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Now before I forget, I did all this on good ol' Duckstation, currently the big boss of Playstation emulators, or at least for those with good PCs or Steam Decks. I had my trusty 8Bitdo Pro 2 controller on hand as well since it just plain feels good.

The default controls are alright but I felt like tinkering with them just a bit. Of course I also kept the game difficulty on defaults too, mostly since you can't beat the whole game on Easy mode.

Although there IS still a Turn button, a big point of contention in this game. Personally some sort of Lock On feature would probably go down better. But I guess when you're dead set on bolting UMK3's game engine onto a platformer, well.

The game uses passwords but you can save your game as well if you prefer which is always handy.

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Also there's an option only available in the Playstation version, to watch a trailer for the then-upcoming Mortal Kombat 4, destined to hit arcades (if it hadn't already) around that time, and consoles a little later. Its a nice little look. ESPECIALLY at that infamous Quan Chi cabinet sideart, an evergreen meme if I know one. Any attempt to change it is sacrilegious.

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Also note how good the models look, thanks to this footage specifically being of the arcade version. Yeah we're used to the slightly pared back console and PC versions where everyone had flat skull structures and mitten-style balled up hamfists, but imagine showing a modern kid an MK4 where everyone had properly modelled fingers and Shinnok had a nose!

Actually, by October you probably won't have to imagine that anymore. Its confirmed not only is MK4 included in the Legacy Kollection but its the actual honest-to-the-Elder-Gods arcade original rather than any of the console versions. So we'll be able to witness said noses and fingers (and better stage design) for ourselves without having to rely on MAME's still rather spotty handling of it! I'm actually intrigued myself.

Only downside is since its arcade, that means no Goro or the pre-rendered FMVs (especially Reiko's ending) but still. Its amazing how far emulation and Digital Eclipse has come.

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Right, I've held off enough. Firstly, Midway logo. NEVER FORGET WHAT FATE TOOK FROM YOU (ToradoraSalute.png)

Aside from that there's an intro that plays in the PSX version when you boot it up, featuring a narrator talking about the prior ancient war of the gods, while perusing a tome that according to an unlockable extra in MK Deadly Alliance (and a fan wiki) is called the Book of Destiny. (https://mortalkombat.fandom.com/wiki/Book_of_Destiny)

Helpfully they also provided a dictionary definition of the word "Mythology". See? Its fun AND educational!

Reminder: Long ago, there was a war in earth's past between hat wearing god Raiden and renegade asswipe Shinnok that lasts for centuries until Shinnok was sent to Hell. Everyone got that?

I also took the liberty of transcribing all the audio in this game way back when as the PSX version lacks subtitles. Aren't I a nice guy? Now bear in mind I do use alternate subtitle fonts and colours but I try to make sure its all readable. Otherwise I'd be pilloried wouldn't I?

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But no imprisoned evil STAYS imprisoned for appreciably long (yeah this is why you go for the kill with these guys.) Shinnok is perilously close to escaping his prison and as the narrator warns us, there's only one mortal who has a chance of stopping it...

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SUB-ZERO JUMPSCARE!

God everyone was so slow! They memed the MK12 Bi-Han jumpscare where he jumps off a roof divebombing Raiden and Kung Lao but nobody ever memed up this quick flash of Subbie's face that just suddenly comes at you like that.

Also, taglines. I don't think mentioning that you can be killed is a good flex, Bi-Han, but you're not the New Era bonehead so who am I to judge?

Naturally the N64 version, being on cartridge in an age where people were hurriedly leaving them behind for CDs, had no such FMV fun. A shame too, as it was a console that could pull off a surprisingly good Resident Evil 2 port.

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And now, to our feacher presentation.

Remember, Sub-Zero (and another) has been contracted by the sorcerer Quan Chi to sneak into the Shaolin Temples to steal the sacred Map of Elements. Its handy, then, that the Lin Kuei HQ was also in China (barring the N64 version forgetting itself and claiming its in Mongolia.) Hopefully Bi-Han didn't take a bus or train, that'd be an awkward ride to have, having to spend a ride to and from home sitting next to a guy in full assassin gear.

Anyway, no mention is made of these temples being in the Honan Province from the MK prequel comics (AKA where Liu Kang and his Shaolin brothers lived) but its round about a safe assumption.

A loading screen fills us in on the current mission objective to give us context as to why Sub-Zero's infiltrating a temple ostensibly populated by peace-loving monks. Given he's here at the dead of night the obvious thing to do would be to sneak in and out, grab the map, avoid any patrols or rivals and head home. Think Hitman, kids.

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So Bi-Han naturally commences his infiltration by loudly jumping through a window into the complex.

Though to be fair he is very pointedly NOT a ninja. He's a Lin Kuei. BIG difference there.

Speaking of ninjas though, someone got there ahead of him, that someone being one Hanzo Hasashi Esq., better known as Scorpion to you and me. He IS a ninja so he probably made a far stealthier entrance than Sub-Zero loudly smashing a window with his dick and thus waking everyone up.

