I have a model 1 Genesis with the built in headphone jack and I still tend to start up the game just to listen to that killer intro theme from the genesis version with my earbuds in.
For graphical quality, I'l give it to SNES. For gameplay quality and the "blood code", I give it to the Genesis. And I always choose gameplay over graphics.
snes also won in sound easily, but the lack of blood and the stiff gameplay made the sega version better for sure. it was still pretty good at the time though, they did really well on the graphics and sound, and the gameplay wasn't broken by any means, but not as good as the genesis and arcade versions. but the snes made up for it with the best version of mk2, which is a far better game than mk1 anyway
@@Rodzilla97 wait won in sound. Easily? Hell no yes it has more sound effects but the music in 1-2 are so flat and boring to me while the Genesis music is mostly original until mk3 were they both have the same music and are both pretty good but cmon sound effects are overrated in these ports music is much more important In my opinion.
@dio brando, The previous commentator was saying the sound quality was great in SNES easily which he’s right, because the SNES can produce better sound. And the SNES version music was neat that it was different from Genesis, It was closer to the arcade original and the quality was great that’s what he was referring to. If the SNES soundtrack had the same as the Genesis music, SNES would produce a better sound of it. Just because you found the SNES music flat and boring does not mean the sound quality and tunes are bad. The genesis music was great as well but quality itself was not better, it just had a unique complete different soundtrack altogether And Matt Furniss had a badass outlook for what the ambiance of the game should evoke in sound and did a great job with those tunes. I personally loved the genesis music especially the intro and how it flowed into the stage select. Although I felt duped that the stage select didn’t have its own song like SNES (even loved you can stay on the stage select screen forever and not give you a time limit to select figuter) Even though the Genesis version of MK I got first, it was solely because fellow classmates had debates on which system gave us MK better so I got it for the blood, I grew up with the genesis version and played the shit out of it. I ended up also getting the SNES version after learning its not the same game at all without the blood, but totally different graphics, sound, ambiance etc. I wanted it as well, and I ended up appreciating the SNES music as well even though I secretly hoped and at a time it was rumored, to have a blood code as well :)
@@diobrando-qv3uv If you're playing a fighting game which is supposed to sound REALISTIC, how come sound effects are overrated?! It's a big part of it.
Oh the irony lol, i wouldn’t want anything to do with Nintendo if Howard Lincoln was still president as Nintendo sucked back in the 90s when their censorship bullshit.
@@damin9913 Even on MKII if you're actually playing them for anything more than looks, the Genesis is still better. The better graphics don't outweigh the combination of janky sprite response & garbage hit boxes. Though on SNES it was all about Street Fighter II anyway.
I still remember seeing advertisements for Mortal Monday on the backs of gaming magazines that I would take to school with me. I recall telling my best friend at the time all about it and showing him articles on Mortal Kombat and we were so stoked. Needless to say, Mortal Monday came. He bought a copy for the SNES and I got mine on the Genesis. The rest is history. The 1990s. What a time. Walking the halls of my school, reading gaming magazines about Mortal Kombat, Earthworm Jim, etc and going straight for my Genesis after school.
The fact that hes saying snes "blows it out of the water by a mile, not even a debate" shows how subjective this is. I honestly dont see it. They just look different. Not better or worse. Like hes on crack.
Am i trippin? Hes acting like its the difference between ps1 to ps2 and really theyre just different. Neither look better or worse to me. Bc they arent.
@@mrdgenerate- They were that different in comparison. You had to have experienced it first hand to know. Those were some classic times! Growing up as a teen in the 90s was just incredible!
I was a Food Lion employee in Virginia Beach in the early 90's and our arcade cabinet Golden Axe got replaced with Mortal Kombat. We had a regular named Leslie who noticed it immediately and asked me what's up, did someone break the old game? I told her I wasn't sure, but it got replaced before I came to work earlier in the week. She looked insulted, but curious. I would be helping bag and move carts and catch her eyeing the machine if she was walking in the doors, especially if someone was playing it. It was cool to watch her reactions to the over the top nature of MK. She opened her mouth wide and rubbed her head and went off shopping. About two weeks later the increase in traffic to the machine got too much for her i guess, so she actually put money in the machine and yelled "what do I do now?" at the character select screen. Since I wasn't busy I walked over to show her what little I knew at the time, being a happy go lucky Street Fighter 2 fan. I explained the buttons quick as I could and just watched her get her ass handed to her the first round. My manager, Kent, came over and told me "you go do your job, I'll take it from here". He took over for her and near as I could tell showed her the skills he'd picked up from playing MK after work. I heard Leslie say "Get 'em!" and I shook my head. Yep, we lost another one MK. Thanks, SLX. Time capsule re-buried for another 30 years.
@@theretroinggamer1630 graphically and in the sound department the SNES wins but without blood and fatalities what is the point? Plus the Megadrive version doesn't have the lag and more sluggish gameplay the SNES version has... That is why overall the Megadrive version wins
@D core exactly what I was thinking. Every single comparison, no one says the snes plays better. MK2 is more controversial, but as far as MK1 even Ed Boon creator of MK says Genesis played better than Snes.
I actually prefer the SNES versions of Sub-Zero and Rayden's Fatalities because I think they suit both characters perfectly, since Sub-Zero uses his icy powers to finish off his opponent while shattering them like glass afterwards, and the way Rayden electrocutes his opponent into a pile of bones and ashes also seems more bad-ass than just having their head explode for whatever reason.
LMAO..that "teen" rating on the SEGA Genesis box was the ONLY reason my mom allowed me to have such a hedonistic game in our house.....then I discovered Pandoras glorious code lol.👊💥🇺🇸
Jeremy Bowers I never had the Genesis version and was disappointed that the SNES got the Disney version. I still remember the code enable the blood and fatalities for the Genesis.
Nice sega lord x This has been a debating argument that has been raging on almost 30 years now Its time to put this debate to rest in a coffin once and for all. Thanks Sega lord x
My brother managed a local arcade in the early 90s. I will never forget him coming home after work one day; my friend was over for dinner, and we were talking about SFII at the table, when my brother interrupted our conversation (we were much younger, 10 at the time) to tell us about the new fighter coming out. He said it would be made of real video (capture) of humans with lots of blood, and would be the "cool" fighting game. Fast forward a few months later, and I'm leaving a $1 theater showing of "Surf Ninjas" (I think?) with my dad, and there's some teen kid ripping someone's head off their shoulders in the little arcade they had in the lobby. Been a fan ever since.
When I was growing up I used to defend the SNES version for having better graphics and also Sub Zeros fatality from SNES MK1 also replaced the spine rip in MK2. That said I like the Megadrive version of MK1 even over the Arcade one because of the music and yes it plays better than the SNES one by far. In the old days it was all about how close it was to the Arcade but these days for me I just prefer playing the Megadrive versions of MK1 and 2 even over the Arcade versions due to the changes in the music and it's a good port of the Arcade as far as the playability is concerned and looks quite good too. There is less animation in the Megadrive versions of games but these days it seems minor to me. I also have the Mortal Kombat Kollection but i still find myself playing the Megadrive versions of games as my first choice but I guess it's because for me I didn't play Mortal Kombat in the Arcades even when I found a cabinet in the wild I found it difficult to play. For me Mortal Kombat was played in the home the most and it was all about Sega Megadrive vs Super Nintendo versions at the time
I can't imagine that kids now would even believe where arcade games were found back those days. In the 80's and 90's there would just be a couple of arcade games sitting in the front of every grocery store, or in the side of the convenience stores, or just random hallways in movie theaters. Go to the Burger King, play Pac-Man. Pizza restaurants, which themselves don't exist much anymore, and other family restaurants would have rooms just for arcade games. Of course in the early days you had the cocktail tables with controls on two sides, and those lasted at some places forever. Bowling Alleys and Skating Rinks might still have some nowadays, but they're more likely to have ticket vending games. Back then, they were like mini arcades. And of course, there were the beautiful arcades themselves. Wall to wall video games. The Fighting Game era was the last big boom for arcades, before home gaming made arcades not worth the effort.
