Mortal Kombat Advance
| Industry | Video game development |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Lancashire , United Kingdom |
| Products | Mortal Kombat Advance |
Mortal Kombat Advance is a 2001 fighting game developed by Virtucraft and published by Midway Games for the Game Boy Advance. As part of the Mortal Kombat franchise, it serves as a portable adaptation of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, incorporating key features from the initial three installments alongside elements from Mortal Kombat Trilogy.
Players engage in one-on-one battles using a roster of characters, competing against either AI-controlled foes or other human players. Combat involves executing combos and finishing moves known as fatalities. Due to the limited button layout on the Game Boy Advance compared to arcade cabinets, the control scheme was adjusted to fit the handheld’s hardware constraints.
Upon its launch, Mortal Kombat Advance was met with overwhelmingly negative feedback, largely due to unresponsive controls, subpar graphics, and weak artificial intelligence. It was designated as the worst game of 2002 by GameSpot and ranked among the poorest titles ever released by GamesRadar+.
Gameplay
Drawing inspiration from Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, Mortal Kombat Advance allows users to select from a variety of fighters for one-on-one matches against AI or other players. The objective is to reduce the adversary’s health bar through basic strikes and combo sequences triggered by button inputs. Victory is achieved by winning two rounds. Following this, prompts such as "Finish Him" or "Finish Her" appear, signaling players to conclude the match with either a standard attack or a button-commanded Fatality, adding dramatic flair to the conclusion.
Development
Virtucraft, a freelance studio based in Lancashire known for producing Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance titles, developed Mortal Kombat Advance. Although Midway Games had considered collaborating with Virtucraft earlier, scheduling conflicts delayed their partnership until this project commenced. Early development focused on enabling multiplayer functionality via the Game Link Cable. Given the limited number of buttons on the Game Boy Advance, Midway and Virtucraft worked together to redesign the combat mechanics for improved usability.
The title integrates aspects from the first three Mortal Kombat games and Mortal Kombat Trilogy, with a primary emphasis on Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Visuals were adapted to resemble their arcade counterparts but scaled down for handheld display. To preserve animation quality despite hardware limitations, Virtucraft engineered a compression technique that allowed extensive animations without compromising visual fidelity.
Before officially announcing the game, series creator Ed Boon engaged with fans online to assess preferences regarding characters and gameplay features for the Game Boy Advance version. The game was unveiled with a December 2001 release timeline and launched on December 12, 2001. It is slated for re-release in 2025 within the Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection compilation.
Reception
On Metacritic, Mortal Kombat Advance garnered predominantly unfavorable reviews. Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot acknowledged decent graphics and responsive controls but remarked that it "plays little to nothing like the game it's based on," citing issues with timing and executing moves. He also criticized the aggressive AI, which forced players to rely on repetitive tactics in single-player mode. Scores from Electronic Gaming Monthly were notably harsh—0, 1.5, and 0.5 out of 10—with the zero marking a first in their publication’s history due to severe criticism of gameplay content, programming quality, and AI behavior. While AllGame complimented audio and visual aspects, it found difficulty spikes caused by poor controls frustrating. Similarly, IGN pointed out flawed AI and imprecise controls, expressing disappointment given Virtucraft’s resources. Both Game Informer and Nintendo World Report highlighted control and AI deficiencies as significant drawbacks despite acceptable audiovisual presentation.
The title is widely considered one of the worst releases for Game Boy Advance. It earned "Worst Game on Game Boy Advance" at GameSpot’’’s Best and Worst of 2002 Awards. In 2017, GamesRadar+ placed it at number 13 among the 50 Worst Games of All Time. Additionally, The Gamer included it among the poorest GBA titles due to its AI and control issues, while Den of Geek labeled it as the worst entry in the Mortal Kombat series overall. Contrasting with better adaptations like Street Fighter Alpha 3, Retro Gamer described Virtucraft’s effort as "utter garbage," citing omitted features, mistimed cutscenes, and excessive difficulty levels.