7.11.2008 - Back to the primitive handhelds

Do you remember the good old days when handheld games were so primitive lol. I played Street Fighter for HandHeld LCD few days ago. It was a horrible game but somehow fun. Then i remembered the all handheld versions of MK games released through years. There was HandHeld LCD, Barcodzz and even Giga Fighters ports. So anyway, those all looks like crap now, but back in days there was a big advertising about them. Here is a quick review:

MK1 was released for Handheld LCD in 1993 and for Tiger Barcodzz in 1994.  Um... ok. After all those are official versions. We cant really talk about the gameplay here or compare the graphics or sounds with the arcade version, so it will just be a quick preview. First about the Handheld LCD version -  all moves can only be performed when your away from your opponent by pressing the LEFT key before doing a move and all characters moves take away the same amount of damage and they all do the same thing. After the first 4 characters (or rounds) you'll always fight Shang Tsung last. You have all 7 characters from the game but only one special move per character. Bosses are here but no Reptile. There is only one arena called Hall of Champions. The only way to finish off your opponent is by performing that character's fireball move after it says finish him. There is also a weird point system in the game: 10 points by a successful normal attack, 70 points per secret attack, 400 points by winning a bout and 600 points if you beat the game. The battle plan is not random, you will always fight vs the same opponents, it only maters if you pick a character from the left or right side. The Tiger Barcodzz version has 5 characters and only 1 boss, which of course is Goro, and not Shang Tsung to make the game even more weird! Missing characters are Johnny Cage, Kano, Sonya, Reptile and Shang Tsung. There is again only one arena - Courtyard. The point system is different, now you have 40 points per normal attack, 200 for "POWER UP" special, 500 if you finish your opponent and 1000 if you beat the game.

MK3 was released for Handheld LCD VRT-X unit only (thank God lol) and R-Zone. Tiger R-Zone were very unsuccessful hand held consoles. The screen for each game is on the cartridge itself, and the cartridges need a system to play on. The R-Zone version had 8 playable characters and an universal finishing move (just by pressing Forward + A + D). You can choose between Sindel, Sonya, Sheeva (wtf), Liu Kang, Kano, Sektor, Jax and Sub-Zero. Each character has one special move, except Sindel, which got two (fireball and flight). There are two kombat zones - Street and Subway. We got again the point system which i don't remember but got from PortableMK, 10 points per normal attack, 20 per special and 100 points per finisher or beating the game. It was really annoying game. The other handheld by Tiger, which got also MK3 was VRT-X. You have 10 characters here: Kano, Sonya, Cyrax, Sub-Zero, Kabal, Liu Kang, Smoke, Noob Saibot, Motaro, and Shao Kahn. Only one arena - Subway and weird Fireball - Fatalities. Each character has two special moves now, except Jax who got 3 (Fireballs, Flash Attack and Jump Attack). The game use two-level arenas like KOF games. You must beat your opponent in 2 of the 3 bouts to advance to the next round. Stupid point system again, where the numbers are: 20 points per normal attack, 50 for special move, 350 for finishing attack and 500 if you beat the game. Both ports were really not enjoyable and bad.