God I don't know how many dollars I spent buying tokens at my local Mr Gatti's pizza place. My first time playing Atomic Robo Kid, Terminator 2, Killer Instinct, Street Fighter II, Darkstalkers and at least a dozen more amazing games. I'm not even sure if any Mr Gatti's are left now, but at least I have the memories.
There was still an arcade at the local pizza place the last town I lived in, however they got rid of all the good games for shittier ones. Them getting rid of the Simpson's Arcade game and Metal Slug broke my heart. Even before that there was a Tekken tag tournament at the restaurant I worked at, my friend and I would get down a few matches after work.
I really like the Sega CD version. I remember magazines at the time criticizing it's load time but when I finally got around to picking it up (2010-ish), I didn't think they were bad at all. My only complaint with the SCD version is that the music is placed on the wrong stages. Damnit Probe, you had one job! lol
I remember playing mortal kombat 1, 2 and 3 with friends as a kid. So many hours spent but I’d be shit at playing them these days. I forgot how good these games looked for their time
I remember having the same experience. Entering a supermarket as a kid and seeing a Mortal Kombat cabinet near the entrance. It was hard not to stare at it since it looked so different than everything else back then. The moment I saw Sub-Zero's fatality I fell in love with the game.
Gotta love how the loss of those sweet licensing fees from the Genesis version of MK1 greatly out-selling the SNES version led Nintendo to relax their censorship policies for the sequel.
@@inlovewithi I'm sure that was a factor, but even so you have the Nintendo USA president proclaiming that they would "never" have this kind of content on their system and then the next year MKII is there with blood when the previous version had a blood code for the Genesis version which led to the Genesis version greatly out-selling the SNES version.
@@yellowblanka6058 It wasn't just Mortal Kombat, the Genesis sold over 40 million worldwide and half was in the US. The Genesis was leading the US for a few years and they started getting desperate for a turnaround. That games violence conference was done to hurt Sega. Also Howard Lincoln was the senior vice president at the time
I was 22 years old on "Mortal Monday"......I remember it like it was yesterday......it was a biggest thing back then. The thought of being able to play Mortal Kombat at home was mind blowing.
There are so many videos on this topic but I still get excited when a new one pops up in my feed, and got even more excited when I saw it coming from you. Great work as always. Also, 100% on the Sega CD version. Even though we have MAME and all of that, much like Mortal Kombat II on 32X, I feel the Sega CD version is really the best way to play the original game. I think back in the day, the hate for the Sega CD version just stemmed from MK2 already being available and honestly just a general disregard of the Sega CD in the gaming press. The load times are nothing compared to some games these days (or even of the 32-bit generation). Anyway, thanks again for what you do!
I remember renting MK1 on my SNES and just jump kicking everyone. I was terrible at fatalities but just hearing those hilarious grunts brought back memories. I never knew these versions had so many differences, so thanks for showing me that. Great video once again SLX!
True, the most interesting part was that the Super NES Deep Freeze fatality for Sub-Zero and Raiden Electrocution was brought back for MKII and this time was done much better.
Plus some versions of Sega CD had a hard time loading MK1. I have the same troubles with Bram Stoker's Dracula on my first generation motorized tray Sega CD
First time seeing this video, it was super informative and entertaining. This is a superb example on how to be a fan while being objective about pros and cons of the platforms involved. 98% of the Sega fans should learn a lot from your style. Kudos to you!
One thing you didn't mention is that the Mega Drive version is higher resolution. That's often ignored. When dealing with such low resolutions to begin with, the MD's higher res is always instantly obvious to me, even if it's still very low. Hopefully one day a ROM hacker like Pyron makes some _serious_ improvements to this game, like he did with SF2 Remastered. It's another bad MD port that's absolutely perfect for this treatment.
Huge Sega fan, but I felt similar to you when my friends put on the SNES version. You better believe I talked up the blood code as a defense mechanism haha
The fluidity of the movement was a huge consideration and the animation of the lightning on Raiden was mindblowing compared to the Genesis version. I didn't mind the grey blood too much, but overall I cant say "Genesis does" on MK. I never bought either version, but played the SNES version at a friend's house. It was incredible, especially the sound coming from his 27" Toshiba with side-firing stereo speakers. God, we had it good in the 90's.
Christmas 1993. I got a model 1 Mega Drive and this. I remember it actually because it was the first and last time my dad ever played a video game with us. 10 minutes of my life ended up being the part I remembered the most.
I was pretty young when MK became debuted, and I distinctly remember being scared by the game xD It is wild to think that this game would spawn several kids' toy lines and a Saturday morning cartoon. Believe it or not tho, the thing that finally got me to give the franchise a shot was the first movie from New Line Cinema, which I still really like to this day
LoL that Howard Lincoln clip. That surely aged well, especially the "Night Trap will never appear on a Nintendo system!'' I felt a great sense of irony when I downloaded it on my switch from the eShop.
One of my favorite memories was my dad taking me to the mall after the Dentists and they had JUST gotten MK2 out on the floor and I got to play it while no one else was there... the only time for months that machine wouldn't be surrounded by a fairly large crowd.
Now that we know so much more about what these consoles were capable of and how games are made, the only limitation was rom size and how big of a cart the publisher wanted to use to turn a profit. A pyron remaster of mk1 would be cool.
By far the best video comparing these legendary games. We’ll done. What drives me crazy about these games is that you can’t have great gameplay without great graphics and vise versa.
Still have my Sega CD version from back in the day. My brother in law had the Genesis version. I thought his was a bit quicker in response and gameplay maybe because of a slightly lower frame rate. But I also thought my Sega CD version closer to the arcade. I also enjoyed the music video intro on the CD version despite its low resolution and a bit scratchy sound. People don't understand how cool it was to see that stuff back then in a videogame. Thanks for sharing and bringing back some fond memories.
Genesis version is still more fun to play despite the visual upgrade on the super Nintendo. The feel of the Genesis one is more responsive I feel. The SNES version always felt like there was an input delay to me. Maybe I'm an anomaly ?
No, there was an abysmal input delay. I didn't mind the absence of blood in the game, but the delay was a deal-breaker. And while I could see the Genesis version played much better, having been exposed to the visual and audio fidelity of the SNES, that made it hard for me to stomach the ugly Sega version so in the end I consider both very flawed, for different reasons. I think the Sega CD version is much better, but never played it.
I've been a MK junkie since day one. I feel extremely lucky to grow up in Chicago at the time the arcades were made, we got to play all those early revisions before anyone else. I definitely agree with the Sega CD version, it's awesome and a great update from the cart (load times aside). To me the ultimate port was the MS-DOS version! I never knew about it until some time after the home console releases when I got to discover it at a friends household who had a computer back in those days. It totally blew my mind. It's on GOG these days for cheap with 2 and 3. Definitely check it out if you never played it, it's incredibly close to the arcade! I still fire up the Genesis port all the time though, even with all the other stuff around now. My friends and I put so many hours into that cart back in the day!
OH WOW! I was just thinking about this yesterday while loading up roms and iso on the genesis mini! I'm like,...what is the best version,...hmmmm,....SEGA LORD! KILLING IT!
I got this game in 6th grade and me, my brother and his friend would have some pretty epic battles on the Genesis. I lost most as I was younger but I eventually caught up. I'm a huge SF2 fan, but MK1 probably laid the foundation of my life long obsession with fighting games.
Dude, thank you so much! I haven’t watched the end of the video yet to see which one is your pick, but I’m good with it either way knowing that you fully acknowledge the supremacy of the SNES version, it’s only drawback being the blood missing. Most videos discussing the 2 versions seem to overlook or not notice the brilliance of the SNES port and just judge things based on blood. 🙄
Thank you! It seems like so many reviewers just worship the Genesis version, and never give super Nintendo's any credit. I've always thought the Super Nintendo had better visual, sound effect, and voice samples. It's nice to see a review that actually admits that.
