Mortal Kombat II Nintendo Game Boy Hint Sheet.
Last update: 7/15/95: correcting some spelling mistakes. No new
information has been added since January of 1995.
To report errors, flames, additions, please e-mail me at:
gameguy@studio42.com
Disclaimer: This stuff worked/works for me. Your results may vary. I'm not
to be held acountable for your inability to perform any of the actions
described here, or for inconsistencies between my release and your release
of Mortal Kombat II for Game Boy.
Information gathered from various sources and compiled here by Studio42
Most hints, cheats, tips and so forth came from Game Player Magazine,
Vol. 7, #9, alt.games.mk, rec.games.nintendo, e-mails and other assorted
sources that could be obtained publically by any person who felt inclined
to do so.
This document also contains information that I obtained by spending way
too much time playing this video game.
This document contains public information, so feel free to give it
to your Game Boy playing friends. If you do upload this document to a
electronic service, this document must be uploaded unaltered and I would
appreciate it if you would properly credit me for 3 months of "work".
Reproduced without permission by Studio42
THIS WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE A FAQ.
Yes, this contains FAQ-type information, but the purpose of this document
is to provide you quickly with the information you need, namely, all those
kool moves that Mortal Kombat fans have come to know and love.
All moves are CONFIRMED unless otherwise stated. The Game Boy contains
only one "fatality" per character, and there appear to be no friendships.
Consider yourself warned.
Table of Contents:
Basic Moves.
Character Specific Moves, including fatalities, pit/spike fatalities and
babalities.
Assorted goodies and information you might want to glance at.
How to beat Shao Kahn
Character specific profiles:
Each character broken down, with tips for playing them and defending
against them. Attacks and counters/defenses for all attacks.
Heavy Punch.
Key:
Any number: how many times to perform action indicated.
Example: 3 F would indicate press forward 3 times
U: up
D: Down
F: Forward
BA: Back
BL: Block
rel: release
sec: seconds
(): number of spaces to stand away from character
Example: (2) would indicate stand 2 charater widths away from opponent.
[]: additional move instructions
We will include all moves for each character so this may serve as a quick
reference chart
GameBoy Key guide:
A: A key
B: B Key
BL: START key
Game Boy Basic Moves:
(This section provided by Studio42 BBS: Hermes)
(and reproduced without permission from the GameBoy Mortal Kombat II manual)
Yes, I know these are all in the manual, but remember, we are making a
reference chart here as well.
To move Forward or back:
Press the CONTROL PAD LEFT or RIGHT
To Block:
Press the START BUTTON
To Crouch:
Press the CONTROL PAD DOWN
To Jump:
Press the CONTROL PAD UP
To flip forward or back:
Press the CONTROL PAD UP + LEFT or RIGHT
The basic offensive moves:
To Punch:
Press the B BUTTON
To Kick:
Press the A BUTTON
To Uppercut: Press DOWN + PUNCH
To Foot Sweep: Press AWAY + KICK
To Roundhouse: Press TOWARDS + KICK
To Execute Flying Punch: JUMP or FLIP + PUNCH
To Execute Flying Kick: JUMP or FLIP + KICK
To Throw: (from MKI, works the same in MKII): Press TOWARDS + B
*=Confirmed move. All basic moves confirmed for each character.
After all moves are confirmed, corrections will be made.
There appear to be NO friendships. Just thought I'd add that, even though I
am leaving the "friendship" moves in for the time being.
Jax:
*Ground Pound: Hold B 3 sec, rel
*Backbreaker: BL in mid-air(0)
*Sonic Wave: F,D,A
*Grab: 2 F,B (Tap B repeatedly for punches)
*Super Slam: throw & tap B (Tap B repeatedly for more slams)
Fatality 1 (Arm Rip): N/A
*Fatality 2 (Head Clap): Hold A,3 F, rel A(0)
*Pit Fatality: Hold BL,2 U,D,A
Friendship: 2 D,Hold BL,2 U,A
*Babality: hold BL,D,U,D,U,A
Kitana:
*Square Wave Punch: D,BA,B
*Fan-Swipe: BA +B
*Fan-Lift: 3 BA,B
*Fan-Throw: 2 F, A+B
*Flying fan throw: U, (2F, A+B in mid-air)
Fatality 1 (Kiss of Death): N/A
*Fatality 2 (Decapitation): 3 BL,A(0)
*Pit Fatality: F,D,F,A
Friendship: 3 D,U,A
*Babality: 3 D,A
Mileena:
*Roll Attack: 2 BA,D,A
*Sai-Throw: hold B 2 sec, rel
*Sia-Throw Low: Hold B 2 sec, duck and release B
*Sia Throw High: Hold B 2 sec, Up and release B.
