This sucks. It’s not even bad in a funny way. It’s just bad
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.
hard as hell
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.
Not sure what Midway was thinking when they released this game. Admittedly, the hype was kind of high considering this was the first non-fighting Mortal Kombat game so the curiosity alone generated hype among fans and most Nintendo 64 owners craving for more games to be released on the system.
Calling this one of the worst games of its time it's not an over-exaggeration; the controls are terrible with specific buttons to change the direction you are facing, as well as nearly impossible to control platforming segments that made the game incredibly frustrating and unfair.
I still scratch my head to this day as to how a game of such high profile gaming series got approved and passed internal QA/QC process.
Calling this one of the worst games of its time it's not an over-exaggeration; the controls are terrible with specific buttons to change the direction you are facing, as well as nearly impossible to control platforming segments that made the game incredibly frustrating and unfair.
I still scratch my head to this day as to how a game of such high profile gaming series got approved and passed internal QA/QC process.
this game pissed me off as a kid
ew
A big fat F for eFFort.
Consistent in being horrible.
The only good thing is this is the storytelling (although the scenes are insufferably amateuresque), but this is a game, not a movie.
The only good thing is this is the storytelling (although the scenes are insufferably amateuresque), but this is a game, not a movie.
A produtora quis inovar com a franquia, porém ficou algo muito abaixo que se esperava. um game para ser esquecido.
The worst 2D platformer on the PS1.
The second worst MK game. Just watch the cutscenes on YouTube, you basically get a better experience there
The second worst MK game. Just watch the cutscenes on YouTube, you basically get a better experience there
A good idea, but poor execution. As a kid who grew up constantly playing MK mugen builds and classic MK games I really wanted to like this, but oh well...
This game feels like these MUGEN Resident Evil minigames, when a fighting game character is put in a sidescroller perspective. They should've done a beat-em up...
But FMV cutscenes are an absolute gold, as well as the sprites. The vibes are the reason this is a 3/10, not 1/10
This game feels like these MUGEN Resident Evil minigames, when a fighting game character is put in a sidescroller perspective. They should've done a beat-em up...
But FMV cutscenes are an absolute gold, as well as the sprites. The vibes are the reason this is a 3/10, not 1/10
Not as bad as some say but far from a good game. The controls are bizarre and the platforming sucks. The concept is good but just poor execution.
Has anyone ever chewed scenery harder than Richard Divizio’s Quan Chi in these FMV cutscenes? This game is super flawed but it still has great vibes.
Why are you like this.
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.
lol who signed off on this? cutscenes are hilarious
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.
The game is so unbearably annoying to play that I can't even give it a better rating for the effort they put into the cutscenes. They didn't learn anything from the Batman Forever experience and threw away the opportunity to make a good series of spin-off games.
This is a side scrolling game where you have a button to change which side you're looking at!!!
I mean I get it. They wanted to transfer the MK gameplay in a side scrolling game. But holy hell the execution was terrible. It's beyond awkward even to walk back and forth. The platforming is one of the worst in all gaming. Especially the spinning platforms...it hurts even today.
I really wish this game was better. A side scrolling, fighting game in the MK universe would be dope. But instead we got this turd. Avoid.
I mean I get it. They wanted to transfer the MK gameplay in a side scrolling game. But holy hell the execution was terrible. It's beyond awkward even to walk back and forth. The platforming is one of the worst in all gaming. Especially the spinning platforms...it hurts even today.
I really wish this game was better. A side scrolling, fighting game in the MK universe would be dope. But instead we got this turd. Avoid.
Este juego es como tener cáncer. Es horrible la experiencia y no todos llegan al final, pero si lo lográs vas a tener la satisfacción de superar una fase (terminal) en la historia del gaming. Si tenés la oportunidad de jugarlo, dejala pasar
Пока что единственный и лучший платформер во франшизе MK
Iconic and memorable only for how dreadful it is. The cutscenes are campy but interesting, and overall it's a fun game to have a laugh at. The actual play experience is mundane at the best of times but mostly frustrating.
I'd rather have a bad game than a mediocre game.
And rest assured Mortal Kombat Mythologies is bad as hell.
And rest assured Mortal Kombat Mythologies is bad as hell.