Could you cover differences in SNES and Genesis MK2 and same vs type video for MK3? I played SNES version of MK2 and Genesis version of MK back in the day and have fond memories of playing those.
Yup, can't say I could agree with you more ^^ To be honest, for me the input lag in the SNES version is more of a deal breaker than the actual gore. Yes, gore is very much part of MK's charm, but it doesn't affect the gameplay as much as that lag, which I also imediately noticed when I first played the SNES version. It looks and sounds good, but the Genesis port is indeed better ^^
When it came out on home consoles, I got the Genesis one and my friend got the SNES one. I had originally seen the game in an arcade unit in front of an old Walmart in 1992 or so in Jacksonville, FL. I didn't play it, though, but stared at it the whole time my parents were shopping in the store. That Goro screen really grabbed me. When the home ports came out, I had advanced notice because i looked at and collected video game magazines. The SNES one looked quite a bit better and I wasn't too bummed about the lack of blood in it. Although, one thing I noticed right away was the Genesis one played worlds better than its SNES counterpart. The SNES version felt very 'stiff.' Also, props for pronouncing Raiden accurately!
To be fair to the Mega Drive version, it did have a higher resolution, and the character shadows were transparent. Also, the percussion was good, and the spoken samples that were actually present were passable (certainly if you had Street Fighter II: SCE as a point of comparison).
Probe must have had some serious lack of knowledge in compression as despite using the same size cartridge there’s barely any sound effects or animation compared to SNES which isn’t a hardware problem but lack of memory on the cart so Sculptured Software obviously where much better with compression.
I was exposed to Mortal Kombat when I was a kid at a family friend's house and they could afford MK on SNES (I grew up poor and my family had a preowned Sega Master System until the PS1 came out) - even though the SNES version lacked gore, at the time I didn't know this but I was so blown away by such realistic-looking Ninjas, Gymnasts and a Magical Rice Farmer - since that moment I've always had a nostalgic soft spot for MK and this video makes me smile! Great work SLX!
@SLX Were these cartridges the same size? I wonder if the Genesis version had used a larger cart it might have been able hold more frames of animation, sound clips etc...
Thank goodness there is someone else out there that favors the Sega CD version of Mortal Kombat over the Super NES and Genesis ports. Great points toward the end of the video. That is why I enjoy playing 8 and 16-bit ports of arcade games.
Kevin Nunes Pretty poor in my opinion. Left out a lot of important information. The Snes version for instance is absolutely full of bugs, some even game breaking at times, or how about the fact the Snes version plays quite differently from the Arcade version. Watch the "Digital Foundry" MK1 comparison video if you want to see a real in-depth analysis of EVERY MK1 release.
Man, the glory days of arcades cabinets in damn near every grocery and convenience store in Civilization, putting your quarter at base of the screen to play winner... Rest In Power FOREVER!
The Game Gear version looked INCREDIBLE for a portable 8 bit game. To be honest my friend who had that impressed more than any of us with our SNES and Genesis versions. The big color pallette on the Game Gear and the small screen made some of the visuals like the character select look better than the Genesis version, emulating on a modern display won't show this, but back in the day it was really impressive. I think the GG system would not have found its second wind in the US if not for that release, it was a system seller at least among my small group of friends in the midwest in the early 90s. There was no good portable version of SFII and GG MK really brought a massively popular fighter to a portable system you could have on road trips.
In Five years SLX will have 250K followers! This Guy should work as a journalist in gaming because everything he does is nothing less than AAA!!! 👍👍👍👍👍
I first had it on the Snes and used the game genie code to make the sweat red. Eventually i traded my neighbor my Snes for his Genesis just so i could play this game uncensored. My mom was mad because she had already bought me a Genesis that i sold before i got the Snes for Christmas. lol. I just had to have the best console version. I was hooked on MK so bad back then.
I definitely remember going to Disneyland on a field trip in middle school and there being the censored versions of the MK games. Was kinda funny playing a bloodless version of MKII where you can only do Babalities and Friendships
No mention of the numerous bugs in the Snes version, The terrible hit detection or the fact that it doesn't really play like the arcade version. I think the sprites aren't that far off from the Snes version, it's the animation that's lacking, which shows to be the case when you play the Mega CD version. The Snes character sprites have their own unique problems themselves, but I think they are all perfectly fine visually, it's what you'd expect from those 16 bit system, the Mega Drive is 2 years older than the SNES after all.
SF II, Champion Edition and SF II Turbo were ultimately, looking back, thanks hindsight, better. But, for a kid, in '92/93 the first MK was jawdropping. Loved it in the arcade, on the SNES and as part of the Midway Classics on PSP.
I always thought that graphically, both versions are somewhat equal, with one version having more details here and the other having more details there. But seeing them both dissected like this here, it's obvious that the SNES version is indeed a bit more advanced in that department. I like however how in the Genesis version, the rows of watching monks in the background have a parallax effect just like in the arcade, and maybe it's just me, but it seems that the characters in the SNES version have a slightly more prominent outline around them than their Genesis counterparts, but overall, the SNES version clearly boasts a few more graphical details, like the scrolling clouds in that other stage where the Genesis version has nothing but a boring crystal clear blue sky. Which is odd, as the Genesis usually throws around parallax effects like it’s nothing, but well, clearly not in this game. Interesting!
My friends and I would play tons of MK tournaments at each other's houses. We played MK on both the Genesis and SNES all depending on whose house we were at. We all pretty much agreed that MK1 was better on the Genesis for gameplay and MK1 on the SNES looked better. When MK2 came out, we all agreed the SNES version was the better version for gameplay & graphics but none of us were bothered with the Genesis version either because that version was good too. In the end it didn't really matter because we all loved MK.
@SegaLordX thank you so much! I totally thought I was bad at the game when I played the snes version but I knew the inputs were off when looking at the genesis version. Watched your video and it proved my point
the general consensus is that mk2 is better on snes (sound and graphics) and umk3 is better on genesis if you have a 6 button controller (more stages, finishing moves, music)
Unpopular Opinion: The early Mortal Kombat games sucked. Arcade, SNES, Genesis, all of them. The digitized sprites that were cool back in the day have aged terribly. And pulling a guy’s spine is hilarious the first couple times, but quickly loses its edge.
Well outside of the digital sprites not having aged well, another criticism from detractors is the characters largely being the same as everyone playable can toss a projectile and have the same attributes regardless of who is chosen (except for bosses), compared to 2D fighters like Street Fighter II where largely each fighter is unique in their attributes and types of special moves.
@billcook4768 Opposite opinion: MK1 was really cruel, it gave us a creepy feeling. MK2 was the best, graphics were better, it played good, sound and music was great, fantastic fatalities.... MK was bad and here it went down: the fatalities were not drawn anymore, they just took existing graphics and did some redrawing, that was lazy. It had also 3 robots and that made it laughable... MK4 was 3D-trash and good for the trash.... then it went down even quicker... Little light in the dark: Deception kept me for weeks on the screen, storymode was nice and puzzle-fighting with my girl was fun.... Shaolin Monk was great in coop-mode.... then: trash, trash, trash... all these franchises... Alien, Predator, Jason, Terminator, Rambo wtf .... only trash.... which kid is dumb enough to pay 60 bucks each year for the newest version? .... what does it have to do with Mortal Kombat????? ... it's Franchise Kombat meanwhile... stupid nonsense.... speaking of fatalities: they have become ridicolous... what's next: putting a vacume cleaner in somebody and suck the inner organs out? ... they have no ideas anymore... it's just 1 new fighter each year ans kids will pay
Most people said the Genesis version is better, because of blood - but then, they always played the SNES version... At least my friends did it. I owned the Genesis version first, then I bought the SNES version and I never had problems playing it. The missing blood also never bothered me and once you get used to it, the input lag isn't worse at all. Both are good ports imo. Great times with nice memories back then!
