Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks

 PlayStation 2
  • Publisher: Midway
  • Release Date: Sep 16, 2005
User Score
8.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 210 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 185 out of 210
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 210
  3. Negative: 8 out of 210
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  1. davitolucena
    Apr 17, 2023
    10
    melhor jogo de MK ja lançado ate hoje queria muito um remake ou uma continuçao
  2. Soullex
    Nov 30, 2022
    8
    Dövüş olarak değil de Coop olarak daha iyisi muhtemelen yoktu..............
  3. Chirritox
    Oct 6, 2022
    8
    Lo jugamos en directo y los cabros de live se divirtieron en la historia esta entretenida con muchos easter egg de la franquicia, el sistema de combos esta bueno algo difícil si eres nuevo y te quieres aprender los fatalitys pero esta entretenido la música es buena, y los diseños están ok mi única queja es que es algo corto... recomendado
  4. The_D4RknesS
    Jun 6, 2022
    10
    Imagine this game with MK11 graphics and another incredible serious story.. I love coop
  5. Bazifate50
    Apr 20, 2022
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. 1 of the best co-op adventure fighting beatem up action games! You play the story of mk2 in deep detail.Multalities, fatalities etc. Awesome gameplay mechanicss in action,fighting and acrobatics. Awesome set pieces,game pace and duration. ED BOON! I WANT A REMASTER OF THIS GAME PLEASE! ED BOON IF YOU READ THIS, PLEASE MAKE AGAIN THIS AWESOME GAME! I cant bother to review the game further. Its 10 and i liked everythinng on it. Despite the fact final bossess are very hard.… Expand
  6. Bola111190
    Apr 16, 2022
    10
    increible juego se disfruta mucho el coop y tambien te mete mucho en la historia de mk
  7. Alex_Pilgrim008
    Mar 5, 2022
    8
    A two player brawler with the all strengths of MK: Deadly Alliance and Deception. The game is packed with attack moves, secrets and fatalities. If you liked the PS2's God of War, than you'll have a lot of fun with this. As fun as the single player is, you'll want a partner. There are specific challenges that can only be mastered with a second player. I would rate this with an 8.3 out of 10.
  8. tututdyure
    Jan 3, 2022
    10
    This game is amazing and exciting. The story of Liu Kang and Kung lao is great. The gameplay is stunning.
  9. Ardho
    Aug 29, 2021
    9
    Really fun to play with friends, the gameplay is fun, the features in the game are also satisfying, very famous here
  10. VikiSetyah
    Aug 25, 2021
    10
    Best mortal Kombat until now. Great multiplayer action adventure games,memoraby cutscene also many combat mechanic in this games and great secret path
  11. MSTFA71
    Feb 24, 2021
    10
    Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood
  12. ChunkDump
    Dec 22, 2020
    8
    its a 8 not because the game is bad its not like at all. its not higher up because its a forced 2 player game and im a bit of a loner when it komes to video games. great story & kombat juust need a friend to help finish. bummer.
  13. TomyVercEty
    Dec 16, 2020
    10
    The truth is that it is a very good game and more so if you play it cooperatively with a friend, the fatalities that are easy to perform but very well done considering the time, without a doubt a jewel of ps2.
  14. DpChihuahua
    Jul 21, 2020
    10
    Best mk game ever... Amazing story, amazing versus mode and amazing everything! We need a sequel now
  15. weskergamer
    Jul 7, 2020
    10
    This is my favorite mk game ever, i really love how they implement the mk fighting games mechanics and the fatalities to this one. The characters, looks so good, better than in next games even in the new ones. Basically every character have more than 3 fatalities, and even tho is underwelming that scorpion and sub zero have liu and kung lao voices when you play with them in the story mode,This is my favorite mk game ever, i really love how they implement the mk fighting games mechanics and the fatalities to this one. The characters, looks so good, better than in next games even in the new ones. Basically every character have more than 3 fatalities, and even tho is underwelming that scorpion and sub zero have liu and kung lao voices when you play with them in the story mode, the truth is that i really dont care this game is awesome… Expand
  16. SupahGualtah
    Jun 4, 2020
    10
    man this was hard but i loved it ! wanna get it for Xbox does it work on 360 or One ?
  17. Bruterake
    May 5, 2020
    10
    PERFEITO!!! Melhores jogos de ps2 fácil, extremamente divertido um absurdo de jogo.
