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[MrCunningham]

Yes, super impressed, didn't think it'd be this big of a collection, weird that greed didn't get the better of them, haven't bought any of their new games past MKX on account of the bland ugly characters, but I have noticed they desperately try to extract post-sale money from people with each iteration.

Digital Eclipse has been delivering a lot of content rich collections lately, and this one doesn't seem any different. I was pretty underwhelmed by their initial announcement, but they have added quite a few new titles to the mix. This is the first time Digital Eclipse has ever emulated the Sega 8-bit platforms (Game Gear), no MKII for the Game Gear is a bit of a bummer.. but at least the first one is there. Nice touch.

I wonder why UMK3 for Genesis isn't included. I liked that version. Same with MK4 on N64.

I was about to type the same thing... as I always felt the Genesis version was the better of the two in some ways... I feel like all the Genesis/ MD ports should be there... The Genesis was the main 16-bit machine for Mortal Kombat in my eyes... even though MKII on the SNES was a good port. Maybe Digital Eclipse does not have N64 emulation down yet? In the above video they said this is their first in-house emulators for the Game Gear and 32x systems.

They did say that there will be more game announcements. So this list is not complete yet.

 

[Omnipunctual Godot]

But will there be Nudalities?

 

[xrnzaaas]

Just found out about the physical release, but it's LRG and releasing in December? Nope, getting a digital copy then.

 

[DavJay]

I mean, afaik that's just a downgraded version compared to the SNES version, with no unique features.
same with MK4 on N64.

more curious omissions are MK Trilogy on N64, since it has unique changes as well as a different hidden character, and MK Gold, since that is an expanded version of MK4

That's not a good reason to not include it as all the console ports are downgraded version of the arcades.

 

[kevboard]

That's not a good reason to not include it as all the console ports are downgraded version of the arcades.

sure, but still, there are other omissions that would deserve it way more to be included.

 

[BigDeadFreak]

Just fix the A.I. in Mortal Kombat II and we're good.

 

[sloppyjoe_gamer]

Just fix the A.I. in Mortal Kombat II and we're good.

Easily beatable with the 'jump towards, jump away' trick

 

[kevboard]

Just fix the A.I. in Mortal Kombat II and we're good.

Easily beatable with the 'jump towards, jump away' trick

yeah, but the issue is that that's not how a fighting game should play out

but the thing is, MK is and always was a bad fighting game. it's the cheap shitty, but kinda charming, B movie of the fighting game scene.
and many people like it for that reason, so fixing that would be counterproductive.

if you start trying to "fix" Mortal Kombat... where do you even stop? you'd have to almost remake all the games there's more things wrong than right with all MK games up until like 9.

 

[AeonGaidenRaiden]

But will there be Nudalities?

No such thing as a Nudality, only Sexuality

 

[MrCunningham]

I was about to type the same thing... as I always felt the Genesis version was the better of the two in some ways...

Say what you want about 'Console Wars', but these guys do a great job breaking down the differences between the Genesis and the SNES versions of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3:



There is no cut and dry better version of this port, as the SNES and Genesis both have their strengths and weaknesses as consoles, the Genesis game will always suffer from lack on on screen colours, the SNES game has 'squashed'' sprites and has from a lower resolution screen. SNES game generally has better sound effects and voice samples... arguably the Genesis/ MD game has better music in most cases. In this case the Genesis game has more content overall.

Especially MK 1 and MKII, which were ported by Probe Entertainment, a uses the Krystalis sound driver. Which gives the music a unique sound for that hardware, and has really great 'bell' sounds and preclusion. Mortal Kombat 3, Ultimate and Trilogy were handled by Sculptured Software and they used the GEMS driver for the later Genesis ports.

It would be neat if they could get a port of the Sega Saturn Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. It is weird how Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 never made it to the PS1... But the Saturn never got a port of MK3 due to Sony publishing and having exclusivity over that version on 5th gen consoles. But Saturn Emulation is not in the cards yet for Digital Eclipse. They do use their own in-house emulators, if I am not mistaken.

I would love to see some of the N64 games... but again... maybe they are not included because the emulators are not in place? This is one of those things where Nintendo could release Trilogy and MK4 on the N64 via NSO around the same time frame. If they wanted to.

I would like to see MK Gold... but perhaps Sega Dreamcast emulation is not in the cards either?

