Yes I know I didn’t mention the sound on the genesis version and I didn’t mention the amiga and ms dos version because I couldn’t get them to work on my computer and I only included the versions I was familiar with.
Don’t worry, you didn’t miss much on the genesis version. Like Diarrhea pouring out of the speakers. The PC version was decent, but it definitely had some sound flaws.
I had MK2 on the Mega Drive (Genesis) and thought it was great back in the day. My biggest issue with it now when compared to the snes version was it was missing a load of the sounds.
It's crazy how back then because I was a Genesis guy, and only had that, didn't have any friends that had the SNES, I always thought the Genesis version was superior.
Probe either didn't know what they were doing or they were lazy. If Sculptured Software had done that port, the Genesis probably would've had a lot of the sound effects the SNES had along with the character ending screens. Would've definitely evened up the debate between them as to which one was better. I felt bad for Genesis owners at the time for getting an incomplete port
@@gaba665 - I was comparing the SNES & Genesis versions. The 32X version has better looking fighters, clearer voices & the intro screens, but SNES has better backgrounds, more overall sound effects & the ending screens. I think they both play very well so to me it's kind of a draw. I've just played the 32X version a lot more to get really used to it being that I grew up on the SNES copy. There's no doubt that if it had been properly developed from the start that it probably would've been a carbon copy of the arcade version minus the arcade music (just because of the limited memory & the fact it's a cartridge system) & would've easily beat the SNES. It was interesting how Probe didn't fix Sub-Zero's ice sound, Reptile's acid & ball sounds, put Scorpion's spear sound in, Kintaro's loud roar or the tree growls in the Living Forest in to 32X, but SNES had all those except the exact Scorpion spear sound & the exact tree growl. At least they had a growl in there. With 8 more megs than the SNES version, there was no excuse for not getting those right. Either way, I enjoy both versions
Can confirm the Sega 32x port is better than the Sega Saturn port, though both are really fun. 32x's credit max is 30 whereas Saturn's is 9. I find Kintaro super hard so 9 is anemic. Thanks for the cool video Rzapp06!
@jayjay-cl1eo To be fair, even when I think 9 credits is more than enough to get through this game. You can't deny that the AI is especially brutal for casual players. I know that Fighting Game AI cheats, but MK in ramps the cheating to ludicrous levels. Straight will interrupt a uppercut that lands clean on the CPU and get grabbed anyway. Shit like that would turn off plenty of people.
@@jayjay-cl1eo The AI on the Saturn and PS1 versions were based off the MS DOS CD version, and the AI in that is completely different from the arcade original and 16 bit console ports. If you are used to those, the AI on the 32 bit CD and MS DOS versions can really throw you off.
The initial release for the home ports was September 9, 1994 and was Mortal Friday. I still remember going after school with my dad on release day to get it.
As somebody who spent countless quarters playing MK2 at the Arcade the 32x was the closest thing to the Arcade at home especially at the time both the SNES & Genesis were impressive but, a bit off (This era of the Arcade boom period was so crazy you would’ve never guessed Arcades would be wiped out by 2000/2002 😢😢😢 Two arcades i went to several times were so packed with teenagers you could barley even walk throughout the layout to play any machines
The 32X version was just the Genesis version, with the 32X only really being used for a few more vocal samples, and better looking sprites than what the Genesis had.
That version is quite good but poorly emulated. The speed of the game just whisk too fast, I play it on the GameCube with the Super NES controller and it plays alright just that the game runs faster than the arcade one.
Midway Arcade Treasures 2 did release with mk2 on the ps2- xbox and gamecube. Its the best port if you count the game. For me i love the sega 32x the most for the music
The SNES port is solid and all the rest of these are crap even the 32X version. The best version is the MK1-3 compilation for Xbox 360/PS3. It's all 3 arcade games but unlike the original arcade versions these aren't dogshit hard on any difficulty level they have appropriate difficulty settings.
Idk.. if you had the correct sounds or instrument kit on your sound card it was nearly arcade-perfect music.. the main drawback of mk2 on DOS was the framerate to me.
It's crazy they made ports for Saturn and PS One in 1996! By that time MK3 and Ultimate MK3 had already been out and Trilogy was about to be released. I don't understand why they thought it was a good idea to do this.
Its hard to argue the 32x version. I have all mentioned minus the pc versions and playstation but I will say the Saturn version looks great but loading...
It should've been said that the SNES/Genesis versions were only 24 megabits compared to 32 on the 32X. I think if you gave the SNES version (which was way better than the Genny version in every way other than resolution) a 32-meg cart, it would've wiped the floor with the 32X version because it would've been able to add in the few sound effects it didn't have at perfect quality (even with 24 megs it had more sound effects than 32X, albeit most of them had to be compressed to get them all in) & it could've added the opening screens & maybe improved image quality on the sprites. The SNES already had the character ending screens & with 8 more megs Probe didn't even add them to the 32X version. Lazy. If Sculptured had done the Genesis version a lot of what was missing would've been there already & a legitimate debate between SNES & Genny versions would've ensued, but instead we got crap from Probe other than some of the background music tracks & character select screen music which was pretty catchy. If you combined the best elements of the 32X version (better sprites, arcade perfect quality voices & opening screens) with the best of the SNES (better backgrounds, more sound effects & character ending screeens) we fans would've had 1 hell of a translation.
Some people are so blind (or are delusional), they don't see Probe fucked up MK twice, come third game the play field was more level due to Sculptured Software doing both 16 bit ports. To them, Probe did no wrong, and made the best thing since sliced bread, all the rest of us can do is point and laugh at these people these days.
