One of the highlights of E3 2005 was the announcement that Midway was bringing their classic arcade compliation title, Midway Arcade Treasures, to the the Sony PSP handheld system. While the game was not playable at E3 we did find out that Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat II, and Mortal Kombat 3 are all included in Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Play. Now that the game has been released, we get a chance to analyze and detail the classic Mortal Kombat games and determine whether this iteration is any better than the previous console releases in our Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Play Review.


Because of a few logistical issues, we were unable to test the wireless multiplayer at this time; however, stay tuned as we plan to update the review in the near future once we can work those issues out. Drop us a comment in the forums if you agree or disagree with us.

An off-handed remark by Microsoft Corporate VP, Peter Moore, during Microsoft's CES 2006 keynote revealed that Capcom is bringing Street Fighter II - its most popular arcade game - to the Xbox Live Arcade. This amazing announcement for classic arcade gamers can only put even more pressure on Midway to either consider bringing the classic Mortal Kombat franchise to the online multiplayer arena.

Often the excuse for not creating a Mortal Kombat that can be played online was that the fast-twitch gameplay was not possible over a wide-area network, such was the reason given in our Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Play Developer Interview. If Capcom can figure out a way to put a fast-twitch fighter like Street Fighter 2 online, then there should be no excuse for Mortal Kombat to remain offline.

Many of you expressed great interest in getting the classic arcade Mortal Kombat series on Xbox Live Arcade. Does the fact that Street Fighter 2 is coming to Xbox Live Arcade make you want Mortal Kombat II even more on Xbox Live Arcade? Let us know what you're thinking by expressing your feelings by leaving us a comment.

You may have heard of Brice Mellen before. He's just like any other high school senior. He loves video games and plays them all the time. He's virtually unstoppable at playing the latest console Mortal Kombat games. And to top things off, he plays with a compromise. He can't see the television.

Brice is survivor of Leber's disease, which blinded him at birth, but that has not stopped him from becoming an avid gamer. Later this month, Brice will travel to Japan to compete against several of Japan's best Mortal Kombat players as part of a special for Nippon TV’s Power of Memory, Part III.

When it comes to rumors, we tend to avoid them as they're often the product of someone's rampant imagination. However, this time we've received some credible information and have checked our sources who provided our previous rumored information, which was corroborated by the registering of MKArmageddon.com.

TRMK Forums member Khaos passed onto us a tip he received that the next issue of Game Informer, Issue #154 to be exact, will feature a world exclusive article on the upcoming game Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. This makes sense because in the past Game Informer has gained the first exclusive looks at the next Mortal Kombat games. The tip included hints at some of the features of the upcoming game, such as a Create a Kombatant mode where you can change the appearance, fighting styles, weapon and even some form of custom fatalities for your character! My guess is that this character would be either used for Konquest and/or Online Play, with the features and abilities to be unlocked via the Krypt system. I'm excited to see what Midway allows us to do with this, if the rumor is in fact, true.

In addition to the custom characters, it appears we may be getting ALL the previous kombatants from every Mortal Kombat game, even bosses like Motaro and rare characters like Rain. It was also noted that some of the characters absent in the recent games will be sporting some updated looks. The community should be happy with this, because all of their favorite characters will be returning.

We also heard a rumor that a lot, maybe even all, of the stages from the previous games will also be returning along with the characters. I was just thinking the other day while playing Mortal Kombat 3, what it would be like to see the city levels in a future 3D Mortal Kombat game.

The source also touched upon the improved Konquest System we mentioned a few months ago, noting that it is more like Shaolin Monks this time around. Also it was mentioned that the fighting system was updated with the ability to fly; however, we have heard a rumor that Mortal Kombat: Armageddon will actually feature an air combo system not seen in the previous MK games. I'm not talking about the typical air juggle Mortal Kombat combos, but rather in-air button combos. Maybe this what the tipser interpreted as flying.

It will be interesting to see if these rumors pan out, I guess we'll just have to wait to find out. We'll be sure to keep you posted with any information as we receive it.

+10 TRMKarma:

It appears that we were correct yesterday about the rumors. Forum member Khaos from MKOutworld.net has provided us the following scans of issue #154 of Game Informer that has the details of the upcoming Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. The issue contains a four page article on the upcoming game, featuring a few screenshots and renders for all 60 playable characters! Check them out below.