I think since Digital Eclipse has Playstation 1 emulation in the bag, I would like to see Mythologies and its good and badness. I always liked how Mythologies looked, with its digitized sprites and polygon backdrops, and the cheesy FMV's. But could DE fix the glaring control issues? This is more like a inclusion for curiosities sake.

 

[NeverYouMind]

There is no cut and dry better version of this port, as the SNES and Genesis both have their strengths and weaknesses as consoles, the Genesis game will always suffer from lack on on screen colours, the SNES game has 'squashed'' sprites and has from a lower resolution screen. SNES game generally has better sound effects and voice samples... arguably the Genesis/ MD game has better music in most cases. In this case the Genesis game has more content overall.

PS2 version is leaps and bounds better.

 

[rkofan87]

For those who want to know what has already been announced for this collection...

https://www.pushsquare.com/



It has already been confirmed that Mortal Kombat Trilogy for the PS1 will have no loading times, and fixed Shang Tsung morphs. They claim that more games will be announced soon. This is honestly looking to be a really killer kollection of Mortal Kombat games. They are even including the notorious GBA Mortal Kombat Advance. 32x port is there. No announcement of MK Gold for the Dreamcast.

wtf when did the gba game news come out

 

[rkofan87]

That's not a good reason to not include it as all the console ports are downgraded version of the arcades.

this we getting mka and mka is shit.

 

[Dural]

MK3 was my first game on PSX and I played the shit out of it. I got good with just about every character, really loved that game. Also bought MKT and spend countless hours trying to get The Pit II to work only to find out years later the pit fatality wasn't in the game. I can't wait for this to come out, if only for the nostalgia.

 

[Kacho]

wtf when did the gba game news come out

Yeah, I missed that too. Hilarious.

Max should do a play through for the lols.

 

[Kacho]

Say what you want about 'Console Wars', but these guys do a great job breaking down the differences between the Genesis and the SNES versions of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3:



There is no cut and dry better version of this port, as the SNES and Genesis both have their strengths and weaknesses as consoles, the Genesis game will always suffer from lack on on screen colours, the SNES game has 'squashed'' sprites and has from a lower resolution screen. SNES game generally has better sound effects and voice samples... arguably the Genesis/ MD game has better music in most cases. In this case the Genesis game has more content overall.

Especially MK 1 and MKII, which were ported by Probe Entertainment, a uses the Krystalis sound driver. Which gives the music a unique sound for that hardware, and has really great 'bell' sounds and preclusion. Mortal Kombat 3, Ultimate and Trilogy were handled by Sculptured Software and they used the GEMS driver for the later Genesis ports.

It would be neat if they could get a port of the Sega Saturn Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. It is weird how Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 never made it to the PS1... But the Saturn never got a port of MK3 due to Sony publishing and having exclusivity over that version on 5th gen consoles. But Saturn Emulation is not in the cards yet for Digital Eclipse. They do use their own in-house emulators, if I am not mistaken.

I would love to see some of the N64 games... but again... maybe they are not included because the emulators are not in place? This is one of those things where Nintendo could release Trilogy and MK4 on the N64 via NSO around the same time frame. If they wanted to.

I would like to see MK Gold... but perhaps Sega Dreamcast emulation is not in the cards either?

I think since Digital Eclipse has Playstation 1 emulation in the bag, I would like to see Mythologies and its good and badness. I always liked how Mythologies looked, with its digitized sprites and polygon backdrops, and the cheesy FMV's. But could DE fix the glaring control issues? This is more like an inclusion for curiosities sake.

Thanks for sharing the video. Very interesting. I never knew the Genesis version was so stacked content-wise.

And LOL at them saying Genesis had better sound.

My YouTube feed is now serving up great stuff.

 

[MacReady13]

Unless I have missed it in this thread but, is there a release date for this compilation yet? I'm dying for it to come out...

