Ultimate Mortal Kombat
Score: 95% ESRB: Mature Publisher: Midway Developer: Midway Media: Cartridge/1 Players: 1 - 2 Genre: Fighting/ Puzzle/ Action
Graphics & Sound: Ultimate Mortal Kombat is double your Mortal Kombat pleasure, a mash-up of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 with Puzzle Kombat. Mortal Kombat fans will contend that the graphics are the least of my worries since this game has looked virtually the same since I saw it in the nineties. The version contained in this package for DS is very much like the Genesis port I played back-in-the-day, but it looks much better thanks to superior technology today compared to 1995. The Genesis version was hardly the pick of the litter, but we didn't care about that. Coming from the early nineties where Street Fighter was all I knew, Mortal Kombat rocked my world. The blood flying everywhere during battles was awesome and the fatalities were the best. At the time, I was living with a bunch of dudes and we all had free run of the Genesis, so we'd get in some practice solo and then convene for sessions into the wee hours where we'd show off our latest fatality skillz. We just called 'em "skills" in '95, you know? This version of the game, based it would seem on Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, is a good choice for this collection because there are a slew of characters and the visuals are well suited to the DS hardware. You get a lot of bang for your buck. The presentation on two screens allows you to see combos and finishing moves above while the action happens below. Puzzle Kombat may seem less dynamic from the outside, but there is plenty going on here as well. The top screen shows the fighting action while the bottom shows the blocks, breakers, and bombs as they slide down. This is a nice way to use the hardware and give newer players a chance to grok the combos in the fighting game. The DS hardware also transmits the sounds of the game nicely along with the sights. Ultimate Mortal Kombat has some great content beyond the "Finish him!" that everyone knows. The sound of blows landing, special attacks, and quick-moves come through faithfully on the DS speakers or with more rich detail through headphones. The presentation of the games online doesn't suffer a bit, but it may depend somewhat on your connection speed.
Gameplay: Ultimate Mortal Kombat is really three games. The two mentioned already are a big part of why fans will want this version. The third (and possibly fourth) installment included here is online play. The dream of dreams comes true, and on the platform least likely to steal the show with online play. Ironic that the PSP was positioned more for wireless play and the DS gets to feature some great games with online capability. Thank goodness I can quit adding that rejoinder in my reviews about how much better a good game might be with true online play... The great thing about Ultimate Mortal Kombat is that it benefits from all the lessons learned in previous installments. I won't run down the story-before-now version of how this fits into the Mortal Kombat mythology, but just ask any fan and you'll find out. The new characters Reptile and Scorpion were instant classics - who can't picture in their mind's eye the attack from Scorpion that accompanies the sound-bite, "Get over here!!" Kitana was also a standout in this version with her lightning-fast moves and devastating combos. Unlockable characters and some special battle types rounded out the offering here. It wouldn't get much better than this for a while, if you followed the series beyond 1995 as I did. Those days on the Genesis were more precious than I could have imagined; we were having a blast and taking part in a pretty historical moment in the Mortal Kombat franchise. When I dipped back into the series years later, it was at a point where the Mortal Kombat brand didn't mean much except for fighting action. Lots of action games and copy-cats were on the scene also, and Tekken was the darling of my eye. I missed out on the Puzzle Kombat game, which was included in Mortal Kombat: Deception. This was more of a pack-in than a freestanding game, but with the growth in popularity of casual gaming, Midway is smart to introduce Puzzle Kombat again. Just as it was included along with more of a core fighting mode in Mortal Kombat: Deception, Puzzle Kombat is the "other" game you'll find here when you tire of fighting one-on-one battles. What's that? You say you'll never tire of battles... Guess you won't be blurry-eyed at 2 AM trying to beat your best score on Puzzle Kombat... If you can get past the fact that Puzzle Kombat doesn't rely on combat (oops..."kombat") but instead takes the approach of games like Tetris, you'll find it a really enjoyable complement to the fighting action and a nice break. If you have a wireless connection established in your home, you can jump right online and play both games in the DS Ultimate Mortal Kombat pack. You don't have to register or go through a lot of rigmarole on the Midway side, just jump in and start swinging. The lobby for online play is sorted between players you may be able to beat (Ranked) and those available to play without any type of apples-to-apples handicapping (Worldwide). If you have friends that you've played already or those that sent you a unique "Friend Code," you'll be able to add them and launch play as long as they are online. The play online is a brilliant move for Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 in both the fighting and the puzzle installments. Even though Nintendo's approach to Wi-Fi has seemed hesitant with their handheld, the DS is an excellent platform for online gaming. If the action is closer to home and you just want to invite friends over and launch a competitive session, the local network connection is also available.
