“Mortal Kombat” takes a worn-out franchise and returns it to its glory days-literally and figuratively.
The ninth game in the main franchise, (counting spin-offs and updated releases, there are over 14 games in the franchise) “Mortal Kombat” drops the numbers and subtitles, along with a lot of extra baggage it has gained over the years.
It did this by getting rid of almost every character created after “Mortal Kombat 3” and introducing no new fighters to the cast. MK 2011 also returns the gameplay to its one-on-one two-dimensional fighting roots.
“Mortal Kombat” returns MK to its more serious origins. The series became sillier as time went on, sometimes stepping into the realm of self-parody in latter titles, and that is just what the series needed.
Fighting will be familiar to anyone who has played the series before. You have two punches, two kicks and a block button and use them to beat your opponent into submission.
When a match is won, the phrase “Finish Him/Her” appears on the screen and you can unleash a Fatality on your opponent. They are all gruesome, ranging from simple decapitation to intricate combinations of moves ending in vital organs exploding. Missing from “Mortal Kombat” are Animalities, where your character turns into some kind of animal to finish an opponent off and Friendships where instead of killing the opponent the fighters skip rope together, which were added in later titles.
The fighting in this game is great. Hits disfigure opponents to just the right amount and seeing a fatality is always amusing.
The story revolves around the thunder god Raiden in the middle of a losing battle with all of his allies dead or dying, sending a message to his past self saying, “he must win” without indicating who “he” is. The message is interpreted during the events of 1992’s original “Mortal Kombat” and Raiden decides to make changes to events that are unfolding to change the future.
This storytelling device allows the game to explore what is widely regarded as the best time in franchise, MK 1 through 3, while offering enough difference for those familiar with the story to have fun.
The story mode will take about 8 hours to finish on normal difficulty, and provides a satisfying challenge that puts “Mortal Kombat’s” story mode head and shoulders above every other game in the fighting game genre. While not a groundbreaking story the amount of effort and content packed into MK’s story blows its competitors like “Super Street Fighter IV” and “Tekken 6” out of the water.
Outside of story mode those interested in single-player gameplay can also take on the Challenge Tower. Designed to give even the best brawler out there a workout, the 300 challenges located within the tower are – well challenging – asking the player to become familiar with every mechanic of the game to succeed. There’s also a standard one-player ladder mode where you can play against the computer in one-on-one or tag-team matches.
During the story mode, Challenge Tower and ladder matches you earn “Koins” that are used to unlock “Kollectibles” in the “Krypt.” These items range from “koncept” art to additional Fatalities for “kharacters” to use during kombat.
“Mortal Kombat” also has a robust multi-player mode. Local multi-player supports up to four people playing at one time and online players can step into lobbies with up to 100 kombatants facing off with each other. The multi-player makes the game infinitely replay-able.
“MK” is the best game the series has seen in years. It’s engaging story mode, hundreds of unlockable “Kollectibles” and secrets and deep multi-player make it a title worth owning if you’ve ever had any interest in Mortal Kombat and maybe even if you haven’t.