MK Trilogy appeared on Handheld LCD, R-zone and Giga Fighters (!). All 3 handhelds had a horrible port of Mortal Kombat Trilogy. The Handheld and R-Zone versions had 7 playable characters (Kitana, Sonya, Mileena, Sektor, Ermac, Cyrax and Sub-Zero) and 2 bosses (Kintaro and Shao Kahn) and Only 1 arena - The Wastelands. Just like Mortal Kombat 1 version for HandHeld, the only way to perform a finishing move vs your opponent is to perform a character's fireball. You must beat your opponent in 2 of the 3 bouts to advance to the next round. Shao Kahn can morph (wtf!), but he can only morph to a characters you've already beat earlier in the game. There was once a rumor that you could unlock play as Human Smoke and his face would appear where the timer is. This was just a rumor and was proven to be a fake. Both versions had the same points system 10 points for normal attack, 70 for special, 400 points for winning a bout, and 600 points if you beat the game. GigaFighters is like Giga Pets. If two people had them, they could connect the units and fight. They fit on your keychain and the graphics are just like regular Handhelds, only crappier. GigaFighters is slightly different because you could also link it to your PC to play a fighting game over the internet against other people. The Giga Fighters version was released an year before the HandHeld version. There are 7 fighters in the game (Kitana, Liu Kang, Rayden, Scorpion, Sonya, Sub-Zero, and Shao Kahn). The game even had some secrets in it. To select Shao Kahn you must enter your name as BOSS, if you type GORO you will watch Goro's yell, if you typed TAUNT you will see Shao Kahn's taunt, and to enable fatalities you have to type your name as FATALITY.. Some notes about this version i took from PortableMK since i havent played this: Train up to 3 Fighters at once, Each fighter has special skills, Games Connect Directly or use the cable. You can upload stats, download hidden codes from the web (Cable & Software for this sold separately). Eh... I dont know, MK version aka Tamagochi will never grab me.

Watch this fun commercial for Tiger Handheld.

MK Mythology was released for Handheld LCD game in 1998. There was only 5 stages in the game and all played on the same background - The Wind Realm. All opponents are monks, and the last boss is Quan Chi (the others are Wind God, Water God, Fire God and Earth God).  Even though the mini picture of Quan Chi says "Shinnok" in the game, its still Quan Chi. I got this from PortableMK but it seems Sub-Zero does in fact have a fireball move, but noone do not know how to perform it. It is a limited special move though, which is what the second power bar is for. In the first stage of the game your opponents are white monks which need 3 hits to be killed (you got 30 points per each), and you need 20 hits to beat the Earth God (you get 400 points for that). In the second stage the monks are black and you got 400 points if you beat the Wind God. Level 3 has monks with swords now and God of Water (25 hits for 500 points). Leve 4 has black monks with swords (original I know) and you need 25 hits to kill the Fire God  - you will receive 600 points. The final stage has the same opponents and Quan Chi as the final boss as already mentioned. You will need 30 hits to kill him, and you will get 340 points for that. I dont know what actually happens when you beat the game because I never played it, but i will definitely  give it a try if i ever had a chance to LOL.

Here are some interesting links from E-bay that i found:

MK1 for Tiger Barcodzz - Link.
MK1 for Handheld LCD - Link.
MK3 for Handheld LCD - Link.
MK3 for R-Zone - Link.
MK Trilogy for Giga Fighters - Link.
MK Trilogy for Handheld LCD - Link.

Visit PortableMK for tons of information about those games.