The Genesis version of MK contains some of my favorite music on the Genesis in general. Too many comparisons/reviews of these games focus too much on how "arcade-perfect" everything is, and people rarely take into consideration how well the MK soundtrack suits the Genesis' sound capabilities. I'm glad you sang the praises of the music in the Genesis version. Frankly, I still prefer the Genesis versions of MK and MKII, and the main reason is the music. I'd love to have a re-release of the arcade version that contained the Genesis versions' music as an option.
MK1 Genesis music is some of the most impressive on the system. Its filled with real drum samples that are actually clear sounding. Most Genesis games rely on FM for drums, so MK stands out.
We were also all experts on day one, even if we played the game on the arcade just once: the awesome magazines always had moves and fatalities in plain view and I remember making together a guide made with those pages. I still have it, along with MK2 and MK3. :D Of course, we already had the moves and fatalities memorized even before buying the game. I was 12 when the first MK arrived and my mum bought me the game: we played it together many times and it was so fun :D In the years these guides were updated with other games I liked , like Tekken 1, 2, 3 or many other games where I was so in love that I had to have them. I'll never throw them away, those are my memories of such an awesome time.....
As part of my collection I have the original MK for the Mega Drive and Mega CD, MKII for the Mega Drive and Saturn and Ultimate MK3 for the Saturn. Thinking of getting MKII for my SNES just to check out the differences. Besides playing the arcade game the ultimate home release of the original MK was the Mega CD/Sega CD port. All the sound, music and animations from the arcade were pretty much present.
Personally I will agree the sound is much better on the SNES version. I was always so jelly of the Genesis version growing up tho, bc of the fatalities. Love your videos !
I guess my parents were awesome like that because we got mortal kombat, my brother, and I loved it, although we first played it without the blood code and when we found out about that it blew our minds. I think I actually played mk2 first, but it was at an uncles house, and it blew my brother and i's mind we were 9 or 10 and just playing trying out the genesis. Then, for Christmas, we got our own, but it was a model 2. I never owned 2 until much later, but as a kid, we had mk 1 and 3. I remember playing primal rage also and mk3 ultimate. my sister didnt play the genesis much but did play some of the layed back sonic games we had and i loved those as well, but it was such a great time for games between the snes and genesis, and n64 next offering blew my brother and sister and i's mind with that jump into full 3d with mario 64 mario kart and dkr oh man those were special times.
2 thumbs up great vs review. I own both versions of MK, I still play the Genesis version more even to this day. To compliment the original MK game, a couple of years ago back just recently the original actors/actresses just had an MK reunion called Kombat Kon at C2E2 in Chicago Gaming Expo.
Maybe there were limitations placed on Probe, maybe they were restricted by Acclaim on cart size for the port, so I don't just wanna bash the developers because I don't know the entire story behind the development of the game, but when you see what was crammed into Street Fighter 2 Championship Edition and then look at Mortal Kombat on the Genesis, you have to be left asking how so many frames of animation are voices are just missing, same story with MK 2 on the Genesis as well. Obviously it was never gonna be arcade perfect, and the expanded color palette of the SNES meant better color, but it always seemed like Probe got handed these huge arcade ports to the Genesis, and I feel like they ruined every single one, and look at the craptastic job they did on the Sega Saturn port of MK 2. It's a complete train wreck! When Sculptered handled the Genesis conversion of MK3, it had so much more of the audio content that Probe has skimped out on in the past. Perhaps there are reasons for this, but without knowing them, as a kid when I played these releases I was so let down and absolutely DESPISED Probe. Awesome video though SLX as always. I'd love to see you do one of these for Mortal Kombat 2 as well!
The Saturn version of MK2 being so bad implies it wasn’t a cart issue. Pretty sure it does even have the audio for the character names, or ‘round 1’ etc. Plus the delay to load in moves makes it look like it was tested by a blind man.
The sounds of Mortal Kombat meant more to me than the gore. What attracted me was the feeling of playing a over the top kung-fu movie. Blood was rarely the reason we watched them, it was all about the rawness of the fighting. So yeah, I preferred the Super Nintendo version as a kid. Alibabahey! Kalikamaha! We screamed that Raiden gibberish all day long!
No offense, just honest feedback from a longtime viewer: though this video is quite well done and I enjoy hearing your perspective, I think that between Battle of the Ports, VGDecide, Console Wars, and so on, this subgenre of retro game content is already more than adequately represented.
Speaking of versus, the Mortal Kombat movie is now 25 today.
True. Movie is old af, just like the game! I saw the movie in the theater too!
I love it. It still holds up Robin Shu is awesome and he is great with the actor whom portrays Johnny Cage.
@stephen schneider Me 2 my parents took me and, two of my friends to go see it on my birthday.
Holy.... The only movie I could get my mom to go to the theaters to see with me. She knew how important this was in my little 11 year old life.
Pokemon Charizard Reverse Holo Skyridge - PSA 9 Rare Card 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥😇🙏www.ebay.co.uk/itm/313179586762
I have a model 1 Genesis with the built in headphone jack and I still tend to start up the game just to listen to that killer intro theme from the genesis version with my earbuds in.
Wasn’t it in Q-sound or something? Or was that the CD version 🤔
I remember it sounding great too.
Nothing compared to the fact that with the Model 1, you could plug your hi-fi speakers into that 3.5 mil jack and get room-filling stereo sound.
For graphical quality, I'l give it to SNES. For gameplay quality and the "blood code", I give it to the Genesis. And I always choose gameplay over graphics.
snes also won in sound easily, but the lack of blood and the stiff gameplay made the sega version better for sure. it was still pretty good at the time though, they did really well on the graphics and sound, and the gameplay wasn't broken by any means, but not as good as the genesis and arcade versions. but the snes made up for it with the best version of mk2, which is a far better game than mk1 anyway
@@Rodzilla97 wait won in sound. Easily? Hell no yes it has more sound effects but the music in 1-2 are so flat and boring to me while the Genesis music is mostly original until mk3 were they both have the same music and are both pretty good but cmon sound effects are overrated in these ports music is much more important In my opinion.
@dio brando, The previous commentator was saying the sound quality was great in SNES easily which he’s right, because the SNES can produce better sound. And the SNES version music was neat that it was different from Genesis, It was closer to the arcade original and the quality was great that’s what he was referring to. If the SNES soundtrack had the same as the Genesis music, SNES would produce a better sound of it. Just because you found the SNES music flat and boring does not mean the sound quality and tunes are bad. The genesis music was great as well but quality itself was not better, it just had a unique complete different soundtrack altogether And Matt Furniss had a badass outlook for what the ambiance of the game should evoke in sound and did a great job with those tunes. I personally loved the genesis music especially the intro and how it flowed into the stage select. Although I felt duped that the stage select didn’t have its own song like SNES (even loved you can stay on the stage select screen forever and not give you a time limit to select figuter) Even though the Genesis version of MK I got first, it was solely because fellow classmates had debates on which system gave us MK better so I got it for the blood, I grew up with the genesis version and played the shit out of it. I ended up also getting the SNES version after learning its not the same game at all without the blood, but totally different graphics, sound, ambiance etc. I wanted it as well, and I ended up appreciating the SNES music as well even though I secretly hoped and at a time it was rumored, to have a blood code as well :)
@@diobrando-qv3uv If you're playing a fighting game which is supposed to sound REALISTIC, how come sound effects are overrated?! It's a big part of it.
Music also goes to Sega with that fantastic Matt Furniss arrangements of the arcade soundtrack which are far superior to the original arcade version.
15:00 - What a concept, holding PARENTS responsible for the media their children are allowed to consume.
I love the clip of Howard Lincoln declaring Night Trap would never be on a Nintendo console. You can buy it on the Switch eShop now.
Night Trap was also being developed for the SNES CD until the add on got cancelled. Howard Lincoln was one of the execs that approved it.
is night trap fun
😒😁😸😹👍💪
@@70smebbin no. Its boring
Oh the irony lol, i wouldn’t want anything to do with Nintendo if Howard Lincoln was still president as Nintendo sucked back in the 90s when their censorship bullshit.
