Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4924 in Video Games
• Brand: Acclaim
• ESRB Rating: Rating Pending
• Platform: Nintendo Super NES

Customer Reviews

Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat was really weak on the SNES because it was so censored. No blood, some people had different fatalities (ex: Johnny Cage's foot in your stomach). Blood was traded for sweat (?!?!) and because of those 2 reasons, the game was truly brought down a notch.

Yes it's still a classic but it's not worth it on SNES. You're better off getting it on the SEGA system because that way you could overcome the censorship and at least put in a "blood code".

Personally, I'd skip this one anyday and go straight to MK II because that was just all out better than MK and it was a lot more enjoyable, had better replay and a lot more characters. Trust me, skip MK on SNES and go straight for MK II on SNES.

The original standard setter.
Mortal Kombat was released in arcades in 1992. The game feautured digitized actors as the fighters, realistic fighting, bloody moves and outrageous finishing moves. Unfortunately when Nintendo allowed Acclaim to release a SNES version of the game, they forced the release of a "softer" version of the game. The blood was removed and the fatalities were down-graded. As a result Nintendo suffered big losses in game sales compared to the Genesis version, which included everything from the arcade. Whatever the case, along with Street Fighter II and Virtua Fighter, Mortal Kombat is considered a landmark in the history of fighting games.

Graphics and sound-wise, the SNES version is the best home conversion available. It manages to duplicate almost every animation and background detail from the arcade. The fighters look big and very realistic and have fluid animation. The sound effects are good and the music sounds like something out of an old kung fu movie, which is nice. It creates a true oriental atmosphere.

Controls are a bit harder to stomach. Although the special moves are a breeze to perform, the simple actions such as walking and jumping don't respond like you would want them too. It makes the fighters feel a bit awkward and down-to-earth, literally. If you get Rayden crouching in a corner, just go near him and start punching low. He won't be able to get out of that situation! That's not good for the game, balance-wise.

There are seven fighters who are Johnny Cage, Kano, Rayden, Liu Kang, Scorpion, Sub-Zero and Sonya Blade. A few of them look quite different from their newer incarnations. The hidden fighter is Reptile, and the bosses are Goro and Shang Tsung. A very old Shang Tsung, I might add. You see, this was before Shao Kahn restored his youth... Each kombatant has one fatality, which is a tamer version of its arcade counterpart. For example, Johnny Cage's decapitating uppercut is replaced with a weird "spear kick". The blood has become dust. Yes, I said dust.

While this game is not as exciting as MK2 and MK3 (mainly due to the limited number of moves), it can still hold its own as a solid, realistic SNES fighting game. SNES owners looking for a worthwhile game to play for their now-dead system should buy this, especially if you are a MK fan. If not, I'd suggest you spend the money on Street Fighter II or SF2 Turbo.

Horrible conversion
I missed the original Mortal Kombat in arcades, and was introduced to the series through word-of-mouth about how violent the title was. Really if this was the only version I'd played, I would've never gussed what all the hype was about.

Graphics and audio are pretty good, far surpassing what the Genesis version was offering and staying pretty true to the arcade version. Gameplay however, is a failure. Nevermind that the fatalities have been changed and the blood turned to sweat - the actual fighting is stiff and unresponsive, and it feels like the fighters have their feet glued to the floor. The only move that works well here is Scorpion's spear, and it's so smooth in its execution that it becomes the best way of landing cheap hits.

Look at MK objectively: bad controls, less characters than Street Fighter, less moves, a limited number of environments with no background animation (though the Pit idea was rather cool). The first installment was truly one that sold based on the strength of its gore, and on the SNES we're deprived of that as well.

MK fans might or might not want this version for completion purposes (since it looks graphically like the arcade but removes all the violent content). Everyone else should jump to MKII, which really got the series started.