Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks

Added November 10th, 2005 by Sallizar

Introduction:

I’ll start this review by admitting that I really don’t know much about Mortal Kombat.  It was one of those “off-limits” games when I was a teenager.  To this day, the only MK character I could pick out of a police lineup would be Sub-Zero.  Blue = Ice.  Makes sense to me.  My fiancé on the other hand is well versed in the world of Mortal Kombat.  Since I’m always looking for games with a co-op mode for us to play together, I decided MK: Shaolin Monks might be a good match for us.

Gameplay:

Midway decided to deviate from the traditional Mortal Kombat fighting game model when they created Shaolin Monks.  Instead of the same old thing, gamers get a co-op brawler in the same vein as “The Warriors” or “Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu”.  I wasn’t real sure how well Mortal Kombat would translate to the brawler genre, but I was happily surprised when I tore into the ko-op mode.

In ko-op mode, one player controls Liu Kang (guy sporting the red headband) and the other player controls Kung Lao (guy wearing the cool hat).  Players are thrown into familiar areas from previous Mortal Kombat games and attacked by hordes of enemies.  Each character has the same basic control scheme (jump, weak, juggle and heavy attacks) but the execution of these is very character specific.  I prefer quick characters with easy combos (i.e. cheap) combos so Kung Lao fit me perfectly.  I could toss my hat at any enemy, teleport behind it, then juggle it for easy thirty to forty hit combos.  My fiancé, on the other hand, just needs a few punches followed by Liu Kang’s patented bicycle kick to dispatch foes due to the amount of damage he lands with each hit.

I noticed as we were dealing out death with our feet and fists (and cool hat) that an experience meter was ticking away up at the top of the screen.  I absolutely love it when action games add an RPG element to the game.  In Shaolin Monks you can unlock new combos and power up your special attacks by using the experience points you gain while fighting.  Pretty normal stuff for this genre I assure you, but one thing did catch my eye.  If both players pummel the same enemy at the same time you acquire a “Ko-op Combo” multiplier added to the experience you’re gaining from wailing on said monster.  If that’s not a great way to make you cooperate in ko-op mode I don’t know what is.   

Of course, no Mortal Kombat game would be complete without fatalities.  As you pummel your foes into submission you gradually build up a fatality meter.  Approach an enemy with a full meter and slam the white button to bring up the fatality input screen.  You’ll have a few seconds to enter four directions on the d-pad followed by an attack button.  Get the right combo and the screen (and the enemy) explodes in bloody brilliance as your character performs a gory over the top special move.  Shaolin Monks also introduces Mutalities and Brutalities to the MK universe.  Fill your meter a few times and you’ll be able to kill off multiple enemies with the Mutalites and Brutalites.  There is a good bit of variety in these special moves, especially with the main characters, they start to wear thin after the millionth time you’ve seen each one.  This is especially true when you get lazy and keep inputting the easiest fatality every time the meter fills (like I do).

Obviously, there is a versus mode in the game and it’s not half bad.  Two players get to duke it out in various arenas that are sealed off sections of the main games levels.  Breakable objects are placed around the arena which contain items ranging from health and energy powerups to deadly traps.  Various Mortal Kombat regulars can be unlocked for versus mode by finding hidden coins in the story mode.  It’s a great impetus for one to search every nook and cranny in story mode to make sure you’ll have your favorite character in versus.

Graphics:

The biggest draw for most MK fans will be the chance to not only see all your favorite levels from the arcade in three dimensions, but to also see what’s on the outside of them.  We would be sauntering along, kicking butt and taking names (oni demon names are hard to spell I found out) when my fiancé would point out that the area we just entered was an arena in one of the original Mortal Kombat games.  After unlocking Mortal Kombat 2 in the Extra Kontent section it made a lot more sense to me.  This touch of nostalgia in every level is a great nod to the fans by the development team.  

Character design and animation were also well done.  Each character animates smoothly and looks capable of dealing a horrendous amount of destruction upon the enemy with even the weakest blows.  From the scar on Sub-Zero’s face to Kung Lao’s bladed hat, each of the main characters looks exactly how all of you remember them.  Just goes to show that a game can look pretty darn good without all the normal mapping and bloom lighting effects.

Audio:

The first thing my fiancé noticed about the game’s audio was how different the soundtrack is compared to the old games and the movies.  She sat me down with both movies and Mortal Kombat 2 and I must say that I agree with her.  It’s not a bad soundtrack per se, but it doesn’t quite convey the sense of action that the movies techno soundtracks did.  Too bad Midway didn’t add a custom soundtrack option so we could switch over to something a bit more fitting.  On the other hand, the voice acting is right on the money.  If you like cheesy voices with your kung-fu that is.  I thought the voice work fit the game well and my fiancé confirmed that many of the key phrases, such as Scorpion’s “Get over here!” taunt, sound faithful to the arcade versions.    

Controls:

The controls suffer a bit because they seemed to have been designed with the PS2 Dual Shock.  While all of your main attacks and jump map to the four face buttons, the throw and fatality buttons are mapped to black and white.  As always, these two buttons are a pain to try to get to quickly. I occasionally missed a fatality or throw combo opportunity while scrambling to locate the correct button.  Otherwise, the controls are solid and allow for easily mixing combos with the basic attacks.

Replay:

Live support for ko-op would have been a great feature, but there’s still a good bit of replay value to be found in this game.  You’ll unlock characters and arenas for versus mode, new characters to replay the main story mode with, concept art (we all know how much I love that), and an arcade port of the original Mortal Kombat 2.  Normally I’m not one to play a game again just to use another character, but the gameplay with the unlockable characters (Sub-Zero and Scorpion) is different enough that it makes a second play through interesting.  When replaying as the unlockable characters, the cut scenes become downright hilarious because Midway didn’t go to the trouble of rescripting and rerecording the cut scenes.  Watching Sub-Zero point at Scorpion and yell “Liu Kang, behind you!” with Kung Lao’s voice had me laughing so hard it hurt.  Versus mode is also quite fun and reminds me of Powerstone on the Dreamcast.  So even without Live support, there should be enough to keep you playing the game for a good while.

Summary:

My first romp in the Mortal Kombat universe has been great fun.  I like the cheesy characters and the cartoon-like blood and gore thing.  I can understand now why I wasn’t allowed to play it as a teenager, but as an adult it sure is goofy fun.  Shaolin Monks is a great co-op game that any same screen multiplayer fan should add to their collection.  The other modes are good, but if you don’t have any friends or relatives interested in playing the game with you (I feel bad for you if that’s the case) then you might want to stick to a rental.  If you’re a Mortal Kombat fan you’ll love the inside jokes and the nods to previous games and even if you’re not a fan there’s plenty of “kung-fu grip” action to keep you and a friend entertained for a few hours.