Mortal Kombat 4 Game by Midway/Digital Eclipse Reviewed by The Avardancer Size: 8 Megabits (1 Megabyte.) Save: None. Released: 1998 (?) Works with: Any version of Gameboy Opening Snide Remarks: Hmm The game was released in 1998; but the title screen says 1997. Hmm. I was looking through the credits in the manual and I recognized "Jeff Frohwein". Word to Jeff. Well, the game is Mortal Kombat; but this time. It's in color and features "FMV" for the fatalities. It also features "Real Voice" and hidden codes and characters. One strange thing is that it shows Sonya Blade on the back of the box; but you can not play as her; or Johnny Cage. You can not play as a lot of the characters as well. There's about 10 characters. there's also variations of the game that are pretty cool too. Gameplay: Hmm. It's Mortal Kombat in name; but it plays fairly slow on a Gameboy Color. It plays FASTER on a Gameboy Pocket, or Super Gameboy. Hmm. The game is really short and kinda easy even on the highest difficulty level. The game is impaired by some faults and other qualms that will be discussed later on in this review. Believe it or not; the game features short 5 second FMV to show fatalities. But since the fatalities are FMV; they are always the same. For example; doing Reptile's fatality on Sub-Zero will look the same as the doing it on Tanya. (Don't read anything bad out of that last sentence.) This makes the game seem less replayable. It's more of a borrow and play game. The game LACKS a two player mode. :( It also seems rushed as the moves are overly simplified, and the endings are not planned out very well. The game also suffers from some Gameplay impairing GRAPHIC problems; which will be addressed in this next section. Graphics: The Gameboy Color enchancements are simple and COLOR DEPENDENT. The characters are not defined and the backgrounds are the same color as your character sometimes; which makes it hard to see where YOUR character is. The fatality animation runs smoothly on Gameboy Color and is BLACK AND WHITE. The FMV stutters on Super Gameboy. This is an incompatability in the game. The game actually looks pretty close to the Gameboy Color mode on the Super gameboy and features fairly good color pallettes, DEFINED characters, and a nice frame. Although the Fatality FMV stutters on Super Gameboy; the game still looks good on that. The character animation seems stiff on Gameboy Color; but runs smooth as butter on Gameboy, Gameboy Pocket, and Super Gameboy. Moves are fairly unimpressively animated compared to other games in these genre. The game does have large characters and fairly blank backgrounds. :/ This game is a mixed bag in the graphics department. It probably would have been better for Duran and Jeff to drop the Super Gameboy palletes and borders. Then they could have concentrated on making the Gameboy Color graphics better. While the FMV shows promise; the game feels rushed in to the market. Sadly, this is a game that should have been delayed by at least two months to improve the over-all graphics. Sound: The sound rings out really well on a Super Gameboy; but sounds really muted and muffled on Gameboy Color and normal Gameboy. Hmm. The sound made by hits sounds like a recording of the arcade noises. The voice is a big draw here and if it were just a little clearer it would be a fantastic addition. The game shows some promise; but it has lots of room for improvement. Music: Hmm. There's ONE song and it's muted and annoying. It also loops endlessly and feels out of place. Yuck. Jeff and Scott probably were rushed through or concentrated TOO much on the Sound and FMV. This is something that needs to be addressed if they do another Mortal Kombat game. Play Control: Play control is responsive... sometimes. The game features simplified moves; but the control actually requires you to delay between controller functions to execute moves. That is bad. You character will not always punch or block when you press block. The control set up is a bit akward at first and there is a DEFINATE learning curve. The game needs some polish or a new game engine. Final Analysis: The game holds a lot of potential; but it doesn't leave up to it's potential. Sadly, this game seems rushed. I have faith in the abilities of Digital Eclipse and Midway; but this game strains that faith. The game is a decent purchase ONLY if you are a fan of the series; otherwise you can pick up a better game. This game is the fastest playing in the series. It also looks to be the most incomplete. On a positive note; if the development team learns more about the GBC and learns from the mistakes made in this game; than Mortal Kombat 5 could be an awe inspiring game. Score Gameplay: **** Graphics: *** Sound: ** Music: 0 Play Control: * Total: 10 out of 25 Final Score: 40% Currently Known Codes: Hmm. I need information on how to play as Shinnok. But here's the codes I could dig up and discover! The codes are entered on the screen with the pictures by pushing UP on the control pad the number of times that is shown for each space. You have about 10 seconds to input each code and only one code may be used at a time. Except for the "Enable Reptile" code; they only last for one match. 192234 = Enable Reptile. 100100 = Disable Throws 205205 = Fight Reptile 707000 = You have 1/4 energy 033000 = You have 1/2 energy 000707 = Computer has 1/4 energy 000033 = Computer has 1/2 energy 688422 = Dark Kombat 987123 = No Power bars 985125 = Pyscho Kombat 020020 = Disable blocks More continues = On the "Choose Your Destiny" screen where you choose what difficulty wou want; press UP on the control pad to change the amount of continues you have. Reptile's Moves Down, Toward, Punch = Acid Spit Away, Toward, Punch = Dashing Punch Fatality = Stand away from your enemy and hold down PUNCH and KICK; now walk up to your opponent and press UP. Other character moves are printed in the game's manual.