NetherRealm’s sequel to Mortal Kombat 11 has a standout story and fresh gameplay mechanics, but some technical aspects feel dated.
In Mortal Kombat 1, Liu Kang rewrites history in the hope of creating a kinder, gentler Mortal Kombat tournament. In its second major reboot of the 30-year-old fighting game franchise, developer NetherRealm performs a similar trick, unburdening itself from the complex lore of nearly a dozen games.
Mortal Kombat 1 is also a fresh start mechanically; NetherRealm’s last game was incredibly complex, with each of its dozens of fighters having multiple variations. The studio has pared its roster down to 22, along with the pre-order bonus of the long-running villain Shang Tsung. Additionally, there are 15 Kameo Fighters — a subset of characters that can be summoned to aid a main character in battle. Those Kameo Fighters pull double duty as a major source of nostalgia; classic versions of characters like Kano, Sonya, and Jax, and deeper cuts like Shujinko and Darrius, can all hop into matches with a button press to extend or break combos.
NetherRealm pushes the Mortal Kombat series forward graphically, with its most lux visual presentation yet. Character models are intricately detailed, and many fighters have been given impressive makeovers — particularly those that featured prominently in the “3D Era” of Mortal Kombat, like demoness Ashrah and the ninja Reptile, who was done particularly dirty by games like Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. Backgrounds in fighting stages are gorgeously detailed, brimming with character, personality, and in one notable case, the horrifying gore of Shang Tsung’s torture laboratory.
When the fighting starts, Mortal Kombat 1 feels immediately familiar, especially if you’ve been playing NetherRealm’s Mortal Kombat and Injustice games over the past decade. MK1 is still that established brand of combo-heavy, rigid 2D fighter, with strangely stiff animations and a meter that can enhance special moves or be burned to break a lengthy combo.
MK1 differentiates itself from recent games, with their customizable gear and character variations, with the ability to call in Kameo Fighters during fights. Each of the kombatants from this secondary roster has their own set of special moves. They can set up or extend a combo, freeze or stun your opponent, or teleport your fighter around the stage. To be most effective in battle, their moves should synergize with your main fighter’s moves — players have already found incredibly deadly pairings (e.g. Li Mei with Scorpion, Reiko with Darrius) and it can be fun to experiment with how these primary and secondary fighters complement each other.
