Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks

You earn points by skillfully beating up enemies, and throughout the game the numbers grow abundantly. But you can also use the environment -- hungry trees, spiky walls, spiky pits, catapults, etc. -- to crush your enemy as well. You just don't get any points for using the environment. It seems to me you should get a few points for using the landscape as a weapon, maybe just not as much for using your own skillset. But the environmental keys and traps spring open doors to new areas, unlock items and are generally good fun nonetheless.

The mix of these elements is well done. Many mini-games are thrown in throughout the title. These involve button-mashing to open doors, spring open traps, and generally progress. They are also thrown into boss fights, though unfortunately, they don't work as well, as witnessed in the fight with Baraka, who's cheap, cheap, cheap. If you play through the single-player game, you'll see multiple areas designed for two-player co-op play. Just like Midway, I encourage you to play this with two people because it's twice as fun.

The co-op play is very much open for deviance and partnership. On the one hand, it's open like the arcade game Gauntlet, so health kits, experience points, and enemies are all there for the taking. You could technically wait until your friend is just about to finish off an enemy, take the last hit, and grab all his energy for yourself. It's cheap and lame-ass, but you'll find yourself doing it just the same. Unfortunately, the camera is not infinitely flexible. If I fight a character on the far left side of the screen, I might hit the camera's limit but at least I can still see the enemies. While I'm doing that, you, on the right side, are restricted to moving farther right. Enemies can attack from off-screen, and essentially you have to kompromise (sorry, couldn't help that one) your territory.

The co-op game, however, is fun because you have to work as a team and talk to each other, creating a social experience very much like being in the arcades. Despite some rigidities and technical weaknesses, Shaolin Monks creates an atmosphere of camaraderie. One last set of moves I almost forgot to mention but proves the teamwork point to a tee are the team attacks, which require you and your friend to pair up for two-player attacks. It's a great idea that works well, and makes the co-op just that much more valuable.

Graphics
The art style of Mortal Kombat, like I was saying, is a mixture of influences, some creative and likeable, while others are less original and just downright ugly. The game as a whole is better than average looking, using decent geometry and textures and good lighting and particles effects. The PS2 version holds its own without too much loss against the Xbox version, though the Xbox version loads and saves faster. The environments are generally smallish and closed, rather than large and unending, though the game's overall visual emphasis and energy really aren't spent on them.

Instead, it's on the characters, who look and move great in most instances. Just like the fighting games, there is a certain amount of robotic motion that's a little jarring. Still, your chosen characters fight with fast, effective animations, despite their mechanical nature. In general, the characters do exactly what you want them to, quickly and without any major obstacles.

I have to say, however, that the animated trees made me laugh, reminding me of H.R. Puff'N'Stuff, and other early Sid and Marty Kroft shows. In short, the whole game is a mixed bag with some weaker areas and some stronger ones that make up for them.

Coming back to a complaint I made earlier about the separation of the single-player and the co-op mode, the cutscenes in the single-player mode are very illogical. They constantly show the other character, who isn't there at all in the game, but who constantly shows up in each of the cutscenes despite his absence. It's too obvious not to make note of.

Sound
As with all Mortal Kombat games, the chosen sound effects here are loud, complemented by various sounds of gory, squishy, flesh-ripping attacks, and then some really, really weird stuff. Liu Kang easily takes the cake for making the weirdest set of sounds. His turkey calls and high-pitched yelps are both super annoying and yet strangely pleasing.

The voice acting is forced, a little dumb, and it also ends up in that B-movie class where you can't help but laugh at it. Raiden talks so fast and moves so oddly, you think he's just waiting to finish his sentence so he can run into the forest and take a pee. The music is a strange mix of Asian-style sounds mixed with atmospheric effects. The combination of the two is familiar and does a good job of creating tension and suspense.

Closing Comments
What I especially like about Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks is its easy accessibility. If you�re a little out of touch with your Mortal Kombat lore, or if you haven't played the game since MK2, or if you haven't ever played MK at all, Shaolin Monks eases you in and provides all the tools for you to get up to speed.

Aside from that, Midway has done a great job of taking a very popular, well-entrenched franchise and moving it over to another genre with success. Shaolin Monks isn't without its faults, but the game's tenets are good, the moves, the fighting, the unlockables, and its surprising level of depth all count for so much. And all of this is topped off with the superb co-op mode. Grab a friend and play this, you'll have a blast.