Gaming Target - Game Boy: Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition

Written by John Scalzo on June 16, 2003

First Impressions: If this game is half as good as Midway's last Tournament Edition (cough NBA Jam cough), then I'm sold.

Few gamers will let Midway forget Mortal Kombat Advance. The game was a sloppy port of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and led more than a few people to write off Mortal Kombat as another dead series (if they hadn't done so already). But as they always do, Midway roared back. They showed everyone that a console only Mortal Kombat could be just as good as the arcade iterations with Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance and then they ported it down to the GBA into one of the best fighters the portable has. And now they're going back to the well to create a companion game in Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition.

Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition will use the same fighting engine as Deadly Alliance, but promises to be bigger, bloodier, and have a lot more features. The most important new features (and the reason for the game's title) are the game's tournament options. MK: Tournament Edition will include five different Link Cable modes that weren't in Deadly Alliance. Obviously the basic one on one fight mode is included, but MK: Tournament Edition has plenty of other ways to keep it interesting. The game will include a four player tournament mode. There will also be a Tag Team mode where you and a friend fight each other two on two and a Co-op mode where the both of you take on the computer. An Arcade mode will allow you to take your hard earned koins and gamble them against other people. And finally, the Race To Raiden is a strange little game that will "enable gamers to change fighters after each battle to become the first to win as Raiden." I'm not quite sure how it will work, but it's the final new mode.

But even with all these new modes, one of the most important pieces of any fighting game is the roster and MK: Tournament Edition includes all of the fighters from the Deadly Alliance console version that weren't in the last GBA game. This time Cyrax, Drahmin, Hsu Hao, Johnny Cage, Mavado, Raiden, Reptile, Bo Rai Cho and Nitra take a turn at Mortal Kombat. Rounding out the roster is a new character exclusive to MK: Tournament Edition known as Sareena. Sareena is a demon from the Netherealm that has taken human form. Personally, I think she looks like a younger version of Sindel from Mortal Kombat 3. Since this is a Mortal Kombat game, the final two slots in this tournament will go to hidden characters.

Like any good companion game, MK: Tournament Edition will also be backwards compatible with Deadly Alliance. This will allow many of the combatants that didn't make the cut into the tournament. Right now Midway has only confirmed that Scorpion, Shang Tsung, and Quan Chi will be playable through the game link, but I hold out hope that all of the characters will somehow make an appearance. But whether that works out or not, the point of linking the two games together is to earn gold koins. These special koins will be used to unlock the best koffins (secrets) in this version's Krypt.

Like I said before, MK: Tournament Edition uses the same fighting engine as Deadly Allianc, so don't expect too many surprises when it comes to the graphical side of things. However, Midway has said that four new arenas will make an appearance: The Lost Tomb, Wu Shi Academy, Sarna Ruins, and Moloch's Lair. Finally, Midway is adding a Practice mode and more in depth player statistics to make this version of Mortal Kombat a more well rounded package.