@@Bloodreign1 - would've loved to have seen what Sculptured could've done with a 32X UMK3 port or if they had done MK Trilogy on the N64. Too bad we were only dealing in megabytes rather than gigabytes back then. If memory had been no object like it is now, many ports would've been insane
@@TechRyze - right on brother. When I 1st heard MK2 was coming to 32X, I really hoped Sculptured Software was gonna do it so that was a letdown even though Probe did significantly improve the Genesis version with the stuff they added, putting it more on par with the SNES game. After Sculptured showed what they could do with MK3 on Genesis, I really hoped they'd port UMK3 to 32X & MK Trilogy on N64, but neither happened & we only got a decent MK Trilogy on N64 with horrible music & no Goro or Kintaro. How that game was let out of the shop without those 2 bosses included I'll never understand. All it would've taken is another 8 megabits to get those 2 & some more of the content the Playstation version had in there. They also could've de-compressed some of the voices so they weren't so muffled. Sometimes I couldn't understand what developers were doing back then.
I've heard this said a lot, but I'm not 100% sure. The music appears to be based on the MIDI tracks in the PC version, but the graphics in the console versions are not identical and appear more colourful. I think the console versions play slightly differently to the PC version too. The settings and cheat menus are completely different.
I grew up with the 32X version and I always wanted the Saturn port as a kid, but I could never find it. Years later, I finally got the Saturn port and I was sorely disappointed. It turned out that I had the best version all along and didn't know it.
As great as the snes levels looked compared to the mega drive levels, the mega drive character models look better and the gameplay is more responsive, I have both but I much rather the genesis version for the tighter controls, sorry guys
The SNES 32x & Sega versions of MK II have inputs for Babalities & Friendship. The others were technically inferior for those features so they were left off By the time of the Playstation Port, the loading times caused hiccups in development it was refused by Sony to adapt for North America
32X version has fewer animations, a lower framerate, and less sharper colors than the SNES version. I recommend Sega Lord X's recent video on the 32X version of MK2 for a better analysis.
@@NoelComiX I actually bought the 32X version thinking that because it was released later that it would be superior and was disappointed that it was just a slightly better version of the Genesis version. Also, in no way does the 32X version have better music...it's the same as the Genesis.
@@Marc_Araujo 32X port has no slowdown and while the SNES port has more color it's also more blurrier. 32X visuals look sharper and the sound is more clear.
The SNES version was my favorite version. Not just the graphics and blood inclusion, but the cheats. The cheat code where you can fight the bosses by fighting the characters alot of times, but you didn't really do that. You can use just the button command cheat code during the character selection screen, and then choose your character and you'll jump into the boss level.
Til this day I’m still waiting for mk2 to come out on psx ! Lol . Reason being there was a gamepro edition I had that had screen shots and a release date of the PlayStation version , it got me so excited … it never came though sad 😞. I like most of us had it for the genesis , that was good enough for me
I loved the SNESKII so much I actually prefer it over the arcade. The music and sounds are darker sounding and all the fatalities and stages are left in tact.
Imho the 32x home port is the best of the ports. Not a popular opinion but any of the cd systems with loading pretty much are worse than any of the upgrades they bring.
I used to own the Sega Saturn version of Mortal Kombat II back in the day. You'd have thought that 32 bit ports on CD based hardware would have easily been able to do 100% flawless conversions of the game, but to surprisingly no avail. It's too bad they ended up being rushed jobs, which could have been so much better, if only a but more time was put into them. I was pretty shocked with how "off" the Saturn port was, and how that could have possibly been as screwed up as it was? Granted I still preferred it over MK II on the SNES (which I previously had before that), but not by a whole lot though. While many do agree the 32X edition was the overall best one on home consoles, it too was hardly the arcade perfect experience it also easily could have been. That considering it was basically a mere somewhat enhanced port of the flawed Genesis game, with better graphics, and sound effects, (with somewhat improved gameplay) but not much more than that though. Hell, the actual arcade versions on the Midway Arcade Treasures 2 compilation were even hardly perfect, with how they kind of botched the emulation on them to an extent for that matter as well.
@@brianbabin6333 And the Sega CD port of the original Mortal Kombat was the best home version to get of that game back in the day. That being it it too was deeply flawed, and ended up being nowhere near the at least close to arcade perfect conversion which many had hoped for, only to be disappointed over that not being the case though.
Snes versión was better than génesis... Ps1 load time was really bad... I think the best versión of mortal kombat 2 you can get for home is Mortal kombat 2 for playstation 3... It's just awesome...sound is outstanding.. But you can play it only if you bought it before since isn't available anymore..... We need any kind of mortal kombat kollection for ps5...with online ggpo and lobbies...
The 32x version was the best one in my book. The Snes graphics are too blurry and the sound samples are too compressed, sounding very muffled. Don’t get me wrong the Snes version is great but the 32x is better.
But 32X version lacks feature that SNES version had, had it got those it would had been the definitive version. It's missing the arcade soundtrack, all the endings, no remap option, and no Endurance Mode. Even worst because the 32X used it own video AV output, it doesn't support RGB output from the actual Genesis which is a big miss opportunity.
It's such a shame the 32bit MK2 ports were lazy. Had they used the powerful sampler chip in the PSX to recreate the arcade music and voices, and left CD streaming for menu music, the audio might have lived up to the promise of the visuals. Similarly, the loading screens were just poor execution that should have been optimized with more development time. Shang Tsung was always going to be a problem though!
Another thing that isn't pointed out much is that the Genesis/32X port is closer to the arcade in terms of actual gameplay. Some of the arcade combos cannot be done on the SNES.
