So, I’ve played close to every Mortal Kombat since the first one came out in 1992 in arcades, then later on the Sega Genesis I played it almost religiously. Until MK IV, they were all decent and good games. very addicting. after that, things started going wayside. Once they move into 3D.. well it was just crap. This happened because Tekken had started kicking both Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat’s asses along with any other fighting games out there. Tekken and then Dead or Alive being on a 3 D platform aroused envy. For better or worse, both SF and MK failed to enter the 3D market (the magic behind Tekken and Dead Or Alive in many ways was that their gameplay and movesets were more grounded in reality…. ie… no “fireballs” coming out of people’s hands).
Mortal Kombat 9… the 2011 version seeks to remedy all the past problems. MK’s allure was always the blood and guts… never quite the gameplay (indeed it could never match Street Fighter’s smooth fighting mechanics). The new game is MUCH more refined, and has a decent combo system that for once, makes sense. the moves and the buttons seem more well balanced. What’s even better, FINALLY there are no real playable characters that 100% dominate. Old MK’s had a few characters that were so unfairly superior that players could win match after match exploiting game glitches and cheats without ever actually having to rely on hand-eye-coordination. This has been fixed in MK 9 for the most part. all characters feel balanced.
Another great piece of the game is the story mode. Which is actually good! it’s lengthy, allows you to get familiar with most of the MK characters, switch between playing them as the story progresses, and delves into the various character personality quirks and differences. Scorpion is hell-bent, menacing and couldn’t care less about the tournament…. Johnny Cage is the americanized cocky version of Van Damme….. Sub Zero is the confused ninja that just wants to find out who killed his brother…. oh yeah… there are 3… yes… 3 versions of sub-zero in this game! woot woot!
The Fatalities, babalities, and multiple pit finishing moves are SWEET! but there has always been a wish amongst players to do moves WITHIN combat that did massive damage and had that “cringe” feeling… enter the X-ray moves! When a meter at the bottom fills out based on your combos and damage, you can execute these moves where the oponent’s skeleton is exposed via an X-ray and then viciously disgusting moves are executed on the appendages and extremities. blades go into kneecaps and crack bones, punches connect to jaws and shatter jawbones…. all through a slow-motion X-Ray animation…. just delightful.
The gameplay mechanics improved… violence is kept …. the story is good… follows the initial MK 1 – 4…. so… what could be bad? Well, I’ve never been a fan of how slow the characters move… err… walk. this is the same in this version. all the characters lumber slowly across the screen…. unless you dash or jump. Odd physics still abound (really, if i lunge at someone and they hold their arms up in a block… i’ll just float in the air and spin around in a ball for 2 seconds?)
Oh! and there’s a pretty decent tag team mode now. yes, you can spear someone and bring them over with Scorpion, then tag Jax in to beat their head in with his massive cyborg arms…..
there’s tons of replayability and much to do. As an added bonus, the sony ps3 version has Kratos! but…. i have to admit… the graphics are mediocre. not bad… but i’ve seen better.
I’d say this game is an 8 out of 10 roughly. If your a fighting genre fan… then might wanna try a demo first… if you LOVED the first MK… then prepare to have your mind blown.