Disclaimer: Although I have been playing the Mortal Kombat series since I was 11 years old, I never 'got good' at them, at least not good enouhg to play competitively. Thus, take this review as the perspective of a long time fan with more enthusiasm for the story and lore than the game itself. That being said, Mortal Kombat Trilogy is far and away the most accessible of the classic 2D MK games. With options for controlling the difficukty of the fights, as well as the ability to activate your character's Dial-A-Kombo with a single well-timed button press, even someone like me, who has never been good at the games even after 32 years, can get to the end credits and see the outcome of the third and final tournament. (And that's not even getting into the hidden cheats menu!) Roster-wise, this was the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate of Mortal Kombat: EVERYONE was here. Characters who had died, characters who were locked out of competing in the final battle, even characters who had been irreovcably altered over the course of the series, you could play anyone from the first three games. Even past versions of certain characters, all brought up to the gameplay standards of Ultimate MK3, which Trilogy is technically the expanded edition of. No one was left out, and that alone made Trilogy a dream game for fans. Not every character is created equal, however. A roster this size is tough to balance, but certain secret characters, making their playable debut here, were given extremely broken special moves or ridiculiusly long combos that made it a handicap to pick anyone else. However, if you can look past the cheese factor of certain characters and the absurd difficulty spike of the final two bosses in any ladder, this game is a violent, campy, over-the-top joy to experience. And thanks to GOG, the original version's absurd load times are a thing of the past! I recommend MK Trilogy to any fan of retro fighting games with a strong stomach for gore. It's a piece of gaming history.