The 32x release was released 3 months after the SNES version and needed a $150 expansion on top of the Genesis to work. The SNES release was 99% as good and even better in a few areas, that's enough to elevate it to the number 1 spot while 32x is 2nd. It was a short window of relevancy, not even a year later and the PS1 was out after all.
I wonder how many people thought the Saturn version was “arcade perfect”. I will say I recommend playing that version in the lowest difficulty setting. You can enjoy it if you can tolerate load times between matches. I wish it had a RAM hack as that would fix a ton of issues including the loading of Shang Tsung.
You would think the Saturn version would be the ultimate port. I thought so too because of Saturn’s reputation for 2D fighters. Take a look at the Street Fighter collection. I believe it’s arcade perfect, correct me if I’m wrong.
I used to play all kinds of MK ports on obscure consoles like Dandy 2, and they had MK2 characters, but with their own new move sets, but no fatalities.
My favorite way to play MK 2 is on my 1up cab that i modded with happ joy sticks dam near the authentic arcade experience minus the extra room on the control panel
SNES MK2 is better than the 32X port. The soundtrack in SNES-MK2 is authentic (32X even misses "the kombat Tomb" and the tracks are messed up), the colors are better and richer, the blood, guts and bones stay on the ground after a fatality (like it should be), fatalities look much better on SNES side by side. The 32X version is just like an improvement hack of the Genesis version with a few to obvioursly added and loud SFX plus a weird looking Goro's lair (with a light skinned Jade fighting in it). The original arcade/SNES ending is also missing, but it hast the four intro pics (I can live without). And when you have played it on the Arcade, then SNES and then on 32X you clearly feel something like a step backwards from the overall arcade perfection, the gameplay and atmosphere on SNES is also much closer to the original. Even MK creator John Tobias favors the SNES port of MK2.
Let’s not forget the snes version had the hidden intro with kintaro stomping on the acclaim logo and it had an exclusive 4 on 4 vs endurance mode. Plus MK plays better on a snes controller than a 6 button genesis controller because for some reason they decided to make the middle buttons block for the genesis
@@the757general2 I disagree, I loved playing street fighter with the genesis controller but it felt extremely clunky for me to play MK on it. To each their own though
Snes version is better. MK unlike street fighter didn’t work well playing with the 6 button controller, the snes version has better colors, music, exclusive 4 on 4 endurance mode and a hidden intro. 32X version may have been better than the genesis version but it still retained the same crappy music, colors are still inaccurate and it costs you $150 for an extra attachment just to play it back then. Snes was the best cartridge port
Mortal Kombat II is one of only two Super Nintendo games to get a unique warning label made by Nintendo before the ESRB was rolled out later in 1994. The other game was Beavis And Butthead.
@@jayjay-cl1eo The Sega version is also rated MA-13 despite also being pretty tame... but then again, Sega rated a lot of things harshly to look "cool."
i first got the SNES port and it was fine, but always saw so many things missing and it bugged me. a couple of years later got me a decent pc and played MK2 on it....i almost cried from how good that port is. it was that time that PC GAMES broke the norm and started being better than consoles.
This is a cool video! But I thought you were too kind to the Sega Genesis port. The sound effects and music were terrible and a lot of the voice samples were missing. I didn't find the game very fun. The SNES port was really good, though.
Good video, 2 things though. 1. Look up what vocal fry is, you're doing it, and try not to do it. 2. the reason the saturn version is crappy and the sound is so bad is because it's actually a port of the PC version. But pc's were much more powerful at the time so a lot had to be cut.
I still feel the SNES version is the closest arcade home port all around; the 32X version just feels like the Genesis game on stilts. I've never felt like it was anywhere near the same gameplay as the arcade or SNES versions!
I had both the SNES and 32X versions, and somehow I lost my genesis, 32x and games sadly... I was young and I think a cleaning lady cleaned it out of the house at some point. (Same goes for my Gamegear case and gameboy) Anyways, I still feel SNES has superior colors, for the backgrounds. 32X did fix a lot of genesis issues such as missing or poor sounds. I agree, 32X was king for MK2. I still think it could have been better given the hardware. 32X had power but sadly they never took any time to properly utilize it. The modern remake of doom called resurrection simply shows what the 32X or even bundled with SegaCD was capable of.
The SNES port was considered a gold-standard port back in the day. Some ports like Primal Rage turned out iffy, but MK2 SNES knocked it out of the park. I wore that cart out.
To clear up something about the saturn/ps1 music: Probe also did the port of MK2 for MSDOS, and the music was midi instead of the arcade version's compressed audio or the snes' tracker-like music format; and the OPL2 fm synthesis of the adlib and adlib-compatible sound cards was way inferior to what even the genesis could do (though if a midi composer KNEW what they were doing, you'd get amazing stuff like warcraft 2 or rise of the triad) and the ms-dos and console ports appear to be identical, minus the menus being different on PC. The MSDOS version sucked if you didn't have a disk cache utility because then the game would stop to load every single moment during fights.
