Reviewed on:
PlayStation 2Also available for:
Xbox
The Good:
Returns to familiar Mortal Kombat II territory. Simplified control system. Two-player co-op and vs. modes. Lots of unlockable content.The Bad:
Fairly short. Game engine and camera system could have used some refinement.The Verdict:
Fans of Mortal Kombat will dig being able to explore the ins and outs of Mortal Kombat II, everyone else will find a slightly above average action/adventure game.
REVIEW:
The Mortal Kombat series isn't one known especially well for its innovation. The first game, released way back in 1993, countered Street Fighter II's elegant gameplay with a less-than-intuitive control system, requiring more memorization than actual skill. But it did get a lot of attention, with then-impressive graphics and, most notably, excessive amounts of gore.
For the second game, the developers at Midway took the gore to even more ridiculous lengths, but they also did something else — they produced a much better game. And in the many years since, and many different Mortal Kombat games later, most fans still consider Mortal Kombat II to be the best the series had to offer.
Midway obviously realized this, choosing to revisit the Mortal Kombat II universe all these years later, this time in the form of an action/adventure game. Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks lets gamers play as two of the series' most popular characters, Liu Kang and Kung Lao, in either a single-player or two-player co-operative mode. And, since this is Mortal Kombat, there's a vs. mode thrown in for good measure.
Shaolin Monks is a cross between recent entries in the action/adventure genre like Prince of Persia and more traditional beat 'em ups like Final Fight and Streets of Rage. The game looks like it's fully 3D, but you're actually quite limited in the amount of exploring you're able to do, often being confined to a narrow path.
The control system has also been greatly simplified from the previous Mortal Kombat games, making it easy to pull off maneuvers that once required complex button combinations. But the game engine itself, and the occasional bad camera placement, sometimes makes what should be a fairly simple task (like jumping from one platform to another) frustratingly difficult. At times, it can also be tough to discern exactly what your objective is, resulting in a lot of wandering around or staring blankly at the screen.
Thankfully, those faults don't hamper the gameplay all that often, and when the game works, it works really well. The action is intense and the moves you're able to perform, including mid-air attacks, are undeniably cool.
As with other recent Mortal Kombat games, there are lots of bonuses you can unlock (including the complete Mortal Kombat II arcade game). Much of it can be found in the single-player mode, but to get everything you'll need a second player to join you. Unfortunately, you can't simply join a game that's already in progress, so you'll need a buddy willing to invest a fair amount of time in the game if you want to unlock everything.
It's not as much time as it could be though, as Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks is actually quite short. Most players will able to complete the game in about eight hours (not counting searching for all the hidden bonuses). The vs. mode adds some to the replay value, as does the myriad of unlockable content, but it's still disappointingly short for a game that'll cost you over 50 bucks.
If you're a die-hard Mortal Kombat fan, you'll likely think it's worth it. For everyone else, it's probably best to as a rental.
