Battle of the Ports - Mortal Kombat 神拳降臨伝説 モータルコンバット (Show #53) 60fps

[@LeftyPem]

the DOS port includes custom soundfonts for the MIDI playback. The silly music in emulation is due to the proper fonts not being used. I think its interesting. Lounge remix!

[@alexojideagu]

sounds like echo the dolphin music

[@TrainmasterCurt]

Andrew Pemrich So with the custom soundfonts, It’s essentially arcade perfect?

[@KillThad]

@@TrainmasterCurt Not exact, but pretty close. It's only slightly different due to it just being different hardware.

[@Ezyasnos]

I tried it on a Pentium 2 in pure dos mode with an original MT32, and it sounds exactly the same. I suspect this machine being too fast, as I get an overflow error message on the MT32 screen.

[@Lightblue2222]

Yea go search youtube for the dos version. It sounds great. Not like this at all.

[@PlasmaSnake369]

It would be interesting to see what a modern 2D fighting game would look like with digitized sprites of real people in like 4K resolution. The original arcade mortal Kombat still has a very convincing look to the people on certain displays

[@robertcetl7358]

I had the DOS version back in the day and I can attest that it had proper Adlib/Soundblaster music, not what you hear in this video.

[@Tempora158]

GOG.com just started selling the DOS version of the first three Mortal Kombat games in a bundle. The first MK in the bundle is the CD version, so the sound and music are directly from the arcade game, unlike the floppy version shown this video.

[@dunnono00]

You know, the Genesis port had its fair share of problems, mostly in graphics/animation, but I've always loved how damn moody the music is. There was like a sinister, even threatening, undercurrent to the tunes. They skimped out on the SegaCD port though, graphically speaking. Like in that first stage, they added more monks (Mortal Kombat on Sega CD! Now with 42% more monks!), but didn't bother with the mountain background or show all of Tsung's throne. If I remember correctly, it's the same story with MKII, just slapping that CD audio and an extra detail or two on what was basically the Genesis version.

[@RetroCore]

True but at least there are some improvements. A lot of western Mega CD games are basically a direct cartridge port with crappy FMV and CD audio.

[@ExtremeWreck]

@@RetroCore Yeah, stuff like that is why the US has a bad reputation for video game development still. They sadly can't escape it.

[@ExtremeWreck]

@Rudy OH TRULY DUDE!!! The Genesis feel is so incredibly good. Matt Furniss did a really good job handling it.

[@josephfrye7342]

@@ExtremeWreck I guess that is why Americans are idiots tsk tsk

[@josephfrye7342]

@@RetroCore at least I got a pc ms dos thing version

[@BlockABoots]

I never noticed it much growing up but the lack of resolution on the 16 bit ports when compared to the Arcade versions is really evident when watching them back to back but back in the day i swear they looked almost identical.....only now do i know this is nowhere near true!

[@RetroCore]

I hear you. I felt the same way when putting this video together. The console ports are so much lower. I guess it's obvious but back in the day I always thought the SNES version looked arcade perfect.

[@jesuszamora6949]

ben owen Probably a bottleneck in the SCD hardware. Everything still had to go through the Genesis' CPU. Not like they could have made the voices redbook audio without them lagging on that 1X CD drive, so it had to go through the Genesis hardware.

[@capcom23]

it's like arcade vs gameboy version. that's how big of a difference there is

[@vh9network]

BlockAboots bare in mind back then we weren't viewing the game on HD LED displays. The Standard definition CRT television masked a lot of the lower quality differences. Even on the Arcade the quality wasn't viewed like it is now because it too was fed to CRT. I still have 27" CRT television just so I can still enjoy my classic games the way they were intended to be viewed.

[@ralfvanbogaert3451]

It may have had the storage space, but not the RAM

[@solarflare9078]

I should've said this months ago, but I expect this video to grow because of AVGN.

[@someinterwebguy6452]

Great video. I knew Mortal Kombat was a gimmick game, but I remember renting the SNES version back in the day just so I could compare it to the Genesis version that I had played at a neighbors house. Eventually we all returned to Street Fighter 2/Turbo because it was a lot more fun. I always wondered what Mortal Kombat would have been like on the PC Engine, especially seeing what was possible with Street Fighter II CE.

[@RetroCore]

I bet if the PC Engine was popular in the states then we would have saw a PC Engine port. I'm surprised the Amiga got a version, let alone a pretty good version.

[@NightSprinter]

+Yakumo1975 The thing with the floppy release of the DOS version for "Roland" is that you needed an MT-32 synthesizer (or in my case, a CM-32L). Otherwise the MIDI music just sounds wrong. Plus, certain sound effects were played via the Roland as a custom instrument patch.

[@RetroCore]

NightSprinter Yeah, someone pointed that out. I never knew at the time of making this video.

[@NightSprinter]

Also, there was a second version for DOS that came with MK2 on CD (people have vids of it). The CD version of MK1 has all of the arcade music, making many consider it being the definitive non-compilation version. However, it is stupidly-rare.

[@RetroCore]

Yeah, someone mentioned that however I've not seen it myself. It must be really rare.

