Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero

About Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero

Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero (1997) is Midway's first non-fighting Mortal Kombat, a side-scrolling action-adventure following the elder Sub-Zero's hunt for Shinnok's amulet.

Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero in Depth

Set before the original Mortal Kombat, it follows Bi-Han, the elder Sub-Zero, a Lin Kuei assassin and thief hired by the sorcerer Quan Chi to steal a map of the elements from a Shaolin temple. Fighting through the temple's monks, he faces his rival Scorpion of the Shirai Ryu, also hired by Quan Chi, and kills him before delivering the map, setting him on the trail of Shinnok's amulet. It introduces characters and story elements later used in Mortal Kombat 4, released the same year, and is the last game in the series to use digitised actors.

Though an action-adventure, it plays much like the 2D fighting games, with four attack buttons, block and run buttons as in Mortal Kombat 3, and command-based special moves. A turn button changes Sub-Zero's facing and an action button picks up or uses items, and a status screen tracks inventory, experience and special moves. He starts with a small health bar and few lives, gaining experience from combos to grow stronger and unlock special moves powered by an ice meter that slowly refills. Key items must be found, and passwords record progress. Critics praised the move into a new genre and the PlayStation version's live-action cut-scenes but criticised its controls and punishing levels; GameSpot's Jeff Gerstmann called it "a pretty amazing meld of fighting and platform jumping", while IGN called it "terrible".

Making Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero

Midway developed and published it for the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 in 1997, with news of it leaking in the third quarter of 1996. Reviews were divisive, with the PlayStation version considered the better of the two. Next Generation found its RPG elements a good feature but said that after "cookie-cutter enemies" and unpredictable traps, "even the most hard-core Mortal Kombat fans will find themselves frustrated and angry", while Spain's Superjuegos called it a delight for fans of beat 'em ups and Flashback-style adventures. Retrospective reviews have been more negative, some ranking it among the worst Mortal Kombat games.