alright, i fucked with the idea of a 2d platformer that takes advantage of fighting game mechanics
even something jank like this that controls the way it does
the closest thing i can think of is the subspace emmisary mode from ssbb but i'm sure something else does this idea justice too
i hope so mainly because this game is fucking trash
like i said, it's not really the controls
but they aren't good either
this feels exactly like taking the movement of mk3 and putting it into a 2d platformer because that is what it is
there are a few obvious flaws, two of which being that you can't really do fine control of your jumping (because this is mk style controls and not a more modern anime fighter or what have you that would feel better) and there's not a great solution for locking onto targets
the latter of which the game tries to solve with a button that manually chooses which direciton you face
except your inputs aren't consistently responsive when it comes to anything other than punching something, so not only do you not always turn when you want
but you have enemies that can and will take advantage of you fucking around with just turning
i was playing on very easy (i knew this game's reputation) and the first level was me dying over and over just trying to figure out how this game was gonna opperate
but hey, i did! after that the controls honestly weren't that big of an issue
it's jank but whether it was me being better at doing it or the game mysteriously getting better at auto rotating your guy to kick a dude in the face, something clicked and i got over it
so yeah, that isn't the issue
nah it's everything else
this is one of the cheapest games i've ever played
we're running with a lives and continue system which inherently there is nothing wrong with
in the game's options you can give yourself up to six lives and four continues iirc, idk i'm not booting it up to check again
point is you get a decent amount
this will go by very quickly
now, i've said before that i suck at fighting games - platformers however are my shit
so when i say that if i didn't have save states i'd probably still be on the second level i mean i'd be hard stuck
this game kills you so god damn fast
enemies (again, i was playing on very easy) can easily cheap you out with sweep spamming and other annoying bullshit that isn't so much hard to counter as it is just really annoying to deal with
once you start getting abilities this is less of an issue, but it never quite goes away
you can spam freeze somebody (even bosses sometimes), which IS funny
but what isn't is when the moment you open a fucking door they just rock your shit for no good reason
sometimes they do, sometimes they don't! it seems to me we're working with input reading ai here which isn't out of character for mk but it is absolutely fucking abysmal in a single player action platformer
this is glaringly obvious with the bosses which seem designed specifically around you abusing this fact
the second level boss's primary method of killing you is tossing you off the stage and killing you instantly
did i mention that if you continue you will restart the level
and you'll never guess what happens when you run out of continues, i won't either because i didn't find out
i used savestates and if you play this you should too, i'm not risking the chance of this bullshit ass game taking me back to the very fucking beginning of it or making me reload a save that has a fucking password system despite saving to the memory card in the year of our lord 1997
maybe it does just let you reload the game! that would make sense, but like i said
i'll never know
because again, this game kills you so fucking fast
every hazard can kill you and it can kill you very quickly
the second level is entirely about putting you in situations where if you fuck up once you are sent back to a checkpoint
checkpoints are seemingly reasonable given level lengths (it shouldn't shock you to know that this is a relatively short game) but again
death is inevitable, it is quick and swift but the pain lingers
you know that boss i mentioned? if you drain his health bar he goes into a last attack mode that will kill you instantly if it lands
you have three options of recourse:
run, run and run but not too hard so you don't fall off the stage
spam your slide move if you have it (you should)
but those two methods are very inconsistent, no see what you're meant to do is go to the ledge of the stage and grab onto it
how? i have no idea, i did the former on accident
i KNEW what the game wanted me to do before hand and i went exactly where i needed to go but it didn't work
i feel like it was luck that i survived but it might not have been
the game conditions the player to expect deaths and expect them quick so i just assume most shit will kill me
which isn't always the case! the third level has pits that sometimes has goodies
and you'll never know unless you jump into one
but if you guess wrong you just die
so why the fuck would you ever try it without savestates or something
and listen, i like hard games, but i fucking hate bullshit ones like this
and the level design isn't even inspired enough to make it enjoyable
the reason i stopped playing wasn't because i got too frustrated, it's because i got really bored
by the time i hit the fourth level (water temple LOL) i noticed that it was a series of what looked like sewer pipes that all looked exactly the same
so i looked up a gameplay walkthrough, skimmed through it to see if i was missing anything, realized i wasn't and stopped playing
except there is ONE saving grace, one little nugget of cool that is worth this game's existence
the cutscenes are funny
it's cheap camp that hits, it's basic as hell and there isn't a lot of it but that means you can just look them up on youtube and not have to play this thing
which is absolutely the best way to go about things
this is a weirdly ambitious project that didn't even commit to its ambitions enough to make a game that was interesting to go through and i think that's the game's biggest flaw
ninja gaiden for the nes is bullshit but i like it and still consider it a good game
it feels good to control and it's not just the same closed off corridor over and over again
i am easy to please and i can handle unfair games
this is a bullshit arcade game in sheep's clothing, but instead of your money all your gonna wast is your time and that's significantly more valuable in the long term
even something jank like this that controls the way it does
the closest thing i can think of is the subspace emmisary mode from ssbb but i'm sure something else does this idea justice too
i hope so mainly because this game is fucking trash
like i said, it's not really the controls
but they aren't good either
this feels exactly like taking the movement of mk3 and putting it into a 2d platformer because that is what it is
there are a few obvious flaws, two of which being that you can't really do fine control of your jumping (because this is mk style controls and not a more modern anime fighter or what have you that would feel better) and there's not a great solution for locking onto targets