  18. MorteCaldo
    Jan 7, 2020
    9
    Лучший спин-офф в серии и моя самая любимая игра. Заслуживает второго шанса в виде сиквела/ремейка/ребута или идейного продолжателя.
  19. Katade
    Dec 15, 2019
    10
    Melhor jogo para jogar com os amigos no PS2, pois tem um modo co-op da história que é sensacional.
  20. ryanzero777
    May 28, 2019
    10
    The best MORTAL KOMBAT!! so much better than the NEW MK11!! I LOVE THIS GAME
  21. DavidHoltzer
    Apr 24, 2019
    10
    One of the best fighting games.I loved the story and the various places, puzzles and enemies
  22. Salah_Gharib
    Dec 29, 2018
    10
    I Think MKSM Is The Best MK Adventure Game Every Created I Finished It a lot Of Times And Still Want To Cause It's Give You The Choose To Travel Any Where And Makes MK World 3D With Movable Elements . The Soundtracks So Amazing Hope It's Have Remastered Edition Near Future
  23. aurora_borealis
    Nov 29, 2018
    10
    this game,was truly awesome. awesome game-play and levels and boss fights... that kind of feeling it gave us when we listened to the awesome soundtracks and so many hidden parts hidden in the environment, secret boss fights, characters and... they all combined together and made us feel that ancient "Mortal kombat" feeling. discovering the new places with awesome graphics were truly the best.
  24. topman92
    Apr 10, 2018
    10
    This is one of my favorite games in which I'm ready to play constantly! It's very cool and awesome beat-em-up in the universe Mortal Kombat, impregnated with the atmosphere of the classic arcade game Mortal Kombat 2. 4 playable characters, lots of secrets, great soundtrack and steep fighting system make this game one of the best bet-em-up on consoles PS2 / XBOX. I really hope to see a aThis is one of my favorite games in which I'm ready to play constantly! It's very cool and awesome beat-em-up in the universe Mortal Kombat, impregnated with the atmosphere of the classic arcade game Mortal Kombat 2. 4 playable characters, lots of secrets, great soundtrack and steep fighting system make this game one of the best bet-em-up on consoles PS2 / XBOX. I really hope to see a a remake of this game on PC, PS4, HBOX ONE!… Expand
  25. maestro_tim
    Sep 20, 2017
    10
    One of the best action games of its time. Shaolin Monks had and amazing plot to follow. The gameplay was so simple but so comfortable to play. The fights were astonishing, the level design was on top. Looking for the secrets on the levels was amazing. I still remember my satisfaction of unlocking Sub Zero and Scorpion as playable characters in the main campaign! Simply amazing
  26. kekocukeko
    Feb 10, 2017
    9
    this game is best mk game for me because this game have awesome graphics for 2005 this game have perfect history for 2005 and you can **** your time with your friend in this game and fatalities is very gut what i can say this game is awesome and most important is release date is 16 sep 2005 man its 2017 and i can still play this masterpiece
  27. MiguelNeto
    Jan 1, 2017
    9
    oque falar de Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks? lembro que eu zerei com o meu irmao, na epoca de ouro do ps2, o jogo era incrivel, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks tem uma boa jogabilidade, mesmo tendo poucos personagens para jogar no modo aventura, que é o Liu Kang e o Kung Lao, depois de zerar da pra jogar com Scorpion e Sub-Zero, o problema que na hora das cutscenes voltava com Liu e o Kungoque falar de Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks? lembro que eu zerei com o meu irmao, na epoca de ouro do ps2, o jogo era incrivel, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks tem uma boa jogabilidade, mesmo tendo poucos personagens para jogar no modo aventura, que é o Liu Kang e o Kung Lao, depois de zerar da pra jogar com Scorpion e Sub-Zero, o problema que na hora das cutscenes voltava com Liu e o Kung Lao, tem muitos mestre, alguns sao dificeis, o grafico é bom, ainda mais por ser um jogo de 2005, a trilha sonora é ótima, e dificuldade é boa, jogo que vale muito a pena. Nota 9.5… Expand
  28. Kaprawiec
    Jun 23, 2015
    10
    I would love to see the remake/HD version of this title. I remember this as absolutely perfect beatem up title. I loved about everything in this game starting from AV, story and smooth fun gameplay. Easily one of the best MK title (right after MK2 and MK9).
  29. plotlesviolence
    Jun 8, 2014
    9
    OVERALL: Maybe the best 2-player cooperative game, certainly the best of those in the Beat-em-Up genre (yes, better than the Sega Die Hard/Dynamite Cop games, better than Shank 1, better than Double Dragon Neon, better than Dynasty Warriors _).

