Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks (PS2, 2005)
Graphics-7 Sound-7.5 Control-7 Challenge-6.5/7* Story-4.5
Level Design-7 Frustration-7/8* Fun-7 Originality-4.5?
Overall Score-7
*Shao Kahn
+
SP/story mode:
2-player coop
Mixes beat 'em up, platformer and platform adventure/metroid-like gameplay (some gained movement abilities used to progress (long jump (also lets you do a new jump kick), wall climb, wall run - similar to PoP: Sands of Time, wall jump, double jump, swing)+some backtracking to progress, exp point leveling (open-ended skill tree), some HP upgrades)
Three different camera settings (close, panoramic, in-between/normal) - automatic camera but can tilt it a bit to either side
Difficulty options (normal or hard)
Good variety of moves (blocking and dodging w/ lock-on, back and side attacks (press the direction and attack), aimed throws and throw combos (the multiplier increases exp gains), mid-air combos (can also throw someone and then jump up and throw them again in mid-air), ranged attacks, slide kicks, light & quick+juggle/launch+heavy & slow/power attacks, various 4 hit combos, two recovery moves (mid-air and after being knocked down); learn more combos by gaining enough exp and trading it for them in the menu)
Pretty satisfying sfx
Pretty good environmental interaction (can throw enemies into spike pits (short cutscenes) or beds and other hazards to kill them quicker, can knock enemies into objects to find hidden items or paths (breakable item containers and walls) - sometimes required to progress)
Various weapon pickups (throwable objects, swords, ) - enemies can't block these but comboing is rather limited
Decent map system (in-game - toggleable semi-transparent mini-map showing the current room, in menu - shows your current location and the basic layout; TD view)
Shows some stats in the pause menu (kills, best/longest combo, fatalities, secrets found/total, smoke missions (?), completion percentage and time taken)
Move list in-game
Fatality meter (when full you can pull of an insta-kill fatality which works like a QTE here - good in that fatalities are easier to pull off)
Fight alongside NPCs in some rooms/sub areas (Johnny Cage, Sub-Zero)
Can open up some shortcuts to previous areas (not enough though)
Can jump cancel any attack move
Some decent bosses (reptile, baraka besides the last part which is more trial & error, scorpion)
Brutality mode (temporarily do a lot more damage after charging up 3 orbs of energy by hitting enemies - similar to Aggressor mechanic in MK Trilogy, Intenso mode in Guacamelee or the devil trigger in DMC)
Can unlock Mortal Kombat 2 (ARC) - finish the side quests
Some funny moments ("are you ok?" - pre-Baraka fight, Johnny stealing your finisher against Goro, "where are our friends?" followed by "we have saved our friends!" in the same dialogue scene)
Some optional bosses (Ermac at warrior shrine - need swing to open, Mileena - living tree hidden exit, Kano (while assisted by a CPU controller Jax) - keep talking to Kitana in her cell) and side quests (smoke missions for exp - find him in living forest (most of these are pretty mundane or time consuming however))
A few decent puzzles (elemental knights mini-boss, at a couple of points you can throw an enemy into a spike bed or other hazard to be able to use their body as a platform and reach higher - a decent voiced hint is given here however)
+/-
Linear structure (while you can enter evil forest after reaching the outworld area you can only get anywhere in the evil monastery, can get wall run at any point after getting fist of ruin at the evil monastery (lets you get wall jump at soul tombs and progress at some points in the wastelands) - can't do any of the main areas out of order (evil monastery (fist of ruin)->living forest (wall climb)->soul tombs (wall jump - need wall run first)->wastelands (double jump)->dead pool (swing)->netherrealm->foundry), can fight mileena again+ermac after getting swing)
Outworld area is a partial hub that connects to all other areas besides the first (soul tombs also connects to wushi academy but other areas don't connect to each other)
Some backtracking for optional items with gained movement abilities and once outside of the hub area to progress (wall run)
Straightforward gauntlet-like areas are fairly common
Fairly frequent save points (multiple slots; shows the current location) which also heal you
Killathon element (various forced encounters)
Some gameplay hints pause the action while others don't
Only four playable chars in SP/story mode (Liu Kang of Kung Lao by default, unlockable Scorpion and Sub-Zero - nice although they have fewer fatalities and their normal attacks mimic the monks')
Not much damage from spike pits (you continuously take a bit of damage while moving through them but with long invincibility time in-between)
Gore and cannibalism
Can't jump while locking onto an enemy (you use the dodge somersaults instead) - would be useful for the aerial uppercut move
Multalities (fatality for groups) are pretty OP
Respawning enemies and item containers when leaving a sub area/room
The game generally tells you what ability is needed to get past an ability gate
No enemy item drop magnet for exp orbs (there is one for HP drops)
Stamina meter of sorts for certain movement abilities like the long jump and for special attacks (R1+face button)
Finishing off singular enemies with Fatalities yields bonus experience points while Multalities and Brutalities don't
Can't follow a long jump with a double jump
QTE finishers during boss fights
Easy to max out your stats before the last fourth of the game or so
