Now here's a solid reason to run out and buy a Game Gear: Acclaim's Mortal Kombat for the Game Gear is everything its 16-bit big brother is, plus it's portable. It's a true arcade conversion brought to the small screen, complete with its own Mode A code.

Kool Kombat

Mortal Kombat for the Game Gear is a one- or two-player (using a Gear-to-Gear cable) fighter that allows you to pick one of six players (no Kano) in a fight to the finish. You again have to fight against all the fighters, against yourself in a Mirror Match, survive three endurance matches, and fight Goro to get to Shang Tsung. All the fighters have their special moves, combos, and Finishing Moves intact, straight from the arcade in all their gory glory. Pluck a miniaturized head from an opponent's body, char someone to cinders, knock a noggin' into the next Zip Code, and more. All this is possible in this Game Gear version.

As for the graphics, they're excellent and well-detailed for such a small screen. You can see all the moves and backgrounds clearly, and the blood shoots from an opponent like water from a water gun. You'll be pleasantly surprised by the graphic detail of the Pit, Sub-Zero's head-popping move, Liu Kang's Fireball, and the rest of the game.

The music is just basic. It doesn't add or detract from the overall feel of the game. As for the sound effects, there are no groans, yells, or announcers in this version.

Kombat Klub

Like all the other versions, there's still a problem with the controls, and some special moves are very hard to execute. But even on the Easy setting, this game's a knuckle-buster. There's enough beat-em-up action here to challenge even those fight-wise gamers. Only a Game Gear version of Street Fighter II Turbo could possibly match the fun of this small-screen fighting cart.