling the death-dealing contestants in Smash T.V. is also a work of gaming brilliance. Using the Super Nintendo pad in the best way possible, the direction buttons unsurprisingly move you around while pressing any of the X, Y, A and the B button causes your character to fire in whichever direction that button is situated. For instance X causes you to fire up screen, Y, to the left and so on. This control method means you have a fighting chance as you can run in one direction while firing in another. It also allows you to circle enemies far more effectively than many other versions of the game found on retro consoles.

Difficulty though is what keeps this circulating around the gaming circuit even to this day. Renowned in the gaming community as nigh on impossible to get to the third level (let alone complete) Smash T.V. has built up a reputation that leads to only the bravest of gamers trying to take it on. However, just because the game is difficult, does not mean it's unfair. Every death is fair in the respect, that nothing kills you that you cannot see coming, though most of the time you would need some form of intergalactic nuclear strike to take it out - but hey, no one said is was going to be easy did they?

Overall Smash T.V. is a thing of legend, an adrenaline pumping, hardcore title that has yet to be matched. Anyone searching for a challenge will need look no further than this. If you think you're a skilled gamer, then Smash T.V. is waiting to tell you that you're very wrong. Smash T.V. is absolutely unmissable.

9/10

Super Smash TV Review (SNES)

Our second review takes a look at Super Smash TV on the Super Nintendo.