*Teleport Kick: 2 F,A
*Fatality 1 (Suck-N-Spit): Hold A 2 sec, rel (0)
Fatality 2 (Machine Gun Sias): N/A
*Pit Fatality: F,D,F,B
Friendship: 3 D,U,A
*Babality: 3 D,A
Liu Kang:
*Bicycle Kick: hold A 3 sec, rel
*F. Ball Low: D,F,B
*F. Ball High: 2 F,B
*Jump Fireball: U,2 F,B(2 F,B must be done in mid-air)
*Flying Kick: 2 F,A
Fatality 1 (Cartwheel): N/A
*Fatality 2 (Dragon): D,F,2 BA,A (0)
*Pit Fatality: BA,2 F,A
Friendship: F,3 BA,A
*Babality: 2 D,F,BA, A
Reptile:
*Acid Spit: 2 F,B
*Force Ball: 2 BA,A+B
*Invisibility: hold BL,2 U,D,B
*Slide: BA+B+A
Fatality 1 (Cut in Half): [While Invisible] N/A
*Fatality 2 (Eat Head): 2 BA,D,B (3)
*Pit Fatality: D,2 F,BL
Friendship: 2 BA,D,A
*Babality: D,2 BA,A
Scorpion:
*Spear: 2 BA,B
Scissor Takedown: N/A (Only in Genesis, SNES and Game Gear versions)
*Air Throw: BL [in mid-air]
*Decoy/Teleport Punch: D,BA,B
*Flying Teleport Punch: U, + Teleport Punch done in mid-air.
*Fatality 1 (Burn 'Em!): hold BL,2 U,B (2)
[My suggestion: hit BL with right thumb, B with right index finger]
Fatality 2 (Cut in Half): N/A
*Pit Fatality: D,2 F,BL
Friendship: 2 BA,D,A
*Babality: D,2 BA,A
Shang Tsung:
(N/A: characters do not exist in this game. You cannot morph into them)
*1 Flame: 2 BA,B
*2 Flames: 2 BA,F,B
*3 Flames: 2 BA,2 F,B
MORPHS:
Baraka: N/A
*Jax: D,F,BA,B
Johnny Cage: N/A
*Kitana: 3 BL
Kung Lao: N/A
*Liu Kang: BA,2 F,BL
*Mileena: hold B 2 sec, rel
Rayden: N/A
*Reptile: Hold BL,U,D,U
*Scorpion: hold BL,2 U
*Sub-Zero: F,D,F,A
Fatality 1 (Blow Up): N/A
*Fatality 2 (Soul Steal): hold BL,U,D,B (0)
*Pit Fatality: hold BL,2 D,U,D
Friendship: 2 BA,D,BA,A
*Babality: BA,F,D,A
Sub-Zero:
*Ground Freeze: D,BA,A
*Deep Freeze: D,F,B
*Slide: BA+B+A
Fatality 1 (Iceball): N/A
*Fatality 2 (Super Freeze): 2 F,D,A(2)/F,D,2 F,B (0)
*Pit Fatality: D,2 F,BL
Friendship: 2 BA,D,A
*Babality: D,2 BA,A
General Tip:
ALL characters can be beaten with nothing more than the basic moves. This
includes Shoa Kahn, Shang Tsung, Smoke and Jade as well as all other
characters.
So, in that respect, special moves, fatalities and babalities are the "icing
on the cake". Don't be afraid you use special moves and weapons, they are
there for your usage.
Keep reading.
Secret Characters (Shhhh!)
How to get to Jade:
In the stage beneath the "?"(Portal Stage), win any round using only the low
kick button. Try doing a lot of jump-kicks and sweeps. If done correctly, you
have now earned the honor of getting your butted kicked by Jade. She looks
like a green version of Mileena and Kitana, but she's twice as fast and 4
times as deadly. I'll bet it has something to do with PMS. If you do happen
to lose, do not worry, you will be returned to the game, no harm done.
Smoke:
Occasionally, when someone does an upper cut, a guy will pop out of the lower
right had corner and sing "Toasty!". If this happens, quickly hold DOWN and
press START before he goes away and you get to challenge Smoke, a grey ninja
who needs a bath(or is that smoke?) Unlike the SNES or Genesis versions, you
do not need to be at the "Portal Stage". Don't worry winning or losing. If you
get to Smoke, you WIN that match and after your little skirmish with Smoke you
go onto the next match.
How to beat the Secret Characters
Disclaimer: These strategies worked for me.
Tips for beating Smoke:
It has recently been discovered by myself that Smoke can be reached at any
time Dan "Toasty" Forden pops up in the lower right hand corner of the screen
after an uppercut, provided you hit START and DOWN before he goes away. I have
so far managed to reach Smoke TWICE in one game.
Smoke is supposed to be an undiscovered warrior from Mortal Kombat I. A likely
story. As stated earlier, he's a ninja. Smoke is very fast. Don't be ashamed
if you go down to him and not even hit him once. Smoke appears to have the
slide, Reptile's forceball, and Scorpion's harpoon and teleport punch. Smoke
effectively uses all these tools to his advantage and is a truly challenging
opponent. Thank goodness he's not one of the normal characters.
