32 Bits is a series where I play and review the most popular games of the past – the games that sold well in their day, not what we look back on fondly now. Why were they popular, what did their success mean, and do they hold up today? Some are loved, others loathed, and many more forgotten.
Information on what games will be reviewed can be found here; my reviews of 1995’s games are archived on this page, while links to reviews from the current season – and a list of those to come – can be found here.
New posts are made every Sunday, while Sega Saturn reviews are posted on some Saturdays.
Playstation Review #41:
Mortal Kombat Trilogy
| Developer | Publisher | Release Date | Best-Seller in | Also On |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avalanche Software | Williams | 9/1/96 (North America) 12/6/96 (Europe) 4/2/98 (Japan) |
North America (Greatest Hits) Europe (Platinum) |
Sega Saturn Nintendo 64 Windows R-Zone Game.com |
Mortal Kombat, I must confess, is one of my gaming blindspots. I just don’t get it and never have. With ugly digitized sprites and cookie cutter characters, I can’t get why anyone in the early 90s would play it over the likes of Street Fighter – were they that starved for blood?
Yes! As someone whose introduction to gaming was the post-GTA III era of games where gory violence was the norm and often ultra-violence was used to compensate for poor quality, it’s hard for me to grasp an era so sensitive that not just violence, but even references to alcohol were banned. Anything potentially contentious, such as religious or political references, was nowhere to be found in gaming in the days of Mortal Kombat. Whether it was a church in a RPG or a game based on Bill Clinton’s cat, Nintendo’s seal of quality didn’t come without limitations. In a time that innocent, ripping out a spine was groundbreaking.
The gaming culture of the time prized the Sega Genesis for not censoring Mortal Kombat’s blood; they also gathered in arcades to witness mythical fatalities.
Mortal Kombat Trilogy, the second Playstation game in the series after 1995’s Mortal Kombat 3, contains an expansive set of characters: gods of thunder, centaurs, movie stars, cyborgs and a rainbow of ninjas. Characters and arenas from across the series return here in this collection.
The famed fatalities return and are joined by the strangely dull “brutality”. In a brutality, rapid attacks make the character…explode, their bones scattering around.
Aggressor bars.
Also added: an “aggressor” bar. Filling with attacks, a full aggressor bar makes your character stronger temporarily. I don’t think I ever filled it while playing.
Mortal Kombat Trilogy marked the end of the original Mortal Kombat craze. One last hurrah, combining elements from across the game’s most prized installments into one package. I’ll be playing 1998’s Mortal Kombat 4, which brought the series into 3D. Over the rest of the Playstation era the series would be diluted with awful spin-offs that tried to build action games around the characters of Jax and Sub-Zero. The PS2-era Mortal Kombats are liked but weren’t a phenomenon; 2011’s Mortal Kombat truly revived the series.
The culture that fostered Mortal Kombat’s rise to popularity was on its way out in 1996. A kid-driven audience base, only encouraged by parental worries about violence, gave way to adult gamers. Arcades, which thrived on displays of Mortal Kombat’s gore, were dying. No one was censoring violent games; indeed, the newly founded ESRB’s M-rated became a selling point. When critics attacked video game violence their new targets were Doom and Resident Evil. Mortal Kombat outlived its infamy as a source of moral outrage and playground prowess and just became another video game series, albeit a famous one.
If you’re someone who likes classic Mortal Kombat, well, this has all of it. If you aren’t, then there’s nothing here for you but a look back into a once-infamous game. 
(DON’T) PLAY THIS
One game that tried to replicate the infamy of Mortal Kombat: Thrill Kill for the Playstation. A four-player fighting game, the Paradox (not the grand strategy one) developed game was to be published by Virgin – only to be cancelled when Virgin Interactive was bought by Electronic Arts.
A great loss? Not at all. The engine was used for 1999’s Wu-Tang : Shaolin Style and the reaction was mixed. The cancelled game later leaked to the internet; now that people can play it…they found it just wasn’t very good. I haven’t played it personally but I’ve never seen anything positive said about it.
