I feel like a tired, old junkie - a junkie who's past feeling good about his kicks and now feels like dirt. This isn't why I started doing games. I don't want to kill, I don't want to die. This game, Mortal Kombat, I can tell it's not good for me. Thought I could stop whenever I wanted to. Turned it off. Turned it back on. Played three hours. Another morning blown. I'm hooked, but what kind of buzz is this? I'm commanded to fight! and I do, for hours on end. Kick. Punch. Endless, senseless fights over a few 16-color landscapes. The only nuance is blood. The only redeeming social value is there are no guns.
Walking out of Jurassic Park, the movie, I knew Spielberg had given the kids what they wanted: computers and brutality. Kali has come. It's computers, it's brutality, it's the '90s. It's all about death.
Mortal Kombat: Super Nintendo and Genesis: US$59-79, Gameboy: US$30-35, Game Gear US$39-45. Acclaim Entertainment: +1 (516) 624 8888.
STREET CRED
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Mortal Kombat
Tumbling into the Paperless Office
