If you strip away the Mortal Kombat license, you are left with a very average action game.
The storyline of this game rests between the games MK & MK2. Lui Kang just won the MK tournament and Shang Tsung is up to no good again. With the help of his buddy, Kung Lao, you have to travel to different worlds to fight various villains from the series, including Shang Tsung. I think the storyline is the best part about this game. I have always been fascinated with the mythos of this franchise, for some reason, so I was really into the plot here. If you aren't as big a fan of the series as I am, you might not feel the same and won't overlook some of the gameplay problems.
This is an action/beat 'em up, plain and simple. Sure you get to use Lui Kang & Kung Lao's moves from the fighting game, but this is a button masher at heart. That's not to say that's a bad thing. There is definately a place in videogames for these types of games. And some of the action does get quite frantic and has you killing at a pace reminicent of the Devil May Cry games. But most of it is spent wandering the words of the MK universe and beating up enemies.
Like I said, that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's just that after the first or second world, the game gets repetitive real fast. I do like the fact that you get XP to spend on new & special moves as you kill enemies. But I purchased all of the unlockable moves in a very short period of time, so that gameplay plus didn't last very long. I did like the boss fights, however. After fighting drones for most of the game, getting into a showdown with Reptile, Baraka, or Mileena was a nice change of pace.
There are a lot of nice touches thrown in here for long-time MK fans. I won't ruin the surprises by saying them here, but some are really good. And there is a ton of hidden content to find also. The problem is that some of the hidden content can only be found while playing co-op mode. I can see why they did this, but I have had a problem finding anyone who wants to sit down with me and button-mash for hours just so I can open up a picture gallery or whatever.
Speaking of the co-op mode, it's really the best way to play this game. I have played other games where they tried to throw that option in, and it didn't work. With MK: SM, it almost feels like the game was actually designed to be played in co-op. So if you have a buddy who loves MK as much as you do, get him over and you have a fun beat-em up to play between games of Madden football.
This game certainly isn't pretty. Like the gameplay and everthing else in the game, it just has that 'good, but not great' feel to it. The characters all animate very well, though. Of course, the voice acting is terrible. But I saw that coming a mile away. I did like the music and SFX, though. And like I said before, there is a ton of hidden stuff here to find. So if you really wanted to find it all this game could keep you busy for awhile.
I liked this game, but I feel it was partially because I am a fan of the MK series. If you take away all of the MK stuff, you are left with a very average beat 'em up game that might not appeal to many gamers. But if you are like me, then I would ceratinaly check this game out. It just might be better for a weekend rental as apposed to a purchase.