MK Mythologies: Sub-Zero (N64 and PS1, 1997)

They should have called this MK ULTRA because it's torture.

Originally posted a few years ago, now completely re-written

First I'm gonna emulate the N64 version, then switch to the PS1 version on Legacy Kollection. Find out which is better. (Editor's Note: lol not the N64 version)

I remember how excited people were for this in 1997. The series hadn't learned to count to 4 yet and was putting out MK3 revisions all day, but the hype level for a new one was still high.

This game might have played a role in the fall, and the series going through a long dark period where there wasn't a ton of fan interest. Pretty much from MK4 onward, and the series didn't really climb out of this slump until MK9. Time to find out why!

First thing you see: Scorpion is lurking in this Shaolin temple, and has a quick face-off with our hero. This takes place before the rest of the MK series, so this is the original Sub-Zero, the bad one, who became Noob eventually.

This controls just like a regular MK game, except you fight jobber foes like in a brawler. In concept, this works pretty well, except you have to press a button to turn around. Not sure why it couldn't have you automatically face your foe if there's only one foe on screen (which is how it usually is).

Spent a lot of time having to turn around to attack a foe, or accidentally pressing the "turn around button" because they made it the B button.

THEY MADE IT THE B BUTTON.

This is kind of cool, there's an inventory screen where you can use heal items. The game drops a lot of items on you too. Can also gain levels by defeating foes, which gives you new moves from Sub-Zero's arsenal. Much like Special Forces, I think the game would be better if you just started with all his moves, but at least it gives you new things to try as it goes on. I can actually do all of his moves, unlike Jax's esoteric and inscrutable chains of button presses.

Sub-Zero's main move is Freeze, and it works really well for taking out random goons. Freeze, move in, uppercut or roundhouse. There's also the Slide, which is more useful for avoiding traps and closing distances, rather than doing damage necessarily. As the game goes on, he gets improved versions of both, to the point that he can freeze and shatter enemies (when it actually works) and charge up to unleash a super-potent freeze on everything onscreen. As for the Slide, it gets faster and more range, but never gets particularly damaging.

Problems start arising pretty much immediately after the first fight. This game is DARK. Not just dark, but also really unappealing to look at. MK has always been great at creating atmospheric, interesting environments. What happened?

Anyway, after I beat that one enemy, there weren't any others to fight and a big empty hallway, so I just sorta continued until

SPLAT

Yes, the infamous "ceiling pillars" of MK Mythologies: Sub-Zero. We meet at last.

I try baiting them to fall with high kicks, but...get this, the pillar-fall actually damages you if it contacts your foot. And I have to get this close to trigger the damn thing!

Welp.

I try getting as close as possible to trigger it, then run under. It seems that the first fall won't actually hit you if you're next to it, but every other fall after that will. So you have one chance to trigger it and run under before it becomes impossible. None of this makes any sense! None of the falls should damage you if you're next to it.

Be sure to hit the Run Button to sprint under and not the Turn button, which is an easy mistake to make. In any case, trigger and sprint to get past it.

But wait! There's another falling pillar RIGHT AFTER IT so you have to slam on the brakes once you get through. Which isn't easy when you're doing a full sprint to clear the first one.

THIS IS THE FIRST ROOM OF THE GAME

WHY DID THEY DO THIS

Next fight, I make sure to knee my foe in the neussen. Basically the second half of the stage is more or less the same as the first, except going left this time.

The fights are fine, when they're one-on-one and the game automatically faces your opponent (...which only happens during boss fights). Against regular foes, it doesn't do that, so I constantly have to press the "turn around" button and that's when I take most of my hits. Why couldn't they just make the game automatically face your opponent at all times? If there are two foes on screen, then the current controls make sense, but it's almost always one on one.

This Kollection version adds the right stick as a way to turn your character around / move, which is a good thing to add...except that it's on the right stick. Why not have that be an option to apply to the left stick? It would instantly make the game far more playable. Using the right stick to get around motion controls and other old QOL issues...never seems to work out well for anybody.

MORE PILLARS. Now even closer together! So you sprint under the first, immediately get whacked by the second, which knocks you back into death-range of the first.

WELP.