ABACABB. Forever in my mind.
Its forever in my mind also it pisses me off whenever anyone tells me another code love you bro lol
I love that it's the name of a Genesis album with one more B, just in case Phil Collins got pissed
@@damin9913
Even on MKII if you're actually playing them for anything more than looks, the Genesis is still better.
The better graphics don't outweigh the combination of janky sprite response & garbage hit boxes.
Though on SNES it was all about Street Fighter II anyway.
same for me as soon as he mentioned the blood in MK 1 I thought ABACABB
@@MistahJigglah genesis was always arcade accurate even if that sacrificed some things
I still remember seeing advertisements for Mortal Monday on the backs of gaming magazines that I would take to school with me. I recall telling my best friend at the time all about it and showing him articles on Mortal Kombat and we were so stoked. Needless to say, Mortal Monday came. He bought a copy for the SNES and I got mine on the Genesis. The rest is history. The 1990s. What a time. Walking the halls of my school, reading gaming magazines about Mortal Kombat, Earthworm Jim, etc and going straight for my Genesis after school.
Das gleiche hab ich auch gemacht.
The fact that hes saying snes "blows it out of the water by a mile, not even a debate" shows how subjective this is. I honestly dont see it. They just look different. Not better or worse. Like hes on crack.
Am i trippin? Hes acting like its the difference between ps1 to ps2 and really theyre just different. Neither look better or worse to me. Bc they arent.
@@mrdgenerate- They were that different in comparison. You had to have experienced it first hand to know. Those were some classic times! Growing up as a teen in the 90s was just incredible!
I was a Food Lion employee in Virginia Beach in the early 90's and our arcade cabinet Golden Axe got replaced with Mortal Kombat. We had a regular named Leslie who noticed it immediately and asked me what's up, did someone break the old game? I told her I wasn't sure, but it got replaced before I came to work earlier in the week. She looked insulted, but curious. I would be helping bag and move carts and catch her eyeing the machine if she was walking in the doors, especially if someone was playing it. It was cool to watch her reactions to the over the top nature of MK. She opened her mouth wide and rubbed her head and went off shopping. About two weeks later the increase in traffic to the machine got too much for her i guess, so she actually put money in the machine and yelled "what do I do now?" at the character select screen. Since I wasn't busy I walked over to show her what little I knew at the time, being a happy go lucky Street Fighter 2 fan. I explained the buttons quick as I could and just watched her get her ass handed to her the first round. My manager, Kent, came over and told me "you go do your job, I'll take it from here". He took over for her and near as I could tell showed her the skills he'd picked up from playing MK after work. I heard Leslie say "Get 'em!" and I shook my head. Yep, we lost another one MK. Thanks, SLX. Time capsule re-buried for another 30 years.
So did your manager get laid that night?
Thanks for sharing! Love stories like this. Wonder what Leslie is up to these days. I miss those times
You are one of the few SEGA fans that when it comes to flaws, you are 100% honest in your reviews. Props to you my man.
Any comparison video Ive seen with Mk has snes being the better version. They all point out the flaws with segas versions
@@theretroinggamer1630 graphically and in the sound department the SNES wins but without blood and fatalities what is the point? Plus the Megadrive version doesn't have the lag and more sluggish gameplay the SNES version has... That is why overall the Megadrive version wins
@D core exactly what I was thinking. Every single comparison, no one says the snes plays better.
MK2 is more controversial, but as far as MK1 even Ed Boon creator of MK says Genesis played better than Snes.
@@SipherX05 and better resolution, which affects the gameplay
@@SipherX05 In sound the snes does not win.
Did you hear those voice samples.
Muffled beyond belief.
I actually prefer the SNES versions of Sub-Zero and Rayden's Fatalities because I think they suit both characters perfectly, since Sub-Zero uses his icy powers to finish off his opponent while shattering them like glass afterwards, and the way Rayden electrocutes his opponent into a pile of bones and ashes also seems more bad-ass than just having their head explode for whatever reason.
LMAO..that "teen" rating on the SEGA Genesis box was the ONLY reason my mom allowed me to have such a hedonistic game in our house.....then I discovered Pandoras glorious code lol.👊💥🇺🇸
Jeremy Bowers I never had the Genesis version and was disappointed that the SNES got the Disney version. I still remember the code enable the blood and fatalities for the Genesis.
I owned the first Mortal Kombat on Sega Megadrive and it destroyed the Snes version back in the day....Blood was everything!
Thank you Sega Genesis is the best version
Gotta seriously commend you for giving the SNES version the credit it deserved on what it offered over what it couldn't
Nice sega lord x
This has been a debating argument that has been raging on almost 30 years now
Its time to put this debate to rest in a coffin once and for all.
Thanks Sega lord x
Genesis: Do a finishing move you get "fatality". SNES: Do a finishing move you get "Finishing Bonus". 😂
Finishing Bonus sends chills down my spine.
@Jumpy Cat he was probably better at getting time boners.
Oh wait that's Virtua Racing.
Jumpy Cat it wasn’t a “Finishing Bonus” nor a “Fatality”, it was an “Entanglement”
My brother managed a local arcade in the early 90s. I will never forget him coming home after work one day; my friend was over for dinner, and we were talking about SFII at the table, when my brother interrupted our conversation (we were much younger, 10 at the time) to tell us about the new fighter coming out. He said it would be made of real video (capture) of humans with lots of blood, and would be the "cool" fighting game.
Fast forward a few months later, and I'm leaving a $1 theater showing of "Surf Ninjas" (I think?) with my dad, and there's some teen kid ripping someone's head off their shoulders in the little arcade they had in the lobby.
Been a fan ever since.
When I was growing up I used to defend the SNES version for having better graphics and also Sub Zeros fatality from SNES MK1 also replaced the spine rip in MK2.
That said I like the Megadrive version of MK1 even over the Arcade one because of the music and yes it plays better than the SNES one by far.
In the old days it was all about how close it was to the Arcade but these days for me I just prefer playing the Megadrive versions of MK1 and 2 even over the Arcade versions due to the changes in the music and it's a good port of the Arcade as far as the playability is concerned and looks quite good too.
There is less animation in the Megadrive versions of games but these days it seems minor to me.
I also have the Mortal Kombat Kollection but i still find myself playing the Megadrive versions of games as my first choice but I guess it's because for me I didn't play Mortal Kombat in the Arcades even when I found a cabinet in the wild I found it difficult to play.
For me Mortal Kombat was played in the home the most and it was all about Sega Megadrive vs Super Nintendo versions at the time
I loved the SNES version.
Mowed lawns to pay it off on layaway at K-Mart 😂
Bro, my mom used to that. Drove me to kmart
Tech With Sean at least you didn’t use the money to buy the Lawnmower Man game.
I got the Genesis one because I don't want the uncensored version and it's closer to the arcade version.
I had to clean my Mom’s kitchen from top to bottom, to get two Genesis games: Mortal Kombat and X-Men.
I can't imagine that kids now would even believe where arcade games were found back those days. In the 80's and 90's there would just be a couple of arcade games sitting in the front of every grocery store, or in the side of the convenience stores, or just random hallways in movie theaters. Go to the Burger King, play Pac-Man. Pizza restaurants, which themselves don't exist much anymore, and other family restaurants would have rooms just for arcade games. Of course in the early days you had the cocktail tables with controls on two sides, and those lasted at some places forever. Bowling Alleys and Skating Rinks might still have some nowadays, but they're more likely to have ticket vending games. Back then, they were like mini arcades. And of course, there were the beautiful arcades themselves. Wall to wall video games. The Fighting Game era was the last big boom for arcades, before home gaming made arcades not worth the effort.
street fighter 2 rainbow edition in the local chip shop at lunch times at school
God I don't know how many dollars I spent buying tokens at my local Mr Gatti's pizza place. My first time playing Atomic Robo Kid, Terminator 2, Killer Instinct, Street Fighter II, Darkstalkers and at least a dozen more amazing games. I'm not even sure if any Mr Gatti's are left now, but at least I have the memories.
