subject: Retro Rewind: Mortal Kombat II [print this page] What Makes Mortal Kombat II Great? What Makes Mortal Kombat II Great?
Well, we all know that the classic status of Mortal Kombat II had nothing to do with the story, or lack thereof. Warriors from Earth were forced to compete against Outworld's greatest warriors in order to be crowned champion. Should the Earth warriors lose, Outworld could invade the "Earthrealm." Engaging right? No, it was the "kombat" that made Mortal Kombat II one of the greatest fighting games of all time. In opposition to Mortal Kombat, a sleigh of playable characters and moves were now available for either a tournament or versus mode. The tournament started quite moronic at first with players walking right into your first and developed into some intense and difficult fighting that often didn't seem quite fair (remember how you seemed to be sucked under Goro's feet when he landed?).
Will Mortal Kombat II Endure the Test of Time?
In some ways, it already has. Mortal Kombat II is widely known as the best and last stop in the series. When the series made the shift to 3D and added more characters, players quickly began to lose interest (seriously, Mortal Kombat with guns?). But many the fan continued to play Mortal Kombat II to remember the days when even the smallest innovation and controversy could turn a run of the mill fighter into a retro great game. Many players remember some of the issues with the game more fondly than the strengths. For example, why did an uppercut take away half your life but a puddle of acid to the face or fireball in your chest amounted to about a quarter?
Still, the most remembered part of Mortal Kombat II were the fatalities. You impressed your friends by memorizing fatalities late into the night and, the next day, wowed them by tearing their arms off, turning them into a baby or knocking them into an acid pool or spikes below. Today, you are pretty unlikely to remember any of these moves. However, with just a couple of minutes of memorizing, you can be the cool kid on the block again and scissor cut their heads into video game history.
