365//365: Day 054 – MK Mythologies: Sub Zero (PSX)

Some companies have to be commended for “breaking the mold” so to speak. Taking that chance on a franchise name, or a franchise character, and putting them in a totally different genre. Some were smash hits, like Final Fantasy Tactics, which masterfully blended its FF universe into a strategy hybrid gameplay. Then there’s Mortal Kombat Mythologies, which literally blends its 2D fighting engine with a 2D platformer world. The end result? What, you couldn’t even guess what that result would be?

The concept of Sub Zero in his own 2D title wouldn’t be such a bad idea if they built a whole new engine dedicated to it. Playing a fighting game in a 2D platformer world is about as smart as a 3D beat em up game being released and having Jax star in it. Oh….damn.

Ugh....this game sucks.

So more about the controls – they are as bad as the get for a 2D genre. You walk as slow as you do in a Mortal Kombat game, with a run button that’s next to useless because there seems to be a trap at every corner, forcing you to take baby steps throughout. You have the typical punch and kick layout controls, a block button, and a….turn button. No joke, you press a button to turn around in Mythologies. You have your pathetic dial a combos here, super moves you have to unlock by gaining experience from killing enemies, and a super move bar that restricts how often you use those gained super moves. Why not just have an insert inside the jewel case that offers a double refund for your stupidity in even buying the game?

Remember how in every MK game after the second one, where after the third round, even on the easiest difficulty, the CPU starts magically countering every button press you make? Well it’s not like that in Mythologies, but the CPU is still damn cheap. You end up having to take baby steps while holding block, in case you run into some enemy that wants to start wailing away on you. This slows down the pace even more so, as not only can you not run from fear of traps, but you can’t even walk normally without baby-steps in order to protect you from harm up ahead.

Audio and video are nearly all stock. The same looking characters with probably rejected MK fighters used for the generic bad guys. Sounds are all reminiscent of those used in previous MK games. Hell, the music sounds like the same garbage from any point in the series.

UGH....this is still crap.

If anyone has ever seen the second Mortal Kombat movie, imagine that in a playable form. Mortal Kombat Mythologies succeeds in just about no aspect, unless you count excessive frustration as something the game was intending to deliver. It’s ugly, slow paced and makes you question how Midway didn’t go bankrupt sooner from having a hand making these abominations on a disc.

Rating: 1.3