There was still an arcade at the local pizza place the last town I lived in, however they got rid of all the good games for shittier ones. Them getting rid of the Simpson's Arcade game and Metal Slug broke my heart. Even before that there was a Tekken tag tournament at the restaurant I worked at, my friend and I would get down a few matches after work.
I really like the Sega CD version. I remember magazines at the time criticizing it's load time but when I finally got around to picking it up (2010-ish), I didn't think they were bad at all. My only complaint with the SCD version is that the music is placed on the wrong stages. Damnit Probe, you had one job! lol
I remember playing mortal kombat 1, 2 and 3 with friends as a kid. So many hours spent but I’d be shit at playing them these days. I forgot how good these games looked for their time
Still have this for my genesis. Even with all the flaws it was still damn fun.
The Genesis has no flaws.
Rod Munch damn right.
Me 2! The Genesis version wasn't arcade perfect but it was still fun!
no flaws??? graphics were shit but the soundtrack kicked ass
The Sega Genesis version is way more fun
I seldom post youtube comments, but I admire the hard work you pull off as a content creator. Hats off man. Keep it up! Love from Argentina.
I remember having the same experience. Entering a supermarket as a kid and seeing a Mortal Kombat cabinet near the entrance. It was hard not to stare at it since it looked so different than everything else back then. The moment I saw Sub-Zero's fatality I fell in love with the game.
People like to hate on Liu Kang’s fatality but when you used it on the Pit it was freaking awesome.
Another amazing video, dude! I would just mention the controls, that were a bit clunky in a 3-button Genesis controller
U really had to play the game with a 6 button controller 🎮
A shame we didn't see it on the Turbo Grafx-16/Pc Engine. Would have been interesting.
Gotta love how the loss of those sweet licensing fees from the Genesis version of MK1 greatly out-selling the SNES version led Nintendo to relax their censorship policies for the sequel.
I thought it had to do with the new ratings system brought on to the industry to counter politicians. Though I could be wrong.
@@inlovewithi I'm sure that was a factor, but even so you have the Nintendo USA president proclaiming that they would "never" have this kind of content on their system and then the next year MKII is there with blood when the previous version had a blood code for the Genesis version which led to the Genesis version greatly out-selling the SNES version.
@@yellowblanka6058 It wasn't just Mortal Kombat, the Genesis sold over 40 million worldwide and half was in the US. The Genesis was leading the US for a few years and they started getting desperate for a turnaround. That games violence conference was done to hurt Sega.
Also Howard Lincoln was the senior vice president at the time
@@Zellio2011 Genesis trash snes solos anyday
@@Ehrle6969 Fun fact: no
I was 22 years old on "Mortal Monday"......I remember it like it was yesterday......it was a biggest thing back then.
The thought of being able to play Mortal Kombat at home was mind blowing.
There are so many videos on this topic but I still get excited when a new one pops up in my feed, and got even more excited when I saw it coming from you. Great work as always. Also, 100% on the Sega CD version. Even though we have MAME and all of that, much like Mortal Kombat II on 32X, I feel the Sega CD version is really the best way to play the original game. I think back in the day, the hate for the Sega CD version just stemmed from MK2 already being available and honestly just a general disregard of the Sega CD in the gaming press. The load times are nothing compared to some games these days (or even of the 32-bit generation). Anyway, thanks again for what you do!
I remember renting MK1 on my SNES and just jump kicking everyone. I was terrible at fatalities but just hearing those hilarious grunts brought back memories. I never knew these versions had so many differences, so thanks for showing me that. Great video once again SLX!
The SNES fatalities for Rayden and Sub-Zero were more fitting for their skill themes than the arcade version.
Indeed. Butt not as awsome.
True, the most interesting part was that the Super NES Deep Freeze fatality for Sub-Zero and Raiden Electrocution was brought back for MKII and this time was done much better.
Raiden snes fatality is better imo
I actually agree with that.
In 1993, you had one or the either. In each case you were stoked to have it.
Oh yeah! I remember the load times during the fights in the sega CD! But I still loved the game..
Plus some versions of Sega CD had a hard time loading MK1. I have the same troubles with Bram Stoker's Dracula on my first generation motorized tray Sega CD
First time seeing this video, it was super informative and entertaining. This is a superb example on how to be a fan while being objective about pros and cons of the platforms involved. 98% of the Sega fans should learn a lot from your style. Kudos to you!
Had the SNES version growing up. I had no idea there was even blood in this game until years later haha.
Hell yeah! Glad to see the Sega CD version get some love. I still have mine.
One thing you didn't mention is that the Mega Drive version is higher resolution. That's often ignored. When dealing with such low resolutions to begin with, the MD's higher res is always instantly obvious to me, even if it's still very low. Hopefully one day a ROM hacker like Pyron makes some _serious_ improvements to this game, like he did with SF2 Remastered. It's another bad MD port that's absolutely perfect for this treatment.
Huge Sega fan, but I felt similar to you when my friends put on the SNES version. You better believe I talked up the blood code as a defense mechanism haha
The fluidity of the movement was a huge consideration and the animation of the lightning on Raiden was mindblowing compared to the Genesis version. I didn't mind the grey blood too much, but overall I cant say "Genesis does" on MK. I never bought either version, but played the SNES version at a friend's house. It was incredible, especially the sound coming from his 27" Toshiba with side-firing stereo speakers. God, we had it good in the 90's.
Genesis was the winner!
Neither! Game Gear was better!
Christmas 1993. I got a model 1 Mega Drive and this. I remember it actually because it was the first and last time my dad ever played a video game with us. 10 minutes of my life ended up being the part I remembered the most.
I was pretty young when MK became debuted, and I distinctly remember being scared by the game xD
It is wild to think that this game would spawn several kids' toy lines and a Saturday morning cartoon.
Believe it or not tho, the thing that finally got me to give the franchise a shot was the first movie from New Line Cinema, which I still really like to this day
LoL that Howard Lincoln clip. That surely aged well, especially the "Night Trap will never appear on a Nintendo system!'' I felt a great sense of irony when I downloaded it on my switch from the eShop.
A lot of people did. Hell, they even used that clip in the trailer for the Switch version!
One of my favorite memories was my dad taking me to the mall after the Dentists and they had JUST gotten MK2 out on the floor and I got to play it while no one else was there... the only time for months that machine wouldn't be surrounded by a fairly large crowd.
Now that we know so much more about what these consoles were capable of and how games are made, the only limitation was rom size and how big of a cart the publisher wanted to use to turn a profit. A pyron remaster of mk1 would be cool.
By far the best video comparing these legendary games. We’ll done. What drives me crazy about these games is that you can’t have great gameplay without great graphics and vise versa.
Still have my Sega CD version from back in the day. My brother in law had the Genesis version. I thought his was a bit quicker in response and gameplay maybe because of a slightly lower frame rate. But I also thought my Sega CD version closer to the arcade. I also enjoyed the music video intro on the CD version despite its low resolution and a bit scratchy sound. People don't understand how cool it was to see that stuff back then in a videogame. Thanks for sharing and bringing back some fond memories.
Genesis version is still more fun to play despite the visual upgrade on the super Nintendo. The feel of the Genesis one is more responsive I feel. The SNES version always felt like there was an input delay to me. Maybe I'm an anomaly ?
No. That's right. And Sega Lord X did mention this in his video. The SNES version has worse responsiveness.
I always felt the genesis played slower 🤷♂️
No, there was an abysmal input delay. I didn't mind the absence of blood in the game, but the delay was a deal-breaker. And while I could see the Genesis version played much better, having been exposed to the visual and audio fidelity of the SNES, that made it hard for me to stomach the ugly Sega version so in the end I consider both very flawed, for different reasons. I think the Sega CD version is much better, but never played it.
