Praise was directed at the transition from the fighting game genre to action-adventure and the PlayStation version's live-action cutscenes, but the controls and punishing level design received criticism. The game drew a divisive response from critics, with PlayStation version considered the superior of the two releases. Mythologies is the final game in the series to use digitized actors. It also serves as a prequel to Mortal Kombat 4, which was released the same year, introducing characters and story elements that would be used by the fourth main installment. Set before the original 1992 game, players control Bi-Han, the elder Sub-Zero, during his quest to find Shinnok's amulet. A spin-off of the Mortal Kombat franchise, it is the first installment to not be a fighting game. Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero is a 1997 action-adventure game developed and published by Midway for the PlayStation and Nintendo 64.