Honestly, the PlayStation and the Sega Saturn were closest to the arcade when it came to gameplay. I honestly find it shocking you put the genesis version above the Saturn and the PlayStation. Those versions feel closer to the arcade than even the SNES, and I’m a huge fan of the super Nintendo version. In terms of gameplay outside of load times and Shang Tsungs morphs, those were pretty damn good ports. I absolutely hated the genesis version and while the 32x versions gameplay was slightly better than the SNES, It still had some noticeable choppy sprites which were still a lot smoother on the PlayStation and Saturn versions. I would easily have put Saturn, PlayStation, 32x/SNES (give or take), then the Genesis. The poor sprites in the Genesis version was too noticeable for me. It ran fast, but too much was off to even come close to the arcade. Aside from slow downs, and some missing sound, the SNES was an amazingly close port. As a collector when I bought the genesis version, I didn’t like it because very specific details like the blood, fatalities, missing sprites, terrible sound, made the game less enjoyable. Now The outline of the characters were done better which is what I didn’t like about the SNES version being more fuzzy. I did like that the game ran faster on the Genesis but the missing sprites killed it for me and couldn’t keep me interested. (Sprites were better on the 32X). The 32x was exactly what the genesis version should’ve been but I guess that’s the limits of the system, but the same time the 32X should’ve been alot better than what it was considering the potential it had was more than the SNES. Unfortunately even then, some sprites were missing still. I was one of these guys that played the arcade version regularly in the early/mid 90s upon its release and I was just a teenager back then lining up to play. When you play the arcade version regularly, you easily notice specific details to determine which version is closest to the Arcades Standard. I honestly felt overall the Sega Saturn and PlayStation versions are closest in terms of gameplay. The sound was the main screwup, but gameplay wise overall it still outweighed all the other ports. (comment edited for grammar errors)
I find it strange how the PS1 version stayed in Japan. Like why? Usually it’s the Saturn versions that stay in Japan while the west gets the PS1 port. Case in point, X-Men vs. Street Fighter. Why was the Saturn version a Japan-only release? Likely because of the excuse “the Saturn was doing poorly in North America or something like that” or the lack of RAM support in the west. It perplexes me why a bloody digitized fighting game saw its PSX port stay in Japan. It was made for the American market because they like blood and guts flying out, especially edgy teenage boys.
After playing the 32x version, all the others became useless. It is so much better. The snes have nice details compared to mega drive, but lacks some sprites making the game less fluid and also the resolution is too low. Mega drive lacks too Mani details and the sound. But is good to play. However the voice missing makes it not so fun. Saturn has some loading even when you do a special move. Terrible. Nice video. Agree with the ranks. Just that snes and mega drive are on the same level to me.
Yes I know I didn’t mention the sound on the genesis version and I didn’t mention the amiga and ms dos version because I couldn’t get them to work on my computer and I only included the versions I was familiar with.
Genesis version is trash
@@chadbrick67 you ain't lyin about that
Nothing comes close to the arcade and 32x version of mk 2
Don’t worry, you didn’t miss much on the genesis version.
Like Diarrhea pouring out of the speakers.
The PC version was decent, but it definitely had some sound flaws.
@@bighousemusic628 yeah, then there the genesis hack to add all the missing content to make it more arcade accurate
I had MK2 on the Mega Drive (Genesis) and thought it was great back in the day. My biggest issue with it now when compared to the snes version was it was missing a load of the sounds.
It's crazy how back then because I was a Genesis guy, and only had that, didn't have any friends that had the SNES, I always thought the Genesis version was superior.
Probe either didn't know what they were doing or they were lazy. If Sculptured Software had done that port, the Genesis probably would've had a lot of the sound effects the SNES had along with the character ending screens. Would've definitely evened up the debate between them as to which one was better. I felt bad for Genesis owners at the time for getting an incomplete port
@@bifftannen1598 It's NOT debatable.. 32X was WAY WAY better than the snes port.
@@gaba665 - I was comparing the SNES & Genesis versions. The 32X version has better looking fighters, clearer voices & the intro screens, but SNES has better backgrounds, more overall sound effects & the ending screens. I think they both play very well so to me it's kind of a draw. I've just played the 32X version a lot more to get really used to it being that I grew up on the SNES copy. There's no doubt that if it had been properly developed from the start that it probably would've been a carbon copy of the arcade version minus the arcade music (just because of the limited memory & the fact it's a cartridge system) & would've easily beat the SNES. It was interesting how Probe didn't fix Sub-Zero's ice sound, Reptile's acid & ball sounds, put Scorpion's spear sound in, Kintaro's loud roar or the tree growls in the Living Forest in to 32X, but SNES had all those except the exact Scorpion spear sound & the exact tree growl. At least they had a growl in there. With 8 more megs than the SNES version, there was no excuse for not getting those right. Either way, I enjoy both versions
@@bifftannen1598 32x fixed the issues that genesis had, but it's soundtrack and fatality sound is best
Can confirm the Sega 32x port is better than the Sega Saturn port, though both are really fun. 32x's credit max is 30 whereas Saturn's is 9. I find Kintaro super hard so 9 is anemic. Thanks for the cool video Rzapp06!
Saying something about credits as a reason just sounds like a skill issue to me
@jayjay-cl1eo To be fair, even when I think 9 credits is more than enough to get through this game.
You can't deny that the AI is especially brutal for casual players. I know that Fighting Game AI cheats, but MK in ramps the cheating to ludicrous levels.
Straight will interrupt a uppercut that lands clean on the CPU and get grabbed anyway. Shit like that would turn off plenty of people.
@@jayjay-cl1eo The AI on the Saturn and PS1 versions were based off the MS DOS CD version, and the AI in that is completely different from the arcade original and 16 bit console ports. If you are used to those, the AI on the 32 bit CD and MS DOS versions can really throw you off.
I totally agree with your number 1 pick. I loved the 32X version of MK2!
The initial release for the home ports was September 9, 1994 and was Mortal Friday. I still remember going after school with my dad on release day to get it.
Yeah I just noticed that mistake in the video , thanks for catching that
Nice to see the 32X get some love.
As somebody who spent countless quarters playing MK2 at the Arcade the 32x was the closest thing to the Arcade at home especially at the time both the SNES & Genesis were impressive but, a bit off (This era of the Arcade boom period was so crazy you would’ve never guessed Arcades would be wiped out by 2000/2002 😢😢😢 Two arcades i went to several times were so packed with teenagers you could barley even walk throughout the layout to play any machines
Wrong! The snes was closest to arcaxe
Lol the snes version was the best port by far.
