November 19, 2002 - For years, the hardcore fighter crowd had nothing good to say about Mortal Kombat unless there was a punch line somewhere within their sentence. The laughing stock of the fighting game community and an embittered success throughout the industry, Mortal Kombat had made enemies in all sects of the software universe. Parents didn't like it, critics didn't like it, and the media as a whole didn't seem to like it much either. Not to mention the fact that being the sworn enemy of Capcom's beloved Street Fighter franchise gave it a certifiable death wish, and its immense popularity among children and casual videogame players helped fuel the otaku factions with an even stronger dislike for the mainstream. Yes friends, Mortal Kombat was the scourge of the digital earth... and because of that, it made millions.

The reason for the game's hatred and success similarly was because of its premise. A very basic, very straightforward task with few strategies or challenges to give veteran gamers, Mortal Kombat became renowned not for its gameplay, but its gimmick instead. Packed with fatalities and excessive gore, the casual fans loved it because of how easy it was to get into and how different it was from everything else. On the flipside, hardcore arcade hounds and video jockeys despised the game for its limited combo system and unbalanced cheap-hit ratio. The result was a very divided community, and one that remained at each other's throats until 1999 when the final game in the series known as Mortal Kombat Gold came and quickly went. After its brief moment in the spotlight and the poor reception given to the action spin-off Special Forces in 2000, it appeared as though the series had finally run its course. The turbulent existence of Mortal Kombat had finally come to an end. Or so we thought...

Announced for the first time last April, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance marks the return of Midway's moneybags franchise. The first non-compilation MK designed specifically for home consoles, it was a shock for everyone to learn that series co-creator Ed Boon had planned to make this latest installment vastly different from the previous games while still maintaining a few key aspects that retained the classic MK spirit. True three-dimensional fighting, entirely different fighting styles, and a deeper, more intuitive combo system were part of his vision, and much to the surprise of every editor in this office --he succeeded.



Features
In one of the gutsiest moves we've seen for an established videogame franchise, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance kills off the series' biggest hero Liu Kang in the first three minutes of the opening cinema. A bold approach that supports the "starting over" mentality promised by Ed Boon, the lack of Mortal Kombat's mightiest hero (and cheapest, most powerful fighter) will force many long time veterans to rethink their strategy and start all over again; unless you're a fan of some of the other characters in the series that is. Sub-Zero, Sonya Blade, Scorpion, and Kung Lao have all returned with plenty of other favorite characters littering the battlefield. Embellishing 23 fighters in all, the roster isn't at it's biggest of all time, but it's most certainly at its most balanced.

The biggest and most welcome addition to the series is the ability to switch between fighting styles. Changing the approach, power, and strategy of a character each time out, it makes for a much different game of Mortal Kombat than we're used too. Don't get us wrong though, that's a good thing. Kenpo, Tae Kwon Do, Kori Blade, Kirehashi, and a long list of every other martial art known to man has pretty much made the cut, and since they're all based on real disciplines, effectively represents the real stance and style to a tee. The only thing we're bummed with in this respect is that the grapple-based martial arts (like Sambo, Jujitsu, and wrestling) aren't used that much at all. The series has never really had a very deep throw system or grapple engine, and it was quite bothersome to see that when the designers finally had the opportunity to change that, that they didn't.

On the option side of things, there's plenty more to talk about. One of my personal favorites is the ability to load an arcade-style profile that keeps track of your stats and koin totals. A splendid little feature that tallies your wins and losses, victory ratio, and Konquest performance, the player profile adds a little more personalization to your game in the same manner that Virtua Fighter 4 did. What makes it even better, is that you can save your profile to a memory card and take it over to a friend's house to play there, and even wager the Kombat Koins you've earned against each other for use in the Krypt.

Ah yes, the Krypt. A creepy underground lair filled with coffins and smoke, it's the perfect cover for an otherwise basic secrets menu. Given a maximum of 667 different unlockable goodies within the mausoleum, players can spend the Koins they earn (six types in all) in this section for a huge amount of prizes. Extra characters, animations, bonus costumes, hints, money, and all sorts of extras are yours for the plundering here. Once you've unlocked the secrets, you can then move to one of the game's other features, called "Kontent" and view them free of charge with additional info about that item a button press away. An excellent feature if we ever saw one.

Naturally you have fighting-specific features in here too, with Arcade mode clocking in as the best way to get more Koins and see the ending of your favorite character, while versus mode allows you to go head to head with a pal for brutal combat. A Tekken-like training feature has been thrown in for good measure, and there's even an option called "Konquest" that doubles as both a tutorial for budding combatants and supplement to the storyline. It's a very cool, graphically intensive journey that will take your fighter all over the world in search of another fighting technique, and the first stop you should make when firing this up for the first time.