I've been a MK junkie since day one. I feel extremely lucky to grow up in Chicago at the time the arcades were made, we got to play all those early revisions before anyone else. I definitely agree with the Sega CD version, it's awesome and a great update from the cart (load times aside). To me the ultimate port was the MS-DOS version! I never knew about it until some time after the home console releases when I got to discover it at a friends household who had a computer back in those days. It totally blew my mind. It's on GOG these days for cheap with 2 and 3. Definitely check it out if you never played it, it's incredibly close to the arcade! I still fire up the Genesis port all the time though, even with all the other stuff around now. My friends and I put so many hours into that cart back in the day!
OH WOW! I was just thinking about this yesterday while loading up roms and iso on the genesis mini! I'm like,...what is the best version,...hmmmm,....SEGA LORD! KILLING IT!
I got this game in 6th grade and me, my brother and his friend would have some pretty epic battles on the Genesis. I lost most as I was younger but I eventually caught up. I'm a huge SF2 fan, but MK1 probably laid the foundation of my life long obsession with fighting games.
Dude, thank you so much! I haven’t watched the end of the video yet to see which one is your pick, but I’m good with it either way knowing that you fully acknowledge the supremacy of the SNES version, it’s only drawback being the blood missing. Most videos discussing the 2 versions seem to overlook or not notice the brilliance of the SNES port and just judge things based on blood. 🙄
Thank you! It seems like so many reviewers just worship the Genesis version, and never give super Nintendo's any credit. I've always thought the Super Nintendo had better visual, sound effect, and voice samples. It's nice to see a review that actually admits that.
This was actually a really good video man.
Nice channel. I've gone ahead and subbed to see what you end up doing next. Keep up the good work!
Could you cover differences in SNES and Genesis MK2 and same vs type video for MK3? I played SNES version of MK2 and Genesis version of MK back in the day and have fond memories of playing those.
Yup, can't say I could agree with you more ^^ To be honest, for me the input lag in the SNES version is more of a deal breaker than the actual gore. Yes, gore is very much part of MK's charm, but it doesn't affect the gameplay as much as that lag, which I also imediately noticed when I first played the SNES version. It looks and sounds good, but the Genesis port is indeed better ^^
When it came out on home consoles, I got the Genesis one and my friend got the SNES one. I had originally seen the game in an arcade unit in front of an old Walmart in 1992 or so in Jacksonville, FL. I didn't play it, though, but stared at it the whole time my parents were shopping in the store. That Goro screen really grabbed me. When the home ports came out, I had advanced notice because i looked at and collected video game magazines. The SNES one looked quite a bit better and I wasn't too bummed about the lack of blood in it. Although, one thing I noticed right away was the Genesis one played worlds better than its SNES counterpart. The SNES version felt very 'stiff.' Also, props for pronouncing Raiden accurately!
To be fair to the Mega Drive version, it did have a higher resolution, and the character shadows were transparent. Also, the percussion was good, and the spoken samples that were actually present were passable (certainly if you had Street Fighter II: SCE as a point of comparison).
Probe must have had some serious lack of knowledge in compression as despite using the same size cartridge there’s barely any sound effects or animation compared to SNES which isn’t a hardware problem but lack of memory on the cart so Sculptured Software obviously where much better with compression.
I was exposed to Mortal Kombat when I was a kid at a family friend's house and they could afford MK on SNES (I grew up poor and my family had a preowned Sega Master System until the PS1 came out) - even though the SNES version lacked gore, at the time I didn't know this but I was so blown away by such realistic-looking Ninjas, Gymnasts and a Magical Rice Farmer - since that moment I've always had a nostalgic soft spot for MK and this video makes me smile! Great work SLX!
Was the magical rice farmer relatable to you?
@SLX Were these cartridges the same size? I wonder if the Genesis version had used a larger cart it might have been able hold more frames of animation, sound clips etc...
Thank goodness there is someone else out there that favors the Sega CD version of Mortal Kombat over the Super NES and Genesis ports. Great points toward the end of the video. That is why I enjoy playing 8 and 16-bit ports of arcade games.
Dude that was SUPERB. Great job!! Almost 70K subs too, doing great!!!
Kevin Nunes
Pretty poor in my opinion. Left out a lot of important information. The Snes version for instance is absolutely full of bugs, some even game breaking at times, or how about the fact the Snes version plays quite differently from the Arcade version. Watch the "Digital Foundry" MK1 comparison video if you want to see a real in-depth analysis of EVERY MK1 release.
Mk 1 was my game back in the day! Those mini games mid fight was so cool!
Man, the glory days of arcades cabinets in damn near every grocery and convenience store in Civilization, putting your quarter at base of the screen to play winner... Rest In Power FOREVER!
The Game Gear version looked INCREDIBLE for a portable 8 bit game. To be honest my friend who had that impressed more than any of us with our SNES and Genesis versions. The big color pallette on the Game Gear and the small screen made some of the visuals like the character select look better than the Genesis version, emulating on a modern display won't show this, but back in the day it was really impressive. I think the GG system would not have found its second wind in the US if not for that release, it was a system seller at least among my small group of friends in the midwest in the early 90s. There was no good portable version of SFII and GG MK really brought a massively popular fighter to a portable system you could have on road trips.
In Five years SLX will have 250K followers!
This Guy should work as a journalist in gaming because everything he does is nothing less than AAA!!! 👍👍👍👍👍
I like those episodes where you make side by side comparison between the Super nintendo and Sega Genesis versions of games.
Great episode. Thrilled to see a part 2 and 3. Thank you!
I first had it on the Snes and used the game genie code to make the sweat red. Eventually i traded my neighbor my Snes for his Genesis just so i could play this game uncensored. My mom was mad because she had already bought me a Genesis that i sold before i got the Snes for Christmas. lol. I just had to have the best console version. I was hooked on MK so bad back then.
I definitely remember going to Disneyland on a field trip in middle school and there being the censored versions of the MK games. Was kinda funny playing a bloodless version of MKII where you can only do Babalities and Friendships
"it was originaly hated for the loading times" I guess Neo Geo CD didn't still exist
That system was also unreliable
No mention of the numerous bugs in the Snes version, The terrible hit detection or the fact that it doesn't really play like the arcade version. I think the sprites aren't that far off from the Snes version, it's the animation that's lacking, which shows to be the case when you play the Mega CD version. The Snes character sprites have their own unique problems themselves, but I think they are all perfectly fine visually, it's what you'd expect from those 16 bit system, the Mega Drive is 2 years older than the SNES after all.
SF II, Champion Edition and SF II Turbo were ultimately, looking back, thanks hindsight, better. But, for a kid, in '92/93 the first MK was jawdropping. Loved it in the arcade, on the SNES and as part of the Midway Classics on PSP.
I always thought that graphically, both versions are somewhat equal, with one version having more details here and the other having more details there. But seeing them both dissected like this here, it's obvious that the SNES version is indeed a bit more advanced in that department. I like however how in the Genesis version, the rows of watching monks in the background have a parallax effect just like in the arcade, and maybe it's just me, but it seems that the characters in the SNES version have a slightly more prominent outline around them than their Genesis counterparts, but overall, the SNES version clearly boasts a few more graphical details, like the scrolling clouds in that other stage where the Genesis version has nothing but a boring crystal clear blue sky. Which is odd, as the Genesis usually throws around parallax effects like it’s nothing, but well, clearly not in this game. Interesting!
My friends and I would play tons of MK tournaments at each other's houses. We played MK on both the Genesis and SNES all depending on whose house we were at. We all pretty much agreed that MK1 was better on the Genesis for gameplay and MK1 on the SNES looked better. When MK2 came out, we all agreed the SNES version was the better version for gameplay & graphics but none of us were bothered with the Genesis version either because that version was good too. In the end it didn't really matter because we all loved MK.
@SegaLordX thank you so much! I totally thought I was bad at the game when I played the snes version but I knew the inputs were off when looking at the genesis version. Watched your video and it proved my point
would love to see MK2 and 3 get the genesis vs snes treatment as well! It's been a year, what do you think? This was a truly great video.
the general consensus is that mk2 is better on snes (sound and graphics) and umk3 is better on genesis if you have a 6 button controller (more stages, finishing moves, music)
@@zachw2538 Not gameplay.. the snes looks more arcade perfect but all the games PLAY better on Genesis.
