It was 1997. The Nintendo 64 was hitting its stride, the PlayStation was the king of the "cool kids" console war, and Midway decided to do something absolutely unhinged. They took Bi-Han—the original, grumpy, soon-to-be-dead Sub-Zero—and shoved him into a 2D side-scrolling platformer. Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero wasn't just a spin-off. It was an experiment that almost killed the franchise’s dignity before Mortal Kombat 4 could even get out the door.
Most people remember the "Turn" button. Oh, that cursed button. In an era where Super Mario 64 gave us 360 degrees of freedom, Midway forced us to press a dedicated button just to face left. It felt clunky then. It feels like a fever dream now. But if you look past the punishing difficulty and the infamous wind tunnel stage, there’s a blueprint for the entire modern MK universe buried in this code.
The Brutal Reality of Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero
Let’s be real: this game hates you. It’s not just "hard" in the way Dark Souls is hard; it’s mean. You’ll be jumping across a platform in the Wind Temple, and a gust of air will pixel-perfectly shove you into a spike pit. Game over. Start the whole level again. This wasn't a design flaw; it was a deliberate choice by John Tobias and the team at Midway to translate the high stakes of a fighting game into an adventure format.
The story serves as a prequel to the very first Mortal Kombat tournament. You play as Bi-Han, the elder Sub-Zero, who is hired by the sorcerer Quan Chi to steal an amulet of power. Honestly, Bi-Han is kind of a jerk. He’s not the heroic Kuai Liang (the younger brother we see in later games). He’s an assassin for hire who happens to stumble into a plot involving the fallen Elder God Shinnok.
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What makes the game stand out—and what caused so much frustration—was the RPG-lite experience system. You didn't just start with ice clones and slides. You had to earn them. Using your "ice power" meter effectively earned you points, and as you leveled up, you unlocked the iconic moveset. If you played poorly, you stayed weak. It was a vicious cycle that forced players to master the mechanics or suffer through endless "Continue" screens.
Why the FMV Cutscenes Are Legendarily Weird
If you haven't seen the live-action cutscenes in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, you haven't truly lived. This was the peak of the 90s "Full Motion Video" craze. Unlike the big-budget 1995 movie, these scenes were filmed on a shoestring budget in front of green screens.
Richard Divizio, who played Kano in the original games, put on a hat and became Quan Chi. He was amazing. He hammed it up so hard he practically ate the scenery. Then you had the elemental gods—Fujin, the God of Wind, made his debut here. He looked like a guy in a wig standing in front of a fan, but it worked. It gave the game a gritty, B-movie charm that CGI just can't replicate. These scenes gave us the first real look at the hierarchy of the Netherrealm. We met the Brotherhood of Shadow. We saw the pillars of MK lore being built in real-time by actors who were clearly having the time of their lives.
The Mythologies Mechanics That Stuck
- The Introduction of Quan Chi: This game gave us the franchise's greatest manipulator. Without this spin-off, the "Deadly Alliance" era wouldn't exist.
- The Netherrealm's Geometry: We finally saw what hell looked like in the MK universe. It wasn't just a red pit; it was a bureaucratic, tiered nightmare filled with prisons and fortresses.
- The Origin of Noob Saibot: While not explicitly shown in the gameplay, the ending sets up Bi-Han’s death at the hands of Scorpion, which leads to his resurrection as the shadow wraith.
The Wind Temple and the "Difficulty Wall"
If you ask any retro gamer about Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, they will eventually bring up the Wind Temple. It is the gatekeeper. It’s the second level, and it is arguably the hardest part of the entire experience. You have to navigate rotating platforms while being blasted by air currents.
The controls were a hybrid of the Mortal Kombat 3 engine and a traditional platformer. This meant you had a "Run" button and a "Block" button. Trying to block an incoming projectile while balancing on a narrow ledge was a recipe for a broken controller. Yet, there was a strange satisfaction in it. When you finally reached Fujin at the end of the level and knocked him off his own platform, you felt like a god.
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Interestingly, the PlayStation version had those FMV scenes, but the Nintendo 64 version had to cut them due to cartridge space. Instead, N64 players got static images with text. It changed the vibe completely. The PS1 version felt like a movie; the N64 version felt like a digital comic book. Both were equally punishing, though.
The Legacy of a "Failed" Experiment
Midway originally planned a whole series of "Mythologies" games. There were rumors of a Fire-God Liu Kang game and a Special Forces Jax game. While we eventually got Mortal Kombat: Special Forces (which was... not great) and Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks (which was incredible), the "Mythologies" brand died with Sub-Zero.
Critics at the time hammered it. GameSpot gave it a 3.5. IGN wasn't much kinder. They hated the controls. They hated the trial-and-error gameplay. But 20+ years later, the game has a massive cult following. Why? Because it’s the only time the series felt genuinely lonely and atmospheric. Most MK games are about a loud tournament with a cheering crowd. This game was about a lone assassin in frozen temples and desolate wastelands. It felt moody. It felt like Ninja Gaiden’s weird, gore-obsessed cousin.
How to Actually Play It Today
If you’re brave enough to go back and play Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, don't go in blind. You’ll quit in ten minutes.
- Embrace the "Turn" Button: Stop trying to play it like a modern brawler. It’s a rhythmic game. Treat the turn button like a stance change.
- Save Your Ice Power: Don't just spam the freeze. You need that meter for the bosses. The boss fights are more about patterns than raw aggression.
- Watch the Backgrounds: The game uses "pre-rendered" backgrounds that are actually quite beautiful for 1997. There are often visual cues for where traps are hidden.
- Passwords are Your Friend: Unless you're a masochist, use the password system. Level 4 (The Fire Temple) is where the story gets really good, but getting there legitimately is a Herculean task.
The game is a time capsule. It represents a moment when developers weren't afraid to take a massive IP and do something completely wrong—which, ironically, made it memorable. It’s janky, it’s frustrating, and the jumps are unfair. But it’s also the most "Mortal Kombat" thing ever made because it refuses to apologize for what it is.
Actionable Insights for Mortal Kombat Fans
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If you want to experience the lore without the frustration, your best bet is watching a "Longplay" on YouTube to see the FMV sequences in their original 32-bit glory. However, if you're a completionist looking to conquer this beast, start with the PlayStation version rather than the N64 port. The inclusion of the live-action scenes provides much-needed context and "soul" that makes the grueling difficulty feel worth the effort. For those interested in the modern lore of Mortal Kombat 1 (2023), playing this game reveals the true origins of the Brotherhood of Shadow and Quan Chi’s rise to power, which are still being referenced in the New Era timeline today. Try to focus on mastering the "Slide" move early; it is the most effective tool for clearing gaps and damaging enemies simultaneously, bypassing many of the game's awkward platforming hitboxes.