Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero

Mortal Kombat Mythologies:
Sub-Zero
Developer(s) Midway Games (PS)
Avalanche Software (N64)
Publisher(s) Midway Games
Director(s) Dimitrios Tianis
Bill O'Neil
Producer(s) John Tobias
Dimitrios Tianis
Michael Gottlieb
Designer(s) Carlos Pesina
Artist(s) John Tobias
Joshua Y. Tsui
Carlos Pesina
Composer(s) Dan Forden
Series Mortal Kombat
Platform(s) PlayStation, Nintendo 64
Release date(s)

PlayStation

  • NA: October 1, 1997
  • EU: December 2, 1997

Nintendo 64

  • NA: December 8, 1997
  • EU: February 12, 1998
Genre(s) Action-adventure, beat 'em up, platform
Mode(s) Single-player

Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero is a 1997 action-adventure game of the fighting game series Mortal Kombat. It is the first Mortal Kombat game to feature side-scrolling gameplay. It was released for the PlayStation and Nintendo 64. Mythologies is a prequel set prior to the events of the tournament in the original Mortal Kombat. The storyline centers on the ninja, Sub-Zero. In the story he is asked to find an amulet by the sorcerer Quan Chi. The player controls Sub-Zero in multiple stages as he faces multiple enemies trying to eliminate him.

The PlayStation version features live-action cutscenes, but the Nintendo 64 version of the game replaced the live-action cutscenes with still images of such, due to limited storage space on the cartridge. The game has been panned by video game publications due to a poor transition from fighting games to an action-adventure genre and has been labeled as one of the worst Mortal Kombat games.

Gameplay

Although Mythologies is classified as an action-adventure game, its play controls are very similar to the 2D Mortal Kombat fighting games. The player has four attack buttons, along with a block button and a run button like in Mortal Kombat 3. The player controls Sub-Zero as they would in a fighting game, including the use of command-based special moves, to fight enemies and venture through levels. A "turn" button is used to change the direction Sub-Zero is facing, while an "action" button is used to pick up or use items. The player also has access to a status screen which keeps tracks of the player's inventory, experience points, and special moves they gain during the game.

The player begins the game with a small health gauge and a limited number of extra lives. As the player progresses through the game, they can gain experience points by performing combos against enemies, which are then used to increase their character's strength and gain access to special moves. An "ice meter" will appear after the player begins to acquire special moves. Special moves requires ice power in order to be performed. Health and ice power can be replenish by picking up items (although the ice meter will gradually replenish itself over time as well). The player will also need to retrieve key items. Passwords are used to keep track of the player's progress.

Plot

The story is set before the events that took place in the original Mortal Kombat and follows the Lin Kuei assassin Sub-Zero hired by the sorcerer Quan Chi to steal a map of elements from a Shaolin temple. Battling through the Shaolin monks who guarded the map, Sub-Zero faces his rival, Scorpion from the Shirai Ryu clan who was also hired by Quan Chi. Sub-Zero kills Scorpion and retrieves the map. Back at the headquarters of the Lin Kuei, Sub-Zero delivers the map to Quan Chi, who repays the Lin Kuei by eliminating all the members of the Shirai Ryu, the Lin Kuei's rival clan. Retaining the Lin Kuei's services, Quan Chi has Sub-Zero follow the map to the Temple of Elements, where an amulet of "sentimental value" was resting.[1]

Sub-Zero reaches the temple and went through its many challenges and obstacles, eliminating the gods of Wind, Earth, Water, and Fire that protected the amulet. Just as Sub-Zero reaches out for it, Quan Chi takes the amulet, saying that it was actually the source of power for a fallen Elder God named Shinnok. Quan Chi disappears through a portal, and the thunder god Raiden accuses Sub-Zero, ordering him to go to the Netherealm to retrieve the amulet.[2]

Sub-Zero is sent to the Netherealm but is trapped in the Prison of Souls by Quan Chi's guards. There, he is met by the undead spectre of his archnemsis, Scorpion, who blames Sub-Zero for the destruction of his clan and family. Sub-Zero once again kills Scorpion and escapes. He then fights Quan Chi's underlings: Kia, Sareena, and Jataaka. Retrieving their transportation crystals, he is able to get to Quan Chi's fortress. Sub-Zero defeats the three of them and goes to Quan Chi's room. The fight against Quan Chi either ends with Sub-Zero's victory or Sareena finishing Quan Chi. As Sareena pleads to escape from the Netherealm, she is killed by Shinnok. Sub-Zero steals the amulet from Shinnok and escapes through a portal created by Raiden, and delivers the amulet to the god.[3] Returning to the Lin Kuei headquarters, Sub-Zero is once again hired by another sorcerer named Shang Tsung to compete in a tournament called Mortal Kombat.