But Smoke is not invincible. He can be beaten, with a little luck. First
the important thing to do is make some sort of hard contact with Smoke, and I
mean a damaging move, such as an uppercut or a roundhouse kick, it needs to
knock him on his butt. When this happens, keep moving towards him ALL the time
and tap "A" for a roundhouse kick, and keep this up. You should be able to
beat Smoke relatively easy if you can get to him before he fully recovers.
I'm having very good luck starting with a roundhourse kick, so try that too.
Jade is also another undiscovered warrior from Mortal Kombat I, so the game
tells us. She is the same in appearance as Kitana and Mileena, but on color
systems such as Sega Game Gear, Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis, she is green.
And mean! This is one fast lady, possessing all the skills of both Mileena and
Kitana and has apparently mastered them quite nicely. You never know exactly
what nasty thing she is going to do to you, so be prepared, not that it will
help too much. If you can catch Jade off-guard or manage to land a strong blow
against Jade, use the same tactics used to beat Smoke. Mix in an uppercut if
you feel daring. Weapons are useless against Jade, so only physical contact
will yield any results.
Again, open with a roundhouse, I'm having good results with this method.
Interesting Secret Character notes:
If you manage to get to Smoke on the level below the "?" and you do not use
the Punch button at all, you will then go directly to Jade. This has happened
to me twice so far under the same conditions. So, if you did what you have to
do to do a babality when fighting Smoke on the round below the "?", then you
will fight Jade next.
You can not perform finishing moves on the Secret Characters.
Note of interest:
Don't use punch buttons during winning rounds(where if you win, the words
"Finish Him" would appear on the screen) or Friendships or Babalities won't
work at all. This has not really been confirmed by myself. Experiment and see.
Further tests show that this is true, and friendships do not exist, and that
you must not use the punch button on the winning round to do babalities.
Pit Fatalities: These must be excuted while standing exactly next to
your opponent, and can only be done in the Kombat Tomb stages.
Not exactly true, but do be close, you will move to the proper location.
Normal Fatalties: according to my list above, it tells you that some
fatalities must be done at certain distances. This is roughly a guideline, as
it appears that fatalities can be done just about anywhere. For the most part,
you will be moved to the proper location. It's better to be a little to far
out than too close.
Don't forget to hold BLOCK while inputting a fatality that involves
pressing UP. If you don't, you jump and ruin the fatality.
Other things you might want to know:
Kintaro does not show up as an opponent. I personally think this was a
poor decision to make.
Shao Kahn: the supreme ruler of the Outworld. He's a big mean dude with a lot
of attitude. He is bigger than you, faster than you and stonger than you. He
wears armor to some degree. Shao Kahn is especially good at blocking
projectile weapons. Any move he does will over-ride any move you are trying to
do against him at the same time(or you slightly ahead) and you will take the
damage for it. While I have not personally observed him to do any jumping
moves, he does have the following arsenal of nasty moves:
Head-Butt, this is his personal favorite. Your blocks are useless against it
and it appears you cannot jump over or away from it once the motion starts
and you are within range..
Spear? Well, whatever it is, he sure can launch one fast, especially in
response to a character trying to fire something of their own. It does a lot
of damage.
Straight-arm punch: A no frills punch. It happens very quick, and I suspect
there is some animation missing. It just seems to come out of nowhere.
Straight-kick: a no frills kick, Kahn thrusts his leg out and it will usually
hit you about waiste-high and usually knock you over. Blocking is worthless.
Also, your weapons act differently now. Before, such items as Scorpion's
harpoon, Kitana's fan throws and Mileena's sia's would normally give the
opponent some damage even when blocked. Shao Kahn's block makes him
invunerable to any weapons and attacks and will take no damage while he is
blocking. Stay out of the corners, keep the action in the middle of the "room"
or else Shao Kahn wil quickly head-butt you into oblivion.
How to beat Shao Kahn:
Disclaimer: These strategies worked for me. These are guidelines, not
guaranteed solutions.
While Shao Kahn may appear to be big and nasty, do not over-estimate him.
He can be beaten. Look out for those head butts, and those projectiles thrown
by Shao Kahn. Follow these guidelines to help aid in your quest to defeat this
powerful foe:
General Hints:
If you are backed into a corner, my best suggestion is try the uppercut. There
is no guarantee it will work, but you might luck out and land one against Shao
Kahn. If not, then he'll head butt you until you fall.
Shao Kahn CAN be defeated by any character using only normal moves if you are
acting more defensively. Be patient and elusive.
General knowledge: Observation by myself has shown that when launching a
projectile weapon, the character is pretty engaged in a timed move. This is a
global problem. While normally this is not a major problem, fighting Shao Kahn
makes this a much larger problem. If both you and Shoa Kahn and launching
weapons at about the same time, you will not be able to duck or move and will
take damage. Be warned, this is a risk.