 

[Kacho]

For those who want to know what has already been announced for this collection...

https://www.pushsquare.com/

As a recap, here are all the games that have been confirmed for the compilation so far:

• Mortal Kombat – 1992: Arcade, SNES, Genesis, Game Boy, Game Gear
• Mortal Kombat II – 1993: Arcade, SNES, Genesis, Game Boy, 32X
• Mortal Kombat 3 – 1995: Arcade, SNES, Genesis
• Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 – 1995: Arcade, SNES
• Mortal Kombat Trilogy – 1996: PS1
• Mortal Kombat 4 – 1997: Arcade
• Mortal Kombat Advance – 2001: Game Boy Advance
• Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance – 2002: Game Boy Advance
• Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition – 2003:Game Boy Advance

Which version of Mortal Kombat will you be playing first once this collection drops, and why? Get over here and leave your selections in the comments section below.

Also quoting for a new page in case anyone missed it. I'll add it to the OP as well.

Unless I have missed it in this thread but, is there a release date for this compilation yet? I'm dying for it to come out...

September 30th

 

[MrCunningham]

And LOL at them saying Genesis had better sound.

My YouTube feed is now serving up great stuff.

I think there could be a good argument made for the music in the Genesis/ MD versions of the game. But when it comes to actual audio samples and sound effects, I would lean more towards the SNES version. I think Mortal Kombat 1 and even Mortal Kombat 2 has better and overall more iconic music on the Genesis hardware. Those were ported by Probe and use their own custom audio driver: Krystalis .

Mortal Kombat 3 for both consoles were done by Sculptured Software. They did do a really good job on the Genesis port. The Genesis game uses the GEMS audio driver instead of Krystalis, and I do thing that quite a few of the SNES audio tracks are overall better. Looking this up, Avalanche Software did the ports for UMK3 for both systems, but they were built from the Sculptured Software source codes.

 

[Kacho]

I think there could be a good argument made for the music in the Genesis/ MD versions of the game. But when it comes to actual audio samples and sound effects, I would lean more towards the SNES version. I think Mortal Kombat 1 and even Mortal Kombat 2 has better and overall more iconic music on the Genesis hardware. Those were ported by Probe and use their own custom audio driver: Krystalis .

Mortal Kombat 3 for both consoles were done by Sculptured Software. They did do a really good job on the Genesis port. The Genesis game uses the GEMS audio driver instead of Krystalis, and I do thing that quite a few of the SNES audio tracks are overall better. Looking this up, Avalanche Software did the ports for UMK3 for both systems, but they were built from the Sculptured Software source codes.

Are you a developer? You have a wealth of knowledge on MK development.

 

[MrCunningham]

Are you a developer? You have a wealth of knowledge on MK development.

You know, despite the fact that I actually had a few offers to work in the game industry as an artist, I have never actually worked for any major game development studios. But hey, I have a stupid encyclopedia level of information about the video game industry and do a lot of reading on the technical aspect of most games. I don't have the chops to be a technical computer programmer. Despite the long break (4-5 years?) I took on these forums, just look at my post history here.

 

[roosnam1980]

 

[violence]

Mortal Kombat Trilogy with arcade sprites? That's the only game I want to play.

 

[MooMilk2929]

“It Features More Than 20 Games” - Mortal Kombat: Legacy Collection Interview

Content editor Dan Amrich told us what to expect from the upcoming bundle of Mortal Kombat games, including online modes and crossplay.

www.thegamer.com

Amrich also tells me that it's the first time Digital Eclipse is emulating PlayStation, which was a real technical challenge for them. It was necessary because the collection will also feature the PlayStation and arcade versions of Mortal Kombat 4, the first 3D entry in the series.

Looks like MK4 PS1 is gonna be in it.

 

[kevboard]

“It Features More Than 20 Games” - Mortal Kombat: Legacy Collection Interview

Content editor Dan Amrich told us what to expect from the upcoming bundle of Mortal Kombat games, including online modes and crossplay.

www.thegamer.com

Amrich also tells me that it's the first time Digital Eclipse is emulating PlayStation, which was a real technical challenge for them. It was necessary because the collection will also feature the PlayStation and arcade versions of Mortal Kombat 4, the first 3D entry in the series.

Looks like MK4 PS1 is gonna be in it.

what about Gold tho? MK Gold should have been priority imo.

also MK4 was not only the first 3D MK... but also somehow the only one that isn't complete dogshit lol.
it's insane going back to the gen6 era of MK. these games are so unfathomably bad it's actually impressive.

 

[NeverYouMind]

Any Mortal Kombat Trilogy with arcade sprites? That's the only game I want to play.