[@NightSprinter]

So, I just bought the 1+2+3 pack off GoG a while back. I can say that thankfully the version of 1 included is the CD port.has the actual arcade music, and supposedly missing frames from the floppy release.

[@bagacrunch]

It's amazing to see how far Mortal Kombat has come since mk1 to mkX.

[@alexhardline2208]

Except MKX sucks in terms of animation.

[@brianmartinez5453]

Have you try Mortal Kombat 11

[@ralfvanbogaert3451]

I distinctly remember having to fake interest in Mortal Kombat to avoid expulsion from my group of gamer friends, who were all obsessed with it

[@RetroCore]

Poor you. Ive always thought Mortal Kombat was crap and I always will. I can understand you when you say that you had to pretend to enjoy it.

[@ralfvanbogaert3451]

In all fairness, it can be decent, silly fun as a couch game with some friends in the same ironic way one can enjoy a cheap B-flick

[@RetroCore]

Maybe with friends it can be a laugh but as an actual game I find it very cheap.

[@helldog3105]

When it says roland for music, it means the MT-32, not the Sound Canvas. Therefore, it's not loading the MT-32 SysEx patches. Don't get me wrong, the music is still not great, but it doesn't sound like that.

[@RetroCore]

Mt-32, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks.

[@thedrunkmonkshow]

You're absolutely right in asking about the MSDOS sound...and it's even worse in emulation for some reason. There were two versions of the game and this one you are using is the floppy disk version. If you played the floppy disk version on a real machine it would use Adlib to play the music and Sound Blaster to play the digitized samples. That alone had a fantastic sound but then they decided to go the extra mile with a CD release. That CD one is the definitive version and completely crushes all other home ports. If you can get your hands on that one that's what you should demonstrate as the MSDOS version.

[@RetroCore]

Unfortunately I couldn't get the CD version that was hacked so I was left with the floppy. Saying that I guess I could have dubbed over the CD audio?

[@thedrunkmonkshow]

I was able to get the CD ISO of the game that I had was a kid. Let me see if I can experiment and get this running in DosBox and if it's successful and runs like how it did back in the day I'll let you know.

[@thedrunkmonkshow]

Retro Core Okay I was able to get it up and running and boy did it bring back memories!! Check your PM box as I just sent you an explanation on what to do.

[@RetroCore]

thanks. I'll check my PMs later on.

[@gillianseed4419]

i dont remember the dos sfx being like that but maybe im remembering wrong or it has something to do with the emulation setup, all i had was sound blaster compatible back then

[@gametourny4ever627]

When I was younger, I played both the Genesis and Super Nintendo ports. I originally played the Arcade at a bowling ally and was shocked by Kanos fatality. Of course I was only 8 or 9 at the time. I owned a Snes and rented the game later and was disappointed by the lack of blood and lame fatalities. Also, the gameplay seemed off. My friend had a genesis and I went to his house to play his version and although I thought the Snes looked better and the sound effects were better, his gameplay, music, and the blood code took his over the top. Later in life when I got a Sega Cd, I picked up that version and that is my favorite port to this day of original console ports. I love the music, extra frames of animation, blood already included, and video intros for each character. Music is great other than levels being rearranged. Also, extra details on the levels. The only annoyance is fighting Shang Tsung at the end but that is one battle and only at the end so it doesn’t come into play that often. Box art is definitely the best looking as well. That Sega Cd case looks great on the shelf.

[@reijiminato8762]

When I was living in Laguna, P.I., I remember seeing the NES "port" (Mortal Kombat VS Turbo 30) being previewed in a department store called Walter Mart (NOT Walmart, mind you). I thought that it was too good to be true. Years later, I rest my case.

[@RetroCore]

Walter Mart, a knock off store for a knock off game.

[@reijiminato8762]

Lol Exactly

[@vyperii]

The Megadrive version had the best music by far in my opinion, gameplay is between it and the Mega CD version...

[@Crystallums]

I think it was an exceptional game in its day! The only thing missing was the MD Arcade Edition, I think it is the best today. ❤

[@solarflare9078]

The SEGA CD version actually received VERY harsh feedback back in the day for its "lag times"

[@kathleendelcourt8136]

The Sega CD port is the best 16-bit port but with a major flaw: Shang Tsung. There's a 2 seconds load time everytime he switches to another character making this specific fight extremely annoying to play.

[@ximbablu]

Sensacional BOTP!!! Faz um do Samurai Spirits!!!! Continue fazendo esses vídeos, são ótimos!!! Parabéns!!!

[@jrs4516]

did you play the game on a real dos computer or dosbox? i had this game on my 486 with a soubdblaster pro it it sounded just like the arcade version. maybe slightly reduced sample rate but the same music. not whatever the heck is playing in your video.

[@RetroCore]

From the comments in this video it would seem the CD version has the correct sound. Not the floppy version.

[@jrs4516]

@@RetroCore just to throw a fly in your ointment... i had the floppy disk version. didn't even know it came out on CD. i had to type in copy protection passwords from the manual. those were the days....

