Publisher: Acclaim Entertainment
Developer: Probe Software
Release Date: 10/27/1994
Available On
Mortal Kombat II is considered the best of the 2D games and, according to another group, the best in the entire series. It’s sad how some think the series peaked so early on when it had so much more to offer. Next-generation consoles were here, and the series needed to adapt. This game was strung across three different generations. 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit systems That’s a lot of systems to make a game work. This would be the last in the series for the original Game Boy. Already 6 years old at this point in time. Sadly, Probe didn’t use a larger cart, so we do have some cut content again here.
Thankfully, the gameplay part was fixed. This is by far the best MK game on the Game Boy. It’s fast-paced, fluid, and responsive, and it plays similarly to the console versions. The control scheme is the same as in the first game, which works. Holding down away from and towards a punch or kick can do sweeps and roundhouses. The visuals have also improved, with larger sprites on screen. Fatalities are intact, as are babies; however, Friendships were stripped. We still get a stage fatality on Kombat Tomb, but many stages are still stripped. We get The Pitt II, but there is no stage fatality there, which makes no sense. We also get Goro’s Lair again, but it’s just a solid wall of gray bricks. Horray? Yeah, the stages stink here.
Also gone is Kintaro, but we do get Smoke and Jade as hidden characters, which is kind of cool. Sadly, Johnny Cage is also missing from this game, along with Raiden, Kung Lao, and Baraka. Why did Probe cut Johnny Cage every time? While the gameplay was a serious issue in the first game, the lack of content is the worst offender here. They were acceptable in the first game, but with a larger cart, they could have fit all of them. There is also still no gore or blood, unless you count Candy Bonez bouncing on screen as gore.
Overall, this isn’t the best fighting game on the Game Boy, but it’s the best game in the series on the system. Fighting games just weren’t great in the 8-bit era, and it shows here. I’m glad Probe improved the gameplay and made animations feel much faster, but we are only getting a part of a whole game.
Great post tthankyou