MK Trilogy never came out in arcades and they are aiming for authenticity so if you are anticipating them modding arcade sprites into it you are going to be disappointed.

also MK4 was not only the first 3D MK... but also somehow the only one that isn't complete dogshit lol.

Bullshit. I would put Armageddon above 4 and it was really dumbed down and generic. Deadly Alliance (console) in particular has some ridiculous stuff that makes replaying it more entertaining than diving back into MK9.

 

[kevboard]

Bullshit. I would put Armageddon above 4 and it was really dumbed down and generic. Deadly Alliance (console) in particular has some ridiculous stuff that makes replaying it more entertaining than diving back into MK9.

all the gen6 MK games feel worse to play than putting your hands in shards of glass in a pool of lemon juice.

like, I know there's practically no MK game with actual good game feel, but Deadly Alliance to Armageddon were so insanely ass in that regard that it's actual torture playing them.

MK4 feels responsive (for MK standards) and actually plays like Mortal Kombat.
even tho Armageddon tried to be a bit more like MK again, it still didn't play like MK.

 

[violence]

MK Trilogy never came out in arcades and they are aiming for authenticity so if you are anticipating them modding arcade sprites into it you are going to be disappointed.

I'm not expecting anything but it's what was going through my head when I heard Mortal Kombat trilogy was going to be in it.

 

[NeverYouMind]

all the gen6 MK games feel worse to play than putting your hands in shards of glass in a pool of lemon juice.

like, I know there's practically no MK game with actual good game feel, but Deadly Alliance to Armageddon were so insanely ass in that regard that it's actual torture playing them.

MK4 feels responsive (for MK standards) and actually plays like Mortal Kombat.
even tho Armageddon tried to be a bit more like MK again, it still didn't play like MK.

Deadly Alliance is not well rounded but the good stuff like having extra throws in wrestling style and being able to do reversals with a subset of characters is fun. Being able to successfully use sidesteps to avoid projectiles or dash and make it safe to follow ups with block canceling is cool. It may not play like MK but some implementations string together (especially some combos canceling into specials) so well that for a moment in time it is elevated beyond Mortal Kombat. MK4 has 2d mentality in a 3D space and that makes it inferior to even MK1.

 

[Ozzie666]

Say what you want about 'Console Wars', but these guys do a great job breaking down the differences between the Genesis and the SNES versions of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3:



There is no cut and dry better version of this port, as the SNES and Genesis both have their strengths and weaknesses as consoles, the Genesis game will always suffer from lack on on screen colours, the SNES game has 'squashed'' sprites and has from a lower resolution screen. SNES game generally has better sound effects and voice samples... arguably the Genesis/ MD game has better music in most cases. In this case the Genesis game has more content overall.

Especially MK 1 and MKII, which were ported by Probe Entertainment, a uses the Krystalis sound driver. Which gives the music a unique sound for that hardware, and has really great 'bell' sounds and preclusion. Mortal Kombat 3, Ultimate and Trilogy were handled by Sculptured Software and they used the GEMS driver for the later Genesis ports.

It would be neat if they could get a port of the Sega Saturn Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. It is weird how Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 never made it to the PS1... But the Saturn never got a port of MK3 due to Sony publishing and having exclusivity over that version on 5th gen consoles. But Saturn Emulation is not in the cards yet for Digital Eclipse. They do use their own in-house emulators, if I am not mistaken.

I would love to see some of the N64 games... but again... maybe they are not included because the emulators are not in place? This is one of those things where Nintendo could release Trilogy and MK4 on the N64 via NSO around the same time frame. If they wanted to.

I would like to see MK Gold... but perhaps Sega Dreamcast emulation is not in the cards either?

I think since Digital Eclipse has Playstation 1 emulation in the bag, I would like to see Mythologies and its good and badness. I always liked how Mythologies looked, with its digitized sprites and polygon backdrops, and the cheesy FMV's. But could DE fix the glaring control issues? This is more like a inclusion for curiosities sake.

I do enjoy the effort these guys put into their content. I believe Sega (I hate how they don't call it Genesis or Megadrive) wins more than SNES does. I'm not sure if that comes to writer's bias or not. But it seems like a good 60-70% of the time Sega wins these. Even if it's obviously not true eitherway some their skits are pretty funny, puppets, guest stars. They are both really passionate about this stuff.

