Mortal Kombat Gold
 

 
STORY:  Thousands of years ago, during a war with the corrupt Elder God known as Shinnok, Raiden was responsible for the death of an entire civilization. To avoid a repeat of this event, as well as to protect all realms from Shinnok's threat, Raiden waged a brutal campaign and, at a heavy price, exiled his rival to a dark place known as the Netherealm.
 

 
REVIEW: The successor to Mortal Kombat 4, MK Gold was one of the launch titles for the Sega Dreamcast on September 9th, 1999. The sequel adds 5 classic characters to the lineup, which include: Cyrax, Mileena, Kitana, Kung Lao & Baraka. Each of the new characters also show off their own new weapons, which they can pull out at any time to attack their opponent's with. However, they function practically the same as the weapons of the returning characters. Gold also adds a new weapon select option, and features some new stages not seen in the original installment. A Dreamcast exclusive, MK Gold came out nearly 2 years after MK4's original arcade release, and maintained everything the arcade version of MK4 had to offer.
 

 
Unlike the previous console iterations of MK4, Mortal Kombat Gold on Dreamcast features character model consisting of 3,000 polygons, the exact same as the arcade version of MK4. Some original levels were also reworked to take advantage of the 3D processing power of the Dreamcast. While MK Gold had a noticeably "sharp" appearance, the blocky character models, pixilated effects, and bland textures & backgrounds failed to impress... especially since the Sega Dreamcast was capable of much better visuals. Soul Calibur, another launch title on the Dreamcast, was the prime example, and simply blew MK Gold out of the water visually (not to mention, gameplay-wise).

However, as a Mortal Kombat game, Gold has all the essentials.... brutal fatalities, laughable voice acting, awkward animations, and tons of nostalgia value. It's Mortal Kombat after all. Though MK4 was impressive when it hit arcades, the graphics style, animation style and gameplay engine didn't exactly age well... even on the powerful Dreamcast. The gameplay is still very 2D and feels very "last-gen". All in all, MK Gold is really just MK4 with a new paint job and some new characters... and in 1999, it would be considered a "mediocre" fighting game at best.

Page Updated: August 21st, 2020 Developer(s): Midway Publisher(s): Midway Designer(s): Ed Boon Platform(s): Dreamcast Release Date(s): September 9th, 1999 Characters:  Scorpion, Sub Zero, Johnny Cage, Liu Kang, Jax, Sonya, Reiko, Jarek, Rayden, Tanya, Quan Chi, Fujin, Shinnok, Reptile, Kai, Baraka, Kung Lao, Kitana, Mileena, Cyrax, Sektor, Noob Saibot, Meat, Goro Featured Video: Related Games: Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, Mortal Kombat 3 Ultimate, Mortal Kombat 4, MK: Deadly Alliance, MK: Deception, MK: Armageddon, MK Trilogy, Mortal Kombat VS DC Universe, Mortal Kombat 9, Mortal Kombat X, Mortal Kombat 11, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition, Final Fight: Revenge, Bloody Roar 2, Dead or Alive 2, Toshinden 3, Toshinden 4, Ehrgeiz, Bushido Blade 2, Plasma Sword, Power Stone, Soul Calibur, Tekken Tag Tournament    Gameplay Engine  6.5 / 10 Story / Theme  6.5 / 10 Overall Graphics  6.5 / 10 Animation  6.5 / 10 Music / Sound Effects  6.5 / 10 Innovation  5.5 / 10 Art Direction  5.5 / 10 Customization  4.5 / 10 Options / Extras  6.0 / 10 Intro / Presentation  4.5 / 10 Replayability / Fun  7.0 / 10 "Ouch" Factor  8.0 / 10 Characters  7.5 / 10 BOTTOM LINE  6.5 / 10     Final Words: MK Gold was the definitive version of MK4. Now with 5 classic characters returning to the mix, the game felt more complete. However, the overall visuals and gameplay were rather stale for 1999... especially when compared to that other fighting game launch title on the Dreamcast... Soul Calibur.  ~TFG Webmaster