    PRESENTATION: 8 Graphics are good, especially in their adherence to the mortal kombat aesthetic and in character designs, at least by PS2    OVERALL: Maybe the best 2-player cooperative game, certainly the best of those in the Beat-em-Up genre (yes, better than the Sega Die Hard/Dynamite Cop games, better than Shank 1, better than Double Dragon Neon, better than Dynasty Warriors _).

    PRESENTATION: 8
    Graphics are good, especially in their adherence to the mortal kombat aesthetic and in character designs, at least by PS2 standards. The exception is the Sub-zero special effects, which look like ugly static bitmap blue clouds plastered over what's supposed to be "frozen." Enemies blast into bloody gibs if you hit them hard enough, which I loved. Sound effects are great. The cutscenes, CGI and rendered, have really great fight choreography, although they are extremely silly in the classic mortal kombat style.

    CONTROL:10
    Although moves only affect one enemy at a time, MK:SM lets you move around really well with the left joystick so you don't lock-on. Combos are based on button presses, not directional inputs, which avoids the problems of Devil-Must-Cry games. There's dedicated throw button, dedicated jump button, (so already we're leagues ahead of modern beat-em-up games), attack button and launch/uppercut button. Holding down the shoulder button makes these buttons activate different character-specific special moves that draw from a recharging meter. You can also pick up, use and throw weapons. The feel of combat is perfect, and it's amazing how well all the character-specific special attacks from the 2D games translate into 3D space. You can also pick up, use and throw weapons. Fatalities are incorporated as instant kill or "rage" attacks.
    It's just simple enough to allow friends to pick-up-and-play, but deep enough to carry the entire game as you upgrade the special attacks and unlock more combos. There's a large variety of enemy types, incorporating most of the MK2 characters as well as background extras from the first movie. I personally prefer the MK:SM versus mode for one-on-one combat to any of the fighting game series of mortal kombats.
    In addition to combat, there's also some basic platforming. Puzzles work well because they all amount to throwing or knocking enough enemies into specific obstacles, so they're integrated into combat.

    DESIGN:3
    Here is where all the little annoyances appear, due to some bizarrely-obviously bad design decisions.
    For one thing, there are parts of the game where you need a walkthrough to figure out where to go, not to mention the secrets (including critically important unlockables like the survival mode, extra bosses to fight and extra characters for the versus mode) that are impossible to find without one.
    There's no way to drop-in/drop-out of cooperative versus single player mode, so you have to restart the game to change. There's not even a way to switch characters besides restarting.
    Also, both players share one health bar, which seems like the worst possible design choice in terms of player health.
    There are only 4 playable characters in the campaign mode, even though there are 8 in versus mode and more besides that as bosses.
    But it's a mark of how great the core gameplay was that this is the only game I have ever gone through the hassle of getting the Action Replay cheat system to work for. Using cheats, you can play as not just the 8 fully-coded-for characters, but also as any enemy that appears in the game (although most of the enemies have limited movesets).
    It also gets very difficult at the end. I'm not too proud to admit I had to cheat heavily to get past the final boss Shao Kahn, who is very cheap in the classic mortal kombat final boss way.
    And it's short. 4 hours!? But better a brilliant short game than a good but padded one.
    Despite the flaws, it remains the best 2-player cooperative campaign I ever played, and even as a single-player game it rivals the best of the beat-em-ups.    … Expand
  30. JayG203
    Sep 17, 2012
    9
    I wrote a 4000 character review on how this game was amazing though I accidently clicked back on my mouse and am not going to write the review again >:( Anyway 9/10, I would recommend this to anyone as a coop game.
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Awards & Rankings

61
#61 Best PS2 Game of 2005
17
#17 Most Discussed PS2 Game of 2005
10
#10 Most Shared PS2 Game of 2005

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 41 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 41
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 41
  3. Negative: 0 out of 41
  1. TotalGames.net
    65
    Despite there being a massive selection of attacks at your disposal, you won't use them, and after battling through your seventeenth batch of Oni bastards, you'll soon settle for the simplest and most effective means of disposal and trade any style for progress.
  2. PALGN
    70
    It won’t win any game of the year awards, but for a piece of brainless action, you can’t really go wrong with Shaolin Monks.
    Read full review
  3. G4 TV
    60
    Shaolin Monks' replay value could use a jump-start or two from Raiden’s fingertips. Despite an arcade port of Mortal Kombat II and a two-player versus mode, there’s simply not enough "kontent" to justify a purchase for most.
    Read full review
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