The 32X version was just the Genesis version, with the 32X only really being used for a few more vocal samples, and better looking sprites than what the Genesis had.
@@Kapojos Yet it wasn't considered arcade perfect
@@ohjoshua67none of the console ports is arcade perfect, only ps3/xbox360 perhaps
You should rate the PlayStation 2 version, that was released on Midway Arcade Treasures 2 Disc !
I’ve tried the Midway arcade treasures 2 version and it’s just the arcade version but with some minor emulation issues
@@Rzapp06 Those minor issues need to be explored. Every nit shall be picked.
As well as the hard as fuck Arcade that they put out on the 360.
MK2 on MAT is just a quite lazy emulation of the original game, so it's not considered as a port.
That version is quite good but poorly emulated. The speed of the game just whisk too fast, I play it on the GameCube with the Super NES controller and it plays alright just that the game runs faster than the arcade one.
I love all these ports! Good video, mate.
The DOS version in diskette format is easily to play today, in DOSBOX for PC and Boxer for macOS
I’ve included the dos port in my forgotten mortal kombat ports video
SNES for me as #1
Awesome job on this bro! MK2 was my favorite. Subbed!
Midway Arcade Treasures 2 did release with mk2 on the ps2- xbox and gamecube. Its the best port if you count the game. For me i love the sega 32x the most for the music
The SNES version finally got it right with blood and fatalities that actually is better than the Genesis version
Supernintendo got the best developers and music composers for Mortal Kombat 2 as well
Very informative, thank you. This will make my quest for building a Mortal Kombat collection easier.
The SNES port is solid and all the rest of these are crap even the 32X version. The best version is the MK1-3 compilation for Xbox 360/PS3. It's all 3 arcade games but unlike the original arcade versions these aren't dogshit hard on any difficulty level they have appropriate difficulty settings.
@@Jolly-Green-Steve Are they digital only?
SNES really nailed ut
for the record the DOS version was very good. Main drawback was midi music but otherwise solid.
Best is MAME emulation obviously
Idk.. if you had the correct sounds or instrument kit on your sound card it was nearly arcade-perfect music.. the main drawback of mk2 on DOS was the framerate to me.
@@gaba665 This clip is what mine sounded like.
Great video! I own Mortal Kombat II for the Sega Mega Drive, Sega Saturn and Super Nintendo.
It's crazy they made ports for Saturn and PS One in 1996! By that time MK3 and Ultimate MK3 had already been out and Trilogy was about to be released. I don't understand why they thought it was a good idea to do this.
What a cute little channel... All the best buddy... Keep up the good work.... Try UMK3 next... It was a masterpiece for the Genesis...
I think regular mk3 is better on both sega snes
Its hard to argue the 32x version. I have all mentioned minus the pc versions and playstation but I will say the Saturn version looks great but loading...
It should've been said that the SNES/Genesis versions were only 24 megabits compared to 32 on the 32X. I think if you gave the SNES version (which was way better than the Genny version in every way other than resolution) a 32-meg cart, it would've wiped the floor with the 32X version because it would've been able to add in the few sound effects it didn't have at perfect quality (even with 24 megs it had more sound effects than 32X, albeit most of them had to be compressed to get them all in) & it could've added the opening screens & maybe improved image quality on the sprites. The SNES already had the character ending screens & with 8 more megs Probe didn't even add them to the 32X version. Lazy. If Sculptured had done the Genesis version a lot of what was missing would've been there already & a legitimate debate between SNES & Genny versions would've ensued, but instead we got crap from Probe other than some of the background music tracks & character select screen music which was pretty catchy. If you combined the best elements of the 32X version (better sprites, arcade perfect quality voices & opening screens) with the best of the SNES (better backgrounds, more sound effects & character ending screeens) we fans would've had 1 hell of a translation.
This.
The problem with the 32X version is that Probe developed it.
Some people are so blind (or are delusional), they don't see Probe fucked up MK twice, come third game the play field was more level due to Sculptured Software doing both 16 bit ports. To them, Probe did no wrong, and made the best thing since sliced bread, all the rest of us can do is point and laugh at these people these days.
@@Bloodreign1 - would've loved to have seen what Sculptured could've done with a 32X UMK3 port or if they had done MK Trilogy on the N64. Too bad we were only dealing in megabytes rather than gigabytes back then. If memory had been no object like it is now, many ports would've been insane
@@TechRyze - right on brother. When I 1st heard MK2 was coming to 32X, I really hoped Sculptured Software was gonna do it so that was a letdown even though Probe did significantly improve the Genesis version with the stuff they added, putting it more on par with the SNES game. After Sculptured showed what they could do with MK3 on Genesis, I really hoped they'd port UMK3 to 32X & MK Trilogy on N64, but neither happened & we only got a decent MK Trilogy on N64 with horrible music & no Goro or Kintaro. How that game was let out of the shop without those 2 bosses included I'll never understand. All it would've taken is another 8 megabits to get those 2 & some more of the content the Playstation version had in there. They also could've de-compressed some of the voices so they weren't so muffled. Sometimes I couldn't understand what developers were doing back then.
32X is my jam. I agree with your takes.
My opinion is the super Nintendo.
It had good sound effect's and the announcer voice.
true. these segabois be copin.
The Saturn and PS ports are based off the MSDOS version of the game. Check it out. Same visuals, weird midi music, and game settings menu.
MS-DOS is a near arcade perfect port
I've heard this said a lot, but I'm not 100% sure. The music appears to be based on the MIDI tracks in the PC version, but the graphics in the console versions are not identical and appear more colourful. I think the console versions play slightly differently to the PC version too.