The article discusses the storyline of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon and how the MK Team is going to wipe the slate clean on the current generation of game consoles and move onto next generation systems after this game. We won't give away the storyline just yet, because you should go out and buy the issue for those details, but we can say a winner will finally be decided once and for all.

Here is a quick run down of the features mentioned in the article:

• At least 60 playable characters, "all the characters from Mortal Kombat fighting history". But they do mention that Motaro may not make the cut. Character select screen is so large that it has to rotate to reveal them all.


• Create a Kombatant system for customizable characters.


• The Fatalitiy system will be "reinvented," but no elaboration on that yet.


• Air Combo system implemented that allows string combos in mid-air.


• Throws can now be executed so that you toss the opponent where you want to. This helps with stage deathtraps, making them much more of a threat than before.


• Konquest mode is now based off of the Shaolin Monks engine. This will allow the game to much more dynamic and expansive.


• Game to be released for PlayStation 2 and Xbox in October 2006.

I, for one, am very excited and overwelmed to see the amount of content this game is going to have. Let's hope Midway can pull it off and make this the best Mortal Kombat game ever.

+10 TRMKarma: Khaos

Thanks to reader Michael Kaufman for informing us that there are actually two more pages to the Mortal Kombat: Armageddon feature in Issue #154 of Game Informer than we thought before. Those pages contain even more information and further details over what we announced previously, including details on the Kreate-a-Fighter feature, details on the new Fatality system, the new Krypt and a new "strange" mini game! Below are some thumbnails of the pages, be sure to go and pick up your copy from your local EB Games or Gamestop when the issue hits store fronts later this month if you'd like to see them in more detail.





In the Kreate-a-Fighter feature you are given six pages of options in creating your custom fighter. Everything from nose size, eye angle, color of garments, belt, and even your own fighting style. But your own fighting style isn't just assigning a preset fighting style to character, but instead you actually get to assign every attack you can make and name the fighting style whatever you want to!

Another big feature that was elaborated further in the issue is the expansion of the new Fatality system. Now instead of just watching a Fatality act out like a movie or play, instead you will be able to control every step in the Fatality. You will be given a set allotment of time to execute various movements, some exclusive to your fighter, to decimate your victim. The amount of possible moves are not set in stone yet, it depends on how much they can squeeze into the game's memory.

Also they mention that the old Krypt is now going to be revamped and called The Vault now. Now you will not have to focus on one area of the game to unlock the Vault contents, instead content can be unlocked from all the various game modes. That means if you don't like Konquest, you could still unlock the hidden content via the Arcade mode instead.

Finally, one sad note is that the former mini games, Puzzle Kombat and Chess are not making a return in this game. Instead there is a mention of a new "strange" online multiplayer game that supports up to 8 players at once. I personally can't wait to see what this may be. I personally would love to see something similar to the MK Team's arcade multiplayer shooter game The Grid make an appearance.

Interested in checking out the full details of the Mortal Kombat Armageddon article in Issue #154 of Game Informer magazine? To make sure you are grabbing the right issue, GameInformer.com released the cover image from the February 2006 Issue #156. Head on out to your nearest Gamestop or EB Games to buy your copy today.

We have polled a few stores and they all say they have the issue in stock. The issue has a world exclusive cover story for the next-generation Metal of Honor: Airborne. At the top of the cover there is a strip containing a blurb about the Mortal Kombat Armageddon article.

Get your's today and check out the huge render of the entire cast of Mortal Kombat characters, several in-game screenshots, details and screenshots of the Kreate-a-Fighter feature, plus much more. This issue is definately worth owning.

Midway continues to release artwork to the community from Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks (Xbox, PS2) on the official Midway Forums. We're playing a little catchup on these images, but the last image was released yesterday.


For more renders, screenshots, fatality videos and strategy guides, visit our Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks GameRealm.

+10 TRMKarma: Khaos, InfernoScorpion

According to a top ten list of all Xbox Live Arcade purchases, Midway's classic arcade titles, Gauntlet and Smash TV are selling extremely well, ranking second and third respectively. Topping the list is the ever addictive, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved.