Hanzo taunts us before running off with a goofy peal of laughter. With that, the game is on!

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So, controls! The bit nobody liked because Midway really wanted to keep hold of the UMK3/MKTrilogy engine while making a platformer. So we got high and low punches, high and low kicks, a block button (not too unreasonable in an action adventure or platformer), a run button right out of MK3 and that dang dirty turn button. Nobody liked it in Guilty Gear Isuka, no one liked it here. But the advantage is Sub-Zero has the same dial-a-kombo feature. He retains the HP-HP-LP-LK-HK-B+HK kombo his brother Kuai Liang had in MK3, which does decent damage against most enemies. If you can memorize it and get it going, you're in business mostly.

Its the turn button that annoys people, since Sub doesn't quite turn automatically when he should, which makes trying to get down platforms safely a daunting task. He DOES grab ledges...so long as he's facing them. Its having to remember to press that button that's too much work.

Anyway Sub-Zero's loudass entrance woke everyone up so our primary enemies are the Shaolin Monks, irritated that some blue pyjama'd idiot just kicked their door in at like 3AM. Don't get excited, we will not be facing Liu Kang, Kung Lao or Kai among their number. Here, they come in bogstandard flavour or with swords. Take note of how they dissolve into bloody red mush upon defeat. Its not important, just funny.

Also, digitized actors. MK3 alumni John Turk plays Sub-Zero in full regalia here, and our old friend the legendary Richard Divizio pulls multi-duty as the monks here, as well as one very important role we'll be meeting shortly.

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The Shaolin study peace and passive ways. That's why their temple has these huge fuckin' pounding pillars for the express purpose of squashing intruders into spaghetti bolognese. Just running under them will ensure a Bi-Han sandwich, but the best way is to bait them with a crouching low kick and running under as they slide back up.

Or, well, let Sub get squashed as first timers likely did. They can also just clip you if they hit Sub without actually covering him fully, which still hurts.

On the bright side they can also squash any Monk you happen to put under them. So turnabout's fair play.

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Also yes the circular halls should look familiar to everyone, they are the exact same as the "Shaolin" stage from MK4, a nice bit of continuity there. Including the Shaolin-traditional walls lined with skulls and bones.

Granted I took this pic from the MK Warehouse which was still using the PC/PSX version to get backgrounds since that was what we had back then. So details might be lacking. But I'm sure you get the idea.

Also, an Experience system! Thought I might mention, Bi-Han doesn't actually start with the Ice Blast from the get-go. He's gotta earn it by levelling up, and gaining XP is as simple as landing combo hits and taking enemies out. So if you remember the Kuai Kombo (and if the AI doesn't do the Arcade MK Bullshit AI Cheating) then you should get the Ice Blast before this stage is done.

Though I thought the Sub-Zeroes had cryomancy powers before this game. So either the Lin Kuei grandmaster thought this would be a good baptism of fire to awaken Bi-Han's ice powers, or Bi-Han just kinda neglected to tell everyone he hadn't actually learned how to ice people before he set out.

Though to be fair Hanzo doesn't display his own unique specials in this level either.

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Next bit of trickery is this part. There's a balcony, but if you just fully jump over it, you planned this poorly. Sub-Zero just drops downward to his death. There's no fall damage in this game but there IS fall death. You can tell you've thrown the Lin Kuei to his demise when he goes into that flailing limb falling animation.

What you're SUPPOSED to do is jump but only press forward ever so slightly so that Sub lands on the railing, then press forward again so when he drops, he bounces off an awning and lands catlike on his feet, no harm done.

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There we go, got the Ice Blast.

Good news is the AI only goes Asshole Mode occasionally instead of constantly like most arcade MKs. So an ice blast helps you out a ton here. Well that and traps work for you as well as against you. I feel like patience is a goddamn enigma to gamers.

Take note of the walls having what looks like dried blood on them too. Peace and passive ways, everyone! Kung Lao? He's VERY peaceful and passive!

BTW take note of one pic having a rope in it. That's our exit point once we get the map. Also there's items you can collect dotted throughout the levels. Usually healing items but some are special powerups. Invincibility, invisibility, extra lives, all that kind of thing. Of note, the regular Herbs which heal Bi-Han a bit. Combine them with any Potion you pick up for a stronger Healer that heals him for a LOT. By default, L1's the action button that picks things up.

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After some travels though, we come to one room that requires Bi-Han to automatically walk inside.

That's because Hanzo Hasashi is waiting for him. None of the other enemies bothered him, but considering Scorpion IS a ninja unlike Sub-Zero, I can assume Scorpion actually sneaked his way here. Though he did want an honourable fight with Subbie for some reason. So a fight we have.

And yes I added that MK4 FIGHT! text there myself back in the day. So what does Hanzo offer as our first boss fight, as our first probable test of our abilities and focus?

