Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (PlayStation 2)

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon brags a roster of 62 characters and sees the return of classic ones from the original Mortal Kombat, such as Reptile, Shang Tsung and Goro. The enhanced Konquest mode (story/adventure mode) improves over the preceding versions, but has a shorter length. There are now 64 arenas (including revamped versions of classic environments) which each have their own tweaks, such as the ridiculous amount of stage fatalities (fatalities are a fancy way of killing your opponent, including classic techniques such as the “spine-rip” or “arm-break”).

In the new Kreate-a-character mode, you can design your own character and clothe them with familiar or new costumes. As described earlier, fatalities are a fancy way of killing your opponent and are pretty fun to watch. Various button presses and combos at the end of a fight will sometimes trigger fatality mode and if the right buttons are pressed the fatality can become a chain of fatalities. The Kreate-a-fatality allows you to redesign these finishers.

Perhaps the most amusing addition for longtime fans is the debut of “Motor Kombat,” a racing mini-game patterned after Nintendo’s Mario Kart. Motor Kombat has players selecting a vehicle from the following ten characters: Sub-Zero, Bo’ Rai Cho, Scorpion, Mileena, Kitana, Johnny Cage, Jax, Cyrax, Baraka, and Raiden. Each super-deformed driver performs his or her trademark move on rivals, from Raiden’s electricity to Scorpion’s spear attack. The themed courses also feature hazards of their own, including lava pools, spikes, fire, and more. Motor Kombat supports four players in a split-screen view, or up to eight online.