Customer Reviews
About the Premium Pack
I'm just going to talk about the extras in the premium pack here. You can catch reviews of Mortal Kombat Deception the game by looking under the standard version.
By now, you are probably aware that the main benefits to the premium pack are the box it comes in, the metal trading card included in the box, the arcade-perfect version of the first Mortal Kombat game, the documentary-ish video detailing the history of Mortal Kombat, and the video trading cards. That's quite a slew of extras for $10 dollars.
One of my favorite parts about the premium pack is the inclusion of the original MK arcade game. It's fun to play it before you bust open the Deception disc because it will you appreciate not only how far Mortal Kombat has come, but how far video games have come since the original's release in '92.
There are a few things I was dissapointed with on the bonus disc. The biggest dissapointment was the quick, underinformative, breeze through on the history of Mortal Kombat that was kyted directly from Deadly Alliance with a brief addition on the end to talk about Deception and beyond. To those of us who already own MK Deadly Alliance, it's the same history that can be found in MKDA's special features. At least on the GameCube version, I don't have the PS2 version of DA. Anyway, it also lacked some of the major history of the Mortal Kombat series. It talked about MK, MK2, MK3, MK4, MK Deadly Alliance, and a brief bit on MK Deception.
Those of you who are fans, like me, should be looking at that roster and thinking... wait a minute... they missed five games. Yeah, they missed Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, which was definitely it's own game with all the additional characters and backgrounds and separate platform and arcade release than MK3. They also missed Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub Zero, and Special Forces. These I can kind of understand because they weren't part of the fighting series, they were spinoff adventure games based on the characters in the series. OK, well then what about MK Trilogy and MK Gold? Or even just Trilogy (considering Gold only came out for the Dreamcast)? These were parts of the series. They also don't really do anything but scratch the surface of each game. They don't really talk about the new features added in each, and they tend to skip right over interesting quirks from the home consoles. I guess for somebody just curious about the overall phoenominan that is MK it was ... alright.
I was also very disappointed that they didn't talk at all about the fan following, the movies, the TV show, the toys, the clothes, the cartoons... well some things are better left forgotten... but these were all part of the history that made Mortal Kombat what it is today. To their credit they do show a few pictures of the toys, and there are a few mentions by Boon about how big the series got after the first installment. Doesn't seem like much of a history to me. They don't talk much about the revolution that MKs digital graphics spurred in quality fighting games. Sad.
I was hoping for a little more in those areas. I was also a bit dissapointed by the video trading cards. They were great... for the characters they had, but I'm not quite sure why they picked the characters they did, and didn't include others. When you look at the roster of characters in the video trading cards, you notice that the majority of the characters introduced in deception aren't amongst them. Also, they have many of the landmark characters, but skip out on some vital ones like Liu Kang. I wasn't sure why they didn't just pick either the line-up from Deception, or all the characters ever to be in MK. Instead they just picked a lot... but an interesting array.
These are all just little knit pickings I have with the premium pack though. Aside from the shortcomings of the history video, the rest of the features rock. The box art is stunning with Sub Zero, the metal trading card feels a lot more high qual than a paper trading card. The video trading cards have interviews with boon, sometimes the actors who portrayed the characters, and brief, interesting histories on the character, their design, or their origin. Definitely worth some time for MK fans.
Overall, for $10, it is an awesome deal! I would recommend splurging for the extras and going with the premium pack instead of the standard edition.
Once Again Mortal Kombat, Classic and Great
Mortal Kombat has evolved over the years and with it a diverse set of characters have been created as a result. Now in it's 6th entry into the series it once again brings something new to the table, something that's been fiddled with in past games, but now fully realized. I'll get to that later.
The story is that at the end of the Deadly Alliance Shang Tsung and Quan Chi defeated the hero's of the various realms. However the power they were tapping into had a devastating result. Thanks to the soul well being reactivated the origional ruler of Outworld, Onaga has been reborn. Shang Tsung and Quan Chi do not survive the encounter. Now it is up the remaining fighters of the various realms to defeat him.
The game play style is that of Deadly Alliance. Each character has three move sets (one of which is weapon based). Series mainstays Scorpion and Sub Zero return along with returning characters Kabal, Sindel, Nightwolf, Millenna, Jade, Noob Saibot, Smoke, and classic Fan Favorite Baraka join new characters Shujinko, Darius, Kobra, Kira and more. One of the new gameplay elements that I hinted to earlier is the muli tiered levels. In fact almost every level is like this and or features the other fleshed out inovation, death traps. As a result Classic Levels such as the Pit and Acid Pit make their triumphant returns in full 3D.
Now the overall game is great but for fans the mini games are eqaully as great. First is puzzle Kombat which is a mix between Super Puzzle Fighter and Dr. Mario. The second is chess kombat which is chess but when it comes time to occupy the square you fight. The Final is Konquest which tells the Tale of Shujinko, a young man given the task by the elder gods to collect the Komidogus from the various realms and open the portals to them.
Now if you get the collectors edition you also get some great stuff. The best is the full origional Arcade Edition of Mortal Kombat. The rest (bios and Documentaris) are cool too.
Overall this is a classic game that once again seals Mortal Kombat as one of the Overlords of the Fighting genre along with SOul Caliber and Virtua Fighter. A must have for everyone.
Engrossing!!
When I first got this I just had to pop in the arcade perfect port of the original Mortal Kombat. They did a fantastic job. All the little glitches that were prevalent in the arcade are also here. Now onto the main game Deception. I found most of the moves less complicated then in Deadly Alliance. Fatalities are especially gruesome and stage fatalities are creative and a blessing to have back in the game. The graphics are really outstanding, similiar to DA, but just more evil surroundings, in this game kinda brings back the day when Mortal Kombat was evil. Unlocking characters, arenas etc.. are done through purchasing them from the Krypt again, however you must play through Konquest mode. This mode is addicting, as you follow a young warrior name Shujinko through various realms, completing tasks and getting coins and keys to open up the coffins in the Krypt. People are slagging the graphics and I really found the graphics to be excellent. Some people just are haters just for the sake of it, don't listen to them. I actually cared about the character I played as and the story is great. After completing the mode, you most likely did not get everything, or complete the numerous tasks. Don't fret, you can go back to the realms and complete the tasks, or just beat up on people if you so desire. I cannot stress to you how awesome Konquest mode is, plus you learn the moves of the various fighters...it can be frustrating at times, but nonetheless it's a great challenge.
Another mode is the puzzle fighter game. Remember the fantastic Super Puzzle Fighter II from the ps-one? Well this is basically the same game, but w/MK flava. You can do fatalities in here too, but are way easier, you only press one button. Geez there are so many fatalities in Deception, that it will literally take you weeks to see them all/perform them. Puzzle fighter is also very addicting, and you can pick from 12 characters, and they have bobble heads, cute and funny, but the brutality of MK is always there. The last mode is the chess part, which I still have not gotten to yet..Konquest mode has basically taken over my life so there is not alot of time..but from what I understand it is also great. These modes also add some much needed depth to the fighting genre. But, as a stand alone fighter, Deception is as close to perfection as you can possibly come. Get the Kollector's edition so you can have the original MK in all its glory. Deception rules!!! Just a word of caution to parents..don't be stupid and purchase this game for your young child, even though it's the christmas season, please. The game is too violent and even though you can turn the blood off it's rated Mature for a reason. Also seeing hot female Mortal Kombat fighters have their voluptuous bosooms jiggle all over the place is not for youngsters.