[@malcolmar]

I have the Sega CD version and love it! It really is a great port despite all the hate it gets. Thanks for the video!

[@RetroCore]

No problem. Glad you like the video.

[@BIGGIEDEVIL]

Its a great port the game could have been so much better than it was and is

[@malcolmar]

@@BIGGIEDEVIL Agreed.

[@GameGameHeaven]

Although I'm a "Street Fighter guy", I love Mortal Kombat! It was a very well made game back in the day. Of course we all wanted to play it because of the blood and the fatalities but it was also fun to play (and different enough from Street Fighter). I have a very special place in my heart for the Mega Drive version. I like the darker and somewhat grainy colors and I love the music in this port. A few years back I bought the MCD version and MAN was I blown away. If I had had it as a kid ... So, a big THANK YOU for this BOTP! PS. Can we expect MKII? ;)

[@RetroCore]

I quite like the Mega CD port too. And yes, there will be a MK II Battle of the Ports in the future but not this month :)

[@BlockABoots]

Retro Core Ah nice the 32x version kicked arse!!!

[@GameGameHeaven]

Retro Core Awesome! Thank you (as always) :)

[@GameGameHeaven]

BlockABoots It was the best port back in the day, isn't it? Even better than the Saturn port (because of the loading times). I own the game but I never played this version, because I don't own a 32X (yet).

[@thefurthestmanfromhome1148]

Mortal Kombat on the Lynx was suggested to Atari Management by Chuck Ernst, but rejected as Atari felt they had Pitfighter and that was basically the same thing Thanks to Frank Gasking of GTW for the info

[@RetroCore]

Lol, Atari have always been fools.

[@thefurthestmanfromhome1148]

@@RetroCore blind, arrogant ones at that

[@rorydropkick]

Also, with the MS-Dos version there's gotta be some sorta error there. I remember my version sounding a lot better, but maybe because it was just using the Sound Blaster for music.

[@RetroCore]

Could be. It sounds like the music is basic midi. It can't be right.

[@Tempora158]

Retro Core The music is not "basic midi." The music sounds wrong in your DOS video is because you've configured the game to output Roland music without actually connecting a Roland MT-32 to your DOSBox. What you were hearing were music composed for the Roland MT-32 being played back via General MIDI (which is built into Windows) in your DOSBox setup, which is why the music sound completely wrong in your video. Roland =/= General MIDI and this game predates the existence of General MIDI. Playing back music composed for a Roland on a General MIDI device and vice-versa will give you incredibly wrong sounding music. If you don't have an actual Roland MT-32, use MUNT, which is a Roland MT-32 emulator that you can use to virtually connect to DOSBox and properly play back music composed for a Roland MT-32. This is needed for games released before the '90s, most notably the Sierra games.

[@RetroCore]

Tempora158 good information that will help me out in the future if I come across this issue again. Thanks.

[@Tempora158]

Retro Core Don't forget, like any hardware emulator, you need ROMs for MUNT to do something. Specifically, you'll need the Control ROM and PCM ROM from a Roland MT-32 to load into MUNT. The search engine is your friend for these two files. Also, MUNT uses a 32-bit driver, so only 32-bit DOSBox can see it. Letting you know in case you're using a 64-bit build of DOSBox and then you wonder why MUNT doesn't show up as an available MIDI device. Same rule applies when you're using an Sharp X68000 emulator for future videos. Lots of games for that system use the Roland MT-32, so make sure you're using the 32-bit version of the emulator for MUNT to be a choice as a MIDI device in the emulator.

[@gabrielloko30000]

9:50 Holheee sheeet i can't stop laughing with this. just hear the Battle cry of the Liu Kang...Ohh gosh

[@RichardCraig]

YES! I've been waiting for this!

[@gregallan80]

That gameboy music is torture!!

[@RetroCore]

It sure is. The GB version really is bad.

[@luisyaelox8367]

Greg Allan tell me why is it BAD THE GAMBOY VERSION

[@steved8193]

I still have MK for my Game Boy and the worst part is that uppercuts take about 4 frames and the game runs at about 2 frames a second. I think the game is average at best but you were clearly never going to get anything close to MK on a Game Boy.

[@krissymarklewis1793]

I was genuinely surprised how good this turned out on the Amiga + you got a free T-shirt with it. The gameplay was intact and it felt like a decent version of the game that put Amiga Street fighter 2 to shame.

[@thefurthestmanfromhome1148]

Victor Ireland (Working Designs) tried to get Acclaim to give them the Mortal Kombat licence so they could convert the game to the Turbo Grafx. Acclaim simply weren't interested.

[@RetroCore]

It probably won't have sold that many to be honest.

[@thefurthestmanfromhome1148]

@@RetroCore exactly and I have always been of the mindset that's why Atari had same response from Acclaim when trying to get MK II for the Jaguar, the userbase was so small, pointless doing it.

[@CDubya.82]

Despite the lack of blood MK wins on the SNES over the MD for me

[@rorydropkick]

What arcade didn't have this back in the day? Great comparisons as always.