 

[kevboard]

Deadly Alliance is not well rounded but the good stuff like having extra throws in wrestling style and being able to do reversals with a subset of characters is fun. Being able to successfully use sidesteps to avoid projectiles or dash and make it safe to follow ups with block canceling is cool. It may not play like MK but some implementations string together (especially some combos canceling into specials) so well that for a moment in time it is elevated beyond Mortal Kombat. MK4 has 2d mentality in a 3D space and that makes it inferior to even MK1.

here's how I see it.

if I play a fighting game, and I press a button, if the audiovisual response to my button press doesn't feel good, satisfying and responsive, the fighting game is automatically bad.

it can have the deepest mechanics ever, the most innovative ideas in history... if it fails that simple step of feeling responsive and satisfying when you press buttons, it's a bad fighting game.

it's like a pool with a turd swimming around in it. even tho it's a great pool, even if you are on the other side of that pool, and even tho you know the chlorine will kill all the bacteria... you probably get the fuck out of that pool immediately. and that's how all the gen6 MK games are. the mechanics are the pool, but there's the turd which are the controls and the general game feel. the pool doesn't matter, because the turd is in it.

it's how most MK games are just to varying degrees, but the gen6 games are by far the worst offenders.
and MK4 happens to be on the more responsive end of the MK spectrum.

 

[NeverYouMind]

here's how I see it.

if I play a fighting game, and I press a button, if the audiovisual response to my button press doesn't feel good, satisfying and responsive, the fighting game is automatically bad.

it can have the deepest mechanics ever, the most innovative ideas in history... if it fails that simple step of feeling responsive and satisfying when you press buttons, it's a bad fighting game.

it's like a pool with a turd swimming around in it. even tho it's a great pool, even if you are on the other side of that pool, and even tho you know the chlorine will kill all the bacteria... you probably get the fuck out of that pool immediately. and that's how all the gen6 MK games are. the mechanics are the pool, but there's the turd which are the controls and the general game feel. the pool doesn't matter, because the turd is in it.

it's how most MK games are just to varying degrees, but the gen6 games are by far the worst offenders.
and MK4 happens to be on the more responsive end of the MK spectrum.

MK4 is known for input lag... you are confusing game speed with responsiveness.

 

[MrCunningham]

Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection will be shown of at the Microsoft presentation during Gamescom, and there has been a lot of speculation that they will be revealing another game.

• Some think it is MK4 for the PS1, because Digital Eclipse does have an in-house PS1 emulator.
• Some think it is MK Gold for the Dreamcast. But Digital Eclipse would have to reveal that they have their own Dreamcast emulator in development for this to happen.
• Minor speculation is that Sub Zero Mythologies for the PS1... but that might be a lower priority, as they would want to get as many fighting games in the collection.
• No word on N64.

Keep in mind that Digital Eclipse does not seem to use 'off the shelf' emulators for their compilations. They build their own emulators from scratch. If there is no word on N64 emulation, it is possible that they just don't have an N64 emulator ready. DE did reveal that they have a working PS1 emulator with MKTrilogy. PS1 emulation is doable. They could surprise people with Dreamcast or N64 emulation... you never know.

 

[nkarafo]

The Arcade version of MK4 is actually a pretty huge deal. Looks way better than the console ports and it still doesn't emulate well on Mame. So it's going to be the first time we get a perfect arcade version at home.

 

[MrCunningham]

The Arcade version of MK4 is actually a pretty huge deal. Looks way better than the console ports and it still doesn't emulate well on Mame. So it's going to be the first time we get a perfect arcade version at home.

The Zeus arcade board that powers Mortal Kombat 4 is pretty interesting piece of tech overall. It uses an FPGA as it's graphics core, so it is pretty mysterious in how the graphics core actually works, given that it could have been configured in many different ways through software. The machine has I think 16MB of Video RAM, or it is called 'wave RAM'.

The CPU is Texas Instruments based, 32bit and runs at 60MHz. The previous 'Wolf hardware' that powered MK3, and NBA Jam and such uses a Texas Instruments 32bit CPU that runs at 6MHz. And was quite competent at that lower clock rate. I would imagine because the Zeus hardware uses an FPGA chip, it can even duplicate the 2D capabilities of the previous Midway hardware. The graphics core configuration can change from game to game. It is really kinda cool.

