When I picked up this game and started playing it, I was honestly expecting another crap update to a dying videogame franchise. After some time with it, though, I can now say that old-school Mortal Kombat is back... sort of.

The little things are the ones that make this MK fun. Yes, there's lots of blood in this one too, but this time it oozes out of the fighters (erm, Kombatants) like toothpaste. You can see it run down their faces and even on the other fighter as it splats on them. Neat. The comedy death sequence is back too, where upon being defeated, you'll simply stand straight up and fall straight back. It's a kin to the good ol' days. Test Your Might is back too, which is cool, made even cooler by the hilarious new "Test your Sight." Watching Johnny Cage try to follow the winning object is downright comical.

Oh yeah, there's a fighting game in here too. If you've played MK2 or MK3, you can basically do any of the character's core moves (Sub-Zero's Ice Blast or Kano's Somersault Attack) which is good for pick-up and play people. The basic fighting system is the same two-kick, two-punch and block setup we've known since the beginning, with some additions. Z allows your character to do special moves (more similar to Supers in Capcom's games) that can unleash major attacks if you manage to get them off without getting nailed in the process. The L button allows you to change your fighting style on the fly.

The dynamic fighting styles is really the only beef I have about this game. While is does make sense how it's implemented (some fighters are better with certain styles than others), I personally find it pointless. If Liu Kang's best fighting style is Dragon, why change it? Not to mention the fact that most any character can pull out a sword or other weapon in one (or more) of their fighting styles, which somewhat degrades the game down to MK4 status. Still, this is implemented smoothly for those that dig that sort of thing.

Playing this game really changed my outlook on it, and I'm now looking forward to playing it when it is finally released. It's going to be a fine addition to a growing fighting lineup for the GameCube, for sure.