tsukaesugi
Holy shit, it's a ninja!,
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2002
- Posts
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Steven L. Kent writes a weekly column in the Japan Times in which he reviews recent video games. (The Japan Times is the largest English Language newspaper in the country.) For a guy living in Japan he sure spends a lot of time playing and writing about American games on the Xbox and PS2, although occasionally he'll do something for the GameCube. He doesn't really seem like he knows what the hell he's talking about half the time either, which is not exactly a good quality for a journalist to have.
Anyway this week he takes on Mortal Kombat: Deception. Here's his review. Make sure you check out his disclaimer at the end, too.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nc20050113sk.htm
NAME OF THE GAME
MORTAL KOMBAT: DECEPTION
Adult fun and gore galore
By STEVEN L. KENT
Here's my dirty little secret: Despite my reputation as a hardcore moralist, truth be told I love the "Mortal Kombat" games. When it's late at night and the kids are in bed, I'll sometimes pull out whichever is the latest title in the series -- surely the bloodiest of the bloody fighting games -- and play until my fingers go numb.
If there is a dividing line between the Japanese and Western game markets, "Mortal Kombat" has figured into the creation of that line. The Japanese market has embraced games such as "Street Fighter II," "Virtua Fighter," "King of Fighters" and "Tekken." But in the United States, the "Mortal Kombat" series reigns supreme.
Why is this? Well, Americans like "Mortal Kombat's" ultra-gory depiction of combat, its hidden moves and its digitized graphics. Hidden moves are popular with Japanese gamers too, but they've never taken to digitized graphics and gratuitously hyperbolic bloodshed.
"Mortal Kombat: Deception" for the Xbox and PlayStation 2 is the newest title in the proud "MK" stable, and a prime example of what has made this gorefest of a series so successful in the United States.
Players take control of any one of dozens of odd, dangerous characters as they battle to the grizzly death.
My favorite fighter is a bald-headed, stiletto-toothed demon named Baraka, who hides two Excalibur swords up his sleeves.
Other characters include supernatural ninja -- of both the male and female variety -- sorcerers, robots, military types and a karate-chopping god.
The basic "Mortal Kombat" experience has remained fundamentally unchanged since 1992. Players advance through a tournament by beating opponents in two out of three falls. Once you win, your opponent stands dazed and you have a moment to decapitate him/her/it.
But that isn't to say there haven't been advances. In the early days, battles were strictly two-dimensional; now they are 3-D. There used to be less than a dozen fighters; now there are more than a score. The fighting used to center around mastering secret moves; now each combatant has unique secret moves, combination attacks, weapons and multiple fighting styles.
More than any other classic series, even Nintendo's "Mario" franchise, "Mortal Kombat" has kept up with the times.
But while critics complain "Mortal Kombat" is nothing more than gore, it has a lot more than gore going for it. This series has always been about secrets and prestige. To play successfully, you need to learn combination attacks and secret moves. To demonstrate your superiority, you need to develop "Fatalities" -- ultra-grizzly decapitation moves performed while your dazed opponent sways helplessly at the end of the match.
"Mortal Kombat: Deception" not only ups the gore factor with new Fatalities, it gives losers the opportunity to save face. If you lose but do not wish to suffer the humiliation of a Fatality, you can rob your opponent of that particular satisfaction with a "Hara-Kiri" move.
Along with the standard fight fest, this game has a competitive " Puzzle Kombat" mode. Unfortunately, it's a poorly executed remake of the Capcom arcade classic "Puzzle Fighter" -- a "Tetris" knockoff in which players battle by clearing blocks off a screen.
There is also a competitive chess game in which pieces fight hand-to-hand to take and keep squares.
Neither of these minigames are especially great, but they make an impressive bonus for a game that is already well worth owning.
Now that I have had my fun, allow me to demonstrate a modicum of social responsibility:
Parents, do not buy "Mortal Kombat: Deception" for your 10-year-old sons. This game is violent, scary, chock-full of demonic imagery and sadistic. Blood spills out of every centimeter, and the violence is relentless.
The Japan Times: Jan. 13, 2005
Anyway this week he takes on Mortal Kombat: Deception. Here's his review. Make sure you check out his disclaimer at the end, too.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nc20050113sk.htm
NAME OF THE GAME
MORTAL KOMBAT: DECEPTION
Adult fun and gore galore
By STEVEN L. KENT
Here's my dirty little secret: Despite my reputation as a hardcore moralist, truth be told I love the "Mortal Kombat" games. When it's late at night and the kids are in bed, I'll sometimes pull out whichever is the latest title in the series -- surely the bloodiest of the bloody fighting games -- and play until my fingers go numb.
If there is a dividing line between the Japanese and Western game markets, "Mortal Kombat" has figured into the creation of that line. The Japanese market has embraced games such as "Street Fighter II," "Virtua Fighter," "King of Fighters" and "Tekken." But in the United States, the "Mortal Kombat" series reigns supreme.
Why is this? Well, Americans like "Mortal Kombat's" ultra-gory depiction of combat, its hidden moves and its digitized graphics. Hidden moves are popular with Japanese gamers too, but they've never taken to digitized graphics and gratuitously hyperbolic bloodshed.
"Mortal Kombat: Deception" for the Xbox and PlayStation 2 is the newest title in the proud "MK" stable, and a prime example of what has made this gorefest of a series so successful in the United States.
Players take control of any one of dozens of odd, dangerous characters as they battle to the grizzly death.
My favorite fighter is a bald-headed, stiletto-toothed demon named Baraka, who hides two Excalibur swords up his sleeves.
Other characters include supernatural ninja -- of both the male and female variety -- sorcerers, robots, military types and a karate-chopping god.
The basic "Mortal Kombat" experience has remained fundamentally unchanged since 1992. Players advance through a tournament by beating opponents in two out of three falls. Once you win, your opponent stands dazed and you have a moment to decapitate him/her/it.
But that isn't to say there haven't been advances. In the early days, battles were strictly two-dimensional; now they are 3-D. There used to be less than a dozen fighters; now there are more than a score. The fighting used to center around mastering secret moves; now each combatant has unique secret moves, combination attacks, weapons and multiple fighting styles.
More than any other classic series, even Nintendo's "Mario" franchise, "Mortal Kombat" has kept up with the times.
But while critics complain "Mortal Kombat" is nothing more than gore, it has a lot more than gore going for it. This series has always been about secrets and prestige. To play successfully, you need to learn combination attacks and secret moves. To demonstrate your superiority, you need to develop "Fatalities" -- ultra-grizzly decapitation moves performed while your dazed opponent sways helplessly at the end of the match.
"Mortal Kombat: Deception" not only ups the gore factor with new Fatalities, it gives losers the opportunity to save face. If you lose but do not wish to suffer the humiliation of a Fatality, you can rob your opponent of that particular satisfaction with a "Hara-Kiri" move.
Along with the standard fight fest, this game has a competitive " Puzzle Kombat" mode. Unfortunately, it's a poorly executed remake of the Capcom arcade classic "Puzzle Fighter" -- a "Tetris" knockoff in which players battle by clearing blocks off a screen.
There is also a competitive chess game in which pieces fight hand-to-hand to take and keep squares.
Neither of these minigames are especially great, but they make an impressive bonus for a game that is already well worth owning.
Now that I have had my fun, allow me to demonstrate a modicum of social responsibility:
Parents, do not buy "Mortal Kombat: Deception" for your 10-year-old sons. This game is violent, scary, chock-full of demonic imagery and sadistic. Blood spills out of every centimeter, and the violence is relentless.
The Japan Times: Jan. 13, 2005
