	Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks
	Developer: Midway Publisher: Midway Release Date: Out Now Players: 1-2	Words By:
Oh no! Not another Mortal Kombat game! I thought. It really wasn’t that good when it first came out, after the initial shock of the fighters being "photo-realistic" (although you wouldn’t admit you called the graphics that if you saw them now) the game was rather weak compared to what Capcom offered. But hold on, before you click back on your browser, you may be surprised to learn that this is no ordinary Mortal Kombat game, and it also happens to be rather good too… For starters, this isn’t a one-on-one fighting game like you would probaly expect. This is a scrolling beat ‘em up, with multiple characters on screen, and lots of space to fight in. From the beginning, you have two characters to choose from; Kung Lao, and Liu Kang. Later in the game as the story continues you will unlock the ability to play as other characters. The story, as with all other fighting games, is rather weak and pointless, as all the gamer cares about his jumping into a game and beating people up. But here goes anyway: The Wu Shi academy (where all the warriors fight) has been invaded by the evil Baraka and his Tarkatan gang. They are trying to take over Earthrealm, and break the rules of Mortal Kombat. Shang Tsung is of course behind it all, so Raiden sends off his best men to kill the bad guys and keep Earthrealm a nice peaceful place (where people beat each other up all day incidentally). The Kontrols (yes, that’s how they spell it in the manual) are really good, and very responsive. Basic movement is of course with the left stick, then you have jump on ‘cross’, quick attack on ‘square’, and power attacks on ‘circle’. Beyond this are throws and the Fatality moves on the shoulder buttons. You can string nigh-on endless attacks together when battling with many enemies, getting 100+ combos. The more damage and enemies you hit, the more you fill up your 'Fatality' gauge. When this hits maximum, you are able to pull off a Fatality move. These are executed by pressing L1, then a series of button combinations. If you do it right, you’ll get a cut scene showing the (very) bloody move, and you will gain EXP points. These can be used to buy new moves for your character. Along the way you can pick up weapons such as swords, which can cut enemies up in half, splattering blood everywhere. Shaolin Monks has some rather neat looking environments to fight in, and some are very reminiscent of stages from previous Mortal Kombat games. The first one you’ll notice is a pit with lots of spikes on the ground. High up in the air is a bridge, and it looks very similar to one of the stages in the original game. You don’t seem to find the Lizard character at the bottom of the pit this time though. You can use the environment to your advantage, and throw the enemies onto the spikes, which is both satisfying and bloody. Along with fighting parts, there are also platforming sections, and even very light puzzle elements too. The latter usually being something like an object you have to break, which will in turn open up a gate further ahead of you in the level. The platforming sections aren’t too bad, although the dreaded camera causes issues as you can rarely judge the arc of your jump, and you cannot run and jump very accurately either. You are able to move the camera around of course, but it’s still not ideal. Thankfully the camera is perfectly behaved for the fighting sections of the game, where it gives a traditional 2D side-on view. The game has a two-player Ko-op mode, which plays really well, and it has an interesting twist too - both characters share the same energy bar. If one of you dies, you both have to start again. This means that you have to look out for each other, and really work as a team and stick together, instead of just going at other enemies and leaving your friend on his own. Why has nobody done this before? - It’s a great idea. Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks is a very pretty game, with really well detailed main characters with good animations. The enemies look great too, although not quite as slick (which is understandable as there are more of them to be drawn at any one time). The levels you play through look great, and are well varied, and there is some really nice effects going on throughout. Scrolling beat-em-ups seem to be growing in popularity at the moment, which is great. Developers such as Capcom and Namco are both offering something for the genre. I haven’t played the Namco game yet, but I have had the opportunity to play what Capcom are offering, and to be honest I think this is the first time I have ever preferred a Midway fighting game to a Capcom game. Quite unbelievable, in fact. If you’re a gamer who still enjoys fighting games, and miss the old 16-bit classics like Final Fight and Streets of Rage, you should definitely consider picking Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks up, I think you’ll be impressed.