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Is Mortal Kombat 4 a bad game?
- Thread starter TheEchosOfTheCyborg
- Start date
It was shunned and mocked right out of the gate, nobody talked about it or went near it. That was at the tail end of the arcade fighting game era, so it was already a tough sell.
Bad game barely begins to describe it.
Bad game barely begins to describe it.
It is atrocious and still remains one of my gaming guilty pleasures. I've sunk hundreds of hours into it, and every time I can't even rationalize why. I recognize that it isn't very good, but lemme just get... a couple more... rounds in...
Lol I remember due to Batman and Robin Sub zero had Arnold Schwarzenegger accent. Because he was mr freeze in the movie.
Haha, thanks! It got increasingly complex, too. By the time I was doing a Marvel vs. Capcom version, you could queue up three moves in the right order, and if they all hit, that would allow you to use a "special move" on your next turn. :P
After I typed my post, I went digging around my trunk of old stuff to see if I could find the game. Below are a couple of pics. This is the back cover, which had a pocket for all the character cards.
(Be kind--I was 12 at the time and put way more effort into characters I liked than those I wasn't quite as fond of. :P )
Same. I didn't care for the weapons, but I loved the bone breaking, and Quan Chi's fatality remains one of the best in the series. I loved the speed compared to other 3D fighters at the time, too. Nothing felt like MK4. Unlike most other fans, I wasn't wild about MK3 compared to MK2. MK4 felt like a return to form.
I enjoyed it at the time, but in hindsight it wasn't that great. Most of the new characters, like Kai and Jarek, are just whatever characters without very much going for them.
Other Black Dragon characters up to that point was steel-masked Kano, and "whats wrong with your face" Kabal, and Jarek is ... just a guy.
Other Black Dragon characters up to that point was steel-masked Kano, and "whats wrong with your face" Kabal, and Jarek is ... just a guy.
Do I recall the game having a 3DFX logo in some of the attract mode splash screens?
I seem to recall the graphics in MK4 being really "smooth" and antialiased for 1997 and it was one of the reasons that convinced me to get a Voodoo 2 graphics card (with a whopping 8MB of RAM) for my PC... Which gave me GL Quake. So... Thanks MK4.
I seem to recall the graphics in MK4 being really "smooth" and antialiased for 1997 and it was one of the reasons that convinced me to get a Voodoo 2 graphics card (with a whopping 8MB of RAM) for my PC... Which gave me GL Quake. So... Thanks MK4.
Haha, thanks! It got increasingly complex, too. By the time I was doing a Marvel vs. Capcom version, you could queue up three moves in the right order, and if they all hit, that would allow you to use a "special move" on your next turn. :P
After I typed my post, I went digging around my trunk of old stuff to see if I could find the game. Below are a couple of pics. This is the back cover, which had a pocket for all the character cards.
(Be kind--I was 12 at the time and put way more effort into characters I liked than those I wasn't quite as fond of. :P )
That's so cool! Seems like something that could easily translate to a little mobile game (using your own characters, of course).
It is a terrible game for sure, but I love it. It also was my first PS1 game and it felt like a giant leap over the Genesis games so it blew my young mind and I'll always remember it fondly.
Trilogy though is a terrible game that's just terrible.
Trilogy though is a terrible game that's just terrible.
Okay, I need to talk about this game some more.
Something I've always loved about MK4 is how it was the last time both Sub-Zero and Scorpion looked like themselves. Both characters had their looks upgraded for the game, and there were differences in their designs to set them apart, but they still looked very close to the classic versions people remember today.
There are differences in their gauntlets, belts, masks, and most obviously their tops (with Scorpion's having ridges, while Sub-Zero's is plain) to help make them more unique and different from another. I loved that at the time. The pointy ears in the masks are a nice touch, too. That looked good in-game.
Something I've always loved about MK4 is how it was the last time both Sub-Zero and Scorpion looked like themselves. Both characters had their looks upgraded for the game, and there were differences in their designs to set them apart, but they still looked very close to the classic versions people remember today.
There are differences in their gauntlets, belts, masks, and most obviously their tops (with Scorpion's having ridges, while Sub-Zero's is plain) to help make them more unique and different from another. I loved that at the time. The pointy ears in the masks are a nice touch, too. That looked good in-game.