[@spacefractal]

EuroGamer have recently have a analyse for all the ports as well. Its seens they liked the Sega CD and the MS Dos ports most. There was also issues with sound in some configuration for MS Dos throught.

[@RetroCore]

Yeah. Saw that video. It was well done.

[@jackasshedgehog]

Nice show ! The question for the non-use of multiple buttons in other amiga port can be explain by the fact that, when you're a programer, you recieve a devenopement kit that let you develop your game on a system whose limits are unknow and very few documentation is available. So I think that the multiple buttons in other games is due to te fact that developers didn't know the system was able to support that feature. It often happens...

[@RetroCore]

jackasshedgehog Nice idea but the Amiga had been arround for years by the point Mortal Kombat was released plus there were game that did support more than one button before it.

[@Arcadiality]

I remember the fuss the arcade caused, locally I mean. There must of been 30 people around the cab in our local arcade. We could just about see the screen. People were getting pissy so the arcade owner had to step in and allocate time a bit more fairly, I remember people throwing money at this big time. This game was a big deal back then :)

[@RetroCore]

It sure was a big deal back in the day in western arcades. It never did much over here though.

[@bgp001]

Nice vid. Do want to mention the Sega Mega CD version had some of the background music on the wrong stages. That always kind of irked me. Not sure where quality control was on that day!

[@ChibiTheEdgehog]

Man iloved the way this game sounded on Genesis .. everything just had alot more punch and Fidelity

[@luisyaelox8367]

Mortal kombat is not lame its AWESOME like if you agree

[@batlin]

My mate had this on his 486-DX2 and the sound was fine... one of the small number of games he had, along with the unbelievably good Ultima 7. I'm amazed at how good the Amiga version looks, and that it wasn't butchered like the train wreck Street Fighter 2 ports for the Atari ST and Amiga. Was the Mortal Kombat targeted at the A1200, which was more powerful and had better graphics modes?

[@yukatoshi]

A500. It wasn't made by US GOLD or Tiertex so it had half a chance of not being total arse.

[@Scorpionbe]

The master system has also a blood code 2,1,2 down up if I remember!

[@MrDerOutsider]

i love the mega drive version the music is very good and unique this combined with the "fucked up" style of the game gives it a very special atmosphere imo it also plays really well.

[@jagtaggart936]

Completely agree, especially about the music. They really made the metallic-sounding music calabilities of the MD work to the game's advantage.

[@maximillionroivas3893]

It's still amazing how after damn near three decades, and there has never been an Arcade perfect port of Mortal Kombat. Goes to show how much of a technological prowess MK is....lol.

[@maximillionroivas3893]

@Brad Viviviyal Emulation isn't 💯 Arcade perfect, on any platform.

[@relentless4g63t]

@@maximillionroivas3893 actually it is

[@SomeOrangeCat]

Why did you not use the CD-Rom version of the DOS port? It has arcade perfect music.

[@RetroCore]

Andrew Vrba as mentioned before, I don't care for Mortal Kombat or even knew there was a CD version.

[@SomeOrangeCat]

It just seems less informative, when you use less than optimal ports for the comparisons is all. But it's your show.

[@haggisnoodles9455]

+Retro Core I think it would have sounded more like 8-bit chip tunes on the FM synths inside most PCs at the time

[@Juganawt]

There's a really, REALLY good ZX Spectrum unofficial port of the game. It floored me when I saw it running on a real Speccy

[@RetroCore]

Really? Oh man, I wish I had known about that. I could have added it along side that crappy unofficial Famicom version.

[@SaminPK]

You are one of my top 10 KZbin channels - keep up the great work

[@RetroCore]

Thanks, SaminPK.

[@TGAProMKM]

man what happened to DOS version it surely lacks music but i played it in dos box which given me the perfect music.....

[@TheWaynelds]

Why was it not released for the NES? I know it was very late in its life, but if Gameboy got a release, it would be interesting to see how Sculptured Software (the more competent developers) would’ve done. The pirated versions make no sense and (for some reason) don’t have fatalities!

[@Texy88]

With regards to the Amiga and multi-button beat-’em-ups, the problem is that not everyone had a joystick/joypad that had two independent fire-buttons, and the thought of using a key on the keyboard in the heat of a fight to do a different move to the button on the joystick must have sounded like hell on Earth. Luckily because the Amiga and Megadrive both use the same nine-pin connectors for controllers, Megadrive controllers were usually compatible with the Amiga and cater for games that make use of two independent fire-buttons.

[@yukatoshi]

That one thing ruins so many Amiga console type games. That and god awful UK made arcade ports.

[@anchietacruz]

IS there a possibilita of battle of The porta mk2? Sorry the misspelling.

[@RetroCore]

Yes. I will be doing a MKII video in the near future but not a MK III video.

[@CleetusSilversurfer]

Eh, Yoko stuff (and Cony, same guys behind this) are always bad. There are a ton a Famicom Hummer Team made Mortal Kombat games that are much better to play. I have some of them in my collection, and maybe this one also for the sake of completion. Hummer also made Street Fighter, Kart Fighter, Bishoujo AV Girl Fighting, Tekken 2 and maaany others based on the same engine. Also worth noting, that they made a Super Mario World port, that is also very ambitious for the Famicom hardware.