Can't upgrade your stamina meter
-
Some control/interface issues (some parts of combos are too hard to connect such as the finishing throw for combo 5, moving while pressing the pickup button makes you do a spin move instead, in some 2.5d segments the camera might pan but you won't keep moving l/r - instead you'll move along with the camera so you have to manually adjust to avoid pits, sometimes the close and normal camera settings pick a suboptimal angle, some tips are only shown during loading screens+these end automatically and sometimes very quickly so you miss the hint, kinda overly sensitive movement - go from 0-100 and back instantly when pressing and letting go of the d-pad, can't simply climb up a ledge you're holding onto - only slowly jump on top of it which doesn't flow that well, map doesn't mark statues that require fist of ruin to break nor let you place your own markers or notes for other ability gates, mini-map automatically spins as you move - no toggle (can make some exit markers confusing especially combined with not being able to manually rotate the camera most of the time), the camera makes awkward and sudden perspective changes while moving along certain paths - similar to the old RE games, sometimes the camera doesn't keep up with your movement through a room/sub area, bad decision to lock you into panoramic view during the mileena & jade fight, various exits aren't given a name telling you what area you're about to enter even if you've explored there before (sometimes there's not even an "exit" message shown) - vague zoomed out map showing a full area, occasionally unforgiving hit detection, dodge somersaulting occasionally doesn't trigger - happened several times during the Goro fight for example, the map sometimes marks exits before they exist (wushi-> soul tombs, wasteland->dead pool), jumping is slower than running)
Can't use fatalities on mini-bosses, bosses and certain enemies like the shadow priests (some moves also work differently against the latter such as an aerial uppercut not lifting them upwards and not being able to throw them) - could've let you use a nerfed version instead. This also means you can't trigger brutality mode using these enemies but can still use such attacks on them after triggering it via a regular enemy
Some paths are only unlockable in 2-player - should've been removed or had an alternate solution in SP (or there could've been a player+CPU player option)
Mostly unskippable cutscenes - fatality cutscenes get old pretty quickly and some story scenes are too slow
Some trial & error (some ranged attacks from off screen, some leaps of faith for optional items or weapons, whether or not you'll cage mileena or jade during that boss fight is based on their HP rather than your aiming, hard to see the pole above a spike wall near wushi academy)
Too many invisible walls and their placement feels arbitrary (for example you might be able to move up a path to a higher path but then right next to it on the upper level you can't jump back down again, parts where there's an ability gate statue and right next to it it looks like you should be able to just jump past it into the next "room", gets ridiculous in one part of the soul tombs with narrow paths and seemingly nothing to stop you from just jumping between them+some parts of the wastelands such as the boulder sub area)
Some tedious aspects (repeated fight vs shadow priests to open exits in the outworld hub (can kick them into pits but you won't get the exp), the repeated and mandatory button masher mini-games to interact with levers - basically have to flick the face button with your pointing finger for the ones in the soul tomb, reptile's projectile attack can hit you again while you're down, boring backtracking out of living forest - not that big though, drawn out shao kahn fight which mostly forces you into ranged attacks and feels unintuitive in what attacks override others)
Can't run up certain walls for seemingly no reason
Gain no exp from environment kills (the reward should only have been lowered, perhaps only removed if you use the object right away for a quick kill)
Mostly super generic combat move names (special 1, combo 1, etc)
Some annoying sfx (Liu Kang's voice)
Off the path items are usually just artwork unlocks (red icons) but sometimes characters for vs mode
Keep finding item drops which you already have a full stock of (HP)
Overly obvious "puzzle" vs the giant snake+the segment is too "stop and go" and simplistic (the game is generally too obvious about the solution to problems with either Raiden or your avatar commenting on what to do)
Sometimes stupid enemy AI (enemies can stand right next to you while you're fighting another one with their backs turned and not notice you)
The intro is basically a long fight scene (could've been playable instead)
Fairly anticlimactic end to destroying the green orb in the tombs
Pretty easy soul tombs mini-bosses
Wall running and wall jumping are underused besides the former in the wastelands
Your avatar sometimes performs moves during cutscenes that you can't in-game
Some VA is oddly mixed, Sometimes uneven animation quality and the characters' faces don't look that good during cutscenes, Looks kinda bad how enemies' lifebar stay at 1 HP after death, Some tacky looking effects, Uglier Scorpion/Reptile/Sub-Zero costumes
Overly short dead pool area
No new enemies appear when revisiting previous areas
Bugs:
-Some hit detection bugs (at one point I was attacking an enemy on a narrow path and it suddenly moved to outside the path and fell down to a lower level)
Level Design-7 Frustration-7/8* Fun-7 Originality-4.5?
