Dreamcast

Mortal Kombat Gold

By this point the Mortal Kombat series has gone from big hit, to not much of anything. Midway promises a fifth installment like no other, but then, the last time we were promised that we ended up getting Mortal Kombat Gold. Essentially Mortal Kombat Gold is the Dreamcast version of the arcade Mortal Kombat 4. And if you've played Mortal Kombat 4 in the arcade then you'll know it's not exactly the best arcade fighter on the market. But, what the hell, I feel like giving Mortal Kombat Gold a fair shake.

While Gold promises some "Dreamcast only" surprises, the gameplay is largely unchanged. There are weapons that appear at random, but they rarely have much impact. And unfortunately, one of the best moves from MK4, the sidestep, doesn't work very well here. According to the instructions, you must "tap" the right trigger twice to get it to work, but it's extremely erratic, and you can't even reconfigure it on the options screen! That problem sucked a lot of the fun out of the game, and that's a shame, because otherwise this is an good-looking fighter.

Les fans purs et durs, ceux qui ont des tatouages, des posters, le papier toilette, les housses de canapé estampillés MK, et qui se réveillent la nuit en criant "MORTAL KOMBAT !!!", ceux là vont adorer, c'est sûr. Pour les autres, jouez à King Of Fighters, c'est aussi en 2D, mais c'est infiniment plus délirant. MK Gold fait du surplace.

The added world "Gold" to the title doesn't mean a whole lot. While it's nice to see personal favorites like Baraka back in action, it's not worth the effort. There is some decent music, but the same basic gameplay from this games precursor has hardly been worked on. It's a definite disappointment and another step down for this series..