Review #443: Mortal Kombat 4

 'This isn't brutality... it's fatality!', that's a classic!

 Mortal Kombat's case is a strange one. If you ask me, the first game was shallow garbage that only made a name for itself thanks to violence. One needs only look at Mortal Kombat VS DC, probably the worst of the bunch, which took away the violence... and people hated it for it, and not for its glitchy, ugly nature. And thus, I created a mindset that thought all Mortal Kombat games before 9 had been horrible. I was wrong.

 In Mortal Kombat 4 Shao Khan lies defeated, and how long did that last!?, but a new threat comes to Earth, the fallen god Shinnok, so the forces of Earth band together to stop him. The game features 15 characters, 8 returning and 7 new ones, alongside two hidden characters(Goro and Noob Saibot). And you could argue that Quan-chi, Shinnok and Fujin debuted a few days earlier in Mythologies. This game usually gets a lot of flak on the art design, citing Reptile's beginning on his descent towards a more bestial form and how Jarek sucks. But I disagree! I adore the art-style. Every character looks as if built with similar pieces, just look at how many characters have leg protectors or fabric between their legs, but I really like it. Reiko is a pseudo-Ninja clone, but with spikes on his legs and throws Shuriken, this gave us the first 'Frozen Sub-Zero' costume(Which is really cool!), a grey skull-headed Scorpion, and Liu Kang looks badass with a tank-top. I loved the new pseudo-femme Ninja Tanya with her yellow costume, Fujin is among the best new designs, and while I'm not much of a fan of Kai, I love how he is supposed to be another version of Liu-Kang, with vertical fireballs instead of horizontal. As for Jarek, while his moveset is uninspired(It's Kano's!) I love the armored pieces on his legs and arms, as well as the color design. He ain't that bad.

 The game offers an Arcade mode, with CG endings for all 15 basic characters, 2 on 2 fights, Team Battles, Tournament and Endurance(Think Survival) and Practice modes. Arcade features a few variations, you can pick different sized ladders and change the roster of opponents of each by tapping Start up to four times. Practice mode is a bit weird, since you can only change the settings before entering the practice battle, but it's the only place in the game that has a movelist... which is actually a plus since most games of the era forwent movesets entirely.

 Mortal Kombat 4 did away with dial-up combos, and has a more uniform combo system more akin to 2... which means that every single character has the same exact moveset bar special moves. And even then, many characters have similar movesets, so you can probably find analogues to combos, for instance, you could easily replace Tanya's spiral kick with Quan-chi's sliding kick, thus having access to the same combos that required said moves. It's shallow, it's simple and for people looking for depth it's a disappointment.... but I liked it. Landing hits feels really nice, and combos are pretty easy to land, making for a relatively good entry-level fighter.

 Another new addition is weapon combat: each character has a semi unique weapon(A few might look different, but they behave the same. Kinda like a bunch o' characters in the game!) and can pull it out with different button combinations. If hit, the fighter will drop his weapon, and then any fighter can pick it up! A few stages even have a few objects, like decapitated heads or rocks, that can be picked up and thrown for big damage. Side-stepping is a thing now, but it's a bit slow and awkward, so you probably won't be using it much. The rest of Mortal Kombat staples remain, two punches and two kicks, a block button and a run button.

 The game also implements a 'Maximum Damage' mechanic meant to make infinite combos impossible. Basically, if your combo reaches 50% damage, you'll be pushed far from your opponent. This is a bit wonky, since sometimes, if you deal a ton of damage, quickly without stop(Even if it doesn't look like a combo), the game will push you back anyways. Can't say I'm a fan. As for the CD-based version of the game, there's a bit more loading than I would've liked, included micro-loading seconds before a new round begins, which is kinda ridiculous.

 Lastly, running this on a PS2 caused some problems. A few negligible minor audio glitches as well as joystick issues if I turned on vibration. These resolved themselves when playing on a PS3 though. At least, unlike Mortal Kombat Trilogy on the PS2, this won't freeze at the end!

