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July 10, 2011 11:50 PM Subscribe
My son received a PC game for his birthday. I'm suspicious about the origins of the disc and I've done my best to get it working, to no avail, on two different laptops. Is there something I can do so that my son can actually play it?
It's Mortal Kombat 2. Googling has taught me that it's an older game.
It arrived in a CD case with no insert other than a chatty homemade 'thanks for buying, here are instructions on using the Program Compatability Wizard' note. I can't find a program compatability wizard on our two laptops (one running Windows 7, the other running XP). Googling isn't much help there either, too many conflicting instructions.
The disk is imprinted with "Mortal Kombat II, Aklaim, MIDWAY, DOS CD-ROM" and a dragon background. It looks authentic. The case doesn't.
When inserted into the laptop running Windows 7, the DVD ripping/burning software automatically opens. I don't want to rip or burn it so I don't continue. I just want to get the bloody thing working.
When inserted into the laptop running XP, it asks if I want to open the file location or Media Player. Media Player then says it doesn't recognise the extension. On both laptops, when I open the file location and try to run the .exe extension, a small black screen flashes up for about a brazillionth of a second, disappears, and we're back to square one.
(Deadbeat dad's girlfriend bought it on ebay. She isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, and apparently it was a bargain price. So I'm strongly suspecting piracy, and it won't surprise me if it won't work at all.)
I would still love to be able to get it working for my son before his birthday in two days.
PS: DOS scares me. I don't understand it. Please answer in words of one syllable. And yes, I ran the disk through my anti-virus and anti-malware programs before I did anything else.
It's Mortal Kombat 2. Googling has taught me that it's an older game.
It arrived in a CD case with no insert other than a chatty homemade 'thanks for buying, here are instructions on using the Program Compatability Wizard' note. I can't find a program compatability wizard on our two laptops (one running Windows 7, the other running XP). Googling isn't much help there either, too many conflicting instructions.
The disk is imprinted with "Mortal Kombat II, Aklaim, MIDWAY, DOS CD-ROM" and a dragon background. It looks authentic. The case doesn't.
When inserted into the laptop running Windows 7, the DVD ripping/burning software automatically opens. I don't want to rip or burn it so I don't continue. I just want to get the bloody thing working.
When inserted into the laptop running XP, it asks if I want to open the file location or Media Player. Media Player then says it doesn't recognise the extension. On both laptops, when I open the file location and try to run the .exe extension, a small black screen flashes up for about a brazillionth of a second, disappears, and we're back to square one.
(Deadbeat dad's girlfriend bought it on ebay. She isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, and apparently it was a bargain price. So I'm strongly suspecting piracy, and it won't surprise me if it won't work at all.)
I would still love to be able to get it working for my son before his birthday in two days.
PS: DOS scares me. I don't understand it. Please answer in words of one syllable. And yes, I ran the disk through my anti-virus and anti-malware programs before I did anything else.
The ripping software opens because the CD contains audio tracks which play during the game. I would advise trying dosbox to get this to work on a recent computer.
posted by Akke at 11:57 PM on July 10, 2011
posted by Akke at 11:57 PM on July 10, 2011
I wouldn't be worried about piracy. It's probably just an old CD someone found in a drawer, tossed it in a case and threw it on eBay. That game's almost 20 years old.
You won't be able to run it on either machine without installing something like dosbox, though. It's just too old.
(It's reeeaaaaally fun though! I hope your son appreciates the classics!)
posted by auto-correct at 12:08 AM on July 11, 2011
You won't be able to run it on either machine without installing something like dosbox, though. It's just too old.
(It's reeeaaaaally fun though! I hope your son appreciates the classics!)
posted by auto-correct at 12:08 AM on July 11, 2011
It seems like that game is from 1995.
