Mortal Kombat Gold

The late 90s were an interesting time for fighting games. 3D graphics were on the rise, and some big changes had to be made even by big franchises. Thus, Mortal Kombat went into the world of 3D graphics with MK4. The game itself wasn't too bad (except for the Game Boy Color version), but that roster left something to be desired. Where did the cyborg ninjas go? The female ninjas are missing as well! Plus, some of the new characters were outright lame, like Jarek, Kai or Reiko.

Mortal Kombat Gold looked to give MK4 what it was missing with regards to the roster. Kung Lao, Kitana, Mileena, Baraka, Cyrax and Sektor (as a secret character) all make returns to the series. Aside from that, there's a cheat menu, more stages, some classic soundtracks for those stages, and that's about it.

Seriously, there's just not that much to this "Gold" that wasn't already there in MK4 - sure, it's neat seeing those characters return, but that novelty wears off quickly. You have to remember, this game is merely another version of MK4, and thus, the flaws that come with that game have carried over into Gold.

MK3 and its derivatives (UMK3, Trilogy) had combos for each character, and MK4 really simplified the system. Everyone can pull off the High Punch, High Punch, Roundhouse Kick combo. Everyone, except Goro. What makes each character different now in MK4 and Gold is that they have different special moves, fatalities, and weapons. Perhaps the gameplay was a bit too simplified.

The weapons feel like they're just thrown into the mix because...someone, somewhere thought they would be cool to have. You can toss them, you can lose them, you can also pick them up, as well as picking up your opponent's weapon. Though, honestly, I haven't found much use for them in matches. In later MK games, the weapons have their own set of combos, but here, they didn't get that far with the weapons.

Some stages have boulders/rocks/other objects that you can throw at the opponent for massive damage, and it's always amusing to me. Why even bother with the individual weapons if you have this option?

Babalities, friendships, brutalities and animalities are all gone, as they were in MK4. Make what you will of that, but I was never a big fan of those.

If nothing else, MK Gold is easy to pick up and play. Plus, in this day and age, this game is very cheap, so it won't hurt to give it a try. Speaking of cheap, I should talk about the AI. For once, it's not pure evil - the AI doesn't immediately respond to what the player does! This means that, unlike MK2 or MK3 and its derivatives, you can beat the AI without having to learn about specific AI quirks. It's a great feeling if you've been scarred by the AI of previous games.

There are new cinematic endings for the new characters, but those tend to look iffy in some spots. You'll notice that some characters have necks that are too long, and heads that just bobble around in a silly manner.

To sum it all up, the game can be best described as "rough around the edges" - at its core, it's fine. MK Gold wisely stuck to its 2D roots, and that's something that not everyone agreed with at the time this came out. You can sidestep in this game, but generally, the gameplay is similar to previous 2D entries in the series. Movement feels a bit too fast, but as I said, it's "rough around the edges" - and frankly, Mortal Kombat remained in that state well into the PS2 era.

All of that being said, I will give MK Gold (and 4) credit for having other modes, like a team fighting mode. You can even set up 5 on 5 matches vs a CPU controlled team, and lower the team size of both sides. How in the hell did this not make a return for Mortal Kombat Armageddon? That had a massive roster that could have used a team mode. Same thing with the Tournament mode, how did no one think that this should come back for that game? It even lets you pick the level of each CPU controlled character! There's also an endurance mode, but I'll be honest, I didn't like it. You go through an arcade mode tower and try to win with just the one bar of health for the whole run, no refills. Ultimate Endurance is just your typical survival mode in other fighting games.

One last thing that I'm amazed MK Armageddon didn't get from this game (or MK4, for that matter) is the choice of towers. In this game, you have the usual Arcade mode, and after choosing a character, you can pick the amount of opponents via the towers offered to you. Additionally, you can also press start on each tower to rotate it, and get a different tower of opponents. How did no one think of bringing this option back for MK Armageddon?! I can understand that Deadly Alliance and Deception didn't have these options, the rosters weren't massive for those, but Armageddon had 62 characters!

Finally, there's a practice mode, which is greatly appreciated by me. Yes, MK1, 2, 3 and its derivatives did not have a proper practice mode. MK4 at home got the ball rolling and MK Gold followed suit.

There are positives to this game, it just depends on how much you appreciate them. If you read all of this, and think it's no big deal, then don't bother with this game.