The settings and cheat menus are completely different.
great video. the snes is the best version to me but i like playing the genesis version
I grew up with the 32X version and I always wanted the Saturn port as a kid, but I could never find it. Years later, I finally got the Saturn port and I was sorely disappointed. It turned out that I had the best version all along and didn't know it.
"I won't be going into history"...then he goes into the history of the arcade.
As great as the snes levels looked compared to the mega drive levels, the mega drive character models look better and the gameplay is more responsive, I have both but I much rather the genesis version for the tighter controls, sorry guys
The SNES 32x & Sega versions of MK II have inputs for Babalities & Friendship. The others were technically inferior for those features so they were left off
By the time of the Playstation Port, the loading times caused hiccups in development it was refused by Sony to adapt for North America
32X version has fewer animations, a lower framerate, and less sharper colors than the SNES version. I recommend Sega Lord X's recent video on the 32X version of MK2 for a better analysis.
I have both and 32X is better
@@NoelComiX So do I and I stand by my statement...I'll also add that the 32X version even has slow-down at times.
@@Marc_Araujo mmm I don’t see it. 32X is sharper, cleaner picture, and has better music imo.
@@NoelComiX I actually bought the 32X version thinking that because it was released later that it would be superior and was disappointed that it was just a slightly better version of the Genesis version. Also, in no way does the 32X version have better music...it's the same as the Genesis.
@@Marc_Araujo 32X port has no slowdown and while the SNES port has more color it's also more blurrier. 32X visuals look sharper and the sound is more clear.
The SNES version was my favorite version. Not just the graphics and blood inclusion, but the cheats. The cheat code where you can fight the bosses by fighting the characters alot of times, but you didn't really do that. You can use just the button command cheat code during the character selection screen, and then choose your character and you'll jump into the boss level.
Midway Arcade classics volume 2 has a great MK2 port, and Shawlen Monks has a great port of MK 2 Arcade just unlock it
Til this day I’m still waiting for mk2 to come out on psx ! Lol . Reason being there was a gamepro edition I had that had screen shots and a release date of the PlayStation version , it got me so excited … it never came though sad 😞. I like most of us had it for the genesis , that was good enough for me
I loved the SNESKII so much I actually prefer it over the arcade. The music and sounds are darker sounding and all the fatalities and stages are left in tact.
Just found the channel and subscribed 😀😀
Thanks for the sub
@@Rzapp06 Np 😀
The best version by far is the PSN release for the PS3 (no longer available) luckily if you already bought it beforehand, it’s yours.
Imho the 32x home port is the best of the ports. Not a popular opinion but any of the cd systems with loading pretty much are worse than any of the upgrades they bring.
I used to own the Sega Saturn version of Mortal Kombat II back in the day. You'd have thought that 32 bit ports on CD based hardware would have easily been able to do 100% flawless conversions of the game, but to surprisingly no avail. It's too bad they ended up being rushed jobs, which could have been so much better, if only a but more time was put into them. I was pretty shocked with how "off" the Saturn port was, and how that could have possibly been as screwed up as it was? Granted I still preferred it over MK II on the SNES (which I previously had before that), but not by a whole lot though.
While many do agree the 32X edition was the overall best one on home consoles, it too was hardly the arcade perfect experience it also easily could have been. That considering it was basically a mere somewhat enhanced port of the flawed Genesis game, with better graphics, and sound effects, (with somewhat improved gameplay) but not much more than that though. Hell, the actual arcade versions on the Midway Arcade Treasures 2 compilation were even hardly perfect, with how they kind of botched the emulation on them to an extent for that matter as well.
@@brianbabin6333 And the Sega CD port of the original Mortal Kombat was the best home version to get of that game back in the day. That being it it too was deeply flawed, and ended up being nowhere near the at least close to arcade perfect conversion which many had hoped for, only to be disappointed over that not being the case though.
@@freakyfornash MS DOS CD version of MK1 would like a word with you on best port of MK1. It is damned near flawless a port as you could get.
we played Herzog 2 a lot in the late 80eez... wouuh 🛐🛐
@@Bloodreign1 I'm sure that conversion was great, but I was just talking about pure game console ports though.
Snes versión was better than génesis...
Ps1 load time was really bad...
I think the best versión of mortal kombat 2 you can get for home is
Mortal kombat 2 for playstation 3...
It's just awesome...sound is outstanding..
But you can play it only if you bought it before since isn't available anymore.....
We need any kind of mortal kombat kollection for ps5...with online ggpo and lobbies...
Great video buddy
The 32x version was the best one in my book. The Snes graphics are too blurry and the sound samples are too compressed, sounding very muffled. Don’t get me wrong the Snes version is great but the 32x is better.
But 32X version lacks feature that SNES version had, had it got those it would had been the definitive version. It's missing the arcade soundtrack, all the endings, no remap option, and no Endurance Mode. Even worst because the 32X used it own video AV output, it doesn't support RGB output from the actual Genesis which is a big miss opportunity.
I thought the SNES version was quite good. I don’t really see the blurry visuals that you talk of.
You know Scorpion has buttons he can push besides High Punch, right?
МК2 один из любимых файтингов! 😏 и для каждого он был лучшим на своей консоли 💁♂️ например на SMD 😎
It's such a shame the 32bit MK2 ports were lazy. Had they used the powerful sampler chip in the PSX to recreate the arcade music and voices, and left CD streaming for menu music, the audio might have lived up to the promise of the visuals. Similarly, the loading screens were just poor execution that should have been optimized with more development time. Shang Tsung was always going to be a problem though!
I don't think I ever got around to trying the 32X port but I absolutely LOVED the Super Nintendo port.
