Mortal Kombat

I managed to get this game a week ago and still not put it down yet. This is probably the best Beat 'em' Up since the original Mortal Kombat Trilogy and the early Street Fighters. Its back to basics with more of a 2d feel to it so its easier to pull off combo's and they look slick and not jerky like 3d fighters. All the original fighters are here from the first 3 Mk's. All their famous finishing moves, babealities, etc and loads of great arenas such as the bridge above the spike pit, the walk way over the acid bath and the tree's with faces on them plus many more. This game is a must for any Mortal Kombat fan and it gets back to what Mortal Kombat is all about (not fighting comic book hero's or training up monks).

THIS IS MORTAL KOMBAT IN ALL ITS GLORY

This is MK at its best, its what all of us MK fans, and beat em'up fans have been waiting for.

They have gone back to the games roots, a 2d fgihting plain making every move effective, unlike previous titles.

There are 3 areas to look at

1) Arcade Ladder- This is the basic arcade mode, defeat 10 opponents and you win the tournament and get a video. This mode is the same as it has always been. There is one bonus which MK fans will love, and that is the difficulty settings actually vary hugely. On begginer, Shao Kahn is as harmless as a puppy, on hard... Forget about it.

2) Story mode- This is awesome, the most in depth story ever in a fighting game. The best bit? You only do proper fights, none of this run around with 2 punches and kicks rubbish. It pretty much re-tells the story from MK1-MK3 with very minor changes. It poses some hard tasks such as taking on two boss characters by your self, up to defeating Shao Kahn himself, all of which are amazing.

3) The challenge tower- this is fairly easy up to the 200th challenge mark, where it becomes insane. There are old challenges like test your might/sight aswell as strike and luck. Test your luck is a randomly generated game from a slot machine. For example, it chooses first your opponent, then up to four random abilities, such as armless, headless, dark, rainbow, vampire, boosted strength/ health and many others, sometimes it will benefit you, sometimes it will make it imposible. Not having arms or your head can make it very difficult when you only have kick moves. This will take you roughly 10 hours alone, depending on your skill.

There is only one criticism I have of this game, and that is that some fighters are not very well balanced.
For example, Lui Kang has two easy combos, XXX and AAB, the trouble is, he has an attack for foward X and forward A which means you can't be moving forwards to do them, which can mean your opponent can open up some distance and you will miss, leaving you open. And Johnny Cage's X-Ray move is a Parry, and they have to hit you or it won't work. And some characters X-Rays have to be activated right on your opponent and others go the whole length of the screen. This sucks, but you get used to it.

All in all a very solid game, not just one of the best fighting games this year, but a definite contender for best game of 2011

P.S. from the ending its very clear that there is going to be a follow up.

This is the real return to the roots of MK.
Not like the other games ( in my opinion ) that came after MK3.
One of the main things which made MK was the BIG uppercuts and the low sweeps which are here in bucket loads.
Loads of classic secret characters and bonus stuff, you can even have some on the old classic MK tunes playing on certain levels!!
It has one of the best story lines in a game, its got everything there in it and if you liked the first movie well youll just love it.
If you like your MK1 MK2 & MK3 then just click the buy button right now, it really is that good you wont be disappointed i promiss.
So what are you waiting for? there are FATALITIES to be done!!

Despite never playing MK I gambled and picked it up soon after it's release. I must say it is a brilliant game. A very well made story allows newcomers to the MK series understand who's who and each chapter focuses on a different character allowing you to experience multiple fighters.

The challenge tower offers 300 challenges ranging from killing x amount of enemies before they reach you, defeating an opponent within a time limit, having to 'test your might' and many more.

Online is enjoyable, especially king of the hill allowing you to watch and rate matches until your time to fight arrives. There are tons of unlocks to be had using 'Kurrency' and the classic arcade ladder mode ensures plenty to do.

Welcome back MK, you have been missed. This is the daddy of fighting games and takes me back to my megadrive days!
Your favourites such as sub zero, scorpian, kitana are all here and the Fatalities are nice and gory as they should be with MK.
Buy it. Buy it now!