These sales statistics should bode extremely well for Midway's continued support of the Xbox Live Arcade. This success should also raise the probability of the Mortal Kombat series making an appearance in the Xbox Live Arcade. Luckily with the planned Street Fighter II release on Xbox Live in March, Midway is going to have some significant pressure on them to come up with an experience that is on par with what Capcom is planning on delivering.

But will Midway shun the development time and push out the release as quickly as possible in order to turn a quick buck? Or will they take the time to make sure the experience is as deep and rich as SFII is planning to be? Let us know your prediction.

The perpetually delayed PC version of Midway Arcade Treasures: Deluxe Edition, gets a new game and a new release date. The original Mortal Kombat has been added to the list of over 25 classic Midway and Atari arcade games, creating the inseparable trinity of Mortal Kombat II and Mortal Kombat 3. (Let's try to forget the whole MK: Deception bonus disc debacle.)

With the newly added game, comes yet another release date. February 6th is the new date you can mark on your calendar as the day you'll be able to hammer on your keyboard, playing "legal" versions of Midway's classic arcade games. To tide you until then, Midway released 12 new screenshots today. Here are ones from the Mortal Kombat games.


You can view the rest of the new screenshots, along with a list of the entire collection of the included arcade games in our Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Play GameRealm.

Game Informer has posted their subscriber's online "Unlimited" content for February 2006, which includes about 150 screenshots from the upcoming Mortal Kombat: Armageddon.

The screenshots are very similar to what was printed in the magazine, but they do go into some of the finer details on the various steps of the Create a Fighter feature. There are also some more shots from the newly redesigned Konquest mode and a few in-game fight shots showing off the redesigned stages, such as MK3's The Subway and MK4's The Fan stages. You can also see that Jade is sporting a pair of shades in one screenshot.

Because this content is behind what is essentially a "pay gate", we do not have the rights to post these images directly on our website. So all you Game Informer subscribers better go check it out for yourself. Everyone else can talk about them in the comments.

Those who have followed our previous coverage of the backward compatibility issues with Mortal Kombat: Deception on Xbox 360, know that Microsoft pulled the plug on the game back in December.

For those wishing for a swift remedy and return of the title to the Xbox 360 list of backwards compatible Xbox games, you're going to have to wait a while longer. Microsoft has reiterated that the next possible update to the backwards compatibility list is in March, leaving fans in the lurch for some HDTV Mortal Kombat: Deception action. Until then, keep pounding away at Geometry Wars and creating black pearls in Hexic HD.

According to TRMK forum member, locustlx, the February 2006 edition of EGM features the top 200 games of all time to celebrate EGM's 200th issue. Ranking in at a modest - if not insultingly low - 70th is the zenith of the Mortal Kombat franchise, Mortal Kombat II. Granted there have been more epic and larger profile games released since then, 70th place seems a little low for the arcade juggernaut. But fighting games, and Mortal Kombat in particular, have always faired poorly in these massive top games of all time lists. With a list of 200, one would expect Mortal Kombat II in the top 50. At any rate, congrats to EGM crew - and the TRMK fans there - on their momentous occasion.

+10 TRMKarma: locustlx

Midway today announced that Midway Arcade Treasures: Deluxe Edition has gone gold and will ship to stores for the PC on February 6th. Midway Arcade Treasures: Deluxe Edition consists of 29 arcade games including all of the games from Midway Arcade Treasures 2 and Midway Arcade Treasures 3 as well as a late addition of the original Mortal Kombat. This 4-disc compilation set will be available for the suggested budget price of $19.99.

This collection includes a wide-array of arcade games that range from fighting to racing. For the first time ever on PC, gamers will have the chance to play the games that started a world-renowned franchise - the first three Mortal Kombat games. Friends will be left behind in a cloud of dust in Super Off Road. Racing skills from San Francisco Rush 2049 and Off Road Thunder: Mud, Sweat n' Gears can be used to out-wit and out-drive the bad guys in APB. Arcade-perfect PC versions of such classics as Wizard of Wor, Gauntlet II, Pit Fighter, Arch Rivals, Rampage World Tour, San Francisco Rush the Rock: Alcatraz Edition, Hydro Thunder and more are included in Midway Arcade Treasures: Deluxe Edition.

For more information, including a full list of games and screenshots on Midway Arcade Treasures: Deluxe Edition, visit our GameRealm.