Mortal kombat 2 is impressive for a Master system.
There's an actual MK2 port for Playstation but it wasn't commercialized or able to be bought in stores but there is one out there I know that much!
Another thing that isn't pointed out much is that the Genesis/32X port is closer to the arcade in terms of actual gameplay. Some of the arcade combos cannot be done on the SNES.
The 32x release was released 3 months after the SNES version and needed a $150 expansion on top of the Genesis to work. The SNES release was 99% as good and even better in a few areas, that's enough to elevate it to the number 1 spot while 32x is 2nd. It was a short window of relevancy, not even a year later and the PS1 was out after all.
I wonder how many people thought the Saturn version was “arcade perfect”. I will say I recommend playing that version in the lowest difficulty setting. You can enjoy it if you can tolerate load times between matches. I wish it had a RAM hack as that would fix a ton of issues including the loading of Shang Tsung.
You would think the Saturn version would be the ultimate port. I thought so too because of Saturn’s reputation for 2D fighters. Take a look at the Street Fighter collection. I believe it’s arcade perfect, correct me if I’m wrong.
I used to play all kinds of MK ports on obscure consoles like Dandy 2, and they had MK2 characters, but with their own new move sets, but no fatalities.
My favorite way to play MK 2 is on my 1up cab that i modded with happ joy sticks dam near the authentic arcade experience minus the extra room on the control panel
Happ sux put iL Eurosticks in there (the original Happ molds from the 90s) and you'll be way happier.
Still have comic books with ads for mortal Monday!😊
The arcade and 32x stole my heart nothing comes close
32X > all
SNES MK2 is better than the
32X port. The soundtrack in SNES-MK2 is authentic (32X even misses "the kombat Tomb" and the tracks are messed up), the colors are better and richer, the blood, guts and bones stay on the ground after a fatality (like it should be), fatalities look much better on SNES side by side. The 32X version is just like an improvement hack of the Genesis version with a few to obvioursly added and loud SFX plus a weird looking Goro's lair (with a light skinned Jade fighting in it). The original arcade/SNES ending is also missing, but it hast the four intro pics (I can live without). And when you have played it on the Arcade, then SNES and then on 32X you clearly feel something like a step backwards from the overall arcade perfection, the gameplay and atmosphere on SNES is also much closer to the original. Even MK creator John Tobias favors the SNES port of MK2.
Let’s not forget the snes version had the hidden intro with kintaro stomping on the acclaim logo and it had an exclusive 4 on 4 vs endurance mode. Plus MK plays better on a snes controller than a 6 button genesis controller because for some reason they decided to make the middle buttons block for the genesis
@@stevesteve0521 No way. MK plays better on the Genesis/32X because the 6 button controller is similar to the arcade button layout.
@@the757general2 I disagree, I loved playing street fighter with the genesis controller but it felt extremely clunky for me to play MK on it. To each their own though
@@the757general2 you're playing the arcade version of any MK just with your thumb? I guess you don't!
you forgot the midway arcade treasures 2 compilation release for the ps2, closest to arcade as you can get
I plan on making a separate on the Midway Arcade Treasures ports.
The best cartridge port of MKII is the 32X version... but as good as it is, it can't touch the CD based versions on the Saturn and PS1.
Snes version is better. MK unlike street fighter didn’t work well playing with the 6 button controller, the snes version has better colors, music, exclusive 4 on 4 endurance mode and a hidden intro. 32X version may have been better than the genesis version but it still retained the same crappy music, colors are still inaccurate and it costs you $150 for an extra attachment just to play it back then. Snes was the best cartridge port
Crazy that of all ports, the Amiga version had the best sounding music.
“The snes version is nearly identical to the genesis version with some major differences” lol what??
Mortal Kombat II is one of only two Super Nintendo games to get a unique warning label made by Nintendo before the ESRB was rolled out later in 1994. The other game was Beavis And Butthead.
The bevis and butthead game isn't even that much like the show there is no reason it got a warning😂
@@jayjay-cl1eo The Sega version is also rated MA-13 despite also being pretty tame... but then again, Sega rated a lot of things harshly to look "cool."
you DO REALLY LIKE UPPERCUTS
i had the 32x version. i stuck an egg to the cartridge to improve the graphics
The screen does not turn black and white every time a fatality i done on snes not sure where you got that from.
The screen only turns black and white on the super famicom version, not the SNES version
i first got the SNES port and it was fine, but always saw so many things missing and it bugged me.
a couple of years later got me a decent pc and played MK2 on it....i almost cried from how good that port is.
it was that time that PC GAMES broke the norm and started being better than consoles.
The dos and Amiga version can run on your PC in 5 seconds thanks to dosbox and winuae
I love the Snes version personally but nothing beats the real deal arcade version.
Grew up with the Amiga version, thinking back I wonder how they managed it with just one button
This is a cool video! But I thought you were too kind to the Sega Genesis port. The sound effects and music were terrible and a lot of the voice samples were missing. I didn't find the game very fun. The SNES port was really good, though.
Good video, 2 things though.
1. Look up what vocal fry is, you're doing it, and try not to do it.
2. the reason the saturn version is crappy and the sound is so bad is because it's actually a port of the PC version. But pc's were much more powerful at the time so a lot had to be cut.
SNES version always felt delayed to me. i prefer the Genesis version, it feels zippier and more responsive.
No lie, super Nintendo is the best, it looked better on super Nintendo and Mk1 MK2 ✋ down
Arcade>>>PC>>>Snes>>>32x>>>Saturn>>>Playstation>>>Genesis>>>AmigaCD>>>Master System>>>GG>>>GB !