The Sega Dreamcast can compete pretty damn well with the Zeus hardware. It has a higher framefrate overall... the arcade game runs at 57FPS (like Sega's Model 2 arcade board), while the Dreamcast runs at a steady 60fps. The Dreamcast game outputs at a higher resolution overall, with 480p through VGA. Polygon models and enviroments look comparable to the arcade MK4. Not sure which one is displaying more polygons at any given time. Textures also look comparable. Though the Dreamcast game is definitely cleaner looking overall, with its SSAA and FSAA that is built into the hardware. The Dreamcast version really gives the arcade version a run for its money.

All the same, if they emulated the arcade MK4 properly, then it will still be an incredible version to have. But the Dreamcast version is basically the Ultimate edition of MK4, and does have extra characters and stages not found in the arcade game. It also has a weapon selection option.



The one thing I noticed about the Dreamcast version is how the stencil shadows are disabled after a fatality has been executed. Maybe it has something to do with the extra blood and transparency effects? That was a little weird. But I think back in the day the Dreamcast version was seen as being technically better than the arcade version in some ways.

To be honest... I have never ever played the arcade MK4. I have never seen an MK4 arcade machine. I have played 1, 2 and 3 in arcades. The Dreamcast MKGold is also a rarity as well. How many people have played that version?

 

[Ozzie666]

The Zeus arcade board that powers Mortal Kombat 4 is pretty interesting piece of tech overall. It uses an FPGA as it's graphics core, so it is pretty mysterious in how the graphics core actually works, given that it could have been configured in many different ways through software. The machine has I think 16MB of Video RAM, or it is called 'wave RAM'.

The CPU is Texas Instruments based, 32bit and runs at 60MHz. The previous 'Wolf hardware' that powered MK3, and NBA Jam and such uses a Texas Instruments 32bit CPU that runs at 6MHz. And was quite competent at that lower clock rate. I would imagine because the Zeus hardware uses an FPGA chip, it can even duplicate the 2D capabilities of the previous Midway hardware. The graphics core configuration can change from game to game. It is really kinda cool.

The Sega Dreamcast can compete pretty damn well with the Zeus hardware. It has a higher framefrate overall... the arcade game runs at 57FPS (like Sega's Model 2 arcade board), while the Dreamcast runs at a steady 60fps. The Dreamcast game outputs at a higher resolution overall, with 480p through VGA. Polygon models and enviroments look comparable to the arcade MK4. Not sure which one is displaying more polygons at any given time. Textures also look comparable. Though the Dreamcast game is definitely cleaner looking overall, with its SSAA and FSAA that is built into the hardware. The Dreamcast version really gives the arcade version a run for its money.

All the same, if they emulated the arcade MK4 properly, then it will still be an incredible version to have. But the Dreamcast version is basically the Ultimate edition of MK4, and does have extra characters and stages not found in the arcade game. It also has a weapon selection option.



The one thing I noticed about the Dreamcast version is how the stencil shadows are disabled after a fatality has been executed. Maybe it has something to do with the extra blood and transparency effects? That was a little weird. But I think back in the day the Dreamcast version was seen as being technically better than the arcade version in some ways.

To be honest... I have never ever played the arcade MK4. I have never seen an MK4 arcade machine. I have played 1, 2 and 3 in arcades. The Dreamcast MKGold is also a rarity as well. How many people have played that version?

Do you instead have to suffer through War Gods? MK4 Arcade was pretty good for the time. But most people probably recall the N64 downgraded port. Still better than the PS1 though!

 

[MrCunningham]

Do you instead have to suffer through War Gods?

Ummm... I am not sure what you mean by that. I had an N64 back in the day, and to be honest I never once played Wargods on it. To be honest... it always looked like shit to me. I remember playing MK4 on the N64 and thinking that it was alright. But it was hard for me to compare it to the arcade, since I have never played it... not even through emulation.

I think I have a copy of Gold for the Dreamcast... I will have to check. I don't remember what was wrong with the NA release of it, but some people say this version has some broken mechanics that were fixed in the PAL release. But PAL runs at 50Hz... who knows if that is ever true? Is the PAL version of Gold more polished than the NTSC version? I was never that big into MK4. I have never played the PS1 port.

