Mortal
Kombat Gold
STORY: Thousands
of years ago, during a war with the corrupt Elder God known as Shinnok,
Raiden was responsible for the death of an entire civilization. To avoid
a repeat of this event, as well as to protect all realms from Shinnok's
threat, Raiden waged a brutal campaign and, at a heavy price, exiled his
rival to a dark place known as the Netherealm.
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MK Gold adds a top row of
classic characters.
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REVIEW:
The successor to
Mortal Kombat 4 releasing only for the Sega
Dreamcast, MK Gold was one of the Dreamcast's original launch titles
available on September 9th, 1999. The sequel adds 5 classic characters to the
lineup. The new playable characters include: Cyrax, Mileena, Kitana, Kung Lao &
Baraka.
Each of the new
characters also show off their own new weapons, which they can pull out at any
time to attack their opponent's with. However, they function practically the
same as the weapons of the returning characters. Gold also adds a new weapon select option, and
features some new stages not seen
in the original installment. A Dreamcast
exclusive, MK Gold came out nearly 2 years after MK4's original arcade
release, and maintained everything the arcade version of MK4 had to offer.
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Not sure who
is getting the worse end of this...
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Unlike the previous console iterations of MK4,
Mortal Kombat Gold on Dreamcast features character model consisting of
3,000 polygons, the exact same as the arcade version of MK4. Some original levels were also reworked to take advantage
of the 3D processing power of the Dreamcast. While MK Gold had a noticeably
"sharp" appearance, the blocky character models, pixilated effects,
and bland textures & backgrounds failed to impress... especially since the
Sega Dreamcast was capable of much better visuals. Soul
Calibur, another launch title on the Dreamcast, was the prime example, and simply blew
MK Gold out
of the water visually (not to mention, gameplay-wise).
However, as a Mortal Kombat game, Gold has all the essentials....
brutal fatalities, laughable voice acting, awkward animations, and tons of
nostalgia value. 
It's Mortal Kombat after all. Though MK4 was impressive
when it hit arcades, the graphics style, animation style and gameplay engine didn't exactly age
well... even on the powerful Dreamcast. The gameplay is still very 2D and feels
very "last-gen". All in
all, MK Gold is really just MK4 with a new paint job and some new
characters... and in 1999, it would be considered a "mediocre"
fighting game at best.
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Dreamcast graphics. . .
. Midway: "Nailed it!"
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| Page Updated: |
April 22nd, 2021 |
| Developer(s): |
Midway |
| Publisher(s): |
Midway |
| Designer(s): |
Ed
Boon
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| Platform(s): |
Sega
Dreamcast
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| Release Date(s): |
September 9th, 1999 |
| Characters: |
Scorpion,
Sub
Zero, Johnny Cage, Liu
Kang,
Sonya Blade, Jax
Briggs,
Reiko,
Jarek,
Rayden,
Tanya,
Quan
Chi, Fujin,
Shinnok,
Reptile,
Kai,
Baraka,
Kung
Lao, Kitana,
Mileena,
Cyrax,
Sektor,
Noob
Saibot, Meat, Goro
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Featured Video:
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| Related Games: |
Mortal
Kombat 4, Mortal
Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal
Kombat 3, Mortal Kombat 3 Ultimate, MK: Deadly
Alliance, MK: Deception, MK: Armageddon, MK Trilogy, Mortal
Kombat VS DC Universe, Mortal Kombat 9, Mortal
Kombat X, Mortal Kombat 11, Street
Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Fatal
Fury: Wild Ambition, Final Fight: Revenge, Bloody
Roar 2, Dead or Alive 2, Toshinden
3, Toshinden 4, Ehrgeiz,
Bushido Blade 2, Plasma
Sword, Power Stone, Soul
Calibur, Tekken Tag Tournament |
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Gameplay
Engine
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6.5 / 10
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Story
/ Theme
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6.5 / 10
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Overall
Graphics
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6.5 / 10
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Animation
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6.5 / 10
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Music
/ Sound Effects
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6.5 / 10
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Innovation
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5.5 / 10
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Art Direction
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5.5 / 10
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Customization
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4.5 / 10
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Options / Extras
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6.0 / 10
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Intro / Presentation
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4.5 / 10
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Replayability / Fun
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7.0 / 10
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"Ouch" Factor
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8.0 / 10
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Characters
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7.5 / 10
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BOTTOM LINE
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6.5
/
10
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| Final
Words: |
For better or worse... MK Gold
is the definitive version of
Mortal Kombat 4. Now with 5 classic fan-favorite characters returning to the mix,
the roster felt more complete than the somewhat "lonely" feeling arcade version of MK4.
The good (or bad) news is... it's still 100% MK4 and everything that comes with it.
The visuals and gameplay of MK Gold were somewhat stale and definitely
looked "last gen" for 1999... especially when compared to that other big fighting game
launch title on Dreamcast, SoulCalibur.
In comparison, MK Gold was pretty embarrassing when put up against SoulCalibur.
In its best light, MK Gold still has a sense of silly humor and a unique brand of simplistic
gameplay that's worth a go-around. However, any serious fighting game player had
far better options on Sega Dreamcast.
~TFG
Webmaster |
@Fighters_Gen
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