Mortal Kombat II

The Good
I've played and own just about every version of this game and each one has one or two things that bother me...save for this 16 bit translation. Why you ask? Well...despite the fact that the Saturn version looks most like its arcade cousin its missing a few things, i.e. a majority of Shao Khan's voice samples...and in a 2D game that isnt a graphical powerhouse those little touches are missed (although the music was of high quality). The 32x version has clean looking characters but the backgrounds look muddy and suffer from being rendered by the Genesis' main hardware. Finally the regular Genesis version animates well but is lacking in music, sound effects and visual presentation. Okay okay I'll get to the SNES review already...heh...

The SNES version keeps most of what made the arcade game so great...It kept a variety of Shao Khan's voice samples (most importantly: character voice introductions) in addition to the "awed hush" of the crowd when an unexpected move is landed. The music is rather well done and sounds most like the arcade soundtrack, although you can tell it is being pumped out of the SNES' Sony sound chip. The graphics are strong and the characters animate decently enough (exceptional for a 16 bit translation). The backgrounds are rich with color and parallax scrolling. The little touches I've mentioned go a long way to sell this version of the game and that is why I prefer it to the other ports.

The Bad
Aside from the diminutive appearance of the characters this game is FLAWLESS.

The Bottom Line
MK2 for the SNES is a superbly violent distraction for any retro gamer fan. If you don't own an SNES pick up any of the other ports (steer clear of the game gear version...eeek) ...despite their shortcomings they are imbued with the spirit of Midway's arcade classic.