10 Awful Versions Of Iconic Video Games You Didn't Know Existed
9. Mortal Kombat - GameBoy
When Mortal Kombat left arcades and came to the home console audience, many gamers found themselves debating which version was superior: MegaDrive or SNES? Suffice to say, the title’s GameGear and especially GameBoy ports did not enter the conversation.
Technically speaking, characters' special moves and even Fatalities are in the Nintendo handheld version but most players will be hard-pressed to make them happen intentionally. With controls this sluggish, trying to even ascertain the right timing let alone pulling off a combo is not worth the struggle.
In its defence, this 8bit rendition looks somewhat impressive for its hardware limitations and it is clearly the same digitised fighters, just shrunk down and monochrome. Which obviously presents a problem considering that Scorpion and Sub-Zero, on the character select screen, look identical because of it.
The problem is, one of the key selling points of many great fighters is style and Mortal Kombat has a very specific feel to it that this game can’t replicate properly. Stages are boring, animations are poor and a lack of gore kind of makes the entire thing feel heartless.
Ergo, it feels as though Shang Tsung devoured the soul of Mortal Kombat and this tiny cartridge was all that remained.