Mortal Kombat · PlayStation / Nintendo 64 · 1997 · Preceded by: Mortal Kombat Trilogy
Midway took its most popular character out of the tournament and into a side-scrolling adventure — and kept the fighting game's controls, turn button and all.
By 1997 Mortal Kombat was one of the biggest names in games, and Midway set out to extend it beyond the one-on-one fighter. Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero was the first attempt: a side-scrolling action-adventure starring the original Sub-Zero, released on PlayStation on 3 October 1997 in North America and on Nintendo 64 on 11 December, with Avalanche Software assisting on the N64 version. The concept was sound; the controls were the problem. Midway kept the scheme of Mortal Kombat 3 — four attack buttons, block and run — which was designed for a fighter facing an opponent across a single plane. To walk in the other direction the player pressed a dedicated "turn" button, and an "action" button handled items. Reviewers called the controls unintuitive and slow to respond, and one argued they were bad enough to invite comparison with the most notoriously difficult NES games. The level design compounded it, with jumps onto platforms the player could not see. The game had real ideas — an experience system that strengthened Sub-Zero as he performed combos, an inventory, an ice meter for special moves and full-motion video cutscenes that critics praised — and the PlayStation version was received better than the N64 one. But retrospective opinion hardened, and it is now often listed among the worst Mortal Kombat games.