You know, this game may be stiff, dark, and bland, and yet it has all the tools to still be a pretty enjoyable game. The fights control okay, and the RPG elements are intriguing. The problem is that the designers couldn't get out of their own way! These pillars in level 1 probably caused more day one store returns than anything this side of Superman 64. And if anyone got past this...level 2 is somehow much worse.

After more pillar deaths, I arrive at the stage boss, Scorpion. After what I've been subjected to getting here, this is the easy part.

I beat him with trips, which are over-effective like the first two games in the series.

Kinda surprised Scorpion is the first boss. I figured he'd be the final boss. The final bosses are actually Netherrealm honchos Shinnok and Quan-Chi, debuting here ahead of MK4. So the game is more about promoting MK4 than it is about Sub-Zero resolving his personal beefs (the way Jax takes out Kano at the end of the other spinoff).

The first stage doesn't just end and go to the next area. No, no, that's too simple. Instead a scroll appears that you have to pick up to continue. Except it won't let you pick it up. I tried pressing every button on the N64 controller and nothing works.

Trying the Playstation version now, we'll see how that goes.

Alright, this time I was able to pick up the scroll (using the "interact" button which is L1 I believe), then climb a rope to exit the level. Not sure what the problem was with the N64 ROM.

This is worth noting, though: If you're using the "fill inventory with healing urns" option on the Legacy Kollection, bear in mind that your inventory starts out legitimately full and you can't pick anything up until you make room. Maybe that was the issue on the N64... except I didn't use any such code and I don't think the inventory was full. Well, whatever.

On the PS1 version, you get these live-action cutscenes. The N64 version doesn't have those because it's on a lame-ass cartridge with no storage space. Playstation owners got to look at all these rad FMVs. They're mostly Sub-Zero interacting with Quan-Chi and other characters.

Funny thing is that Sub-Zero hates being referred to as a ninja. Other characters refer to him as a ninja and he snaps back at them that he's "Lin Kuei, NOT ninja"

Level 2 is the Wind Temple, and it looks really awesome. This level has more style and atmosphere in its big toe than Special Forces had in the entire game.

Unfortunately, this is the worst level in the game, and one of the worst platformer levels I've ever played. It's so bad that it's unsalvageable and should have been cut from the game entirely. Doubt many players at all got past these first two levels.

The platforming isn't great, and one missed jump means Sub-Zero PLUMMETS TO HIS DEATH.

Various platforms that move in and out of the background...should not be a thing in a 2D game like this. It's hard to tell when exactly the platforms can actually be landed on, and even then, hard to actually land on them at the right time. There are several sections like this, as they basically copy-pasted this level onto itself to make it 2x as long as it should have been.

Get the level's key, and it immediately triggers a DEATH FAN that pulls you in unless you sprint away the second you pick up the key. Well that's great. Just death traps out the wazoo in this game. Go splat here and you get to re-do lots of jumping onto spinny platforms.

The boss of the level is Fujin, who is an extremely frustrating opponent to cap off an extremely frustrating level. Much like Jarek in Special Forces, Fujin is making his debut here before moving to MK4, and is probably the only significant new character in this game outside of the final bosses.

The battle is frustrating because he constantly does swoop attacks while staying out of reach most of the time. Basically, he's a flying asshole!

Once he's defeated, he does this big final attack that summons a tornado, and insta-kills you no matter what you do. The only way to survive is to go over to this edge of the platform and crouch, which causes Sub-Zero to grab the platform and not be pulled into the tornado. Have to be really fast, because you have maybe five seconds between when you regain control and when you insta-die.

This is...completely absurd, because you don't do this anywhere else in the game, ducking is never presented as a way to grab onto anything, and nothing about this part of the platform stands out as something you're supposed to interact with. I'm guessing the fewest-yet players who made it past level 1, past level 2...met a wall here.

Win a very difficult boss fight, get unavoidably killed after the fight. Over and over, if you have no internet or Nintendo Power (and neither would likely be an option if playing this right at launch, even if you did have them). It's truly video game purgatory. Can't imagine how many disgusted store returns happened at this very point. It's a wonder MK4 did well at all, and it's no wonder that most of the further character spinoffs got axed after this.

What they should have done: Have a cutscene after the fight where Sub-Zero sprints away and grabs hold of the rocks at the right spot to avoid the tornado. That was very much something that could have played out in cutscene, rather than leaving the player to figure something out in a few seconds and then die.

