Mortal Kombat just dropped last week on September 19th, or the 14th if you chose to pre-order the Premium or Kollector’s Edition of the game. Although the name Mortal Kombat 1 may be misleading, this is actually the 12th game in the franchise. This confusing name is the result of a soft reset of the game’s timeline by Liu Kang, god of fire, who reset history in an attempt to create a new timeline free of its previous hardships in Mortal Kombat 11, during the events of the Aftermath DLC. 

The in-game graphics are stunning, with an emphasis on natural-looking action, fluidity of movement, and extreme gore, and the backgrounds are far from shabby too! That is, unless you play on the Nintendo Switch. The poor graphics quality on the Switch, which some have compared to the PS2, has resulted in many people meming on it for the silly-looking images that can arise as a result of the compromised textures and facial expressions. 

However, the hilariously poor graphics are the least of the Switch port’s problems. The Switch can face, on average, 40 seconds of loading time, compared to the relatively short loading times on other consoles and PCs. This problem is exacerbated by the nature of the game’s loading screens which include a quip or two and are meant to just jump straight into action, whereas on the Switch you’ll just experience an awkward staredown. 

Even more problematic for the Switch, is the awkward lagging and slowdowns you may experience during gameplay. These issues can lead to missed kombos, awkward fights, and an overall poor gameplay experience. There are also some bugs, visual and otherwise, that can affect the gameplay experience and ruin immersion. But keep in mind that the aforementioned issues are localized to the Switch only. The rest of the platforms experience smoother gameplay, movement, and overall experience, as well as vastly superior loading times.

Graphics aside, the gameplay has really been refreshed with a new combat mechanic, Kameos. Kameos act as a secondary fighter who can assist you in combat, allowing for players to expand their move set and experiment with new Kombos. By allowing more options during gameplay, the amount of possible kombos increase exponentially, leading to more interesting and interactive gameplay for new and experienced players alike. The creative kombos people are able to pull off with Kameos are really fun to see, whether in person or online.

Mortal Kombat 1 also introduces the new Invasion game mode, a singleplayer mixture of an RPG and board game, offering mini-games, challenges, and Easter eggs from previous games. In the Invasion game mode, you will face various challenges to earn Seasonal Kredits, in-game currency that can not be purchased, that you can use to purchase cosmetics. The rewards in this game mode are reminiscent of the Krypt, which is noticeably absent in this game.

Despite the issues with the Switch port it’s actually a really great fighting game, albeit hidden underneath a pile of quality of life issues. I really recommend that you get this game on other platforms for a smoother, more enjoyable experience, it’s just not worth the money on Switch. But overall, if you like fighting games, gore, and interesting combo mechanics, then this is definitely the game for you.