Playstation Review #42:
Die Hard Trilogy
| Developer | Publisher | Release Date | Best-Seller in | Also On |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Probe | Fox Interactive | 8/31/96 (North America) 11/96 (Europe) 12/13/1996 (Japan) |
North America (Greatest Hits) Europe (Platinum) |
Saturn PC |
“THREE GAMES IN ONE”
Earlier this season I played Alien Trilogy, a game that turns the three Alien films into one tedious first person shooter. Today: Die Hard Trilogy, an adaptation of three films turned into three very different games.
Turns out Alien Trilogy and Die Hard Trilogy hail from the same developer: Probe Entertainment, later re-named Acclaim Studios London. A developer whose work spanned from 1986’s The Adventures of Bond…Basildon Bond for the Commodore 64 to 2000’s Dreamcast racing title Re-Volt. Their parent company went bankrupt in 2004.
Die Hard Trilogy turns three films into three different games.
Die Hard
“Die Hard” is a behind-the-back third person shooter.
Die Harder
“Die Harder” is a on-rails light gun shooter.
Die Hard with a Vengeance.
“Die Hard with a Vengeance” is a driving game, of a kind.
You can play any of them whenever you choose.
The “Die Hard” levels received the most praise in 1996. So, naturally, it’s my last favorite now. In “Die Hard” John McClane shoots (fake) terrorists screaming “YOU’RE DEAD YANKEE” and rescues hostages in the office complex of the film; he can sidestep and throw grenades. Though admirably difficult, looking back the Playstation was awash with this type of game, so this is the least unique now. But in 1996, it’s more remarkable.
“Die Harder” represents a type of game rarely seen on the Playstation and does it well. It’s a typical light gun game with plenty of power-ups, some minor side-routes and special grenade & rocket weapons. Nothing too innovative but nothing weak either.
In “Die Hard with a Vengeance”, you’re told to go left. In environments such as a park, city and sewers you race to find bombs in time to disarm them. Occasionally you must ram into a “bomb car” to destroy it. Yes, it’s easy to make up and take a wrong turn – at least then you can see a giant explosion.
Die Hard Trilogy deserves praise for its presentation. The high score entry screen gives each letter to one of your enemies; spelling out your name means accruing a line of terrorists and even people on fire as you run around the circle of villains. The pause menu gives you the option to “think over” quitting, and taunts you for choosing it. McClane can mistakenly mow down screaming pedestrians in “Die Hard with a Vengeance”. It strikes a playful, and completely nuts, tone that works with the frantic arcade gameplay.
Why was Die Hard Trilogy a success? Not just because of its license but also because of the supposed value. Three different games for the price of one, all decently long, all pushing into genres not usually found on the Playstation at the time? It’s a good sign of the diversity that was to come over the system’s life span.
In 2014 I found that I enjoy this kind of uncomplicated arcade experience, precisely because it’s simple. The “Die Hard” section is less compelling due to its necessarily awkward movement and slow gameplay but this game wasn’t meant to be perfect or particularly innovative. And that uncomplicated nature makes it the most enduring tie-in game I’ve played yet. 
POLYGONAL BRUCE WILLIS HISTORY
Bruce Willis starred in an original Playstation game, Apocalypse. The first example of an actor starring in a non-licensed game like it were a movie, he was originally due to appear as a non-playable sidekick. A character you could actually see and hear talk. But he was changed to the game’s hero, a solo type seen from behind who rarely speaks. So Activision paid handsomely to show off Bruce Willis’ ass and have him spout the occasional one-liner in an alright shooter.
Most notable for being cancelled midway through development and restarted, and due to its engine being used for the far superior Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and 2000’s Spider-Man.
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NEXT SATURDAY: Soccer.
NEXT SUNDAY: Myst and pinball.
Cultural Fragments 
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