Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero is a story-driven fighting game that casts you in the shoes of Sub-Zero, and chronicles a series of events that occurred prior to Mortal Kombat 1. It is the first Mortal Kombat game to feature side-scrolling gameplay. Gameplay wise the game takes the Mortal Kombat familiar 2D fighting environment and turns it into a hybrid fighter/platformer game, where you must travel trough hazardous levels running and jumping around as well as fighting your way against both digitized and polygonal enemies. Sub-Zero's interface is the same as in every MK game, with the addition of a "use" and "turn around" buttons and additions such as an inventory, and a slight RPG twist in which you get exp. for defeating opponents, which translates into new techniques and moves to execute in the game.
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Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero is a bizarre experiment gone wrong. Instead of 1-on-1 fighting, it's a clunky side-scrolling action game with awkward controls and frustrating level design. The digitized actors and cheesy plot add unintentional humor, but the core gameplay is just plain painful. It's a relic of its time, and even diehard MK fans have trouble finding redeeming qualities.
OK hear me out.
Mechanically it's 100% a disaster - difficult in all the worst ways and reliant on a jumping mechanic that is fundamentally broken (expecting you to press a button to turn around every time you land, for christ's sake).
It doesn't have anything resembling a real story. It somehow has junkier, more generic level-design than a trad straight-line left-to-right arcade brawler.
HOWEVER. The game sincerely successfully translates the trashy kung-fu B-movie atmosphere of the early games, right down to the Wal-Mart spandex costumes of the cutscene actors. The world feels slow, lumbering, threatening, and the music is surprisingly great given how low-rent the rest of the presentation feels. It would have benefited from more strict adherence to pre-rendered 2d backgrounds, but what's here suits the overall mood. In other words, it's not really a "so bad it's good" situation so much as it's just accidentally a unique and interesting aesthetic. I mean I don't recommend ever playing it.
Mechanically it's 100% a disaster - difficult in all the worst ways and reliant on a jumping mechanic that is fundamentally broken (expecting you to press a button to turn around every time you land, for christ's sake).
It doesn't have anything resembling a real story. It somehow has junkier, more generic level-design than a trad straight-line left-to-right arcade brawler.
HOWEVER. The game sincerely successfully translates the trashy kung-fu B-movie atmosphere of the early games, right down to the Wal-Mart spandex costumes of the cutscene actors. The world feels slow, lumbering, threatening, and the music is surprisingly great given how low-rent the rest of the presentation feels. It would have benefited from more strict adherence to pre-rendered 2d backgrounds, but what's here suits the overall mood. In other words, it's not really a "so bad it's good" situation so much as it's just accidentally a unique and interesting aesthetic. I mean I don't recommend ever playing it.
hard as hell
lol who signed off on this? cutscenes are hilarious
Traditional fighting games like Mortal Kombat aren’t platformers. In order to combine Mortal Kombat with a platformer, you’ll need to put in some serious work to bring out the strengths of both genres. Making B turn the character around does not solve any issues with trying to make a platformer out of Mortal Kombat. On top of being ridiculous for a platform game, it also makes fighting a nightmare.
With the hassle of using up to jump, levels need to be properly designed around this compromised way of platforming. MK Mythologies doesn’t cater for this, though, instead taking the most annoying tropes of the worst NES platformers and adds some of its own.
After you punch up the first enemy, you’ll walk down a corridor and be squashed by a pillar and be instantly killed. Fighting past the first enemy again, you’ll time your run and dash past it – only to be killed by a second pillar. The third time, you fight again and try to stop before the second pillar. It will clip you, but you’ll be alive – but the recoil will send you under the first pillar and you’ll be crushed and killed again.
The game is a trial-and-error experience, getting a bit further each time. I used save states pretty quickly but it was still incredibly frustrating. And that’s just the first level – the second is much, much worse.
Level two consists of lots of tiny platforms. The screen is too far zoomed in to see much, and the camera doesn’t scroll how you would like, so you have to make many blind jumps. Some platforms will also collapse. Another really frustrating things are platforms that move towards and away from the camera, so you can only jump on them when they’re in “line” with the 2D aspects – which is quite difficult to see.
As you slowly progress, you’ll encounter doors that need keys. You’ll need to explore elsewhere in the level to find the keys. Sometimes, these paths are hidden off screen. For example, there’s a bridge that collapses when you stand on it, get past and carry on and you’ll find a locked door. To find the key, you have to jump into the empty space under the collapsing bridge – something that usually kills you.
Oh, and sometimes getting to the door before finding the key for it means that you can’t go back to where the key is, so you have to die.
Even using cheats, I couldn’t bear to finish Sub Zero. The level layouts are atrocious and there’s really no enjoyment to get out of the game and progression just feels like you accidentally stumbled on the correct path and doesn’t feel rewarding.
This isn’t just one of the worst games on the N64 – it’s one of the worst 2D platformers.
With the hassle of using up to jump, levels need to be properly designed around this compromised way of platforming. MK Mythologies doesn’t cater for this, though, instead taking the most annoying tropes of the worst NES platformers and adds some of its own.
After you punch up the first enemy, you’ll walk down a corridor and be squashed by a pillar and be instantly killed. Fighting past the first enemy again, you’ll time your run and dash past it – only to be killed by a second pillar. The third time, you fight again and try to stop before the second pillar. It will clip you, but you’ll be alive – but the recoil will send you under the first pillar and you’ll be crushed and killed again.
The game is a trial-and-error experience, getting a bit further each time. I used save states pretty quickly but it was still incredibly frustrating. And that’s just the first level – the second is much, much worse.
Level two consists of lots of tiny platforms. The screen is too far zoomed in to see much, and the camera doesn’t scroll how you would like, so you have to make many blind jumps. Some platforms will also collapse. Another really frustrating things are platforms that move towards and away from the camera, so you can only jump on them when they’re in “line” with the 2D aspects – which is quite difficult to see.
As you slowly progress, you’ll encounter doors that need keys. You’ll need to explore elsewhere in the level to find the keys. Sometimes, these paths are hidden off screen. For example, there’s a bridge that collapses when you stand on it, get past and carry on and you’ll find a locked door. To find the key, you have to jump into the empty space under the collapsing bridge – something that usually kills you.
Oh, and sometimes getting to the door before finding the key for it means that you can’t go back to where the key is, so you have to die.
Even using cheats, I couldn’t bear to finish Sub Zero. The level layouts are atrocious and there’s really no enjoyment to get out of the game and progression just feels like you accidentally stumbled on the correct path and doesn’t feel rewarding.
This isn’t just one of the worst games on the N64 – it’s one of the worst 2D platformers.
Más o menos comprendo porque esté título es repudiado, pero yo por lo menos la pasé bastante bien. Claro que no es nada increíble, nada de el otro mundo, es más, tiene claros defectos, pero lo encontré accesible y divertido de primeras. Quizá porque soy demasiado fan de esta saga.
Es una historia más de MK, con Sub-Zero como prota (mí personaje favorito) asi que mucho más no puedo pedir.
Cómo me gustaría que vuelva Tobias.
Es una historia más de MK, con Sub-Zero como prota (mí personaje favorito) asi que mucho más no puedo pedir.
Cómo me gustaría que vuelva Tobias.