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ShoeUnited
Never Online
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Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2006 11:28 am
Post subject: MK II Review |
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This has been available to the sages for a long time. I now share it with everyone. 
Comment as you see fit. ^^
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Now most would not consider this a real revolution in video gaming history. Simply because Mortal Kombat set the bar for violence and gore. Some might think that a proper review would be a breakdown seen on other websites. I know that such a review breakdown never deals proper justice.
Instead, we'll delve through the game in a near anarchaic manner.
Mortal Kombat II came upon the crest of new laws that demanded less violence in video games, and a rating system. Something abhorred by every person who battled for free speech. And it still dripped in inordinately copious amounts of blood.
Midway being investigated by a congressional committee, never seemed to slow it. Nintendo even folded to such charges. Not Midway. Back in those days Midway was a little known game company that made Mortal Kombat and few knew of any other game by them. Sure there were Gauntlet crowds. Who can forget the eternally loveable SmashTV. These were second rate fodder compared to the glory of the Mortal Kombat franchise.
Midway saw the truest potential of two men. A programmer, and an Artist. After seeing the success and controversy of this little game that these two made, how could HQ say no to a sequel?
Grand plans were made in the production of MK II. Blood, sweat, and tears were poured into the game. Day and night coding, art, and storylines were moved around, rewritten, and thrown out the window.
Despite the promise and short removal of a Kintaro that would have made any fur cream her suit; the finished game was nothing short of glorious.
No friends. This was no Street Fighter II Hyper Challenge Championship with 4 new people. This game had everything one could ever hope for a fighter, especially in those days.
It was chockfull of secrets. That people weren't spoiled to learn early. Instead you had to find everything out. Fresh. No reverse engineering. Just people, popping quarters, trying to get famous.
The detail was unparalleled. Dark and ominous Wastelands. Grimy horror chambers. An unusually bright and sunny new courtyard with two of our favorite characters chained for some unknown future torture.
Not only did everybody have their own ending, they had their own beginning. Years before the Cannon rewrites, we were treated to a true sequel in story telling. Right on the heels of the end of the first (and last) Mortal Kombat tournament, our heros chase some of our favorite enemies even with the recently visited island in flames.
The controls that were tight before, were tweaked for less cheap exploits and even better controlling. The move, character, and finishing rosters were multiplied. No longer were you seeing the same (though awe inspiring) Fatality. No, you were treated to two, and a new sequence to perform pit fatalities. And they increased the number of background hazards from one to an unprecedented amount. No longer were you stuck watching them fly into a pit and impale on spikes. No friend, we had baths of acid to dissolve your friend. We had spikes on the ceiling to catch them. And one of the most awe inspiring animatics involving another pit, but much higher and no chance of a simple impale anymore.
The frames of animation were totally unto themselves. They combined digital actors with digital art. It is truly a wonder how they combined the real with the surreal. MK II is personally responsible for bringing a hyper reality to the fighting genre.
Even brand new additions like Frienships and Babalities. Added only to make a one fingered salute to those that would deny the masses of free speech and enjoyment. All under the guise of "For the greater good" by those who feard communism no less.
The sound was perfected, refined, given a new compression, and increased. Every grunt, groan, whisper, and splash of blood was heard. Nothing was ignored. A completely new score was written. More voice overs added. Every aspect given a fine coat of love.
The people added, some mysterious, some deadly even to look at. All of them fit together. Not just randomly thrown in with enough story to make them appear as bland and lifeless as tofu pudding.
The hidden characters only spurned more quarters to be dropped. The tauting hints that was urging you on to play just one more time, try one more combination, kill in a new, unique way; only made you love the game more.
If the Surgeon General ever told me to not do drugs, I never saw it. I had my crack. It's name was Mortal Kombat II.
Breakdown
Graphics: 9.5/10
Sound: 9/10
Controls: 10/10
Storyline: 10/10
Replay: 10/10
Love: 5/5
Graphics: These are based on any surrounded games of the genre during it's time period. If no other games existed during its time period, it is judged by the closest recent video games and augmented by amount of years between games of similar playing styles.
Sound: Judged by how much the sounds pull me in or push me away.
Controls: Response, feel, intuitiveness, complexity, and actual feel of the buttons, control sticks, or any other input device.
Storyline: Actual game story. How it plays a role in both the game and a franchise.
Replay: How easily I can pick it up again with various amounts of time inbetween playing.
Love: I can feel the difference between a game that the programmers, artists, sound engineers, and game testers spend. Some games feel more forced, others feel more inspired love for the craft. Still others can be totally devoid of any actual effort.
These are my opinions, my definitions, and my ratings. Your mileage may vary. Ask dealer for details. No purchase necessary. Void in Iowa, Utah, and other states with weird sounding names. Please take only one daily as directed by your doctor. Others may feel different senses of heightened intelligence. Not available in all colors. Property of the United States and it's territories. Batteries not included. For a full transcript contact your Surgeon General. If not satisfied, please return the unused portion for a full refund.