6.11.2008 - Master System and Game Gear MK Review

It gets me really annoying when i see a noob review for a bad port. There are like hundred of reviews for those games and all focus on non-important things.I played all MK games on Master System and MK1 on real Game Gear consoles back in days, and spend enough time via emulating to make a quick but comprehensive review of them. Here ya go.   MK1 for the Game Gear was not that bad for a handheld version (remember its 1993 we are talking about). There is no Kano (and Reptile) but you got Goro and Shang Tsung. The gameplay is really horrible to be counted as something. You can do crappy combos like Lightening - Torpedo with Rayden, Flying Kick - Sweep with Liu Kang and etc. Some of the special moves and Fatalities are with completely different button combinations (which is noticeable in GameBoy version too). You have to make a short pause when inputting a special move (that applies to Master System version too). Sweeps don't work vs bosses and if you try Cage's Nut Punch vs Shang Tsung it will freeze the game. The Sega Master System version is actually the same but the characters are smaller, more distance between the lifebars (actually the whole on-screen display is bigger) and somehow it looks better. When this version was first released several codes circulated around magazines saying how to play as Goro and Shang Tsung. They were fake codes but that didn't stop people from trying. This version of Mortal Kombat was only ever released in Europe since the Master System was much more popular in Europe than most other countries. I'm still not sure why Midway decided to release it for a Home 8 Bit Console (there were a lot of advertising in various magazines especialy about the game gear version) but one thing is for sure - it was no fun. MK2 didn't offer something huge too. The Game Gear and Master System versions are actually the same with the exeption that the Master System has more distance between the lifebars and the time, characters are smaller and the screen is larger. Some moves do weird juggles like the ninja slides for example. Some special moves and fatalities again are performed with different combinations (every single character has the same command input for the stage fatalities). The missing characters are Kung Lao, Johnny Cage, Raiden and Baraka. Everyone has a stage and normal Fatality, when some of which shooted tons of false rumors back in days (like the Red Dragon Liu Kang Fatality where he shots a fire to the opponent). You have 2 stages Kombat Tomb and Pit II. Vs secret characters (only Jade and Smoke, Noob Saibot is missing) you fight on a weird stage which looks like the Kombat Tomb stage but with a wall in background filled with skulls. Another difference (that sometimes is really useful) is that the Master System had a Pause button while the Game Gear's versions didn't. About 15 years ago I'd waste my time to play this versions if i didn't own any 16bit console, but now i will definetly wouldnt. MK3 was the latest MK game released for both consoles. It was not enjoyable at all. The differences between both is again the screen area and the life bars, i also didnt heard any background music while fighting in the Game Gear version (but i got it in Master System's lol). The arena is bigger in Sega Master System and the lifebars are shorter. For some reason i like Game Gear more graphically. Otherwise both versions have 11 characters (8 playable, 2 secret and 1 boss), 5 arenas (Pit 3, Bridge, Subway, Temple, and Bell Tower) and each character has 1 Fatality and Babality. The missing characters are Jax, Kung Lao, Stryker, Liu Kang, Shang Tsung, Nightwolf and Motaro. You can input kombat kodes in single player game before a match vs CPU. The gameplay is of course nothing serious - almost every single hits juggle and somehow delays before hit the opponent. Something interesting about Game Gear's version is that Motaro was listed in the Manual but was not in the actual game. The Sega Mastery System version was released only in Brazil for some reason. My personal opinion anyway, is that MK3 for Game Gear and Master System are the worst MK games for both consoles. If I miss something let me know.

28.10.2008 - MK1 from Deception Bonus Disk

Decided to make a quick review for this port that was included in Mortal Kombat Deception - Bonus Disk. Its released for Xbox and Playstation 2, and both ports are completely the same with the exception that, Xbox version has some delay issues with the controller. First you will notice that its about 20% faster than the arcade. Then if you pick Johnny Cage first (as i did) and play through the whole game you will confront with so much slowdowns during the Shadow Kick, Fireball and sometimes even Fatality (it slow downs every time in Raiden's Fatality). There are lots of sound issues (almost every fucking time after you hit someone with Torpedo or Roll for example), but the most annoying is the song at Palace Gates and when you beat the game (and what is interesting to mention here is that they planned to put MK1 in MAT2 versions and i remember seeing videos of it where there IS actually a Palace Gate music, but later they decided to cut the game from the compilation). It is actually there but its so quite that you have to max the volume to hear something. Other than that it IS an arcade perfect emulation. Everything that works in the arcade works here too plus you got Revision 5.0 gameplay which is good. Because of the game speed, this version can be played differently at first but once you addicted into it, its almost the same. I made a short clip of it which shows various slowdowns, glitched sounds, missing (or too silent) songs and etc.

Click here to download the clip. (32MB)

22.10.2008 - Few more reduxes

The old reduxes are up again. You can download the very first video, Service Packs 1, 2 and 3 now. 60fps, running timer, no previous combo hits and everything unblockable of course.

Click here to download the UMK3: This Game is Broken. (51.2MB)
Click here to download the UMK3: Service Pack 1. (34.3MB)
Click here to download the UMK3: Service Pack 2. (47.9MB)
Click here to download the UMK3: Service Pack 3 . (42.8MB)

21.10.2008 - Dead Game?

Q: How to make a dead game enjoyable?
A: Learn to play it! 

Click here to watch the video. Downloadable version will be avaible soon.

19.10.2008 - Stupid Noob Redux

Click here to download the video. (25.2MB)