Tips:
Liu Kang: Fireballs and flying kicks are very effective. If you can do those
flying kicks very fast you can polish off Kahn quickly. If you are feeling
daring, try and open up with the flying bicycle kick. If you can time it
just right, you can do flying kicks one after another and Shoa Kahn will
be unable to block or counter. Also, if you can land a normal fireball and
follow-up immediately with a jump kick towards Shoa Kahn, you should be
able to knock him down.
Scorpion: Your harpoon is pretty worthless, although you may land a few. Stick
with the roundhouse, and maybe occasional throw in a jump kick and a
teleport punch for variety if you are way ahead on your damage bar.
Sub-Zero: forget the Ground Freeze, but the Deep Freeze is highly effective.
Duck, because Kahn will try and throw something. Lots of roundhouse kicks.
Reptile: While your force-ball is an effective tool, Shoa Kahn will throw
something at you most of the time. Acid spits are OK, but not very
effective. Stay with lots of roundhouse kicks and jump kicks. Throw in
slide now and then. A nice move is to launch a forceball and immediately
follow up with a jump-kick. If the forceball connects to Shao Kahn, he
will be stunned and the jump-kick will knock him down.
Shang Tsung: Lots of flaming skulls(especially triples) and roundhouses are a
sure way to kick Kahn's butt in a hurry. Morph into another character if
you feel the need to. Remember, it's not cheating if the game manual tells
us how to do this stuff. A flaming skull followed up with a jump kick will
usually knock Shoa Kahn down if the flaming skulls hits him.
Mileena: Think defensive. For some reason, Shao Kahn seems to be more ruthless
towards females at this stage of the game. For best results, keep a finger
on the "B" button and get ready to throw sais. Roundhouses and normal
kicks are helpful, and only use an uppercut when pressed. Take your time
and be patient. Stay away from Shoa Kahn as much as possible. DO NOT use
your roll attack, it will get blocked and he will retaliate. Sias followed
with a jump kick are an effective attack.
Kitana: Like Mileena's strategy, think defensive. Take your time. Use your fan
throw as a weapon to keep Shoa Kahn at bay. Roundhouse and normal kicks
are rather effective. Use your fan swipe up close unless you think you can
sneak in an uppercut. The fan lift is great for getting out of corners
unless you have no room to move. The fan lift/square wave punch combo is
handy if you can get the fan lift going. If you can hit Shao Kahn with a
fan and follow up with a jump kick, if the fan lands, you will knock
Shao Kahn down.
Jax: Forget style, forget fancy, just do normal kicks. Jax's normal kick has a
longer reach than his round house, helping Jax to do damage while staying
out from harm's way. The sonic wave is a nice little item to stun Shao
Kahn and set him up for more damaging kicks. The Grab is fairly useless,
you'll get kicked or head-butted most of the time. Forget the ground pound
or backbreaker, Shao Kahn is too fast to get caught by those. The Ground
Pound will only be useful in the beginning of a round.
Game Boy version only has one "normal" fatality per character.
Live with it, there is nothing you can do about now, it's too late.
There are only 2 rooms:
Kombat Tomb
Pit II
Accept it. There is a third room: Goro's Lair, but that is for Smoke and Jade.
No blood. But then again, how interesting can little animated droplets of
black and white blood be?
You can not throw people into the pit in the Pit II room. Deal with it.
Missing Characters:
Johnny Cage (No great loss)
Rayden (Hey, I liked this dude)
Kung Lao
Baraka
Don't wait around or take your time doing fatalities, spike/pit fatalities and
babalities. Do them fairly fast or they won't work.
General Defenses:
The uppercut: The uppercut is the most powerful normal move any character can
do. Despite this, it has a serious drawback: you hold the uppercut for the
amount of time it would take for a "hit" opponent to land and start to
recover.
This happens regardless if it was blocked, missed, or connected. So, if the
uppercut misses or is blocked, counter with anything you can do.
Flying kick/Punch: Blocking will minimize damage, while jumping backwards
will avoid damage and may even allow you to inflict damage. If you are quick
enough, you can do a roundhouse or a jump kick/punch of your own before the
attacker hits the ground.
Leg Sweep: Walk or jump backwards, or jump OVER will avoid damage, while
a block in the crouch position is your only other counter. If you can time
a leg sweep of your own just right, you can sweep your opponent. Practce will
tell you when to do this.
Punch: Duck, since blocking takes damage. Jumping OVER or away is effective. A
Leg sweep is a nice counter.
Jump kick/punch: Ducking is good, blocking takes damage. Since this in an
up/down only movement by the attacker, jumping away is good. A well timed
leg sweep or roundhouse can also counter without you taking damage.
Character Profiles: These are in no particular order other than I felt like
doing it in this order.
All profiles are based on personal observation and playing as/against each
character. I can beat the game with all playable characters. Personal
preferences also influence these profiles.
