It's an amazing port that could do with a bit of modernization. It works out of the box with a controller though, so that's great. And the characters are all here, the stages, the moves, everything. It really is the definitive OG Mortal Kombat experience. The problem is the AI. You can go to the settings and turn it to easiest but you'll still want to rip your hair out. The AI in this game is, without a shadow of a doubt, DISGUSTING. And you can't do anything about it but accept it. So the sooner you accept that the AI was specifically programmed to react instantaneously to your input and there is no way you can EVER react faster than it, the better. There's a way to circumvent this, technically. That is, learn the moves, look for openings and strategize. Learn how the AI works and use it to your advantage. The game isn't impossible to win. It's just very hard (especially if it's your first time). It must've taken me like 1 or 2 hours to beat the NOVICE ladder. On easiest difficulty, the AI is ok for the first 3-4 fights, but after that, it can become a sh*t-fest. CONCLUSION I wouldn't buy this for 10 euros though, that's for sure. It's a fun game but it doesn't have as much replayability as the later ones. The blatantly unfair AI is ripped straight from the arcade machines, back when these things were specifically programmed this way so you could spend more money on retries. I recommend you either get this on sale or just leave it be and play a MUGEN game (which is free). They're leagues above these old games in terms of both graphics, sound, roster, everything. Just google "Mortal Kombat Mugen" and you'll have access to an ENDLESS supply of fan-made Mortal Kombat games that look, sound and play just like this, but better.
If you like RPGs (retro or modern), this isn't really the type to pass up. I've been a part of this game's community for about 8 years. I've seen the fans change and even the game change (yes, the dev still updates this game every now and again). But even if the fan base may not be as active as it once was, the game still holds up to this day as more than just an RPG. DMODs (Dink MODs) are still being released to this day. If you want to truly get into this game, I'd say there's plenty to do and discover only because of the sheer number of DMODs. So many player created adventures that add to the story of dink, that do something completely different, or straight up surpass the original game in terms of quality and size. If you don't like them, you can even create your own. There's many informative tutorials on the forums (some come as videos, some as document files and some even as DMODs) that will teach you about making your own dink adventure. It's quite a neat little entry point into game creation, if you've never done it. Many members have created amazing reverse engineered scripts for the game that do things we didn't think we're possible before. There's also an open source engine remake called "freedink". All of this to say, Dink Smallwood is an obscure little RPG that, despite it's age and popularity, still continues to expand. You can always give the main game a try (which is a very fun experience), but if you don't find it particularly interesting, I highly recommend at least looking through the in-game DMOD browser and checking out some player created adventures. So go and have fun beheading ducks!