Holy shit, dude. This looks awesome, I`d totes play this.Haha, thanks! It got increasingly complex, too. By the time I was doing a Marvel vs. Capcom version, you could queue up three moves in the right order, and if they all hit, that would allow you to use a "special move" on your next turn. :P
After I typed my post, I went digging around my trunk of old stuff to see if I could find the game. Below are a couple of pics. This is the back cover, which had a pocket for all the character cards.
(Be kind--I was 12 at the time and put way more effort into characters I liked than those I wasn't quite as fond of. :P )
Thanks for the kind words! And yeah... it occurred to me 20 years later that I'd basically thought up a modern-day mobile game, haha.
At the time it was amazing playing a 3d mortal kombat on my N64.
But yeah, back then I was easily impressed and pleased.
But yeah, back then I was easily impressed and pleased.
I vaguely remember renting it on 64 and liking it but I was a dumbass kid at the time. I don't think it's very well regarded. It certainly looks hideous unlike the first 3 games that still look kind of ok for their age.
its a weird middle child
Real actor capture to complex mocap was a natural progression but MK4 being fully 3d animated was stilted and goofy by MK standard
Real actor capture to complex mocap was a natural progression but MK4 being fully 3d animated was stilted and goofy by MK standard
Okay, I need to talk about this game some more.
Something I've always loved about MK4 is how it was the last time both Sub-Zero and Scorpion looked like themselves. Both characters had their looks upgraded for the game, and there were differences in their designs to set them apart, but they still looked very close to the classic versions people remember today.
There are differences in their gauntlets, belts, masks, and most obviously their tops (with Scorpion's having ridges, while Sub-Zero's is plain) to help make them more unique and different from another. I loved that at the time. The pointy ears in the masks are a nice touch, too. That looked good in-game.
Yea, I miss the "lean" look the ninjas had. Ever since Deadly Alliance, they've made Scorpion all beefed out.
Okay, I need to talk about this game some more.
Something I've always loved about MK4 is how it was the last time both Sub-Zero and Scorpion looked like themselves. Both characters had their looks upgraded for the game, and there were differences in their designs to set them apart, but they still looked very close to the classic versions people remember today.
There are differences in their gauntlets, belts, masks, and most obviously their tops (with Scorpion's having ridges, while Sub-Zero's is plain) to help make them more unique and different from another. I loved that at the time. The pointy ears in the masks are a nice touch, too. That looked good in-game.
My only complaint about the MK4 Sub Zero is that he has tiny hands, I mean the look really really tiny. How's he supposed to eat a whopper like that?
It's fucking awful. Like, even the dregs of the PS2 era exist within the same (very large) ballpark as Soulcalibur or whatever, but MK4 came out more than a year after Virtua Fighter 3 yet it feels and plays like a game that predates VF1. That game is an embarrassment.
Deadly Alliance and Deception were fantastic games with great fight mechanics. Better than the current MK.
There I said it.
It was a product of it's time. It demonstrated how the classic 2D gameplay was already out of fashion and wasn't properly adapted to a 3D atmosphere to keep it relevant by that generation. It was worthy to look how MK would transit to 3D but after the effect worns out it gets stale really quick.
I had fun with MK4. The fighting engine would have made for an amazing Power Stone style game. It's probably the easiest MK game to pick up and play, since everyone gets some universal flashy combos.
I really like Midway's early 3D graphics too, so maybe it's part nostalgia.
I really like Midway's early 3D graphics too, so maybe it's part nostalgia.
Well, everything looked dated next to VF3. No other company could come close to matching Sega during its heyday.
Yes, no disputing that! Model 2 and 3 were way ahead of the game. Nothing has ever matched those arcade days in terms on tech shock honestly.
I thought it was hilarious. A gem from an era when Boon didn't take the franchise as a serious fighter. The priorities were completely different back then.
It's also the main reason why why I can't take Shinnok and Quan Chi seriously as menacing threats. mK4 was their debut, and I can never shake off how campy and silly they looked and sounded.
Edit: okay, maybe mythology was the official debut. But that doesn't help the case!
It's also the main reason why why I can't take Shinnok and Quan Chi seriously as menacing threats. mK4 was their debut, and I can never shake off how campy and silly they looked and sounded.
Edit: okay, maybe mythology was the official debut. But that doesn't help the case!