Scorpion: By far, this is one of the more dangerous characters when one has
become accustomed to his moves. Scorpion appears to be the physically
strongest ninja, but not the fastest. His moves are relatively simple, making
Scorpion a popular favorite with new players and even Mortal Kombat veterans.
Scorpion has a variety of cool things he can do, let's take a closer look:
Scorpion's harpoon is the most damaging weapon in the game by a playable
character. An especially easy combination to do is the harpoon, followed by
an uppercut. The damage inflicted from this can match or exceed 2 uppercuts
by any other character. One drawback is that while Scorpion is throwing a
harpoon towards an opponent, he is left open for a moment, allowing the
opponent to land a nasty blow.
Scorpion has a unique teleport punch move, but lacks the slide that Reptile
and Sub-Zero have. The teleport punch is a good move to throw an opponent's
orientation off, often leaving the opponent open for an uppercut or a leg
sweep, which at this point can usually be followed by an uppercut. If the
teleport punch is blocked, this tends to stun Scorpion, so be prepared to
block to avoid some retaliation. If you can duck, the teleport punch will miss
you and you should be in the perfect position to follow up with the move of
your choice. The same defense/counter should be used against the flying
teleport punch. The teleport punch can be performed in mid-air if you are fast
enough to push all the buttons. Jump UP, not towards or away.
Scorpion also has a very handy air-throw move which can be used in mid-air
against another jumping opponent. This is very useful since usually the
opponent is not expecting to take damage when they are doing a jump kick.
Reptile and Sub-Zero lack this move.
Scorpion is slower at coming back up from a leg sweep than other characters,
leaving him open for a counter attack if blocked.
Reptile is a rather sneaky fellow, somewhat of a coward, but by no means a
wimp. He is rather quick and has a delightful assortment of weapons and moves
as his disposal that are sure you keep you on your toes. Reptile is especially
effective with kicking, so if the tricks fail, switch to kicking moves.
As the name suggests, Reptile is some sort of cold-blooded lizard-type life
form, and I'm sure there's some cobra mixed in there too.
Reptile has a nice acid spit, which is not very damaging alone, but can be
used to stun an opponent long enough to smack the opponent. I'm sure this is
some sort of cobra-related genetics in his little system. Your best defense is
to duck, as this is a head/upper chest level spit, so blocking and jumping
will still give you damage. Blocking will minimize damage, while ducking will
avoid all damage.
Reptile is not just a spitter, he's a creater. Watch out for those force-
balls. Ducking and blocking are useless, and when is reaches it's opponent,
it explodes, sending the opponent helplessly towards a waiting Reptile. If
Reptile is close enough, he can upper-cut the falling opponent in mid-air.
This is a very lethal combo when landed and does nearly the same amount of
damage as Scorpion's harpoon/upper-cut combo does. This weapon can be avoided
by jumping OVER it, usually a flying jump kick can be landed on Reptile, who
is usually waiting for this response.
Like Sub-Zero, Reptile can SLIDE! When this hits, it will knock the opponent
down. This is a quick move and is hard to block and counter due to the
"element of surprise". The only counters are a block, jump away, or try a leg
sweep. Unfortunately, this is a timed move, and if the slide is blocked,
Reptile is at the mercy of the opponent for a very short moment. Liu Kang has
as special low fireball counter for this attack, but this is more of a luck/
coincidence thing, as it's hard to do a move when you are being attacked like
this.
Reptile has apparently tapped into the mystical powers of a cobra. Reptile can
turn himself invisible. Although while invisible, neither player can see
exactly where Reptile is, this gives Reptile an unfair advantage to the more
experienced player. Reptile can land all sorts of combo's and the opponent
usually never knows what hit them. But then again, landing these are partially
due to luck, due to the double-blind nature of this. Being invisible has the
advantage of being able to move about freely and surprise the opponent, but
the person playing Reptile has no clue as to where his character is as much as
the other player. Some say this is an advantage, others say it is a
disadvantage. I guess it depends on who is winning. Invisibility turns OFF
when Reptile is hit by the opponent. Also, forceballs and acid spits give away
Reptile's location. This may aid a counter attack, but don't expect miracles.
You cannot do a finishing move while invisible.
Sub-Zero, as his name suggests, has clearly mastered the element of cold,
being able to launch two kinds of icy attacks which both leave the opponent
helpless for a short period of time. While faster than Scorpion, he's not
quite as fast as Reptile. Don't let this fool you, his is a formidable
opponent.
His arsenal is not as diverse as that of Reptile, but it is still effective.
Sub-Zero's deep freeze is an especialy nasty weapon for those on the receiving
end. The actually freeze does no damage, but the victim is left completely
at the mercy of Sub-Zero, who shows no mercy. The best follow up for a deep
freeze is an uppercut or a roundhouse kick. While this move is scary to the
opponent, a mere block or duck of jump can take you safely out of harm's way.