Perhaps in Windows 7 try right clicking on the install.exe/startup.exe/whatever setup type file there is and select Properties --> Compatibility Tab --> Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows 95....???
posted by Mr. Papagiorgio at 12:26 AM on July 11, 2011
Perhaps in Windows 7 try right clicking on the install.exe/startup.exe/whatever setup type file there is and select Properties --> Compatibility Tab --> Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows 95....???
posted by Mr. Papagiorgio at 12:26 AM on July 11, 2011
Here is a guide that'll tell you exactly how to get Mortal Kombat 2 running on a modern system. The first step on the guide is how to download the game itself - the guy who wrote the guide considers it abandonware, which is sort of a legal grey area where old games that aren't being sold are considered fair game to download.
This is debatable from a legal perspective, I only mention that so you don't disregard the rest of the guide as being from a software piracy site, as the instructions on how to download and run a dos emulator are legit.
posted by Silentgoldfish at 12:47 AM on July 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
This is debatable from a legal perspective, I only mention that so you don't disregard the rest of the guide as being from a software piracy site, as the instructions on how to download and run a dos emulator are legit.
posted by Silentgoldfish at 12:47 AM on July 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
Nthing dosbox. Attempting to get this to run on a modern system will likely cause serious system instability.
posted by benzenedream at 12:59 AM on July 11, 2011
posted by benzenedream at 12:59 AM on July 11, 2011
It may be possible to make this work with something like dosbox. I have to say, though, that stuff like dosbox isn't meant for people who don't understand what the heck it is they are doing, it is for people comfortable enough with their system to want to use kludges to run legacy programs and the like. Getting a DOS game to run from CD-ROM on a modern system is not the easiest thing in the world in a lot of cases. I mean... getting a DOS game to run in DOS was often a matter of blood, sweat, and tears.
posted by Justinian at 2:06 AM on July 11, 2011
posted by Justinian at 2:06 AM on July 11, 2011
Mortal Kombat's a real classic, good stuff. There's the DOSBox and Compatibility suggestions above, but I'd suggest you try going to Command Prompt first. (I use Windows XP, so I don't know if they killed Command Prompt in 7 or whatever).
Go to Start > Run > type 'cmd' and hit Enter
Enter your CD drive's name, such as 'E:', 'F:', 'H:' etc.
If the .exe is right there, enter the exe name, 'install.exe' and hit enter.
If it's inside a folder, type 'cd' (change directory), space, folder name [cd Setup] or [cd Install], then do the above.
DOS installation may look a bit tricky, but it should have an interface from there on out.
The game itself may need to be run through Command Prompt as well. If you come across any technicalities you can't figure out, it may be better to just use DOSBox (though you'll still need to know some DOS commands to use it).
posted by Senza Volto at 3:30 AM on July 11, 2011
Go to Start > Run > type 'cmd' and hit Enter
Enter your CD drive's name, such as 'E:', 'F:', 'H:' etc.
If the .exe is right there, enter the exe name, 'install.exe' and hit enter.
If it's inside a folder, type 'cd' (change directory), space, folder name [cd Setup] or [cd Install], then do the above.
DOS installation may look a bit tricky, but it should have an interface from there on out.
The game itself may need to be run through Command Prompt as well. If you come across any technicalities you can't figure out, it may be better to just use DOSBox (though you'll still need to know some DOS commands to use it).
posted by Senza Volto at 3:30 AM on July 11, 2011
Sorry, you're going to have a massive headache getting that to work. I would write it off as a relic. In my opinion, which is totally unasked for, MKII is a poor game, though significantly better than the original. It was popular with the kids back then because it looked good for the time, and for the cartooishly violent fatalities (finishing moves).
If you're interested in what you're missing, and your son wants to see whether to go through all the stress, here's a Youtube video of someone skilled playing through the whole game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bn01pJG0QTE
Here's a video of all the fatalities: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-NolhJYPg4
posted by Magnakai at 4:03 AM on July 11, 2011
If you're interested in what you're missing, and your son wants to see whether to go through all the stress, here's a Youtube video of someone skilled playing through the whole game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bn01pJG0QTE
Here's a video of all the fatalities: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-NolhJYPg4
posted by Magnakai at 4:03 AM on July 11, 2011
That game is OLD. A better option is setting up MAME and getting an MK2 ROM.