Level 3 is the Earth Temple. This one is completely straightforward, with traps and enemies on a largely linear plane. Would have been an alright Level 2 if we axed the existing one.

Only real problem is all of these instant-death pits all over the level. Some of them lead to items, most of them just kill you. No way to tell which is which without just falling in. It is...idiotic. Luckily on Legacy Kollection we have a rewind button.

Third boss is a giant stone golem. This thing is yet another PITA. Spamming jump kicks works pretty well, but it turtles up so much that a lot of your moves will bounce off. Have to use the Slide to dash under it to not get cornered.

Level 4 is the Water Temple, which is mostly notable for being a big maze. Have to find keys in a specific order to get through it. It's super annoying without a map... which I have right here:

Yep, there it is. There's the Water Temple. There isn't much else to it. Just a maze. All things considered, this game has really normalized a lot after level 2. It isn't GOOD or anything, but it's...normal. Level 2 was so absurdly terrible that everything since seems fine.

The next boss is this water elemental that breaks apart, melts down, and reforms like the T-1000. It's a pretty bad-ass character, too bad it never shows up in any other MK games.

Next level, Fire Temple! The prettiest level in the game, and also probably the best level in the game. It's pretty normal, everything here is logical, and it's fun to play. They probably should have led with this level. Well, maybe not led, but have this be level 2, while getting rid of the death pillars in level 1, and you have a game that is infinitely more accommodating for people to actually get into.

Next boss: Fire elemental dude. He throws a lot of uppercuts, and is another particularly cool boss to fight. This game is now dangerously close to being confused for a good game.

After level 5, we get a cutscene where the seedy Quan-Chi, who is a scenery-chewing MENACE, discourages our hero from continuing.

He then leans in, and calls him the N-Word.

That's right. ".....Ninja."

Sub-Zero sulks away after being called the N-Word.

For the umpteenth time! He is NOT ninja, he is Lin Kuei!

If playing on Very Easy, the game just cuts you off here. I HATE when old games did this. It was rare, at least. But yeah, on Very Easy, the game only goes up through level 5.

Turn the game up to Easy, and....the game ends after level 6. So it literally gives you one more level. That's just a dirty trick right there.

Turn it up to Normal and it FINALLY lets you play the whole game, all eight levels. So I just restarted on Normal at this point and used the level skip option of the Kollection to warp to level 6.

This level is Quan-Chi's prison of souls. It looks like a level from Demon Souls. Half expecting a couple of those Maneater balrogs to show up.

In videos I watched on the game, Scorpion returns as a mid-boss in this level, and now he's in his Ultimate MK3 attire. Not sure why the change of attire. It isn't like this is his "return from the dead" attire.

In my own playthrough, he didn't appear here. There was no cutscene with him, and no fight. Not sure why he was absent. Maybe he only appears here on harder difficulties? That's so random, though. It's one of the game's coolest fights, so why lock it like that? Nothing else in the game is locked behind higher difficulties, Normal is good enough. It's also possible there's some other thing that triggers the fight with him, that I missed.

The actual boss of level 6 is a giant robot with buzzsaw arms. Pretty much all of the large opponents in this game are a PITA to try and fight with, and end up being a jump kick fest.

Here are Quan-Chi's three breast assassins. The one on the left is Sareena, who eventually made her way into main series MK, while the other two are basically her subordinates who never appear again.

Level 7 is a bunch of fights against robot minibosses. All of them are complete ass to fight. Jump kick followed by roundhouse kick, over and over (or maybe it was the other way around) was the only way I could reliably land hits.

At this point I was really hovering over that level skip code.

Worth noting for platinum-enthusiasts: Near the beginning of the level, jump down here instead of proceeding to the right. This leads to a hidden boss fight with....

...this T-Rex Rider boss, which I think is optional. It's not a very hard boss, and gets you one of the three Legacy Kollection trophies related to this game. (The other two are for beating levels 5 and 8)

Other than  that, level 7 is just robot minibosses. After I got tired of it and level-skipped ahead, here's level 8. It's Quan-Chi's fortress, and it's the longest level (though weirdly enough, one of the easiest).

Here's Sareena, leader of Quan-Chi's minions. She's a tough foe.