If you jump kick over the deep freeze, you should land a nice kick onto
a helpless Sub-Zero, who is helpless until the deep freeze is blocked, hits or
leaves the screen. Sub-Zero must exhibit some self control with this weapon,
because if he does another deep freeze onto an already frozen opponent, he
will get a "double ice backfire" and will become frozen and at the mercy of
the previously frozen victim.
Sub-Zero's ground freeze is a sneaky weapon. Instead of throwing a deep freeze
at the opponent, it is thrown at the feet of the opponent, turning the
ground into a slippery icy surface and causing the unsuspecting opponent to
struggle to stay on their feet while sliding towards Sub-Zero, who will
usually follow up with an uppercut. The only way to defend against this is to
jump over it, or hit/kick Sub-Zero while he is doing it, or just plain go jump
backwards.
Like Reptile, Sub-Zero can SLIDE! When this hits, it will knock the opponent
down. This is a quick move and is hard to block and counter due to the
"element of surprise". The only counters are a block, jump away, or try a leg
sweep. Unfortunately, this is a timed move, and if the slide is blocked,
Sub-Zero is at the mercy of the opponent for a very short moment. Liu Kang has
as special low fireball counter for this attack, but this is more of a luck/
coincidence thing, as it's hard to do a move when you are being attacked like
this.
Jax is a muscle-bound black guy with an attitude as big as his muscles. I
think Jax might have been a professional wrestler. You'll see what I mean.
Most of Jax's moves rely on his brute strength, and that is one thing this big
brute is not lacking. Jax's punches and kicks seem to do more damage than
those of the others. On the negative, most of Jax's moves require that Jax be
very close to his opponent to do these moves. This leaves Jax especially open
to punches and leg sweeps.
Jax must be very strong, since one of his non-contact moves involves hitting
the ground so hard that it shakes up the opponent. This move is really only
good at the beginning of the round, since it requires 3 seconds of "charging"
in which Jax cannot punch and has a disadvantage. Jax can "charge" up while
the round is waiting to start, and can launch a hit usually before the other
opponent can hit Jax. A simple jump can counter this move. It is recommended
that an opponent do a flying jumpkick at the beginning of any round with Jax,
and if you are Scorpion, be prepared to to the air-throw since Jax does tend
to jump at this point as well.
Jax must have been a boxer, since his "grab" move can be upgraded with more
punches, much to the protest of those being pounded on. Quick fingers make for
a more lethal attack. Best counter: don't get grabbed. Duck or jump away or
simply block. Leg sweeps work good to here, since Jax is helpless for about a
whole half a second.
But what Mortal Kombat II character lacks a thrown weapon? Not Jax, who can
throw a Sonic wave. While this is not a very powerful weapon, it does stun the
opponent and help set up combos for Jax. The best counter is to block or duck.
While a throw is good enough for most characters, Jax shows me he must have
done some pro wrestling. Based on the basic throw, Jax can turn this into a
body slam and with a little more, he can slam an opponent up to three times
before letting go. The counter for this is to keep some distance between
yourself and Jax, at least out of arm's reach. Usually blocking this is
futile, because it is usually done too late. Leg sweeps work, but then again,
they are a general purpose "in close move" anyways.
Jax also has a backbreaker, which he can do by jumping when you do and
catching you in mid-air, bringing you down on your back over his shoulder.
CRACK! This looks painful, and it's a good thing it's just a game. The only
sure defense against this is to not jump, but Jax doesn't seem to do this
very often. The only other defense is to hope your flying kick or punch lands
before he grabs you.
Liu Kang is rather fast, but not particularly strong in comparison with the
ninjas. His speed easily makes up for his lack of strength and can usually
catch his opponent off guard.
Liu Kang has a fireball he can fire rather easily. A huge advantage that Liu
Kang has with his fireball is that he can fire it from 3 positions: in air
standing and while ducking. This weapon will not knock the opponent down, but
it does give Liu Kang some time to either excape or attack. Countering this
attack is tricky, due to the fact that it can come at you in one of three
variations and can thus cover the entire screen. For a standing fireball,
ducking is your best defence, while blocking it gives you half the damage.
From a low fireball, the best defence is to jump over it, as blocking will
give you half the normal damage. As far as a fireball launched in mid-air,
there is no defense other than not jumping, but at this point, it is usually
too late to do anything except take the damage.
Based on the standard fireball sequence, Liu Kang can launch a flying jump,
his most powerful weapon that is easy to use. Liu flies straight across with
his legs extended, hoping to run into the opponent. This is a very fast move
and has a limited range: he can't fly completely across the room, but he can
fly across the screen. The best way to defend against this is to either launch
a projectile weapon of your own, or to duck, as blocking gives damage anyways.
The bicycle kick is rather stupid looking but highly effective, especially
when starting a round, since this is a "charged" weapon. This does a good
amount of damage, but due to the fact that it must be charged, this disables
his kick for a few seconds, leaving Liu Kang somewhat at a disadvantage.