The Amiga port wasn’t released on CD. Floppy disk only (and not even HD installable).
In 1998, Mortal Kombat 2 on Supernintendo is excellent I heard from gamers. I played it, I loved it!
I still feel the SNES version is the closest arcade home port all around; the 32X version just feels like the Genesis game on stilts. I've never felt like it was anywhere near the same gameplay as the arcade or SNES versions!
32x version not having a lone high punch button is a deal breaker. SNES or even better MAME for the W
I had both the SNES and 32X versions, and somehow I lost my genesis, 32x and games sadly... I was young and I think a cleaning lady cleaned it out of the house at some point. (Same goes for my Gamegear case and gameboy)
Anyways, I still feel SNES has superior colors, for the backgrounds. 32X did fix a lot of genesis issues such as missing or poor sounds. I agree, 32X was king for MK2. I still think it could have been better given the hardware. 32X had power but sadly they never took any time to properly utilize it. The modern remake of doom called resurrection simply shows what the 32X or even bundled with SegaCD was capable of.
Video was good, UNTIL the last 2 ratings
If only they had more time for the saturn port as that could have been a near arcade experience especially if using the ram upgrades
If anyone ever tried the downloadable version of this on the PlayStation 3…..it was arcade perfect
I respect your opinion and your list, and how old were you when this game came out?
The DOS version is the best home port IMO
Snes version pisses all over the genesis version
Sega is always a step ahead with its add-ons as Sega CD was the best port mk1 and 32X was best for MK2
The release dates are incorrect for the PS1 and Saturn versions. I believe they were released in late 94 or early 95
please give me your rankings of these game graphics
Please do the ports for MK3/UMK3
I Had The Sega Saturn Version and I Think it was the best Version
I know is arcade original, but best port in my opinion is defenitly SNES version
I play the arcade version on Mame4ios on my iPhone 📲
The games were released on Mortal Friday September 9, 1994. I have the receipt to prove it.
Yeah I got the release dates for some the ports mixed up. Idk why I thought it was Mortal Tuesday.
The SNES port was considered a gold-standard port back in the day. Some ports like Primal Rage turned out iffy, but MK2 SNES knocked it out of the park. I wore that cart out.
To clear up something about the saturn/ps1 music:
Probe also did the port of MK2 for MSDOS, and the music was midi instead of the arcade version's compressed audio or the snes' tracker-like music format; and the OPL2 fm synthesis of the adlib and adlib-compatible sound cards was way inferior to what even the genesis could do (though if a midi composer KNEW what they were doing, you'd get amazing stuff like warcraft 2 or rise of the triad) and the ms-dos and console ports appear to be identical, minus the menus being different on PC.
The MSDOS version sucked if you didn't have a disk cache utility because then the game would stop to load every single moment during fights.
Honestly, the PlayStation and the Sega Saturn were closest to the arcade when it came to gameplay.
I honestly find it shocking you put the genesis version above the Saturn and the PlayStation. Those versions feel closer to the arcade than even the SNES, and I’m a huge fan of the super Nintendo version. In terms of gameplay outside of load times and Shang Tsungs morphs, those were pretty damn good ports.
I absolutely hated the genesis version and while the 32x versions gameplay was slightly better than the SNES, It still had some noticeable choppy sprites which were still a lot smoother on the PlayStation and Saturn versions.
I would easily have put Saturn, PlayStation, 32x/SNES (give or take), then the Genesis.
The poor sprites in the Genesis version was too noticeable for me. It ran fast, but too much was off to even come close to the arcade.
Aside from slow downs, and some missing sound, the SNES was an amazingly close port. As a collector when I bought the genesis version, I didn’t like it because very specific details like the blood, fatalities, missing sprites, terrible sound, made the game less enjoyable. Now The outline of the characters were done better which is what I didn’t like about the SNES version being more fuzzy. I did like that the game ran faster on the Genesis but the missing sprites killed it for me and couldn’t keep me interested. (Sprites were better on the 32X).
The 32x was exactly what the genesis version should’ve been but I guess that’s the limits of the system, but the same time the 32X should’ve been alot better than what it was considering the potential it had was more than the SNES. Unfortunately even then, some sprites were missing still.
I was one of these guys that played the arcade version regularly in the early/mid 90s upon its release and I was just a teenager back then lining up to play. When you play the arcade version regularly, you easily notice specific details to determine which version is closest to the Arcades Standard.
I honestly felt overall the Sega Saturn and PlayStation versions are closest in terms of gameplay. The sound was the main screwup, but gameplay wise overall it still outweighed all the other ports.
(comment edited for grammar errors)
5:52 yep! that's probe software for ya.
I disagree with everyone on the Saturn port. Aside from missing some sound effects, it's identical to the arcade.
I find it strange how the PS1 version stayed in Japan. Like why? Usually it’s the Saturn versions that stay in Japan while the west gets the PS1 port. Case in point, X-Men vs. Street Fighter. Why was the Saturn version a Japan-only release? Likely because of the excuse “the Saturn was doing poorly in North America or something like that” or the lack of RAM support in the west. It perplexes me why a bloody digitized fighting game saw its PSX port stay in Japan. It was made for the American market because they like blood and guts flying out, especially edgy teenage boys.
After playing the 32x version, all the others became useless. It is so much better. The snes have nice details compared to mega drive, but lacks some sprites making the game less fluid and also the resolution is too low. Mega drive lacks too Mani details and the sound. But is good to play. However the voice missing makes it not so fun. Saturn has some loading even when you do a special move. Terrible. Nice video. Agree with the ranks. Just that snes and mega drive are on the same level to me.
'Identical' needs removing from this video almost every time it's mentioned.
'Mostly the same, with major differences'
:/