[@ToruKun1]

That slow-ass MSDos soundtrack feels like it belongs in the 1860s

[@JustinJTime]

This here Mortal Kombat ain't big enough for both of us, partner, DRAW!!!

[@alexojideagu]

something is wrong that is not how it sounded

[@AlviEao]

Mortal Kombat... in Battle of the Ports?!? Hell froze over again LOL

[@RetroCore]

I said I'd never do it :) but people wanted it to be done. Next week I'll be back so something a little more Japanese.

[@BrockMace-y3c]

I know most people get annoyed by the original Mortal Kombat by having the CPU put you in the corner but I don’t know if I just suck at fighting games but most of time I force by opponent in the corner and spam moves on him. So if I criticize that game about that, I’ll be very hypocritical.

[@bombjack1984]

It's the end of the world as we know it... I've watched your videos since the pre-KZbin days (archive.org!) and Mortal Kombat is the one game I'd have bet my house on you never doing a video for! What next, a 4 hour PS1 special? ;-) Very good comparison, that Game Gear version looks surprisingly good. The MD/MCD versions are a bit nasty though, digitised graphics and a low colour palette don't mix well (not that that stopped the dozens of crappy MCD FMV games). Looking forward to the MKII comparison, while the first one's not great the sequel's a much better game, and before the series got silly with dozens of characters and death types. It also got a load of ports to everything from the Game Boy to the Saturn and even 32X.

[@RetroCore]

oh yeah, a PS1 special sounds fun :) Seriously though, if it wasn't for the fans requesting Mortal Kombat I never would have touched this game.

[@bombjack1984]

I still remember that video of you smashing the crap out of a poor old PS1 console. Are you mellowing in your older age? :-)

[@RetroCore]

Hahaha, that was a funny video. Yeah, I'm 39 now so I guess I've grown up :p

[@misterkuda704]

The game.com Mortal Kombat makes the Game Boy port look great.

[@fernandocollazo8705]

wow the Amiga version is surpriselly good considering the age of hardware, the original amiga was launched in 1985!

[@RetroCore]

It is. Just a shame they couldn't get Street Fighter 2 to be as good.

[@yukatoshi]

Amiga 500 hardware is probably more capable than you realise. Check out Elfmania on Amiga 500. Technically VERY impressive.

[@ravengaming4143]

The game that got Nintendo the "kiddie" label due to censorship. PC port was impressive, basically the Arcade game just different music.

[@yethboth7873]

I like the music the most in the Megadrive version especially the intro tune. I noticed that the 'Fight' speech is much clearer in this version compared to the Super Nintendo and Mega CD version. I have to admit that I wasn't really that impressed with the Mega CD version and the intro and tune is pretty dull and cheesy. The Megadrive version is much more appealing. I remember in the Megadrive version there is a cheat where if you held down certain buttons before the fight on the night time stone platform stage, a funny face of one of the programmers slowly floats by in the background from right to left whilst you are fighting. Do you remember this?

[@RetroCore]

Sorry, I don't remember that cheat mostly because I never played Mortal Kombat much but when I did it was always the blood patch version on the SNES. I'm not a fan of the series to be honest.

[@marioghernandez4960]

Well then what game did you personally favorite, out of those that you have reviewed so far?

[@RetroCore]

Not Mortal Kombat for sure :p Probably something like RayForce or Daytona. Ive enjoyed so many of the games I've covered that it's hard to pick one.

[@marioghernandez4960]

Retro Core Certainly, RayForce is pure mastery.

[@TheRacingOtaku]

Mortal Kombat was one of my favorite arcade fighters. But I have to say, cheating AI is one of my main grudges with the game. But at least this game doesn't have AI with higher priority than you, which the second game had. Though I can respect your opinion on this game.

[@RetroCore]

Thanks. The cheating AI is what really killed the game for me.

[@TheRacingOtaku]

Yeah, the AI is cheap in this game, but it doesn't even begin to compare to MK2's AI. That game's AI takes unfair to a new extreme.

[@KillThad]

@@TheRacingOtaku It's because it reacts to your button presses instantly, as opposed to what the AI "sees".

[@htxtexans]

As a kid I loved this game with a passion lol. Now as an adult lol this game sucks. But it will still be a classic and I always have fond memories

[@RetroCore]

Too right it sucks. It sucked back in the day too but then again I was probably old enough not to be suckered in by the gore. If I was a few years younger I probably would have had a different opinion.

[@htxtexans]

@@RetroCore I was 8yrs old at the time. Lol but I would see adults as well play it. But I guess seeing fatalities and blood in a game for the first time lol made us overlook the bad gameplay. But like I said I will always have fond memories with mortal kombat.

[@uomomagneteminus1946]

I remember when Mortal Kombat arrived in the arcade rooms everybody crazy about it. To my eyes they were just low-res real pictures coming from a low budget photoset pretending to be moves, with an overall gore I find ridiculous and stupid. NeoGeo SNK arcade fighters released in the same years blow out of the water all MK series with superior AI, design, animations, variety, gameplay, combos.

