Developer: Midway
Publisher: Midway

Genre: Fighting

Year released: 2002 (GCN, PS2, X-BOX, GBA)

Number of Players: 1-2 simultaneously

In Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (a.k.a. Mortal Kombat 5), Shang Tsung and Quan Chi have teamed up and have formed an alliance. The Deadly Alliance has eliminated Shao Kahn and MK main man, Liu Kang, and are ready for more. Raiden the Thunder god has summoned Earth’s strongest heroes. Will they succeed in stopping this Deadly Alliance?

Visuals: (97%)
The graphics are gorgeous. None of that digitized graphics crap that was featured in Mortal Kombat through Mortal Kombat Trilogy. The graphics are a huge step up from MK4’s 3D graphics. Returning fighters such as Scorpion, Johnny Cage, Reptile, etc. look a lot better than they did in the past. Each fighter is extremely detailed. Hair, headbands, clothes, or anything of the like sways in the wind on specific stages. The stages look awesome as well. Something cool is that when your character is cut or is hit a lot, they will bleed. As they are beaten more and more, their face will become bloody and bruised.

Sounds: (84%)
There are a few good sounding tunes, but for the most part, the background music in MK: DA is just about average. Nothing really stands out. Characters don’t talk much either; they only say a few grunts and such. Scorpion, however, once again has his “Get over here!” spear attack.

Gameplay: (93%)
In MK: DA, each character has three different fighting styles. The first two are martial arts stances, while the third stance involves your character's weapon. Each of the three stances has its own distinct moves, but each character has special moves that can be used while in any stance, like Sub-Zero’s Ice Ball, for example. Combos are back and they are no longer like the extremely cheap dial-a-combos in the past MK games. They still are easier to do, but require specific buttons that are pressed in a specific order. MK’s famous Fatalities are back, and look extremely cool (and gory!). It’s a relief that they are much easier to do and you actually have some time to pull them off. After your opponent is defeated, you can go into a “Fatality” stance, which prevents your character from moving around while trying to pull off your Fatality. The Computer AI sometimes can be cheap, pulling off multi-hitting combos and countering all of your attacks. Control on the GCN version is decent, but you are forced to use the small Control Pad.

Replayability: (92%)
One of the coolest things about MK: DA is the Krypt. After winning fights or completing certain things, you win Koins that are used to buy Koffins in the Krypt. You can also win Koins by completing each character’s Konquest mode, which is like a tutorial. You can unlock things such as new costumes, stages, videos, art, secret characters, and a lot more.

Personal Score: (93%)

Bottom Line:
MK: DA makes all of the past MKs look like crap. It is a deep fighter that is recommended for any of the systems its on. MK fans and MK newbies alike should enjoy MK: DA.

Final Score: (92%) A-

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