Wisely borrowing gameplay elements from the fan favorite Mortal Kombat II, Shaolin Monks shakes the curse of the first two action titles set in the series universe. Bringing with it almost necessary co-op (err, ko-op as the game of course calls it), this new addition to the line brings new life to the franchise. This is Mortal Kombat II, just with a wild new move set, and the familiar gameplay classic gaming fans have become attached to.
It's remarkable how well this game works. The mechanics should be, by today's standards, horribly outdated. In a rare case, they work better than they did originally. 3-D movement is handled gracefully, and whether you're controlling Kung Lao or Liu Kang, you'll feel like you're in familiar territory. If you've never played Mortal Kombat II, you'll feel like a professional player instantaneously.
Even more incredible is how effortlessly this works. It makes you wonder why 90% of the action games on the market don't take the same ideas and implement them for the better. Most camera issues that are annoyingly prevalent in 3-D action titles are gone (for the most part) from Shaolin Monks, setting the camera up practically stationary to the side, much like any other classic beat-em-up. When things move from this basic perspective, things do go wrong, yet briefly and without much frustration.
Platform jumping feels automatic, and it's the best thing to happen to jumping in a 3-D platform game since Mario 64 created it. It's easy to control, with platforms spaced just right so you don't go too far or too short. It's forgiving, and it's a critical adjustment that couldn't be more appreciated. The speed and physics are carbon copies of the one-on-one fighting game that inspired this.
All of this revolves around "Kombat" of course, and that's why you're here. Even if the stages were not flawless recreations of those in Mortal Kombat II (and they are), you would still know this is based on it. Uppercuts, jump kicks, juggles, and special moves come through with amazing accuracy, all with that classic brutal force the game became famous for. The combo system is deep, involving, and everything has a secondary move, from something as basic as a throw to complicated multi-press combos.
Article comments
1 - Bob A. Booey
Here's a site I just came across on a search to find out what this "friendship fatality" Poprocky spoke of was, with two pages full of pictures of every Mortal Kombat fatality for people who are Mortal Kombat nerds or freaks like me who thought the violence of the original arcade game was cool but were never geeky enough to learn all the moves and button combinations to play the game and execute them. This guy clearly has way too much time on his hands, but there are a few funny, if off-color, captions.
Pictures of Every Mortal Kombat Fatality Ever, Dork!
That is all.
2 - Matt Paprocki
I can do one better. How about almost all the MK fatalities animated?
Go to the bottom for the .gif section.
His Eternal Champions section is even better:
Some great moments there too.