Mortal Kombat 2 is a superior game in so many ways to the original Mortal Kombat. Made 2 years after the original this game took everything the original did right and made it so much better. This game takes place after the events of the original game except instead of the tournament taking place on Earth it takes place in Outworld which is a place where Shao Kahn rules. He’s basically the boss of Shang Tsung if I recall correctly. Either way it is now Shao Kahn who is directly trying to take over Earth via Mortal Kombat.

Graphics 8/10 – wow does this game look so much better than the original. It’s hard to believe the game is even associated considering the drastic improvement in graphics. Still not quite on the level of the third game it is such an improvement that I honestly prefer this game to the original because of the graphics alone not to mention the other reasons I’ll cover later.

The sprites themselves are so much better this time around. The sprites were created by recording real people doing the moves you see and then making them digital in the game. Much better than drawing the characters into the game using any kind of software. That’s a big part of the reason why the sprites look so much better. This game has 12 characters instead of 7 this time and while this game does have a few repeats in design (Mileena + Kitana or Reptile, Scorpion and Sub Zero) the repeats do make sense based on the characters themselves. At least they have that going for them. The other change to the sprites that you’ll notice compared to the first game is that these ones bleed! While the blood looks terrible and the “bones” from fatalities are horribly done it at least tries to be more realistic as a fighting game that involves killing your opponent.

The other improvement is the level design. While the original was good Mortal Kombat 2 is great. The trees with the faces that make noises are awesome! I also like the lightning that moves around in the portal level. And each level fits the overall theme of the game. This is a dimension ruled by a crazy tyrant and the world shows it. He has a grand palace that looks great but outside of that everything is destitute and scary. It does so much for the feel of the game to see all the different level designs. Another improvement graphically (and gameplay wise) are the extra level fatalities available. Instead of just the pit there are at least 2 other level fatalities (maybe more I can’t remember them all) that you can use to finish off your opponent. Each one is fairly unique and looks awesome.

Sound 9/10 – the music in Mortal Kombat is good but Mortal Kombat 2 takes the entire mood and feel of the music to the next level. The environment that the game takes place is even darker and the music matches that feel perfectly. The darker the level the darker the music accompanying it.

I also feel like the sound effects were improved. The original game had very obvious but limited sound. This game expanded those sounds so that the moves didn’t all sound exactly the same all the time. Also, with more female characters in the game the female character sounds seemed more fleshed out than they were in the original game.

One other sound effect that I noticed and LOVED were the trees in the forest. The moaning that they do add such a good ambiance to that level that otherwise would be missing. It’s not a huge item to make note of but sometimes it is attention to small details like this that make more of an impact after the other stuff is taken care of. There weren’t huge improvements to be made but the improvements that were made were good.

Addictiveness 9/10 – This game was great to play. I remember playing it for hours as a kid growing up. Having 12 playable characters this time around instead of 7 was a great bonus. And it wasn’t only 5 new playable characters but actually 7 because Sonya and Kano were excluded this time around in favor of Reptile and Mileena as being playable. Also, each character has a unique ending story to the game so learning all of those stories requires beating the game with each character.

There is a versus mode in this game as well which is similar to any other. The main improvement is the extra characters to play with resulting in more variety in match-ups.

Story 7/10 – This story is a continuation of the story from the first game. The Earth realm won the tournament from the first game meaning it is safe. However, it sounds like there is a rule that allows the invading force to start another tournament outside of the realm in order to try and take it over and that it can’t be refused. This allows Shao Kahn to start another tournament also immediately after the first one ends without having to wait 100 years.

Again, the story is nearly the same as the last one but include along with it the backgrounds and lore surrounding each playable character and it adds a lot more to the story. Also, each character has a different story related to their victory in the tournament which keeps the overall story more interesting because it reveals their motivations for participating.

Depth 7/10 – there was a lot more depth to this game than the previous one. Not only are there more characters in the game but the characters have more moves and more variety in moves than the previous game. Also there is an introduction of more fatalities as well as friendships, babalities and more stage specific fatalities which keep the overall gameplay more interesting and enjoyable. Also, the story itself has more depth and variety to it which also helps the overall game to have more depth. The gameplay itself is no deeper than most other fighting games of this style. It’s the other stuff that helps this game be more interesting to play.

Difficulty 7/10 – the difficulty versus the original game definitely went up but not so much that the game remained unplayable. There are a few extremely cheap moves (the leg sweep can be done over and over by certain characters until the opponent dies) but ignoring those the game is fairly challenging. There is a strange element in this game where the first opponent, and any first opponent after a continue, is quite a bit easier than any opponents after that. They do fewer special moves and tend to be less aggressive. It’s a noticeable trend in Mortal Kombat fighting games after this one. There are also difficulty options which do allow some variety in the difficulty but even on very easy you still need to be a proficient player in order to beat the entire game.

Overall 7.8/10 – this game was a significant improvement over its prequel and is better than nearly every other game of the same era. The only game that is even in its league is Street Fighter 2 (whichever one has 12 fighters instead of 8). Every other fighting game I have played pales in comparison to these 2 games. They were imitated plenty of times but no one could replicate what made this game, and the others in the Mortal Kombat franchise, so much fun to play.