There is also a Windows 9X version of MK4, that I have never played either. But I would imagine that that version could be close to arcade perfect? If not better, depending on the system requirements and supported API's.

 

[nkarafo]

The Zeus arcade board that powers Mortal Kombat 4 is pretty interesting piece of tech overall. It uses an FPGA as it's graphics core, so it is pretty mysterious in how the graphics core actually works, given that it could have been configured in many different ways through software. The machine has I think 16MB of Video RAM, or it is called 'wave RAM'.

The CPU is Texas Instruments based, 32bit and runs at 60MHz. The previous 'Wolf hardware' that powered MK3, and NBA Jam and such uses a Texas Instruments 32bit CPU that runs at 6MHz. And was quite competent at that lower clock rate. I would imagine because the Zeus hardware uses an FPGA chip, it can even duplicate the 2D capabilities of the previous Midway hardware. The graphics core configuration can change from game to game. It is really kinda cool.

The Sega Dreamcast can compete pretty damn well with the Zeus hardware. It has a higher framefrate overall... the arcade game runs at 57FPS (like Sega's Model 2 arcade board), while the Dreamcast runs at a steady 60fps. The Dreamcast game outputs at a higher resolution overall, with 480p through VGA. Polygon models and enviroments look comparable to the arcade MK4. Not sure which one is displaying more polygons at any given time. Textures also look comparable. Though the Dreamcast game is definitely cleaner looking overall, with its SSAA and FSAA that is built into the hardware. The Dreamcast version really gives the arcade version a run for its money.

All the same, if they emulated the arcade MK4 properly, then it will still be an incredible version to have. But the Dreamcast version is basically the Ultimate edition of MK4, and does have extra characters and stages not found in the arcade game. It also has a weapon selection option.



The one thing I noticed about the Dreamcast version is how the stencil shadows are disabled after a fatality has been executed. Maybe it has something to do with the extra blood and transparency effects? That was a little weird. But I think back in the day the Dreamcast version was seen as being technically better than the arcade version in some ways.

To be honest... I have never ever played the arcade MK4. I have never seen an MK4 arcade machine. I have played 1, 2 and 3 in arcades. The Dreamcast MKGold is also a rarity as well. How many people have played that version?

Ι have to disagree. Visually, the Arcade version is superior. Even from the video you can see the textures are sharper, it has soft shadows and the 3D models even seem to have some sort of self-shadowing that's completely missing from the DC version. The lighting overall looks much better on the arcade.

 

[MrCunningham]

Ι have to disagree. Visually, the Arcade version is superior. Even from the video you can see the textures are sharper, it has soft shadows and the 3D models even seem to have some sort of self-shadowing that's completely missing from the DC version. The lighting overall looks much better on the arcade.

The arcade version does have a grittier look to it. Not sure if the ground textures are higher resolution, or if the game is just displaying at a lower resolution to make them look sharper. I don;t know how much I trust a MAME emulation of the game... it is hard to find direct captures of the real arcade board for this one. But I do agree with the starker lighting and different use of gourad shading in the arcade game.

There are some aspects of the arcade game that I do think looks better. But on a technical standpoint the Dreamcast game is really comparable in many ways. Technically is is running at a higher resolution and higher framerate. The Dreamcast version was still seen as one of the best looking home ports of the game back in the day. As a game, it does have six addition characters and four or five additional stages. A team battle mode. Training mode.

 

[Just_one]

whats the release date for this again?

something tells me they will announce shaolin monks and sub zero mythologies in gamescom

if there are more games to be announced what other MK games are missing?

 

[nkarafo]

I don;t know how much I trust a MAME emulation of the game... it is hard to find direct captures of the real arcade board for this one.

MAME is not a good comparison for this game. The graphics are not emulated correctly yet, there are glitches and missing stuff.

There is currently no emulator that runs this game perfectly. This is why it's surprising to me this collection is going to have the arcade version. I still have my doubts it's going to be good enough.

There are some aspects of the arcade game that I do think looks better. But on a technical standpoint the Dreamcast game is really comparable in many ways. Technically is is running at a higher resolution and higher framerate. The Dreamcast version was still seen as one of the best looking home ports of the game back in the day. As a game, it does have six addition characters and four or five additional stages. A team battle mode. Training mode.