Defense is fairly easy: duck. If you jump, chances are you will get caught in
mid-air, If you try and launch a weapon, most likely you will be too slow to
catch Liu Kang and end up taking full damage. If you block, you take about a
punch worth of damage, which is better than taking full damage.
Shang Tsung is not a very diverse warrior on his own. Other than the basic
moves, Shang Tsung has a "flaming skull" projectile weapon in three flavors:
single, double, triple. Best defense against this: duck, block if you are
pressed to. A triple is very damaging, but hard to do.
Shang Tsung has the unique ability to morph, that is to change, into the other
playable characters and in doing so, gains all of that character's skills and
weapons for a short time. You will clearly know when Tsung morphs, as he will
take on the appearance of the warrior he has changed to. When Tsung morphs,
refer to the other character profiles in regards of how to handle that
character. Shang Tsung ability to morph gives him the best of all characters,
and can confuse an opponent who is not paying close attention. However, with
the danger of the flaming skull removed when Tsung in another character, this
allows the opponent to be more agressive.
Kitana is the only apparently "mortal" character in this game. Her moves are
the only ones that do not require any "supernatural powers" in comparison
to some of the other characters. While the fan lift itself seems out of the
ordinary, it's tame compared to other characters special weapons. Kitana is
fast and can be equally deadly in an offensive or defensive strategy.
One of Kitana's moves is the fan swipe, using her razor-sharp fan edge to cut
her opponent at the neck. This is a rather annoying move that is difficult to
block since it happens to fast, and it is done at close range as well. The
best way to counter this is to stay out of range of a punch, duck, jump, or
block. This is largely a defensive weapons, as most agressors like to stay in
close where the pommeling is.
Kitana can throw her fan, doing nearly the damage of an uppercut when
connected. This weapon is usually used at a distance to buy Kitana time to
move in close for other moves. The fan can be thrown while standing or while
jump UP in the air.Jumping doesn't necessarily escape this attack, but ducking
will, and blocking will minimize damage. One problem I have with this weapon
is pushing A and B at the same time. Practice.
Kitana's fan lift, when combined with her square wave punch is quite an
effective up close move for her. First, she lifts her opponent into the air.
The opponent then slowly falls towards the ground. At this point, she can do
her square wave punch and inflict more damage, or get away. Jump punches and
kicks can also be landed while the opponent is falling, but is not
recommended. Since the fan lift works best in close, the easiest way to
counter this weapon is to stay away, but even then you can jump or walk into
this attack. While Kitana is doing her fan lift and you are not captured by
it, she is vunerable to any sort of projectile attack for a short period of
time, since this is a "timed" procedure.
Kitana's square wave punch alone is not a very good attack, but it is useful
for getting out of jams. For the most part, this will only be used with the
fan lift. Either way, if you get caught in the fan lift, defense is pointless.
If this is done by itself, there is usually no need to block, just stay still.
Better yet, launched a prejectile weapon.
Mileena is a mutant, who, with her mask on, looks like she could be the
twin to Kitana. Equally fast, Mileena is another deadly opponent in a
defensive or offensive strategy.
Mileena's roll attack is a rather nasty attack, sweeping the feet out from
under the opponent and knocking them on their butt. This happens fast and can
be hard to block. This move can be countered by a jump, jump move, or a block,
preferably in the crouch position. If blocked, you take some damage, but
Mileena is left open for a quick attack. A kick is the recommended counter-
attack.
Mileena can throw sias, and has an endless supply of them. This weapon
requires the B button to be charged. Practice so that you can use your thumb
to press both A and B at the same and at sepparate times while holding B.
Sais can be fired in the air and while standing, and unlike other jumping
moves, Mileena can jump forwards and backwards and still throw sais. The best
counter is to duck, blocking if pressed.
When the roll attack is combined with the sai throw, Mileena has a nasty
combination that is difficult to stop if she lands it. First she roll attacks
and then throws the sais, tagging you when you get up. It is unlikely that
you will be able to block the sais after a roll attack, but if you block the
roll attack, she might be able to throw out some sais anyways.
Mileena's teleport kick is a nasty one to be on the receiving end of. First
she appears to go down through the floor, and then comes down from the ceiling
and kicks you in the face. This is usually unexpected and is difficult to
counter. While you may thing that walking backwards could get you out of
harm's way, I suggest you think again, that won't help. Only counters are
blocking, which is prefered, or an uppercut, to which I say "good luck." If
luck is on your side, a backwards jump-kick is the only escape from this
attack, but like I said, dumb-luck or coincidence must be on your side. In
regards to the upper-cut, it works fine in the SNES, and I did it once on my
Game Boy, but have yet to do it again.
Moves not talked about in the manual:
The manual omits the throw. I've included it above with the rest of the
standard moves for reference. I suppose this was an oversight.