 I liked Mortal Kombat 4, that said, you gotta take it like it is: Style over substance. It's shallow, everything, from character design to gameplay, is very samey, characters can be freely interchanged between each other and you won't have trouble adapting... but I kinda liked it. I mean, it is an oldschool Mortal Kombat game, so of course most characters feel somewhat the same. So, for what it is, it's rather fun.
 6.5 out of 10

Now Playing: Mortal Kombat 4

 I might have to retract previous statements...

 I've said previously that Mortal Kombat didn't have any good games until 9. And I was talking from memory and personal experience, having played almost every numbered game since I was younger. Mortal Kombat 4 was probably my favorite, having spent countless hours playing it on the N64, and even then, I remembered it as a shallow, worthless affair.

 But I've spent a few hours playing it now... and it's really fun. OK, so every character is kinda samey, both in moveset and look(Fancy how almost everyone's got fabric hanging between their legs!), and the combo system is kinda simple... but it's fun. And I love the graphic style and art direction they went with for this game. It's probably a good entry-level fighting game, no frills no thrills.

 I came across a few audio glitches, and every now and then it won't detect my joystick for a spell and pause the game... but I think it's how the PS2 runs the game, since I gave it a whirl on the PS3 and it was just fine.

 I'm sorry Mortal Kombat, maybe you weren't as bad as I remembered you to be. Mortal Kombat Trilogy should be arriving shortly, so that should be interesting.

Review #442: Dead to Rights II

 The disappointing return of Jack Slate.

 Earlier this year I played Dead to Rights II, and boy was it good. Dead to Rights II is a prequel to Dead to Rights, and not only did it go back in time, it also took a ton of step backs while fixing very little. It was hard to prevent my disappointment from seeping over how the game was, because it's not terrible... but it doesn't reach Dead to Rights 1's heels.

 The game abandons all premise for story, while Dead to Rights 1 was a cheesy action-cop movie trope-fest, this has about 6 different cut-scenes with a poor excuse of a story thread tying them all together. I can't complain, this game went straight to business: Shooting down waves after waves after waves of thugs. It's a bit more mindless too, Shadow, Jack's canine partner, is but a a tool, and enemy bosses lack any sort of personality, you're in it for the arcade shooter action, not to be distracted with anything else.

 The previous game mixed hand-to-hand combat with run-and-gun-and-sometimes-take-cover shooting action, but this game separates both. There's about 4, very short, melee combat segments in the entire game, and the latter half of the game since to have forgotten about it, since there's no more hand to hand combat by then. It's quite alright, as these segments are rather bland: just mindlessly mash punch and kick, grab the occasional weapon and keep punching and kicking. The animations are a bit smoother than before, but it lacks some of the gratifying feedback from landing blows, so it's a bit duller.

  As for the shooting, it's more restrictive this time around. You still rely on R1 to auto-target your enemies, you can still dive and dive in slow motion by using stamina, take cover behind objects, grab enemies as meat shields, instakill disarms and use Shadow to kill enemies, and now you can also duck too. But while everything returns... it's been nerfed. Shadow will either distract or kill enemies depending on how much Stamina you've got left, so no stamina = no Shadow. Instakill disarms now have a cooldown, although landing one fills your stamina completely, and using meatshields is tied to the very same stamina gauge as Shadow and slow-mo dives. And Shadow is almost useless unless you use him to cheese the game, he no longer inititates a cut-scene when he attacks, so why use him if he takes longer to get to an enemy and maul him than simply shooting at said enemy?

 Look, if this was the first game in the series, I probably wouldn't have minded the restrictive mechanics that make the game a bit more strategic with your stamina consumption. If. But the fact is: Dead to Rights 1 came out first, and the way that game worked was beautiful. This? This is restrictive, and the game gets quite hard too. You will run out of ammo frequently, and you can't switch to fists, so you're completely boned unless you've stamina to call Shadow. Enemy Placement is also particularly annoying, they come out of corners, guns ablazing, so they will probably get a few hits in before you can react, heck, even when you open a door they're already shooting at you before you can react. It's a challenging game, and not necessarily for the right reasons.