Characters

Development

The making of Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero spanned about 14 months from start to finish. The main design team was located at Midway's Chicago offices and consisted of five artists, two programmers and a sound designer. The graphics in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero were created using many different techniques. While Sub-Zero and many of the more humanoid characters were created using Mortal Kombat's trademark of digitizing live actors, many of the more ominous enemies as well as all of the backgrounds were done in real time 3D. This combination supposedly provides for a more realistic look than has ever been achieved in the previous Mortal Kombat games. Another addition to the Mortal Kombat universe was to use detailed cinematic sequences to help tell the story while the player progresses through the game. This was done by combining live actors with digital elements. The actors were taped in front of a green screen, and then they were digitally combined with 3D backdrops. The actual video shoot for these sequences took about a week to complete. The crew was kept to a minimum and the entire process from taping to post-production work took about a month.[5]

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
Game RevolutionD[6]
GameSpot7.5/10 (PS)[7]
4.9/10 (N64)[8]
IGN3.5/10 (PS)[9]

Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero received negative reviews from game publication companies,[10][11] with IGN stating "it may have been a good idea on paper, but as a game it's terrible."[9] GameSpot's Jeff Gerstmann was one of the few to give the PS1 port praise, writing, "Mythologies is a pretty amazing meld of fighting and platform jumping and is sure to please fans of Mortal Kombat and platform games alike."[7] However, the N64 version received a 4.9/10 rating: "This one is only for the hardcore MK fans who don't already own PlayStations."[8]

The game has been also panned in retrospective as one of the worst Mortal Kombat games of all time. Game Informer's feature "Replay" declared the game was "absolutely terrible" because all of its aspects.[12] In 2011, IGN's Daemon Hatfield listed it as one of the worst Mortal Kombat games of all time.[13] According to him, Midway had planned Mytholgies as a series but the overwhelming negative reception resulted in its cancellation.[14] Its cutscenes have also been criticized in UGO Networks' article "The Worst Cutscenes In Gaming History" based on its unconvincing acting and special effects.[15] 1UP.com referred to its cutscenes Mythologies as one of the ten biggest flaws from the franchise.[16] GamesRadar's Mikel Reparaz opined that while the concept of giving Sub-Zero was interesting based on his popularity, the game "ended up a terrible mess of ugly sprites, cheap deaths and a button you had to hit just to change the direction you were facing, and the less that’s said about it, the better."[17]

References

  1. ↑ Midway (1997). Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero. Midway. Sub-Zero: Fine... I get to the temple and then what? What's inside?/ Quan Chi: A small amulet... worthless to you, but... let's just say it has great sentimental value to me.
  2. ↑ Midway (1997). Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero. Midway. Raiden: Do you realize what you've done?? / Sub-Zero: I was just earning my living. / Raiden: Your clan's ignorance and greed will cost this entire realm. You must now set things straight. / Sub-Zero: Quan Chi could simply be a lunatic sorcerer. I've never heard of an elder god named Shinnok or of a place called the Netherealm. / Raiden: Well, you'd better start believing in both, because you're going to the Netherealm and you've going to bring the amulet back. We must act quickly. I have no dominion in the Netherealm... You are reality's only hope. / Sub-Zero: I'll do it, Thunder God... but only because I have no choice.
  3. ↑ Midway (1997). Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero. Midway. Sub-Zero: Here... the amulet. / Raiden: Impressive, Sub-Zero. Perhaps you will reconcile your reckless past after all.
  4. 1 2 Playstation Pocket Power Guide Unauthorized, 3, Prima, 1998, pp. 56, 57, ISBN 0-7615-1466-X
  5. ↑ "Behind the scenes". Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero official website (archive). Archived from the original on 1998-12-01. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
  6. ↑ "Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub Zero Review Review". Retrieved June 29, 2013.
  7. 1 2 Gerstmann, Jeff (October 1, 1997). "Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub Zero Review Review". Retrieved June 29, 2013.
  8. 1 2 Gerstmann, Jeff (February 3, 1998). "Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub Zero Review Review". Retrieved June 29, 2013.
  9. 1 2 "Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub Zero". 1 October 1997. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  10. ↑ "Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero for PlayStation - GameRankings".
  11. ↑ "Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero for Nintendo 64 - GameRankings".
  12. ↑ "Replay – Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero".
  13. ↑ Hatfield, Daemon (March 29, 2011). "The Best (And Worst) Mortal Kombat Games".
  14. ↑ Hatfield, Daemon (May 5, 2011). "The History of Mortal Kombat".
  15. ↑ Fahs, Travis (May 4, 2011). "The Worst Cutscenes In Gaming History".
  16. ↑ "The Top Ten Times Mortal Kombat Went Wrong". 1UP.com.
  17. ↑ Reparaz, Mikel (April 13, 2011). "The evolution of Scorpion and Sub-Zero". GamesRadar.
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