Difficulty: The bottom line here is that Ultimate Mortal Kombat will totally kick your butt seven ways to Sunday. If you think the CPU can dish it out, wait until you go online and battle real people! There are a lot of fighters with itchy fingers that have been memorizing these characters' moves since the late nineties. If you think I'm kidding, I'm not. Luckily for those of us with other competing interests in our lives, the basic combos for each character are displayed on the top screen. You can't really take your eyes off the bottom screen, but maybe when you win or lose, you'll get a brief moment to glance at a combo. It's a shame that Ultimate Mortal Kombat doesn't feature any training mode or tutorial for newer gamers; perhaps they assume their demographic is mainly seasoned gamers. The online play is something that any fan of retro titles, or fighting games, must appreciate. How great is it that you can connect through a wireless connection and get into these excellent matches for either fighting or puzzle action. It's interesting to see how crowded and lively the online lobby for Ultimate Mortal Kombat was compared to the vacant lobbies seen in several recent reviews on PSP. Nintendo has an enviable installed base for their handheld, so it makes sense that a bigger group will gather to take advantage of this slick online play. There's nothing cheap about the difficulty here, so the secret is to just keep jamming away on those combos, find a character that suits you, and work hard to master as many advanced moves as possible.
Game Mechanics: The funny part about bringing Ultimate Mortal Kombat to the DS is that the stylus is left out of the equation. Touch is basically left out completely. It's not clear how these features would be used, but in Puzzle Kombat, it would have made sense as a means of controlling the dropping blocks. Instead we get the standard, two-button rotation scheme similar to what comes up in Tetris. Puzzle Kombat is most definitely not a Tetris clone... Instead of the convention of matching a certain number of blocks to destroy those blocks, Puzzle Kombat uses different blocks, called Breakers and Bombs, to clear out the dead wood. Pieces fall from the sky constantly and if your opponent builds a nice combo and destroys some blocks, more blocks are added to your side of the world. The Breaker and Bomb piece helps to clear things more quickly and avoid being pushed up to the top of the screen and losing. The game features pretty basic strategy, but includes a top-screen view of the fighters selected for the match. As you are successful in preventing your opponent from dishing out blocks, you'll see your character beat the stuffing out of the other guy or gal. Nothing about Puzzle Kombat gets the heart racing and blood pumping quite like Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, but it's entertaining. Like Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, we also have unlockable content and the new characters. The characters are depicted as super-deformed, which is just funny. Controlling Ultimate Mortal Kombat is not exactly a dream on the small, small real estate contained in the DS. Being small is great until someone is trying to pull off six-button combos on you. Some of the special moves are not impossible, but may feel that way initially. Moving around quickly is also frustrating at first, especially if you try to play online against an evenly matched opponent. You start to wonder at first if the game is rigged... Like a lot of games, practice makes perfect and you soon know the control scheme by touch. The high/low designation for kicks and punches has to be memorized. Using the game's environment to full advantage is also a smart move, and the developers knew people would be looking. Special areas and features in the background keep the battles interesting and increase the game's replay value. The summary on value is that Ultimate Mortal Kombat has great value considering you get a tried-and-true classic in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 along with a less lauded puzzle game. Puzzle Kombat is way more fun online since you have the less-than-perfect reflexes of a person that tend to make victory seem possible. Playing against the CPU in Puzzle Kombat is pretty unforgiving... Playing against the CPU in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 isn't a treat, but it at least gives you a chance to land some good hits. Special moves and defensive attacks (if such a thing exists) are critical to success against the tougher enemies. There isn't a better way to get Mortal Kombat on a portable system and for all its quirks, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is still a high-water mark for the series. So, get out there, select your opponent, and Finish Him!!
-Fridtjof, GameVortex Communications AKA Matt Paddock
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