Shaolin Monks sullies example set by Mortal Kombat II
Most that know me, know GI or anything about my love for Mortal Kombat know that I can’t stand adventure shoved into the series. I’ve stated it numerous times in this issue and at various times throughout GI’s history that while I’ve grown to like 3D era Mortal Kombat, any Konquest mode attached to the game is going to be a turn off for me. I also don’t care a whole lot for Mythologies for obvious reasons. And so it is that we’ve run into the dread whole entire adventure game in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. Surprise, surprise: I don’t like it.
Shaolin Monks takes the titular duo comprised of Liu Kang and Kung Lao and deposits them in an alternate universe depiction of Mortal Kombat II. A lot of things stay the same as the actual game that we know and adore at GI, which is good. There was no need to tamper with the story of MKII, and it was a great idea to revisit the series’ golden years. There’s nothing like nostalgia when it comes to establishing the legitimacy of a potential spinoff idea.
Running around with Liu Kang and/or Kung Lao is one of the first things that I don’t like about the game. It’s better than Mythologies ever hoped to be, but it’s not by much. The movement feels clunky, which a fighting game that’s trying to be an adventure game is bound to do. While moves are clearly explained and it feels satisfying to pull off combos, killing enemies takes entirely too long. It felt like Brandon and I were doing the same high-damage combo repeatedly for about 20 seconds for each enemy we faced. When there’s five enemies onscreen at any given time, it’s a lot and it takes too long.
While I don’t care for the gameplay, there is fun in the presentation. MKII is my favorite fighting game, and I love seeing references to it. Since this is a retelling of the game, all of the aesthetics come from that, and it’s a glorious sight to behold. Seeing the Air Kombat stage or my favorite in The Armory in fully realized interactable glory brings joy to my old MK-loving heart. It really doesn’t get any better than this and I wish there were more of it, even after the end and the credits roll.
And since the game references the good old days of MKII, the soundtrack is an homage as well. Hearing The Armory in a nicely done remix is audible greatness. I usually don’t care for remixes, but this is one of the best. The ambiance tracks heard during exploration are also fine and I expect them to be serviceable. They get the job done and do invoke a certain nostalgic feeling also.
But with the small joy I experienced, there are massive problems afoot. The platforming – a major component of the game – is absolute garbage. Several sections in the beginning of the game are super frustrating solely because the platforming elements don’t work as well as they should. Not helping matters is the terrible camera system. Though the co-op aspect is fun, it stops being a joyride the moment leaps of faith are required for both characters. My making the leap to a platform shouldn’t require my partner to make it, too, while we equally can’t judge what’s going on because the camera is blinding us. That’s just poor design. And the checkpoint system is a travesty. It’s one of the worst that I’ve worked with in a game that requires them. I questioned the point of a save system if, when I or my partner dies, we start before the save took place with no option to reload from a save point. That defeats the point of the save! Add to the fact that we share a life bar along with frustrating platforming and you have a recipe for foolishness that I’m glad we’ve moved past with modern gaming.
Though I’m nostalgic about Shaolin Monks and wanted to love it so much because it’s a tribute to my favorite fighting game, I can’t look past a lot of things going on here. Coming back to the best time in the long rich life of Mortal Kombat was a smart move: It’s well done and well regarded. But everything else around it is a mess that needs cleanup and doesn’t hold up well now. It might have been acceptable when this hit shelves in 2005 but it’s a massive disappointment to go back and attempt to play this only to be reminded that it wildly misses the mark despite the pedigree it engenders by treading on the MKII story and legacy.
Score: 2 out of 5