Overall Score-7
*Shao Kahn
+
SP/story mode:
2-player coop
Mixes beat 'em up, platformer and platform adventure/metroid-like gameplay (some gained movement abilities used to progress (long jump (also lets you do a new jump kick), wall climb, wall run - similar to PoP: Sands of Time, wall jump, double jump, swing)+some backtracking to progress, exp point leveling (open-ended skill tree), some HP upgrades)
Three different camera settings (close, panoramic, in-between/normal) - automatic camera but can tilt it a bit to either side
Difficulty options (normal or hard)
Good variety of moves (blocking and dodging w/ lock-on, back and side attacks (press the direction and attack), aimed throws and throw combos (the multiplier increases exp gains), mid-air combos (can also throw someone and then jump up and throw them again in mid-air), ranged attacks, slide kicks, light & quick+juggle/launch+heavy & slow/power attacks, various 4 hit combos, two recovery moves (mid-air and after being knocked down); learn more combos by gaining enough exp and trading it for them in the menu)
Pretty satisfying sfx
Pretty good environmental interaction (can throw enemies into spike pits (short cutscenes) or beds and other hazards to kill them quicker, can knock enemies into objects to find hidden items or paths (breakable item containers and walls) - sometimes required to progress)
Various weapon pickups (throwable objects, swords, ) - enemies can't block these but comboing is rather limited
Decent map system (in-game - toggleable semi-transparent mini-map showing the current room, in menu - shows your current location and the basic layout; TD view)
Shows some stats in the pause menu (kills, best/longest combo, fatalities, secrets found/total, smoke missions (?), completion percentage and time taken)
Move list in-game
Fatality meter (when full you can pull of an insta-kill fatality which works like a QTE here - good in that fatalities are easier to pull off)
Fight alongside NPCs in some rooms/sub areas (Johnny Cage, Sub-Zero)
Can open up some shortcuts to previous areas (not enough though)
Can jump cancel any attack move
Some decent bosses (reptile, baraka besides the last part which is more trial & error, scorpion)
Brutality mode (temporarily do a lot more damage after charging up 3 orbs of energy by hitting enemies - similar to Aggressor mechanic in MK Trilogy, Intenso mode in Guacamelee or the devil trigger in DMC)
Can unlock Mortal Kombat 2 (ARC) - finish the side quests
Some funny moments ("are you ok?" - pre-Baraka fight, Johnny stealing your finisher against Goro, "where are our friends?" followed by "we have saved our friends!" in the same dialogue scene)
Some optional bosses (Ermac at warrior shrine - need swing to open, Mileena - living tree hidden exit, Kano (while assisted by a CPU controller Jax) - keep talking to Kitana in her cell) and side quests (smoke missions for exp - find him in living forest (most of these are pretty mundane or time consuming however))
A few decent puzzles (elemental knights mini-boss, at a couple of points you can throw an enemy into a spike bed or other hazard to be able to use their body as a platform and reach higher - a decent voiced hint is given here however)
+/-
Linear structure (while you can enter evil forest after reaching the outworld area you can only get anywhere in the evil monastery, can get wall run at any point after getting fist of ruin at the evil monastery (lets you get wall jump at soul tombs and progress at some points in the wastelands) - can't do any of the main areas out of order (evil monastery (fist of ruin)->living forest (wall climb)->soul tombs (wall jump - need wall run first)->wastelands (double jump)->dead pool (swing)->netherrealm->foundry), can fight mileena again+ermac after getting swing)
Outworld area is a partial hub that connects to all other areas besides the first (soul tombs also connects to wushi academy but other areas don't connect to each other)
Some backtracking for optional items with gained movement abilities and once outside of the hub area to progress (wall run)
Straightforward gauntlet-like areas are fairly common
Fairly frequent save points (multiple slots; shows the current location) which also heal you
Killathon element (various forced encounters)
Some gameplay hints pause the action while others don't
Only four playable chars in SP/story mode (Liu Kang of Kung Lao by default, unlockable Scorpion and Sub-Zero - nice although they have fewer fatalities and their normal attacks mimic the monks')
Not much damage from spike pits (you continuously take a bit of damage while moving through them but with long invincibility time in-between)
Gore and cannibalism
Can't jump while locking onto an enemy (you use the dodge somersaults instead) - would be useful for the aerial uppercut move
Multalities (fatality for groups) are pretty OP
Respawning enemies and item containers when leaving a sub area/room
The game generally tells you what ability is needed to get past an ability gate
No enemy item drop magnet for exp orbs (there is one for HP drops)
Stamina meter of sorts for certain movement abilities like the long jump and for special attacks (R1+face button)
Finishing off singular enemies with Fatalities yields bonus experience points while Multalities and Brutalities don't
Can't follow a long jump with a double jump
QTE finishers during boss fights
Easy to max out your stats before the last fourth of the game or so
Can't upgrade your stamina meter
-
