Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Best in series"

In recent years Mortal Kombat games have been subpar. Ever since MK4 it seems Ed Boon and company has been relying on quantity over quality. From kart racing to fighting styles, the modern MK games have been compilations of mediocrity. The new reboot of the series looks to remedy this.

Being a person who approaches fighting games as a casual player I have always enjoyed the simplicity of the first two Mortal Kombat games. I think deep fighters like Street Fighter IV and Marvel vs. Capcom 3 are great, but I don't care enough for them to put in the time to explore their depth. With MK ,however, I have enjoyed digging into it partly because I care about the characters for both nostalgic reasons and the new story mode. Simply put, this is the best story mode I have ever seen or played in a fighting game. In retelling the stories from MK to MK3 the game gives life to every fighter in the game. Seeing the cyber initiative transform Cyrax and Sektor and how Jax gets his metal arms are just a few examples of story fleshing out the fighters. Doing this with no load times and great voice acting makes for a bloody, fun time. Outside the story mode there is still a traditional arcade ladder, a 300 tier challenge tower, training modes, and a full suite of online modes (including the always entertaining king of the hill mode).

This time around all the fighting is back to the 2D plane which, based on recent entries in the series, is the way MK should be. The fighters and environments are rendered in 3D and both look fantastic. Every character, even all the ninjas, look and move in their own unique ways. Scorpion's spear has never looked even close to this good. The backgrounds are from previous games but, just like the characters, they have been given the next-gen graphical upgrade they deserve. The sound is also great. Hits sound like they hurt and will even make you cringe at points.

The fighting itself is responsive and fun to new comers while still rewarding those who put in time with their characters. Rather than the more technical style of Street Fighter, MK uses a "dial-a-combo" system in combination with special attacks. Without getting too deep into the fighting there is still fun to be had with the specials, two and three button combos, and fatalities. But for those who take the time to learn how to juggle between combos and specials will be able to do 50-60% damage combos that look amazing as they fly back and forth across the screen.

As with any MK game, there is tons of stuff hidden. A lot of it can be found in the Krypt, but there plenty of other fun stuff to stumble upon in the game (Remember the rumor that you could toss an opponent into the trees of the MKII haunted forest? Try it now.) Nether Realm's decision to finally combine all their content with great visuals and sound and fun, deeper gameplay has resulted in a must buy game that successfully reboots a klassic franchise.