posted by teabag at 5:13 AM on July 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by teabag at 5:13 AM on July 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
You said "Aklaim" was printed on the disc. Acclaim was the name of the publisher. If you've transcribed that correctly, it'd suggest to me it's a knockoff. Although as other posters have pointed out it's ancient to the point of being unsellable new so there's not likely to be a huge black market for it. :)
posted by chmmr at 7:26 AM on July 11, 2011
posted by chmmr at 7:26 AM on July 11, 2011
Does the CD look like this? If so the 'CC' does in Acclaim does look like a K. I found it a Google image search for "Mortal Kombat DOS CD". But, that's also from another e-bay auction, so back to square one :P
It's probably a legit disc that someone had in a drawer for decade or so. Back then put the background music for CD-Rom games as regular audio CD tracks. If you put it in a stereo, you'll probably be able to hear the music.
I would go with DOSBox over trying to install it on the main system. You would need to have administrator rights in the command prompt in order to install it (Vista and Win7 broke backwards comparability for the sake of security) and in that case it could do something weird. Going with DOSBox will probably be easier.
posted by delmoi at 7:37 AM on July 11, 2011
It's probably a legit disc that someone had in a drawer for decade or so. Back then put the background music for CD-Rom games as regular audio CD tracks. If you put it in a stereo, you'll probably be able to hear the music.
I would go with DOSBox over trying to install it on the main system. You would need to have administrator rights in the command prompt in order to install it (Vista and Win7 broke backwards comparability for the sake of security) and in that case it could do something weird. Going with DOSBox will probably be easier.
posted by delmoi at 7:37 AM on July 11, 2011
nthing DOSBox. There are GUI frontends for DOSBox as well, that make configuration a lot easier. I'm a fan of the D-Fend Reloaded frontend.
Also, as others have said, using an emulator like DOSBox to play a legitimate copy of an older game is in no way illegal. I've bought a few older games on Steam (X-COM, etc) that came bundled with a pre-configured DOSBox.
Have fun!
posted by xedrik at 11:08 AM on July 11, 2011
Also, as others have said, using an emulator like DOSBox to play a legitimate copy of an older game is in no way illegal. I've bought a few older games on Steam (X-COM, etc) that came bundled with a pre-configured DOSBox.
Have fun!
posted by xedrik at 11:08 AM on July 11, 2011
Silentgoldfish has got it. I took a look at the files that Abandonia has and they look like a straight copy of the disk -- mk2.exe is the largest file and there are a bunch of files with .GRA extensions. If that is what the contents of your disk look like, I would follow the glennsguide instructions and just copy the contents of your disk over to "C:\Games\MKombat2" instead of downloading and extracting the Abondonia files.
posted by rtimmel at 12:09 PM on July 11, 2011
posted by rtimmel at 12:09 PM on July 11, 2011
(and if that doesn't work, I would download the Abandonia zip file and use that)
posted by rtimmel at 12:11 PM on July 11, 2011
posted by rtimmel at 12:11 PM on July 11, 2011
Response by poster: All answers much appreciated, but I wimped out. I'm currently using a work laptop at home and I'm reluctant to play with stuff I don't understand if there's even the slightest risk I'm going to damage this. My son's laptop charger has disappeared (just moved house) so I couldn't try dosbox on his.
He overheard me muttering to myself about it, and shyly admitted that what he REALLY wanted was Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance for his PS2. I bought it off ebay, it's in the mail as we speak (type).
And FWIW, the mushroom-growing kit was the biggest hit out of all his birthday presents. Go figure.
posted by malibustacey9999 at 4:31 PM on July 18, 2011
He overheard me muttering to myself about it, and shyly admitted that what he REALLY wanted was Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance for his PS2. I bought it off ebay, it's in the mail as we speak (type).
And FWIW, the mushroom-growing kit was the biggest hit out of all his birthday presents. Go figure.
posted by malibustacey9999 at 4:31 PM on July 18, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by malibustacey9999 at 11:52 PM on July 10, 2011