Mortal Kombat Deception

It Will Konsume You!

NA release: 28th February 2005
EU release: N/A
JP release: N/A
Developer: Midway
Publisher: Midway
NGC Magazine Score: N/A
Mods Used: Widescreen Code

It’s kind of crazy how the perception of fighting games changed in one generation. With the N64 and PS1, people were enjoying finally having home console ports that were on par with the arcade releases. But as this wore off, and arcades themselves went into decline, providing an authentic arcade experience wasn’t enough, so they had to try new things. The previous Mortal Kombat added a mission mode and this expands upon it.

Now it takes the form of an RPG. You walk around, talk to NPCs, find hidden objects to buy upgrades and the like. Sometimes you’ll even need to wait for a certain time (you can fast forward time) to progress. You can also punch random NPCs. Some warn you about consequences, but others will drop keys and other items. The missions themselves have you performing specific combos, but I’m so bad at getting the timing right that I could only make it past a couple of them.

Another mode is Kombat Chess. You move pieces like regular chess but when you take an opponent, you have to defeat them in a Mortal Kombat fight. The piece that gets taken will lose some health before the battle, so there’s still an advantage. An interesting additional mode and a fun way to play the game. Some pieces even have specific abilities – the shifter will copy the opponent’s character, for example.

It also contains a puzzle mode. You have to make areas of specific colours and then add a matching MK symbol to trigger it. It’s a fun puzzle game, although I’ve played ones of this type before – the flash game that was used to advertised Sonic Heroes has the same mechanic, but there are probably much earlier examples. As you play, chibi versions of Mortal Kombat characters will fight below you.

Trying new things is certainly a good thing, and the modes here are great ways to extend the game. A more refined RPG mode seems like it would be perfect for the series going forward, but I don’t think it went in that direction.

Fun

But don’t be misled by the overly positive score below. As despite the fact that I enjoyed the game thoroughly, and was impressed by its replayablity and its depth, it’s still not recommended for everyone. Japanese 2D fighting elitists or hardcore Tekken addicts may not be able to accept it — and that’s fine, personal tastes are personal tastes.
Jeremy Dunham and Matt Casamassina, IGN

Remake or remaster?

A Mortal Kombat Kollection volume 2 would be good.

Official Ways to get the game

There’s no official way to get Mortal Kombat Deception.