 Luckily the AI is relatively stupid, once they see you they will freeze in place waiting for you to come to them. They might sometimes throw grenades, but they'll shout at you, so it's easy to dodge. Point is, if you're low on health, which you will be frequently, you can just sit idly by behind a wall, waiting for your Stamina to recharge and send Shadow over and over again, turning this arcade shooter into a waiting game. And it's not like I wanted to, but the game is so cheap that it turned into a viable strategy when I was short on health, since I didn't want to replay the entire segment again or go through the exceedingly long loading screens again either.

 The game's got a few poor design choices too. Every single enemy boss has a few invincibility periods just to annoy the player. Level design can be rather spotty some times, Chapter 6 is particularly bad, making you go through the same segments over and over again, you don't even know why, since the game is so thin on story and explanations, so you mindlessly go through countless foes as you retread old ground. And the last chapter? The game expects you to figure out that you have to shoot at a machine, something that you've never had to do before and have no reason to suspect that you have to shoot at something to activate it, in order to... send electricity back to an elevator? The hell????

 At least no more infinite enemies or stupid mini-games, right? Right??? Sigh, Dead to Rights II is a disappointing follow up to a great game and a mediocre game on its own right. To be fair to the game, when it's at its best, it's a rather fun arcade shooter, but those moments are rare and far in-between. It's hard to understand what the developers where going for with this game, as most changes feel so misguided or poor... The best way to experience this game is, probably, by not playing the first game first, that way you'll be able to enjoy this game the most... probably.
 6.0 out of 10

Now Playing: Dead to Rights II & Dead to Rights Reckoning

 One's really good and one's really disappointing.

 Oh boy, where do I start with this one? Shoot-outs and fisticuffs have been separated into different segments. Which sucks, since it's easy to run out of ammo. And all your fancy disarms and Shadow? Nerfed. Disarms now have a cooldown tied to Stamina, and how effective Shadow is depends on your Stamina, oh, and it no longer initiates a cutscene, so Shadow does what you could do but in a slower, less useful way. It feels so limiting... which is a shame, because when the game is at its best, it's a blast. 

 Because it's not a bad game, it's not horrible, but it doesn't measure up to the standards left by the first game.

 And then I took a bite out of reckoning. I was a bit worried, the menus looked exactly like the ones from II, even Jack has a lower-poly version of his DtRII model. But it's much better. Shadow has his own gauge, separate from Stamina, and initiates a cutscene when he mauls an enemy, making him as useful as he was in 1. Disarms are unlimited, just get close to an enemy and tap circle. And you can trade your guns for knuckles at any time, not that I needed to since I haven't run out of ammo yet, but I like knowing that I have possibility.
 I've played but two levels and I know that this is what Dead to Rights II should've been. An expanding and not limiting, that's the way to go... although I think the cover function is gone, but who needs it, this is an arcade shooter not a cover-based shooter!

Month Overview: July 2017

 Tally:
Spider-man 2(PS2) 7.0
Shadow Hearts - From the New World 8.0
Ultimate Spider-man(GBA) 8.0
Ultimate Spider-man(DS) 5.5
Ultimate Spider-man(PS2) 8.0
Spider-man - Battle for New York(GBA) 5.5
Tekken 4 8.0
Spider-man - Battle for New York(DS) 2.0
Spider-man 3(GBA) 8.0
Spider-man 3(DS) 3.0
Spider-man 3(PS2) 6.0
Spider-man 3(PS3) 5.0
Spider-man Friend or Foe(DS) 4.5
Spider-man Friend or Foe(PS2) 6.0
Spider-man Web of Shadows Amazing Allies Edition(PS2) 6.0
Spider-man Web of Shadows(PS3) 8.5
Spider-man Web of Shadows(DS) 7.0
Spider-man Shattered Dimensions(PS3) 7.0
Spider-man Shattered Dimensions(DS) 7.5
Spider-man Edge of Time(DS) 2.0
Spider-man Edge of Time(PS3) 6.0
The Amazing Spider-man(DS) 4.5
The Amazing Spider-man 2(3DS) 5.5
The Amazing Spider-man(PS3) 6.0
Spider-man 2(PSP) 6.5
Spider-man 3(PC) 3.5
The Amazing Spider-man 2(PS3) 5.0
Spider-man Web of Shadows(Wii) 7.0
Ed, Edd n Eddy - The Mis-Edventures 5.0

 That's a LOT of Spider-man games! Sadly, the Spider-man videogame franchise has a lot of terrible, terrible games. But I got through the bad, the mediocre, the good and the great. I can't understand how I played SO many games in one month, but it's probably due to the fact that these were pretty short games, most of them anyways.

