Easily one of the best genesis fighters. You need to play this if you like fighting games.
The gameplay in Mortal Kombat 2 is better than the first game, but still very similar. If you haven't played the first Mortal Kombat, allow me to explain the basics. Each character shares the same basic moves. These are High punch (repeated punches are performed when repeatedly pressing the button), Low punch (same as high only lower), High Kick (only one at a time, not rapidly like punches), and Low kick. There are also the Leg Sweep (performed by pressing back+Low Kick) which is a handy move for tripping the opponent and creating space, and The Uppercut (performed by pressing down+High punch). The Uppercut is the most damaging move in the game, doing 25% damage if it hits. There is also the Roundhouse kick, which sends your opponents flying across the screen, great for creating space. However, bosses take less damage from all attacks. What separates one character from another, however, is there special attacks. These are completely unique to each fighter and have a range of different effects and button inputs. For example, one special move could shot a fireball across the screen. Another character might have the ability to freeze opponents, leaving them open for further attacks. At the end of each fight (except bosses), the winning character may perform a special finishing move, known as a Fatality. Fatalities are often hard to perform as the player is given a relatively small amount of time to perform one, and the input command will have to be guessed. Fatalities, however, result in the loser being killed, one way or another. It's a great feeling to perform one of these.
Sound
The music in the arenas is suiting atmospherically, but nothing special. It's the sounds of the announcer (a boss character in the game) that are really great. He will say various lines such as "Fight!!", "Finish Him/Her" and complement nice moves etc. by saying lines like "Outstanding" or "Well Done". Also, in a private joke, Dan Forden (sound and music designer for the game) appears in the corner of the screen saying "Toasty!" or "Froasty!". This usually occurs after an uppercut, but won't happen too often to get annoying.
Graphics
The characters in the game are digitized actors. (Actors who are motion captured wearing the same clothes). The graphics hold up surprisingly well even today, and don't feel strange or out of place. The stages in the game are great. They're atmospheric and really bring you into the world of Mortal Kombat. Also, quite a few of these stages allow you to perform stage specific fatalities. For example, the Dead Pool arena allows the winner to perform a stage fatality that uppercuts their opponent into the acid that surrounds the fighters.
Difficulty
This is probably the only thing holding this game back from a 10. It's just too hard. Simple as that. In very easy mode it takes quite a bit of skill to beat the game, and continues are finite so there's a chance you won't. Don't be ashamed if you don't. Very hard is almost impossible. The AI literally know everything you are about to do and then counter-attack perfectly. Trying to jump over then kick your opponent? Then they're going to jump up and kick you before you've even realised what happened. It should be noted however, that (according to rumour and various videos i've seen back it up) the AI in very hard difficulty use the same attack patterns. Once completely learned, a skilled player will be able to counter with the perfect attack. This requires an exceptional amount of work on the player's part though.
Overall
To summarise, Mortal Kombat 2 is a great game, and you shouldn't be put off by it's difficulty. If anything the difficulty might make the game more addictive. Either way, it's a fun fighter and shouldn't be missed by any fighting game fan. Casual fans or non-fighting fans might find the difficulty too be too much, but it's worth a try.