[@RetroCore]

+Iron Balls I agree all the way!

[@RetroCore]

***** I'd never noticed the difference in the announcer voice but then again I don't really care for Mortal Kombat.

[@marioghernandez4960]

Uomo Magnete Minus Well which ones can you recommend to me?

[@JudgmentStorm]

Matt Furniss did MK's music for Mega Drive, and also the soundtrack for the MD version of T2: The Arcade Game. This blows away the SNES/Arcade T2 music.

[@iwanttocomplain]

I remember this argument when it came out. Mortal Kombat is a really deep and fast paced fighter and different enough from SF2 to be it's own franchise. When it tried to be like SF2 it lost it's identity.

[@marioghernandez4960]

Ay, I'd take _World Heroes 2_ anyday. Maybe literally ANYTHING THE NEO GEO MVS COULD TURN OUT

[@RetroCore]

Same here.

[@weegoh8324]

Are you using an emulator for the amiga version. The game isn’t supposed to look like this.

[@cybermx8896]

I Played the MS-DOS, on the old good days, whit a real sound blaster card and does not play like that, the sound was good, maybe is your configuration.

[@alexojideagu]

Yes the sound configuration is wrong I had it as a kid

[@simonpeterfox]

Least on the amiga version you don't need to use the cheat code to turn the blood on and have all the finnish move with out cheats

[@megaman6166]

Where is the DOS CD or Jakks TV version at?

[@ArcadeStriker]

+Mega Man Search up Mortal Kombat 1 Ultimate Comparison, but the Full movie can be somewhat lengthy, and you can see the parts you want to see. It includes DOSCD/Jakks TV. But this video still is good.

[@EastyyBlogspot]

wonder if you will do rise of the robots :)

[@RetroCore]

Nope :p That was never an arcade game but it would be funny to do since it's so bad. I had a copy of the SNES beta version a while back which contained more impressive video than the final game!

[@YuukoEnjoyer]

There are actually a lot of pirated NES ports of Mortal Kombat that are different. And trust me, with all the 4000+ NES roms I have (yes I do), there is a lot of crappy unofficial ports...

[@TheUpliftingGuy]

I guess the dos version would've won by being close to arcade from what's shown in the video.

[@joseagripino8664]

Hey Mark, do you know what is the translation for 神拳降臨伝説?

[@RetroCore]

That's Chinese I think. The last 2 kanji is densetsu which means legend.

[@joseagripino8664]

I don't think it does much sense in Mandarin Chinese... the first four characters as hanzi would translate to "god fist advent" and the last two also translate as "legend" (Yúnshuō)

[@ArcadeStriker]

I haven't noticed that MK1 has a specifically cheap AI (Except Goro, for obvious reasons, and maybe the Endurance matches), but UMK3 and, WAY more MK2 had CAF (Cheap-as-fuck) AI all the way.

[@TheRacingOtaku]

TheArcadeStriker IKR! Mortal Kombat 3 has an annoying difficulty spike around level 2.

[@ArcadeStriker]

SpeedChaserRacing If you mean "MORTAL KOMBAT 3", then I disagree, since that one is pretty much the fairest one (except for the bosses obviously). If you mean "ULTIMATE MORTAL KOMBAT 3", yes, it's around 3 or 4.

[@TheRacingOtaku]

TheArcadeStriker I mean Ultimate Mk3 for home consoles and MK Trilogy. The difficulty rose instantly around level 2.

[@sumdood8563]

You didn't do the plug and play version.

[@RetroCore]

It doesn't exist in Japan.

[@brianmartinez5453]

Are you going to do Mortal Kombat 4 arcade or not

[@RetroCore]

Not any time soon. I don't like Mortal Kombat at all.

[@ShadowSumac]