One of the reasons this level takes so long is because of the several boss fights with Quan-Chi's female assassin trio. Luckily they attack one at a time, otherwise Sub-Zero would be...toast.

Quan-Chi's actor spent so much time hamming it up in these cutscenes. Between the smug grins and the scenery-chewing, I want to see more of this dude. I know he did mo-cap for several fighters in the main games.

In any case, he's the only good thing about this game and I've been way too kind to it

Quan-Chi has Reptile's Force Ball attack. He's a tough opponent, and looks more like a "main villain" than Shinnok does. Indeed, as a kid, I always thought this guy was the big bad guy of MK4 and Shinnok was the one who was a subordinate henchman. Even today it's sometimes easy for me to forget that it's the other way around, and Shinnok is the one who is supposed to be a Shao Kahn replacement.

It's a fun battle, and he also has a pretty cool fireball attack. The throwing style is similar to MK3 Shang Tsung's fireball. No wonder they got along so well later on.

Sareena shows up towards the end of the fight and knocks him into a portal, sparing you from the last 10-20%. That is, if you didn't kill her with the fatality earlier. In which case she's gone.

Wait a minute... THAT is probably why I didn't get the second fight with Scorpion. I must have killed him with the fatality after the first fight.

Haven't gone into that at all, but Sub-Zero has his spine-rip fatality in this game, and it's pretty easy to do. After certain boss fights, you get the chance (a generous amount of time) to do the fatality, or don't. Turns out it's only for fights that affect the story in some way, at least as far as I can tell.

Sareena may have redeemed herself, but that doesn't stop Shinnok from DEATH BEAMING her. It's Kuririn all over again!

She is...flexible. Probably because her waist is less wide than Sub-Zero's arm. Hnnnngh. Anyway, behold Shinnok in all of his boring splendor:

That damn Shinnok! Sareena was hot!

Seriously, I'll remember Sareena after this one game, but I forget what Shinnok looks like every time I stop looking at him. Maybe he's the reason for MK's slump after the Shao Kahn era.

For a final boss, this guy is a lame gimmick fight. Quan-Chi was the real final boss. Shinnok has this shield in front of him that repels all attacks and bounces Sub-Zero away.

Winning is a matter of trying to jump over him until you eventually succeed, then immediately throwing a freeze. From there, you'd think you attack, but nope. He has infinite health, so to win you have to get close and press the interact button (again, L1) and that grabs his medallion away, banishing him back to Netherrealm or whatever.

Yet another thing that I doubt anybody would have figured out on their own. Get in close and press L1?

That's it for this game, and gets me the platinum for Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection (a pretty easy platinum, and a fun one)

Our heroes leave with Shinnok's medallion, safe in the knowledge that the threat of Netherrealm is safely fended off...at least for a few more years.

Then, Raiden suggests Sub-Zero participate in the next Earthrealm MK Tournament, and introduces him to the guy who will be running said tournament...

.....SHANG TSUNG.

Wait, what the hell? That's the same guy who played Quan-Chi! He's back hamming it up some more! They thought we wouldn't notice this?

It's such a weird choice because it makes observant players think that Quan-Chi has now found a new disguise. The budget must have been running low. With the Party City costumes, you'd think they would have been doing okay on funds.

So what's worse, this or Special Forces? At first I thought that this was considerably worse, while Special Forces was just boring and bland. That's going off the first couple levels of each game. However, after playing the other 60-75% of their runtime, I can safely say that Special Forces actually IS a worse game than Mythologies. Not even just worse, MUCH worse. That game is almost intolerably bad. It seems okay at first, and I actually had some fun with it for a little while. But no...it's a huge waste of player time and developer resources. THIS game, on the other hand, while mechanically worse than Special Forces and full of absolute bullshit, at least has interesting environments and feels like an MK game. I wouldn't hate doing a replay of this game, but you couldn't pay me to run Special Forces again.

Neither is the "worst MK game ever" though, despite all the videos out there proclaiming one or the other to be. At least both of them are playable, unlike Mortal Kombat Advance. Which is a true zero out of ten game because it can't even be played normally; you have to find some attack the CPU doesn't block, and just repeat that over and over again. Try to have a normal fight and you get input-read and comboed into oblivion. Yeah, compared to that game...neither of these are as bad. And Mythologies actually has some cool moments and some appealing gameplay.

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