True, the DC version runs at a higher resolution. But it also looks softer at the same time because of the heavy filtering. Some textures look blurrier and i'm not sure if it's the filtering or they are simply lower resolution. The frame rate difference is nothing, it's just a small refresh rate difference with the monitors and the game needs to sync with that. 3 fps isn't enough to compare frame rates.

However, MK4 on DC isn't a great looking game for the standards of the machine. The DC/Naomi should be quite bit more powerful than the Zeus hardware. If it can run Soul Calibur and a perfect port of DOA2, then MK4 could be even better than the arcade version, meaning it could have more polygons and 3D details on the characters and backgrounds.

 

[MrCunningham]

MAME is not a good comparison for this game. The graphics are not emulated correctly yet, there are glitches and missing stuff.

There is currently no emulator that runs this game perfectly. This is why it's surprising to me this collection is going to have the arcade version. I still have my doubts it's going to be good enough.

Digital Eclipse seems like they are using their own in-house emulator that is tailor made for this port. Based on their Eclipse Engine. For all I know, theirs could be the best emulated version of the game... Looking at the specs of the Zeus hardware, it is very different from a lot of other boards. It's most unique feature seems to be its' FPGA graphics core, which is pretty crazy for 1997. That might be something that is hard to duplicate.

However, MK4 on DC isn't a great looking game for the standards of the machine. The DC/Naomi should be quite bit more powerful than the Zeus hardware. If it can run Soul Calibur and a perfect port of DOA2, then MK4 could be even better than the arcade version, meaning it could have more polygons and 3D details on the characters and backgrounds.

It was a North American launch game for the console. Released on 9/9/99. Yeah, even for a launch game, it was mogged by Soul Calibur quite hard. Even the port of Virtua Fighter 3TB was mogged by Soul Calibur. I feel like Mortal Kombat Gold is good in a sense that it does deliver a solid arcade port of MK4. It certainly was not a NAOMI tier game. I do agree that the arcade MK4 seems to have better lighting and colour grading. I do like it's more contrasted lighting. I do like the sharper look of everything as well. The Dreamcast really cleans up the image with its built in hardware filtering. I think it would be nice inclusion, if they could add it.

 

[nkarafo]

It was a North American launch game for the console. Released on 9/9/99. Yeah, even for a launch game, it was mogged by Soul Calibur quite hard.

Yeah, it doesn't help that, at the time, Western 3D fighting games couldn't compare with the Japanese ones in almost every way. Japanese devs did better 3D models of humans and the animation was always way more graceful and smooth. Western 3D fighting games looked and moved like pure jank in comparison. And MK4 is a good example of that. Only Mace the Dark Age kinda tried to have some decent animations here and there during that generation but still, not a par with the best of Sega, Tecmo and Namco.

 

[sloppyjoe_gamer]

We need a release date! Hopefully that is a part of the announcement today too.

 

[sloppyjoe_gamer]

MK Mythologies Subzero, and MK Special Forces are in. Image from Gamescon

Only one other ? left now......my bet is MK: Gold

 

[roosnam1980]

MK Mythologies Subzero, and MK Special Forces are in. Image from Gamescon

Only one other ? left now......my bet is MK: Gold

i wonder if mk special forces includes sonya as a bonus

 

[Kacho]

MK Mythologies Subzero, and MK Special Forces are in. Image from Gamescon

Only one other ? left now......my bet is MK: Gold

Damn this collection is stacked. Ed Boon is really sorry about MK1.

 

[NeverYouMind]

MK Mythologies Subzero, and MK Special Forces are in. Image from Gamescon

Only one other ? left now......my bet is MK: Gold

Those are borderline torture. Maybe if they have rewinding they will be somewhat tolerable...

P.S. Played Digital Eclipse's TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection again and the graphics filters are rubbish. Hope they improve them for this release.

 

[Mr Hyde]

This kollection is jam packed with MK goodies. I played Mythologies on N64 back in the day and it sucked absolute ass, but it's a fun novelty to include. Definitely gonna give it another whirl so I can relive my anger for buying that expensive piece of shit.

 

[kevboard]

Those are borderline torture. Maybe if they have rewinding they will be somewhat tolerable...

P.S. Played Digital Eclipse's TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection again and the graphics filters are rubbish. Hope they improve them for this release.

Mythologies has a 1000 lives cheat. that makes it tolerable I'd say.