Mortal Kombat is one my most favorite series in the world, and while somewhat lacking MK1 certainly has a soft spot in my heart. It's pretty much "Action martial arts movie of the 80-s: The Game" and I am big fan of the 80-s and its culture. Yeah, it has stiff controls and rather lacking in gameplay depth, but it oozes atmosphere and it's soundtrack is very interesting. It's gory elements are outright hilarious, when compared to the modern games, though. Bottom line: it's still a much-much better game than the original Street Fighter 1. )) I even made my own video reviews for every single (old) port of MK1, which could be found on my channel. As for the ports: - SNES version looks more colorful than Arcade, but its soundtrack was butchered, as is its gameplay. Whereas Arcade version controls might be unresponsive and stiff, SNES port controls are ALWAYS stiff and unresponsive. I barely could make any special moves in the SNES version, which coupled with angry AI made this game a chore to play. Lack of blood never bothered me much in this port, though. I can even say, that I liked some of the new Fatalities in this game more, than in Arcade version. - Sega Genesis / Mega Drive port is THE HOME PORT of MK1, no doubt. It plays very much like the Arcade game and have gore. While I am not big fan of the arranged soundtrack in this version, I must admit it has its merits. This version is pretty much another proof, that gameplay is more important than graphics. - Sega CD port is a mixed bag. On one hand some of the details and animations have been improved and it has Arcade soundtrack. On the other - I can't say, that it's a big step up from the original Sega Genesis / MD version. Coupled with long loading times, that break pace of the game, not to mention, make it borderline unplayable during battle with Shang Tsung, I'd say, MD version is a bit better. - SMS version...well, it's playable, I can give it that. Obviously it is a far cry from any of the "big" versions of the game, but for a 8-bit port of the Arcade game you can do worse...and speaking of worse... - Game Gear version is horrible. Framerate is just atrocious and puts a lot of strain on the eyes. If there was not Game Boy version of this game, I'd certainly nominated it as a worst port of MK1 ever, but as it is... - Game Boy version is a pile of crap. If anyone start crying about modern developers making bad ports, you can always direct those people to this game, so they could see, that it was much worse back in the day. Completely unresponsive controls. Ugly graphics. You can't do much worse than that even if you tried. It's barely playable and even that is giving too much credit to this game. The only two things it has: good soundtrack and playable Goro, but neither is enough to warrant anyone touching this game. - I surprised that you rated Amiga version rather high. I personally liked this port. It's lacking in some areas, but it is certainly playable, even if you have only 2 buttons instead of 5. Also, I like how developers sidesteped loading issue in the battle with Shang Tsung (looking at Sega CD port). And animation on characters is very good. - MS-DOS port is pretty much Arcade Perfect. As far as I can say, all animations are present, palettes are exactly like in the arcade game, controls might be even more responsive than in Arcade version. The only minor problem is the music, but there was version of MK1 for PC on CD, which had arcade soundtrack. Note: MS-DOS version is based on Revision 3 of arcade machines, so it' s not exactly one-to-one perfect port of the latest arcade version of MK1, but, I think it's only important to the people, who deeply understand MK1 fighting system.

[@marioghernandez4960]

I never liked 1v1 fighters all that much tbh

[@tightlypackedcoil]

Sculptured Software definitely knew what it was doing. The SNES port of MK1 was great, even with the censorship, and when they ported MK3 on the Genesis (instead of Probe), the Genesis finally got a port that was a decent match for its SNES counterpart. My main gripe with the Sega CD version is the mixed up tracks. Probe was notorious for this, as they made the same dumbass error with the MK2 port they did on the Saturn.

[@ajsingh4545]

Great? It was rubbish. Input lag mixed with bad hit detection made it impossible to connect combos.

[@installshieldtmide2726]

name of the game of the day blood

[@jpndpersonalchannel]

Try that ANOTHER NES UNOFFICIAL PORT: MORTAL KOMBAT III. IT IS LIKE AN MORTAL KOMBAT WITHOUT FINISHERS

[@ExtremeWreck]

Eh, Mortal Kombat 3 was the best one on the Genesis IMO. That one I could actually control my character well, & not feel like I'm jumping on a trampoline in slow motion while kicks don't register half of the time.

[@Tempora158]

This video only shows the original DOS floppy port of Mortal Kombat. There exist a newer, larger DOS port released on CD that is completely different from the floppy version, and it's nearly arcade perfect (it's the only port that gets the sound and music completely correct AFAIK): kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZoOyqnqvaN6biMU

[@Speedkingfox0007]

Great vid, no dc gold version tho?

[@RetroCore]

Mortal Kombat Gold is a different game isn't it? This video is only for Mortal Kombat 1 or is Gold a remake of MK1?

[@smitty462]

Mortal Kombat Gold is an enhanced version of Mortal Kombat 4 for Sega Dreamcast, not the original...

[@modoversus]

Great video! You are correct Yakumo, that is not how the MS-DOS version sounds like. This video has the correct audio: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aYWxgnShfL6pmdE

[@RetroCore]

Ah, I knew it.

[@Tempora158]

Retro Core Well, that video demonstrates what the music is suppose to sound like when using the Sound Blaster for everything. The Roland music when played back properly sounds different from the Sound Blaster/Adlib music.

[@yukatoshi]

Still not that great tbh. This random shit is funny.

[@GlenLehane]

Dude, you make a Mortal Kombat Kombat video and don't show at least ONE Fatality? Bruh Aside from that, good video. I used to have the MS DOS version, and my PC at the time had a Fusion 16 Sound Card, the music sounded closer to the arcade than the easy listening mix you got going there. PCs and sound cards, how fun was that (not 😜)?

[@RetroCore]

Yeah, I suck at this game 😭

[@GlenLehane]

@@RetroCore the controls were always pretty abysmal. Try doing it on a keyboard! (I had to on the PC)

[@maximillionroivas3893]

From Best to Worst: Arcade (Obviously) Genesis Sega CD MS DOS SNES Master System Game Gear Game Boy Amiga NES

[@RetroCore]

Personally I do t like any of them. I've never been a fan of Mortal Kombat for some reason. Saying that I've heard many great things about the last two games so I should check them out.

[@dl211981]

Sega CD is the best port.

