Mortal Kombat II

Mortal Kombat II was one of the most anticipated conversions of the mid-nineties, and it arrived on the 32X in a version that tried to stay as close to the arcade original as possible. The one-on-one fighting is built on digitized actors, a set of special moves for each fighter, and the famous finishing fatalities that let the winner dispatch the loser. The character roster grew compared to the first game, and hidden characters were added that can be found by fulfilling special conditions. The gameplay is tough and uncompromising: blocks, sweeps, jumps, and knowledge of the input commands decide the outcome before you've even had time to look around. Anyone who wants to advance through the tournament must learn not only their own commands but, above all, how to read what the opponent is doing, because the computer punishes every unnecessary jump without mercy.

The add-on gave the conversion more memory and power, which shows above all in the size and smoothness of the characters, in background details like spectators in the stands or the swaying bridge, and in sound that's richer than on older hardware. The digitized graphics keep their typical slightly muted colors, but that's exactly what belongs to the series, and together with the dark arenas and pounding music it creates an atmosphere no one else had at the time. The controls fit a six-button pad considerably better than a three-button one, so the player's equipment matters here.

At the time, the game was rated as one of the best home versions of the second installment, though the comparison to the arcade never came out completely without losses. The series' influence on the genre and on the whole debate about violence in games is well known, and the second installment is generally considered the peak of its first era. Today it's a title best played with two people — alone against the computer you'll run into a difficulty that spares no one, not even veterans. For 32X owners it was one of the few big licensed titles, and for that reason alone it remains one of the first things people try on the add-on.