Nothing really. His default AI is pretty passive. Oh he attacks, sure, just not hyper aggressively. He doesn't even have his signature Spear move yet. I can understand maybe not having the Teleport Punch but I'm pretty sure the Spear wasn't supernatural weirdness unlike what the movies and the cartoon claimed. And no Leg Takedown, even if that move was useless.

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You can safely ice blast Scorpion and Kuai Kombo him most of the time and pull off a Flawless Victory without any issue. If you're a RetroAchievements nut, that's potentially one easy Flawless Achievement for you. Later bosses won't be so nice I can tell you.

Midway through (har har) I also got Sub-Zero's Slide, another iconic Sub family move. If you're on keyboard, pray it doesn't have ghosting. I also took damage from the monks and their pacifist pounding pillars earlier, so I needed a herb. Thankfully Scorp wasn't too much trouble soon after...which is where things get interesting.

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Upon emptying his health bar, Hanzo falls to his knees and begs you to spare him, while the game shouts "FINISH HIM" and plays tense music. Yep, its offering you a fatality chance, one of two times the game allows such a thing. And this is important as it will influence a later part of the game.

Let time elapse without doing anything and he'll just slump over...

but we MK lore enthusiasts know this not to be canon. Scorpion's big deal with Sub-Zero was that Bi-Han killed him, and "his demons" allowed Scorpion to be reborn as an angry hell spectre. Wouldn't make much sense if we let Scorp live here. We don't know if this was the exact moment in time Bi-Han killed Hanzo but given the game dropped this opportunity in our laps, why shouldn't we take it?

Press F, D, F + HP at a decent distance for the traditional Sub-Zero Spine Rip. Unlike most games you gotta be a step or two away but keep that in mind, remember the input and voila, ESRB created once again.

(Pop ups added by me post playthrough.)

Regardless, with him out of the way, the map is ours for the taking.

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With that we are ready to leave. Hanzo's corpse is going to be a VERY awkward mess to figure out and clean up when Liu Kang and Kung Lao wake up the next morning. That is assuming the other monks Bi-Han beat the shit out of or squashed with the pillars didn't leave a mess of their own. At least when I play Hitman, I'm able to have Agent 47 hide the bodies most of the time.

Taking the map somehow causes a ceiling area to open up in that chamber with the climbing rope. Again, never really got what that was about. But it leads to an outside area, where another rope set up in a zipline fashion is. Sub-Zero does indeed use it as such in the upcoming FMV.

So if its not something the Shaolin use in morning exercises, I'm inclined to believe either it was how Hanzo got in and he took the time to head to where Bi-Han was entering just to wave his dick at him, or a fellow Lin Kuei set that thing up ahead of Sub's intrusion. Probably Smoke, he's a good kid.

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I take it Bi-Han's either playing by C47 rules (no rating system) or he's not fussed about not getting a Silent Assassin rating what with leaving Hanzo's body to cool there. Anyway, he ziplines to safety and returns to the Lin Kuei temple in another part of China. Again, awkward bus ride probably involved.

And this is where the FMVs come into play, we know you've been waiting for this! Actors in full costumes! Good set design! Cheese! Emotive face acting! This game spoils us. So glad the Legacy Kollection's using the CD version.

Sub-Zero stands before the Lin Kuei Grandmaster, map in hand.

Speaking of said Grandmaster, still no name given. The Defenders of the Realm cartoon had him named Oniro, but he wore white, had no mask and was sorta a diet Shang Tsung who could animorph. Most people ascribe the name "Oniro" to the game's Grandmaster. Also he's Sektor's dad according to MK9?

The same Grandmaster also shows up in the execrable animated film Battle of the Realms, where he's a huge fucking dumbfuck who doesn't recognize the obvious evil god Shinnok and his demon hordes or his hellish home until its in his face.

ANYWAY!

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Along with transcribing, I took the liberty of adding those little identifying captions to characters. I was inspired by how Hideo Kojima would use those in Policenauts and Metal Gear to give character names as well as identify who voiced them. Apparently the official name for those captions is "telops". They're used in Japanese TV to identify experts. Kojima and I use them to identify characters and their actors.

Sub has just brought home the map, and Grandmaster is very happy.

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But they have a visitor, you see, and it is the STAR, the EVERYTHING, Mr. Quan Chi!

He also calls Sub-Zero "ninja", which at least here is an honest mistake Bi-Han's quick to correct. Later on when he does it its obvious Quan Chi is trolling him.

The two also awkwardly circle around, since Quan's just amicably pacing about, something that Sub has decided requires a defensive posture and a cold shoulder, har har.

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BTW shoutout to the Grandmaster's good eye acting here. You can tell he's wondering if this is going to escalate into a verbal problem and is not very keen on a potential argument or punchup taking place in his living room. When you wear a mask on screen 24/7 you gotta get some good eye acting. That dumbshit who said Master Chief needed to be un-helmeted in the Halo TV series because you can't do "emoting" in full facewear is a moron full of shit who never watched this or Kamen Rider.

Don't worry, Sub gets his own body acting down pat later on.