[@gabrielloko30000]

I dunno about you guys but...I never was divided by Capcom or SNK fighting games. I love both but when i saw MK2 and MK1 on the SNES, i just remembered my father wishing me to leave the room because was too violent(i has 6 years old back then) but i convince him that he as wrong! Of course MK1 was full of censorship. But when i saw the blood and gore on MK2...i started to love the ludicrous, stupid and non sensical Fatalities which is actually the trademark of the series...But coming to think about Gameplay....Well.........Fuck

[@RetroCore]

Yep, it was all about the blood. As a good fighting game the first few Mortal Kombats were turd.

[@gkanczler]

There's some driver issues with the DOS port of the game.I remember that the music was not this awful back then.

[@NintendoComplete]

Gábor Kanczler Yeah, it sounds like the patches aren't getting sent to the Roland. The instruments sound totally wrong. SB16 FM sounds extremely good on this game.

[@solarflare9078]

NintendoComplete :o It's you! Hello!

[@KillThad]

As much as I disagree with you on it, I do understand your disdain for MK1, as it very much a product meant to shock and awe during the time it came out and is overall a fairly average fighter. At the same time, though, I feel like that could also be considered part of the charm in addition to it's underdog nature since it was essentially made by a group of around 8 people on a shoestring budget.

[@RetroCore]

I guess I was past the age when such gimmicks meant anything to me when this game came out.

[@KillThad]

@@RetroCore That's absolutely fair. I was born in '99, but I know what you mean.

[@JudgmentStorm]

While MK1 is better than the first Street Fighter (same goes for the Amiga ports, except SF1 is even worse thanks to that damned Tiertex), it's no match for SF2 or Fatal Fury 2. What I really hate on the SNES version is that special move motions are less forgiving.

[@vasileios6301]

Best version for me(other than dos) is on snes.It may missed the blood but it had the atmosphere that megadrive(and even worse,megacd)didnt have. Mega cd had the chance to make a perfect port(with 64 colours though,like the superb final fight port)but it didnt and thats a shame. I used to own the gameboy version and it was quite playable and fun back then for me,loved it.

[@scott56994]

Well did not except this but the ms dos version has won

[@Neodestro]

also is windows pc cd version is perfect arcade

[@Tempora158]

The CD version was also DOS only. There never was a Windows port of the game. Mortal Kombat Kollection doesn't count because that's part emulation, and the sound and music is messed up in the Kollection because, ironically, that aspect of the Kollection ISN'T done through emulation.

[@MVC2fan1]

So is Midway Arcade Treasures.

[@coldcatbrr]

I think I know what happened to the audio for the MS-DOS version. MIDI kinda sounded like crap so when the composers where making the tracks and they were counting on the audio to sound like crap. They used bizarre techniques and tricks to get the audio to sound correct. Nowadays we have correct sound fonts so when you play the music on a modern setup it sounds completely off. I'm doing a terrible job of explaining it but if you ever emulate DOS its a pretty common problem. Also dos box doesn't actually emulate roland/midi? (they can't legally) so it uses the audio drivers from your motherboard to handle that and the results are mixed at best. I might be COMPLETELY wrong though but its worth mentioning.

[@RetroCore]

Thanks for the input. Someone earlier explained why the audio was broken. It's because DOS box never had the Roland soundcard plugins installed ;(

[@alexojideagu]

midi did not sound crap if you had a decent soundcard. You did not have to have a Roland

[@jopezu]

the music actually sounds correct (as far is a simple transcription goes). the midi instrument assignments are simply misplaced. pretty wacky! lol

[@RadoslavMitrov]

The Mega Drive music sounds tremendous! I like it much more than the muffled mess on the SNES and even than the Mega CD, which uses the original arcade music, which btw is in glorious mono!

[@marioghernandez4960]

So what _better_ fighting games do you recommend to me?

[@RetroCore]

Anything besides Mortal Kombat :P. Try Rabbit on the Saturn or arcade for something different.

[@marioghernandez4960]

Secret rule: NEVER SPEAK OF THE CRINGEFEST KNOWN AS MORTAL KOMBAT.

[@yukatoshi]

MK is kinda crap. Stiff as hell.

[@Sakf504]

@@yukatoshi Agreed, even if i used to play the heck out of it during my childhood i still think that is pretty bad, characters that all feel the same, cheap AI, stiff controls and executing special moves or fatalities is a pain.

[@marioghernandez4960]

This game makes me wish I was playing Splatterhouse...

[@thefurthestmanfromhome1148]

Nick Pelling of Frak! fame, wrote the sprite decompressing code for Probe Software's Mega Drive Version and the stingy bastards paid him a mere £500 for his code.

[@RetroCore]

Only 500 pounds? The tight bastards.

[@chinaski31dj]

I picked up the SNES version online with Pit Fighter I’m the Virgin Records bargain bin. Wish I hadn’t had bothered

[@RetrOrigin]

None of the Mortal Kombat games has ever been balanced nor good at all, they're all broken.

[@marioghernandez4960]

I never really liked this game, either. *turns to Sega for true entertainment*

[@chrisstone-streetlightinte5629]

Ha the MS-DOS version that has music that sounds like it should be in Sim City 2000

[@alexojideagu]

That is not how it sounded, the emulation has the wrong sound assigned