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Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks (PS2, 2005)

Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks (PS2, 2005)


Subgenre: 3D Beat ‘em up/Brawlervania, ARPG (exp point leveling, open-ended skill tree), Killathon element (various forced encounters)


Perspective: TP view, Side View (some segments), Three different camera settings (close, panoramic, in-between/normal) - automatic camera but can tilt it a bit to either side in some places


Movement Mechanics: Long jump, Wall run (see PoP: Sands of Time), Wall jump, Double jump, Swing (on poles)


Other: 2-player coop, Various weapon pickups (throwable objects, swords, ) - enemies can't block these but comboing is rather limited, Fight alongside NPCs in some rooms/sub areas (Johnny Cage, Sub-Zero), Straightforward gauntlet-like areas are fairly common, QTE finishers during boss fights

  • Linear overarching structure (while you can enter evil forest after reaching the outworld area you can only get anywhere in the evil monastery, can get wall run at any point after getting fist of ruin at the evil monastery (lets you get wall jump at soul tombs and progress at some points in the wastelands) - can't do any of the main areas out of order (evil monastery (fist of ruin)->living forest (wall climb)->soul tombs (wall jump - need wall run first)->wastelands (double jump)->dead pool (swing)->netherrealm->foundry), can fight mileena again+ermac after getting swing)

  • Outworld area is a partial hub that connects to all other areas besides the first (soul tombs also connects to wushi academy but other areas don't connect to each other)

  • Some backtracking for optional items with gained movement abilities and once outside of the hub area to progress (for wall run)

  • Fairly frequent save points (multiple slots; shows the current location) which also heal you

  • Pretty good environmental interaction (can throw enemies into spike pits (short cutscenes) or beds and other hazards to kill them quicker, can knock enemies into objects to find hidden items or paths (breakable item containers and walls) - sometimes required to progress)

  • Decent map system (in-game - toggleable semi-transparent mini-map showing the current room, in menu - shows your current location and the basic layout, zoomed out version in the menu shows the whole current area but not much else; TD view)

  • Move list in-game

  • Fatality meter (when full you can pull of an insta-kill fatality which works like a QTE here - good in that fatalities are easier to pull off)

  • Can open up some shortcuts to previous areas (not enough though)

  • Brutality mode (temporarily do a lot more damage after charging up 3 orbs of energy by hitting enemies - similar to Aggressor mechanic in MK Trilogy, Intenso mode in Guacamelee or the devil trigger in DMC)

  • Some optional bosses (Ermac at warrior shrine - need swing to open, Mileena - living tree hidden exit, Kano (while assisted by a CPU controller Jax) - keep talking to Kitana in her cell) and side quests (smoke missions for exp - find him in living forest (most of these are pretty mundane or time consuming however))

  • A few decent puzzles

  • Four playable chars in SP/story mode (Liu Kang of Kung Lao by default, unlockable Scorpion and Sub-Zero - nice although they have fewer fatalities and their normal attacks mimic the monks') - Can’t switch in-game

  • Not much damage from spike pits (you continuously take a bit of damage while moving through them but with long invincibility time in-between) or other environmental hazards

  • The game generally tells you what ability is needed to get past an ability gate

  • Stamina meter of sorts for certain movement abilities like the long jump and for special attacks (R1+face button) - Can't upgrade your stamina meter

Some notable cons:

  • Some control/interface issues (moving while pressing the pickup button makes you do a spin move instead, in some 2.5d segments the camera might pan but you won't keep moving l/r, sometimes the close and normal camera settings pick a suboptimal angle, map doesn't mark statues that require fist of ruin to break nor let you place your own markers or notes for other ability gates, mini-map automatically spins as you move - no toggle (also can’t manually rotate the camera most of the time), the camera makes awkward and sudden perspective changes while moving along certain paths - similar to the old RE games, other camera and map issues, etc.)

  • Can't use fatalities on mini-bosses, bosses and certain enemies like the shadow priests (some moves also work differently against the latter such as an aerial uppercut not lifting them upwards and not being able to throw them)

  • Some paths are only unlockable in 2-player (no player+cpu mode)

  • Mostly unskippable cutscenes

  • Some trial & error (some ranged attacks from off screen, some leaps of faith for optional items or weapons, etc)

  • Too many invisible walls and their placement feels arbitrary

  • Some tedious aspects (repeated and mandatory button masher mini-games to interact with levers - basically have to flick the face button with your pointing finger for the ones in the soul tomb, drawn out shao kahn fight, etc.)

  • Can't run up certain walls for seemingly no reason

  • Off the path items are usually just artwork unlocks (red icons) but sometimes characters for vs mode (fighting game mode)

  • Keep finding item drops which you already have a full stock of (HP)

  • No new enemies appear when revisiting previous areas


Playthrough - Mini-Review



Influenced by: Probably Devil May Cry, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, Possibly Streets of Rage or Final Fight series, Metroid or Igavania series


Influenced: Possibly Guacamelee, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows

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