-Shoe
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kyoga78
TMK Kid Thunder
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Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2006 7:27 pm
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That pretty much describes MK 2. Best one, second only to Deception.
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l{ombat_l{rave
TMK FanFic Kreator
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Posted: Wed Sep 27, 2006 12:28 am
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...wow MKII is and always will be far better than Deception but anyways...like I said a while back ShoeUntied...absolutely amazing...nothing could've summed it up more...I hope to see more of your reviews in the future...thanks for the effort put into this...
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onretilom
MATT THE MANIAC
Joined: 16 Jan 2006
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Posted: Wed Sep 27, 2006 10:12 pm
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Wow, very descriptive and great vocab. Great job of summing up all the things that make MK2.
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EWAShock
TMK Sage
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Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 8:42 am
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MKII is a horrendous fighting game, don't forget that detail.
Quite honestly, that review of MKII is a lot of hearsay and assumptions, and I don't understand why it is so verbose.
This is my review of MKII from gamespot.com:
If there was ever a game that should have been a movie...
Mortal Kombat II is without fear of contradiction, the most talked about Mortal Kombat game in the genre's history. It was a very important step in the long line of games that were to be made after it. MK fans were not disappointed in the slightest because from every possible point of view, this game was an improvement upon the original. Everything from graphics, sound quality, music quality, roster, completeness, atmosphere etc, and even gameplay was a step in the right direction.
MKII is a very fun game, until you have performed every single fatality on the computer 100 times, and seen the Pit II fatality 100 times on every character. The overall gameplay can be taken as fun, but you have to like the pace of the game, as there is no choice in how you play it. Because of the limitations of the game system, you are forced to play the game in a "turtle fest" which means, both character must stay on opposite sides of the screen, making the other one move in, getting countered in return. It is almost a turn based game in which the person who performs the highest damage juggles wins.
This not withstanding, even though Mortal Kombat II was a complete success over a decade ago, today it remains a stale, slow, underdeveloped, overstated, overrated, limited, repetitive, monotony with pseudo competitive gameplay that has not evolved in many years, and it will remain that way forever. The genre's aesthetic potential in the 2D realm had been completely uncovered and the next logical step in the process was to improve the gameplay and depart from the gore, partially due to being developed in a time where video games were coming under fire for being too blatantly violent. This step took on mixed reactions from the fans, and ultimately (no pun intended) winded up being a series of gameplay tweaks adding up to UMK3.
Playing against the AI, like any other MK game, requires a little bit of patience and pattern recognition ability. You should be able to defeat all the normal characters rather easily after a few days of playing, once you discover the universal methods. Playing against another person would be something you should try doing if possible, however it is not likely to happen much anymore. The game's competitive top tier list is very limited, to Mileena and Jax being the best usable characters in the game, based upon years of tournament outcomes, and some chance of winning with Kitana, Liu Kang, and Kung Lao.
I would never tell anyone not to try MKII because it is something everyone should experience, in fact, if you haven't gotten into the series, you can jump in MKII over MK1 and probably learn it just as fast as if you had been playing MK1 for years, and then move on to MK3, and UMK3 after that. If you enjoy performing fatalities, a lot, I would suggest sticking to MKII. I *was* an MKII fan boy, and then I grew up and fell in love with UMK3.
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l{ombat_l{rave
TMK FanFic Kreator
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Posted: Sat Sep 30, 2006 8:05 am
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...that wasn't a MKII review...that was a comparison between MKII and UMK3...and you can't look at everything from a ratings' side...especially when it comes to 'classics'...
...for anyone with a sentimental heart towards things that inspired their lives would set things where they belong...I can play MKII for weeks straight...UMK3 may be a great game though you shouldn't write how good it is compared to MKII and call it a MKII review...ShoeUntied placed his soul in the game...and didn't see things from the ratings' side or today's view...he used the gamer's side...the inner-side...
...just stick to UMK3...
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Ínformatíos sumus memorías æternus.
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EWAShock
TMK Sage
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Posted: Sat Sep 30, 2006 8:21 pm
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In order to give a contemporary review of a game that is ancient and has sequals, you have to compare it to others in the genre, and it only makes sense to compare its weak points to the strong points from the best.
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Lordmortainius
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Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 5:57 pm
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Nice review, just a shame that some of the characters were so cheap, especially with the constant throwing
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EWAShock
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Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2009 1:23 am
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Guwoooohhhhhh! almost 3 years!
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the-original-razer
Kombat Konnoisseur
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Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2009 8:30 pm
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I just have to say that I disagree with you EWAshock. I never get sick of MK2. I can play it over and over just like any of the other klassics. It is my favourite title from the series.
So is MK2 a horrendous game? No
MK2 is an "Outstanding" game........Period.
All of my MK playing friends agree.
All the best,
Razer 
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EWAShock
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Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 4:26 am
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MKII bites hard. I realized that when MK3 came out.
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the-original-razer
Kombat Konnoisseur
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Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 2:08 pm
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Again I disagree.
MK3 and Ultimate are awesome games too.
But to say MK2 sucks is just.... weird from an MK fan lol
All the best,
Razer
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