Mortal Kombat
Producer: Warner Bros. Interactive Media
Release Date: April 19, 2011
Platform: Xbox 360, PS3
Rating: Mature
Genre: 2D Fighting
YOUR FATALITY AWAITS
Written by Mike Lowther
It’s official; we’re back in business. It’s been sixteen years since Mortal Kombat 3was released in the arcade. As a wee lad, in a Florida summer camp, my first sighting of an MK3 machine was at the local roller skating rink. It was surrounded my no more than thirty kids, and the only people playing were much older – possibly really cool high schoolers. Since then, I made it my goal to be those kids. Hours and hours of precise and accurate button pressing pushed my thumbs to memorize copious finishing moves and special attacks. But after MK3, the Mortal Kombat series was never the same again. Once the Genesis era went extinct, Nintendo 64 picked up Mortal Kombat 4 as a 3D fighter. It added a new perspective on fighting, but didn’t stay completely true to the roots. Numerous releases hit shelves but continued branching away from the original style. Now, almost 20 years later from the original Mortal Kombat release, we have the closest thing to that first experience, but on crack.
The fighting styles and button inputs are the closest thing to the old times. I call it future retro plastic physica. We’re greeted with beautiful art for game menus and multiple variations of combat (or, Kombat). Ladder is the primary form of gameplay where you work your way up the tower to be the best fighter. The game’s Story Mode is interestingly not a disappointment, as great visual videos accompany challenging rounds of fighting.
The best addition to this title spawns from the option of playing 2vs2. You can tag in or out to a partner for the first time in Mortal Kombat history. Attacks can be made with a combo upon arrival of your partner, which is pretty cool and creates new content for online play. The developers have added a power bar at the bottom of the screen that has various and convenient uses. At one-third full, special moves have the ability to be modified to be more powerful. At two-thirds, you can perform a Breaker that allows a break in a combo or X-ray attack. And finally, a full power bar unlocks the option to perform an X-ray attack that is special to each character. They player nails 2-3 powerful blows in slow motion, showing x-ray views of the opponent getting limbs, bones and organs getting smashed. Another addition involves racking up currency called Koins. You can spend the Koins in an area in the menu called The Krypt to unlock fatality combinations, special mode and level variations, biographies and concept art.
Overall, I couldn’t be more thrilled about this release. At last, a Mortal Kombatwith all the bells and whistles that stays true to the original idea, even though the company who produced the series is no longer in business. The amount of unlockables and nostalgic easter eggs are happily overwhelming. Finally, we’ve been given a sequel to the series that doesn’t feel like a crappy addition to the saga, and it’s bloody awesome.