the latter of which the game tries to solve with a button that manually chooses which direciton you face
except your inputs aren't consistently responsive when it comes to anything other than punching something, so not only do you not always turn when you want
but you have enemies that can and will take advantage of you fucking around with just turning
i was playing on very easy (i knew this game's reputation) and the first level was me dying over and over just trying to figure out how this game was gonna opperate
but hey, i did! after that the controls honestly weren't that big of an issue
it's jank but whether it was me being better at doing it or the game mysteriously getting better at auto rotating your guy to kick a dude in the face, something clicked and i got over it
so yeah, that isn't the issue
nah it's everything else
this is one of the cheapest games i've ever played
we're running with a lives and continue system which inherently there is nothing wrong with
in the game's options you can give yourself up to six lives and four continues iirc, idk i'm not booting it up to check again
point is you get a decent amount
this will go by very quickly
now, i've said before that i suck at fighting games - platformers however are my shit
so when i say that if i didn't have save states i'd probably still be on the second level i mean i'd be hard stuck
this game kills you so god damn fast
enemies (again, i was playing on very easy) can easily cheap you out with sweep spamming and other annoying bullshit that isn't so much hard to counter as it is just really annoying to deal with
once you start getting abilities this is less of an issue, but it never quite goes away
you can spam freeze somebody (even bosses sometimes), which IS funny
but what isn't is when the moment you open a fucking door they just rock your shit for no good reason
sometimes they do, sometimes they don't! it seems to me we're working with input reading ai here which isn't out of character for mk but it is absolutely fucking abysmal in a single player action platformer
this is glaringly obvious with the bosses which seem designed specifically around you abusing this fact
the second level boss's primary method of killing you is tossing you off the stage and killing you instantly
did i mention that if you continue you will restart the level
and you'll never guess what happens when you run out of continues, i won't either because i didn't find out
i used savestates and if you play this you should too, i'm not risking the chance of this bullshit ass game taking me back to the very fucking beginning of it or making me reload a save that has a fucking password system despite saving to the memory card in the year of our lord 1997
maybe it does just let you reload the game! that would make sense, but like i said
i'll never know
because again, this game kills you so fucking fast
every hazard can kill you and it can kill you very quickly
the second level is entirely about putting you in situations where if you fuck up once you are sent back to a checkpoint
checkpoints are seemingly reasonable given level lengths (it shouldn't shock you to know that this is a relatively short game) but again
death is inevitable, it is quick and swift but the pain lingers
you know that boss i mentioned? if you drain his health bar he goes into a last attack mode that will kill you instantly if it lands
you have three options of recourse:
run, run and run but not too hard so you don't fall off the stage
spam your slide move if you have it (you should)
but those two methods are very inconsistent, no see what you're meant to do is go to the ledge of the stage and grab onto it
how? i have no idea, i did the former on accident
i KNEW what the game wanted me to do before hand and i went exactly where i needed to go but it didn't work
i feel like it was luck that i survived but it might not have been
the game conditions the player to expect deaths and expect them quick so i just assume most shit will kill me
which isn't always the case! the third level has pits that sometimes has goodies
and you'll never know unless you jump into one
but if you guess wrong you just die
so why the fuck would you ever try it without savestates or something
and listen, i like hard games, but i fucking hate bullshit ones like this
and the level design isn't even inspired enough to make it enjoyable
the reason i stopped playing wasn't because i got too frustrated, it's because i got really bored
by the time i hit the fourth level (water temple LOL) i noticed that it was a series of what looked like sewer pipes that all looked exactly the same
so i looked up a gameplay walkthrough, skimmed through it to see if i was missing anything, realized i wasn't and stopped playing
except there is ONE saving grace, one little nugget of cool that is worth this game's existence
the cutscenes are funny
it's cheap camp that hits, it's basic as hell and there isn't a lot of it but that means you can just look them up on youtube and not have to play this thing
which is absolutely the best way to go about things
this is a weirdly ambitious project that didn't even commit to its ambitions enough to make a game that was interesting to go through and i think that's the game's biggest flaw
ninja gaiden for the nes is bullshit but i like it and still consider it a good game
it feels good to control and it's not just the same closed off corridor over and over again
i am easy to please and i can handle unfair games
this is a bullshit arcade game in sheep's clothing, but instead of your money all your gonna wast is your time and that's significantly more valuable in the long term
menos pior do q falam, longe de ser bom
My bought this game as a kid thinking it was the same mortal kombat my friends had. Got home and had the worst time I've ever had playing a game. Couldn't even beat the first level. I felt bad that I even bought it.
chegar ate o final foi um desafio
This game was recommended to me by a few friends of mine (Thanks Marc, Kevin, Shaun, and Noah), but like most games I didn't know what I was getting into prior to playing. I start the game and I'm immediately introduced to Mortal Kombat Sidescroller...
Through out the time I played I was very confused on how to actually control my character and how to avoid the pillars at the beginning of the game...if anything I was more annoyed that there's a 1 hit death gimmick on the "first level". I don't know if that was on purpose or if I was supposed to know what to do as soon as I saw it...but I whole heartedly didn't appreciate it...I barely got far in the game, and I regret playing it...Mortal Kombat shouldn't be a sidescroller oh my lord..
Through out the time I played I was very confused on how to actually control my character and how to avoid the pillars at the beginning of the game...if anything I was more annoyed that there's a 1 hit death gimmick on the "first level". I don't know if that was on purpose or if I was supposed to know what to do as soon as I saw it...but I whole heartedly didn't appreciate it...I barely got far in the game, and I regret playing it...Mortal Kombat shouldn't be a sidescroller oh my lord..