Excellent Comparison. Flawless Episode.
I chuckled like you did at the end with your closing phrase
This channel needs to big bigger, it’s great! More subs!!! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Unpopular Opinion: The early Mortal Kombat games sucked. Arcade, SNES, Genesis, all of them. The digitized sprites that were cool back in the day have aged terribly. And pulling a guy’s spine is hilarious the first couple times, but quickly loses its edge.
Well outside of the digital sprites not having aged well, another criticism from detractors is the characters largely being the same as everyone playable can toss a projectile and have the same attributes regardless of who is chosen (except for bosses), compared to 2D fighters like Street Fighter II where largely each fighter is unique in their attributes and types of special moves.
@billcook4768 Opposite opinion: MK1 was really cruel, it gave us a creepy feeling. MK2 was the best, graphics were better, it played good, sound and music was great, fantastic fatalities.... MK was bad and here it went down: the fatalities were not drawn anymore, they just took existing graphics and did some redrawing, that was lazy. It had also 3 robots and that made it laughable... MK4 was 3D-trash and good for the trash.... then it went down even quicker... Little light in the dark: Deception kept me for weeks on the screen, storymode was nice and puzzle-fighting with my girl was fun.... Shaolin Monk was great in coop-mode.... then: trash, trash, trash... all these franchises... Alien, Predator, Jason, Terminator, Rambo wtf .... only trash.... which kid is dumb enough to pay 60 bucks each year for the newest version? .... what does it have to do with Mortal Kombat????? ... it's Franchise Kombat meanwhile... stupid nonsense.... speaking of fatalities: they have become ridicolous... what's next: putting a vacume cleaner in somebody and suck the inner organs out? ... they have no ideas anymore... it's just 1 new fighter each year ans kids will pay
Such memories from back in the day where I got the Sega Master system version here on release
Most people said the Genesis version is better, because of blood - but then, they always played the SNES version... At least my friends did it. I owned the Genesis version first, then I bought the SNES version and I never had problems playing it. The missing blood also never bothered me and once you get used to it, the input lag isn't worse at all. Both are good ports imo. Great times with nice memories back then!
Sega genesis version the characters has more fatalities then Snes
@@damin9913 you cannot classify the censored versions as fatalities. Both games have 7 characters, each one has one fatality.
@greensun1334 Yes I can and they do have more then one
@@damin9913 okay. Count a simple uppercut as fatality!
@greensun1334 sub-zero can knock your head off too same with scorpion
Love the content be subbed since 1500 or so I see 100000 in the near future and well deserved 👏🏼
The Genesis version of MK contains some of my favorite music on the Genesis in general. Too many comparisons/reviews of these games focus too much on how "arcade-perfect" everything is, and people rarely take into consideration how well the MK soundtrack suits the Genesis' sound capabilities. I'm glad you sang the praises of the music in the Genesis version. Frankly, I still prefer the Genesis versions of MK and MKII, and the main reason is the music. I'd love to have a re-release of the arcade version that contained the Genesis versions' music as an option.
MK1 Genesis music is some of the most impressive on the system. Its filled with real drum samples that are actually clear sounding. Most Genesis games rely on FM for drums, so MK stands out.
We were also all experts on day one, even if we played the game on the arcade just once: the awesome magazines always had moves and fatalities in plain view and I remember making together a guide made with those pages. I still have it, along with MK2 and MK3. :D Of course, we already had the moves and fatalities memorized even before buying the game. I was 12 when the first MK arrived and my mum bought me the game: we played it together many times and it was so fun :D
In the years these guides were updated with other games I liked , like Tekken 1, 2, 3 or many other games where I was so in love that I had to have them.
I'll never throw them away, those are my memories of such an awesome time.....
Finally someone that understands me... Those are exactly my points about the Sega CD MK.
As part of my collection I have the original MK for the Mega Drive and Mega CD, MKII for the Mega Drive and Saturn and Ultimate MK3 for the Saturn. Thinking of getting MKII for my SNES just to check out the differences. Besides playing the arcade game the ultimate home release of the original MK was the Mega CD/Sega CD port. All the sound, music and animations from the arcade were pretty much present.
Personally I will agree the sound is much better on the SNES version. I was always so jelly of the Genesis version growing up tho, bc of the fatalities. Love your videos !
YPSILANTI/ ANN ARBOR BOWL, this was the first place I played Street Fighter, MK,MK2,MK3, Golden Axe, Raiden 1+2.
I guess my parents were awesome like that because we got mortal kombat, my brother, and I loved it, although we first played it without the blood code and when we found out about that it blew our minds. I think I actually played mk2 first, but it was at an uncles house, and it blew my brother and i's mind we were 9 or 10 and just playing trying out the genesis. Then, for Christmas, we got our own, but it was a model 2. I never owned 2 until much later, but as a kid, we had mk 1 and 3. I remember playing primal rage also and mk3 ultimate. my sister didnt play the genesis much but did play some of the layed back sonic games we had and i loved those as well, but it was such a great time for games between the snes and genesis, and n64 next offering blew my brother and sister and i's mind with that jump into full 3d with mario 64 mario kart and dkr oh man those were special times.
2 thumbs up great vs review.
I own both versions of MK, I still play the Genesis version more even to this day.
To compliment the original MK game, a couple of years ago back just recently the original actors/actresses just had an MK reunion called Kombat Kon at C2E2 in Chicago Gaming Expo.
Maybe there were limitations placed on Probe, maybe they were restricted by Acclaim on cart size for the port, so I don't just wanna bash the developers because I don't know the entire story behind the development of the game, but when you see what was crammed into Street Fighter 2 Championship Edition and then look at Mortal Kombat on the Genesis, you have to be left asking how so many frames of animation are voices are just missing, same story with MK 2 on the Genesis as well. Obviously it was never gonna be arcade perfect, and the expanded color palette of the SNES meant better color, but it always seemed like Probe got handed these huge arcade ports to the Genesis, and I feel like they ruined every single one, and look at the craptastic job they did on the Sega Saturn port of MK 2. It's a complete train wreck!
When Sculptered handled the Genesis conversion of MK3, it had so much more of the audio content that Probe has skimped out on in the past. Perhaps there are reasons for this, but without knowing them, as a kid when I played these releases I was so let down and absolutely DESPISED Probe.
Awesome video though SLX as always. I'd love to see you do one of these for Mortal Kombat 2 as well!
Lack of optimization leading to waste of cart memory, that's what it looks like to me.
The Saturn version of MK2 being so bad implies it wasn’t a cart issue. Pretty sure it does even have the audio for the character names, or ‘round 1’ etc. Plus the delay to load in moves makes it look like it was tested by a blind man.
Food Lion, now that's a name I've not heard in a long time.
Right on man! I like the Sega cd version too. D,U,L,L,A,R,D works with the Sega cd version also like the Genesis version.
13:27 huh WRONG TRACK AT A STAGE the pit musik at the courtyard 🤨🤨🤨
Playing MK for hours a day on Game Gear got me into martial arts. I would actually just mimick the movements until I found a school to train in.
The sounds of Mortal Kombat meant more to me than the gore. What attracted me was the feeling of playing a over the top kung-fu movie. Blood was rarely the reason we watched them, it was all about the rawness of the fighting. So yeah, I preferred the Super Nintendo version as a kid.
Alibabahey! Kalikamaha! We screamed that Raiden gibberish all day long!
No offense, just honest feedback from a longtime viewer: though this video is quite well done and I enjoy hearing your perspective, I think that between Battle of the Ports, VGDecide, Console Wars, and so on, this subgenre of retro game content is already more than adequately represented.
I truly miss the days of waiting for a 16-bit console port of a popular arcade game...
I wouldn't mind the hype for another Mortal-Monday!