#1177

Gameplay of the unplayable character/NPC Noob Saibot in Midway/Netherrealm’s Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks.

[Noob Saibot has no useable moves, so I just gave his Player Scorpion’s moves]

Noob Saibot only appears in cutscenes, from what I recall. Mortal Kombat as a series is quite amazing; Noob Saibot, a character who clearly started out as a joke character (being a pitch-black palette swap, and just Boon and Tobias backwards) ended up a fan favourite and ridiculously beloved character. This game confirms that he is actually the demonic spirit of the first Sub-Zero, which, given that he is the series’ most popular character, only made the character more intriguing as a result.

I gave him Scorpion’s moveset too, of course, because that’s the one he had in MK2. And, like Smoke, he has an absolutely brilliant design that I totally adore, which unfortunately is underutilised. However, if both players play as Sub-Zero in the main game or in versus mode, player 2’s costume will make them look like Noob Saibot. How cool! I just adore the attention to detail in this game; it’s one you can really, really fall in love with, especially if you’re a big fan of the series. Shaolin Monks is, in a nutshell, how you do fanservice correctly.

And, well, that’s it for the NPCs. A really intriguing lot, and it’s only a shame that they’re more difficult to access than the rest. But, of course, we’re still not done yet with this game.

Next up, it’s the hidden characters.