Review #683: 64 Memories - Mortal Kombat Trilogy

 2 years later I still hate classic Mortal Kombat.

 Part I: The Flashback
 It's no secret that I think Mortal Kombat didn't get 'good' until its ninth iteration. That said, I played Mortal Kombat 2, Trilogy and 4 a bunch o' times with my father and friends, so back then quality never really mattered. As far as Mortal Kombat Trilogy goes, while it wasn't among my very first games, I'm sure I got it pretty early on. Y'know how kids are dumb and irrational? One time I got mad at my parents, for whatever silly reason, and started peeling off the cart's sticker. Sure, that'll show'em

 Part II: The Review
 Basically, I feel exactly like I did back when I played the PS1 version. The gameplay is simply too barebones to be any fun. There are only two things that set apart every character: Their special moves and their dial-a-combos. Back when I reviewed the PS1 version I actually found Dial-a-combos somewhat fun, even if you'd eventually just default to learning a few of those. This time around? I think the N64 pad just isn't suited for fighting games, and I dropped my dial-a-combos pretty frequently which wasn't much fun.

 The difficulty setting is high up to the point of unfairness and mitigating any fun you could have on your own. 2 on 2 and 3 on 3 I remember being decent fun, but you need another player, lest you get stuck on the character select screen. Game design at its finest. The N64 version has ZERO load times, which works wonders in this version's favor, but its missing a few characters from the PS1 version(Unmasked Sub-Zero, Human Smoke, Retro Fighters, Goro, Kintaro) which is kinda lame. Instead of the female Chameleon, we get the male ninja Khameleon, who is much cooler since he ain't wearing a glorified thong bikini.

 I'm sorry I can't hide my contempt for the game, but I've never found classic Mortal Kombat much fun, at least after I grew up. The gameplay is pretty barebones and digitized graphics were dated since their inception. I'm glad I can revisit my childhood games, and I don't think Mortal Kombat Trilogy is terrible, but this is not what I look for in a fighting game. On another note, I wouldn't be able to tell you which version is better. The PS1 version has more characters and a joystick better suited for fighting games, while the N64 version lacks loading times which is a HUGE boon, and it's also got 3 on 3 fights.
 4.5 out of 10