Some control/interface issues (some parts of combos are too hard to connect such as the finishing throw for combo 5, moving while pressing the pickup button makes you do a spin move instead, in some 2.5d segments the camera might pan but you won't keep moving l/r - instead you'll move along with the camera so you have to manually adjust to avoid pits, sometimes the close and normal camera settings pick a suboptimal angle, some tips are only shown during loading screens+these end automatically and sometimes very quickly so you miss the hint, kinda overly sensitive movement - go from 0-100 and back instantly when pressing and letting go of the d-pad, can't simply climb up a ledge you're holding onto - only slowly jump on top of it which doesn't flow that well, map doesn't mark statues that require fist of ruin to break nor let you place your own markers or notes for other ability gates, mini-map automatically spins as you move - no toggle (can make some exit markers confusing especially combined with not being able to manually rotate the camera most of the time), the camera makes awkward and sudden perspective changes while moving along certain paths - similar to the old RE games, sometimes the camera doesn't keep up with your movement through a room/sub area, bad decision to lock you into panoramic view during the mileena & jade fight, various exits aren't given a name telling you what area you're about to enter even if you've explored there before (sometimes there's not even an "exit" message shown) - vague zoomed out map showing a full area, occasionally unforgiving hit detection, dodge somersaulting occasionally doesn't trigger - happened several times during the Goro fight for example, the map sometimes marks exits before they exist (wushi-> soul tombs, wasteland->dead pool), jumping is slower than running)
Can't use fatalities on mini-bosses, bosses and certain enemies like the shadow priests (some moves also work differently against the latter such as an aerial uppercut not lifting them upwards and not being able to throw them) - could've let you use a nerfed version instead. This also means you can't trigger brutality mode using these enemies but can still use such attacks on them after triggering it via a regular enemy
Some paths are only unlockable in 2-player - should've been removed or had an alternate solution in SP (or there could've been a player+CPU player option)
Mostly unskippable cutscenes - fatality cutscenes get old pretty quickly and some story scenes are too slow
Some trial & error (some ranged attacks from off screen, some leaps of faith for optional items or weapons, whether or not you'll cage mileena or jade during that boss fight is based on their HP rather than your aiming, hard to see the pole above a spike wall near wushi academy)
Too many invisible walls and their placement feels arbitrary (for example you might be able to move up a path to a higher path but then right next to it on the upper level you can't jump back down again, parts where there's an ability gate statue and right next to it it looks like you should be able to just jump past it into the next "room", gets ridiculous in one part of the soul tombs with narrow paths and seemingly nothing to stop you from just jumping between them+some parts of the wastelands such as the boulder sub area)
Some tedious aspects (repeated fight vs shadow priests to open exits in the outworld hub (can kick them into pits but you won't get the exp), the repeated and mandatory button masher mini-games to interact with levers - basically have to flick the face button with your pointing finger for the ones in the soul tomb, reptile's projectile attack can hit you again while you're down, boring backtracking out of living forest - not that big though, drawn out shao kahn fight which mostly forces you into ranged attacks and feels unintuitive in what attacks override others)
Can't run up certain walls for seemingly no reason
Gain no exp from environment kills (the reward should only have been lowered, perhaps only removed if you use the object right away for a quick kill)
Mostly super generic combat move names (special 1, combo 1, etc)
Some annoying sfx (Liu Kang's voice)
Off the path items are usually just artwork unlocks (red icons) but sometimes characters for vs mode
Keep finding item drops which you already have a full stock of (HP)
Overly obvious "puzzle" vs the giant snake+the segment is too "stop and go" and simplistic (the game is generally too obvious about the solution to problems with either Raiden or your avatar commenting on what to do)
Sometimes stupid enemy AI (enemies can stand right next to you while you're fighting another one with their backs turned and not notice you)
The intro is basically a long fight scene (could've been playable instead)
Fairly anticlimactic end to destroying the green orb in the tombs
Pretty easy soul tombs mini-bosses
Wall running and wall jumping are underused besides the former in the wastelands
Your avatar sometimes performs moves during cutscenes that you can't in-game
Some VA is oddly mixed, Sometimes uneven animation quality and the characters' faces don't look that good during cutscenes, Looks kinda bad how enemies' lifebar stay at 1 HP after death, Some tacky looking effects, Uglier Scorpion/Reptile/Sub-Zero costumes
Overly short dead pool area
No new enemies appear when revisiting previous areas
Bugs:
-Some hit detection bugs (at one point I was attacking an enemy on a narrow path and it suddenly moved to outside the path and fell down to a lower level)