Mortal Kombat Trilogy

.. Story: Thousands of years ago an order of the wisest men from the far east received visions of the dark realm known as the Outworld. It was a world ruled by a vicious Emperor known as Shao Kahn. They learned that travel between Earth and the new found realm would someday be possible if the conditions were right, the conditions being the unbalancing of the furies. Negative and positive forces which keep our unstable universe from collapsing onto itself. Knowing that an Outworld invasion was imminent, the wise men appealed to the Elder Gods. It was for this reason the Elder Gods created the tournament called Mortal Kombat. For nine generations Mortal Kombat was ruled by Outworld's finest warrior-prince Goro. The Earth was on the brink of its destruction when a new generation of warriors were victorious in defending its realm. The warrior monk, Liu Kang, would become the new Champion. But his victory was short lived as he and his comrades find themselves lured into the Outworld to compete in a second tournament. Little did they know that the tournament was merely a diversion. A scheme devised by the dark Emperor to break the rules set forth by the Elder Gods and witness the reincarnation of his former Queen Sindel on the Earthrealm itself. The unholy act gives Shao Kahn the power to step through the dimensional gates and reclaim his queen, thus enabling him to finally seize the Earth. These are the trilogy of events which comprise Shao Kahn's final attempt at taking the Earth. The selection screen that MK fans only dreamed of... until now. Review: For the first time, a Mortal Kombat fighting game launched only on home consoles, never to be released in arcades. MK Trilogy is basically a mix of all of the prequels crammed into one, featuring classic characters & backgrounds from the series' past and even a few "secret" playable characters from MK1 and MK2. Although many fighting games during MK Trilogy's day were going 3D, Trilogy remained a solid contender in the 2D fighting game genre with it's classic gameplay and appearance... although it definitely looked aged due to the game's (now laughable) digitized graphics. Still, for any casual or hardcore MK fan, Trilogy seemed like a dream come true. You still suck at dodging lighting bolts Shao Kahn. Along with the cast from Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, Trilogy adds Raiden & Baraka as they appeared in Mortal Kombat 2. Both characters received a new special move and a few new animations. A new version of Johnny Cage was also introduced, retaining all of his classic moves except for his trademark split punch (which was taken out because MK3/UMK3 didn't have "reaction" animations for the move).  A new secret character known as Chameleon also joins the roster... Chameleon switches between all the male ninjas (Classic Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Noob Saibot, Human Smoke, Rain, Reptile & Ermac) during combat. He is similar to the original Mortal Kombat's version of Reptile, but Chameleon changes his color, not just his stance. In the N64 version, Chameleon is replaced Khameleon, a grey female ninja who also switches her move sets. All of the classic bosses were also playable in Trilogy including: Goro, Kintaro, Motaro, Shang Tsung, and Shao Kahn. Get caught in that net and it's a guaranteed 7 hit combo!  Trilogy's main draw was it's huge character selection screen, sporting the biggest cast ever seen in an MK game. The classic 2D gameplay is what you'd expect from the series and is still considerably solid. Trilogy also introduces the "Aggressor" bar, which fills as the combatants fight (twice as much if the opponent is blocking). When the Aggressor bar is full, the fighter becomes faster and stronger for a limited amount of time. Though it's a decent gameplay element, the word "Aggressor" that appears under the fighters is a bit distracting... and kinda looks bad if you ask me.  Many returning characters also have new special moves and fatalities. Brutality finishing moves were also available for all characters, requiring the player to perform an 11-button combo which results in their opponent to explode into many... many pieces. MK Trilogy marked the end of Mortal Kombat's 2D appearance.

Last Updated: 7/18/2010 Developer(s): Point of View Inc. (Saturn), Avalanche (Playstation), Williams Entertainment (N64) Publisher(s): Midway Designer(s): Ed Boon Platform(s): Nintendo 64, Playstation, Sega Saturn, PC Release Date(s): September 1st 1996 ( PS1), April 2nd 1998 ( PS1), October 31st 1996 ( N64), August 31st 1997 (Saturn) Characters:  Liu Kang, Sub Zero, Sonya, Kung Lao, Jax, Sektor, Cyrax, Sindel, Stryker, Nightwolf, Sheeva, Smoke, Kano, Kabal, Kitana, Johnny Cage, Noob Saibot, Baraka, Rayden, Reptile, Mileena, Ermac, Shang Tsung, Jade, Scorpion, Rain, Chameleon, Khameleon, Goro, Kintaro, Motaro, Shao Kahn Featured Video: Related Games: Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, Mortal Kombat 3 Ultimate, Mortal Kombat 4, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Mortal Kombat: Deception, Mortal Kombat VS DC Universe Gameplay Engine  7.5 / 10 Story / Theme  7.5 / 10 Overall Graphics  7.5 / 10 Animation  7.5 / 10 Music / Sound Effects  7 / 10 Innovation  4.5 / 10 Customization  6 / 10 Options / Extras  6 / 10 Intro / Presentation  6.5 / 10 Replayability / Fun  7.5 / 10 "Ouch" Factor  8 / 10 Characters  9 / 10 BOTTOM LINE 7.5 / 10   Final Words: Midway basically crammed all of their 2D leftovers together into a game and slapped on a new name... fans were sure to love it, right?! Honestly, MK Trilogy is a must play title for anyone who ever called themselves a Mortal Kombat fan.  It's even an enjoyable title for casual fighting game fans who want to re-live some of that nostalgia from the good old days, back when ripping off heads and spines was "amazing" stuff. The best part of MK: Trilogy is definitely the character roster, but other than that it's pretty much the same Mortal Kombat we've been playing for years. ~F.Yagami, Webmaster of TFG ..