Mortal Kombat PS3 Review

Mortal Kombat is one of many fighting franchises that started in the early 1990s and has since had many successful and awful games. Fighting games always struggle to offer something new and exciting to players in each subsequent game. In the case of Mortal Kombat, the series evolved from offering multiple gameplay modes and a plethora of characters to choose from, to completely changing the gameplay mechanics, introducing weapons, and moving Mortal Kombat from 2D and into 3D. Some of the changes over the years have been positive, such as interesting fatalities and babalities, but at the same time, the series lost its way by changing the fundamental core of Mortal Kombat, the gameplay itself. The 3D games of Mortal Kombat that have spanned three console generations have made the series almost unrecognizable from its heyday in the early 1990s. Mortal Kombat (2011) brings the series back to its roots with a 2D playing field, familiar stages, and the characters from the first three Mortal Kombat games. Mortal Kombat has regained its former glory through this reboot of the series.

Mortal Kombat takes place shortly after the events of the Sony PlayStation 2 game Mortal Kombat Armageddon. Raiden and Shao Kahn are the only fighters standing and just before Shao Kahn kills him, Raiden sends a vision back through time to his self, prior to the events of the first Mortal Kombat tournament. The game basically reinvents the story from Mortal Kombat 1 thru 3. The story follows the original tournaments with familiar fights against Goro, Tsang Tsung, Kintaro, and Shao Khan. Mortal Kombat story mode also forces the player to fight as all of the fighters in order to give them a feel as to the abilities of each fighter and to give some variety to the gameplay. The story uses cinematics and a smooth transition to the fights. Fighters and environments are modeled in 3D, but gameplay is forced to a 2D plane.

Mortal Kombat has several gameplay modes to choose from: Story, Arcade Ladder, Tag Ladder, Test Your Luck, Test Your Might, Test Your Sight, Test Your Strike, Training, Challenge Tower, and Online. Arcade Ladder is the classic arcade mode that pits players against a number of increasing difficulty enemies with the final showdown against Shao Khan. Tag Ladder is the same as Arcade Ladder, but with the ability to switch between two fighters on the fly and the opposing team is also comprised of two fighters as well. Test Your Luck randomly selects who the player will fight and the conditions of the fight such as half health or turbo speed, etc. Test Your Might is the classic mini-game from the original Mortal Kombat that has players trying to button mash past a limit bar to break different materials like wood or bricks. Test Your Sight is another mini-game brought back from earlier Mortal Kombat games in which the player is looking for an object under one of three bigger objects as the AI switches the placement of them rapidly. Test Your Strike is a variation of Test Your Might in which the player must actually keep the limit bar within a certain range in order to break a specific object. Training mode allows players to practice their character’s moves while Challenge Tower is a series of 300 increasing difficulty stages that challenge the player to complete a specific objective within certain parameters. Online mode, as the name implies, pits players against each other online.

Mortal Kombat also has brought back the Krypt, which allows the player to unlock additional game modes, alternate costumes, artwork, music, etc., by using Kombat Koins that are gained through playing the game. The Nekropolis is where players can view the character bios, artwork, and listen to the music.

Mortal Kombat (2011) has regained its title as the best adult fighting game ever. The game is just as challenging as it was in its heyday. Playing this new Mortal Kombat especially online, brings back fond memories of playing Mortal Kombat II online on the Sega Genesis through the XBAND service on a dial-up modem. The fighters are well balanced, so no matter which fighter the player is pitted against, there is an equal chance of winning or losing. Mortal Kombat has always been a game about combos, blocking, and beautiful Fatalities and this reboot does it justice. My only gripe is that Shao Khan is as cheap as ever no matter how easy the difficulty gets turned down and the player will have to use cheap tactics to beat him. Other than that minor quip, which has been an issue in all of the Mortal Kombat games, this reboot is an instant classic that any fighting game fanatic should own. It puts Street Fighter IV to shame.