 Game of July:

 The best Spider-man game of the bunch. It's so good it's not even funny. It's a shame that it had so many QTEs which really put a dent into how much I enjoyed the game. With Web of Shadows, Treyarch finally perfected both swinging and combat mechanics and thanks to that, it just doesn't get old. This is the golden standard for Spider-man games, forget about Spider-man 2.

 Runner-up:

 Outdated? Completely. But I've still got a soft spot for the black ship of the series, the Tekken that dared to be different. I still enjoy the character and level designs from this game, although the now-shortened movesets do hurt my muscle memory from future games a bit.

Review #441: Ed, Edd n Eddy - The Mis-Edventures

 Fell short of Edspectations.

 Ed, Edd n Eddy was one of Cartoon Network's final great cartoons before falling into its dark age. It had an original wavy hand-drawn look that made it stand out from the rest. Lo and behold, Midway went ahead and published a game based on the franchise.

 True to the series itself, what the Eds want are jawbreakers, and thus they set out on six different chapters(Called scams in the game) to get them. Each Scam features two animated scenes, one before you start it and another one after finishing it. These are true to the series' artstyle, but are crudely animated in what looks to be Flash, which is a bit disappointing. I'm pretty sure every voice actor from the series is in the game, but I can't confirm since I've only watched the Latin American dub. That said, every primary and secondary character from the show made it into the game, which is rather neat, and the graphics do a good job of bringing these characters into the 3-D realm. There're six short levels, as well as 2 unlockable bonus stages, but you'll be done with the game in a few hours.

 The game plays like an adventure-puzzle hybrid, you control one Ed at a time, but the other will follow close behind, and can swap Eds at will. Each Ed has unique abilities and a formation: Ed can lift and throw stuff and his formation makes all Eds frantically run forwards in order to break obstacles, Edd can shoot from afar with his slingshot and activate switches, his formation makes the other Eds give him a boost in order to jump higher. As for Eddy, he can shoot stink bombs(Pretty much useless) and has the Tower of Ed formation, in which all Eds climb atop each other, allowing you to grab stuff above you or cross through thin bridges.

 Puzzles are pretty easy to figure out, assuming the game doesn't tell you exactly what to do. Movement is pretty loose, but it works for the game. Each level has plenty of stuff to find: Easter Eggs(That allows for three mods(Big heads, Small heads or Astronaut costumes) and three unlockable short shorts.), Jawbreakers(Collect them all to earn cheats!) and costume pieces(Which doesn't actually grant you costumes but rather the two extra levels). Still, the game feels rather bland, there's the occasional stand-out segment, like a race against one of the kids, but the rest of the time you'll be repeating the same exact puzzles, albeit slightly reskinned. The thin-bridge being the worse, since the Tower of Ed collision detection is terrible.

 While I applauded the graphical presentation, the music is hideous to the ears, it gets really old, really fast. And a rather minor gripe, there's an overworld, the Cul-de-sac, but you can't tell which entrance leads to which level, so hopefully you can remember where you've been.

 Ed, Edd n Eddy - The Mis-Edventure is strictly for fans only. It's not horrible, but it's rather bland and somewhat uninspired. I can tell that there were good ideas implemented into the game, but they didn't make the most of them, instead resorting to the same puzzles over and over again. A few more polishing could've been appreciated, things like Edd's trampoline jump not always working quite right. Still, for what it is, it's passable.
 5.0 out of 10

Now Playing: Ed, Edd n Eddy - The Mis-Edventures

 And now, for something completely different...

 I didn't know about this game 'till recently when I somehow came across a 3-second gameplay clip, and I thought it looked kinda neat, so I bought it on impulse. I'm not the biggest Ed, Edd n Eddy fan, but something about the game's artstyle caught my eye, and here I am, two levels into the game.

 It's a mediocre puzzle-adventure game. It doesn't do anything particularly well, but it's not terrible either... well, except the music, that kinda stinks. I enjoy collecting actual Easter eggs though!