With the flying jump moves, you can jump OVER your opponent. But unlike the
original Mortal Kombat, your moves always go towards your opponent, instead of
just in the direction traveling. With this knowledge, go jump OVER your
opponent and tap KICK. This tends to catch your opponent by suprise and knocks
them down. If you are playing against another person, this tends to disorient
them. The only defense is to jump away or duck or block, there really are no
effective counters that I've seen so far. This does not work as well with a
punch.
Another thing not discussed in the manual: dual flying jumps TOWARDS each
other:
Yes, this happens. Now, several things can happen here:
1: Nothing, characters pass harmlessly through each other.
2. First person to hit kick/punch harms the other character.
3. Scorpion does a throw in mid-air
4. Jax does a back-breaker.
None of this can be blocked while you are in the air.
Fighting the Computer: General observations:
I do not have anyone near me who has a Game Boy AND Mortal Kombat II, so I
play all my games against the computer. Now, I've been playing this game
ever since the day it came out, and quite frankly, I'm getting to the point
where beating the machine is no big deal, even on "Hard" setting. Luckily for
you folks, this allows me to experiment, goof around, and observe more.
Quite frequently, if you do a jump kick, it will be blocked by the computer,
which will then counter with a miriad of counters: a return jump kick, punch,
roundhouse, or even a special weapon. Almost always these counters will happen
before you hit the ground and hence, you cannot defend yourself.
Don't lie in wait by ducking in order to do an uppercut. While this may work
some of the time, it will more than half the time result in you getting hit.
What will happens is that when you go to do your uppercut, the computer will
duck and you miss. At this moment, you are vunerable, and the computer will
most likely uppercut you in return.
Modesty time: I hardly ever use the throw, I prefer other moves. Due to the
computer's much faster speed, they use this move quite frequently, usually as
a follow-up to the computer jumping over you and then grabbing you and
throwing you, and you being unable to defend against it. Reptile, Kitana and
Mileena use this a lot, followed by Shang Tsung, Sub-Zero and Scorpion. Jax
and Liu Kang don't use this move to much, not to say that they can't or don't.
Typically, Scorpion opens with a harpoon, so be prepared to duck.
Mileena sometimes opens with the teleport kick, and then will do something
else and then follow up with a roll attack with a sia throw.
Kitana likes to throw fans to begin roughly 25% of her rounds.
Liu Kang likes to start with the bicycle kick most of the time.
Jax has a strong tendency to start rounds with ground pounds.
Reptile and Sub-Zero don't seem to use anything special to open their rounds.
Regardless, be prepared.
Shang Tsung is sneaky, he might open with flaming skulls and then morph into
another character.
Shao Kahn is either going to open a round in one of three ways:
Head-butt, spear/projectile, or nothing. Best plan: JUMP BACK, preferably with
a kick. Pause a half second after the round begins and then jump back. The
logic is that if he throws a spear/projectile, he will miss you, and if he
goes for a head butt, the pause before the jump will allow your kick to hit
Shao Kahn and knock him down, allowing you to follow up quickly with a
roundhouse. If Shoa Kahn does nothing, well, you bought yourself a tiny bit of
time to think. Think about doing a roundhouse.
Mileena and Kitana's roundhouse kicks are not as wide as those of other
characters. Their kicks are more upward, but are just as powerful as a normal
roundhouse. Also, Jax's roundhouse is not as far-reaching as those of the
other male characters, but wider than that of the females.
The Heavy Punch:
"There is a special type of punch commonly referred to as a "heavy punch."
When the opponent jump-kicks at you, press Punch once. You must do it before
he is lined up with the punch. Properly timed (which is VERY hard to do), he
will fall into the punch, and take more damage than an uppercut! The heavy
punch hits several times, rather than just once. Also, this knocks the
opponent way up in the air, and can be followed by any move except Kitana's
fan lift. Many painful combos can be done after a heavy punch."
Observation: I don't seem to have any problem doing this, I use this quite
freqently. Practice and play. I can do this with great ease. Hint: when the
opponent jump towards you, duck and do the uppercut. That does it for me.
Also, I can follow this up with Kitana's fan lift, if I move foward fast
enough and then do the sequence.
Final observation: Options: Difficulty Setting
I am by NO means an expert video game player. I consider myself just average.
I don't go to arcades, I don't veg on video games, despite the fact that this
FAQ files suggests I have no life. I don't play a whole lot of games. As a
matter of fact, I still think my Atari 2600 and 5200 are great machines and
I am trying to head a movement to bring back PONG.
Now, is is just me, or does the difficulty setting just seem to be a waste of
programming? I started out playing on EASY and beat the game with every
character, so I skipped MEDIUM and went right to HARD and was able to beat the
game with every character without having to use more than 2 continues per
game, sticking with one character until the game was beaten, and only then
moving onto the next character.
Thanks for bearing with me. I can't believe you read this far. Well, I hope it
was worth your time.