Mortal Kombat X (2015)

I grew up with whichever MK game my brother and I had on Game Gear back in the day, and the old movies. Maybe played one at the skating rink arcade once or twice. I didn't really keep up with the series for many years, but watching the 1995 movie and the new one again with friends recently got me on a bit of a kick. (I also just tend to lean away from fighting games with the whole "--> --> <-- O <-- X+R1" thing.)

I read up on the series up to MK9, watched the story mode for that, and then played through this one last week. I had a pretty good time, but missed having access to a lot of the characters that I was familiar with. I was surprised by how much fun it was to play Cass and Jacqui in story mode. Love Kotal Kahn and D'Vorah, too.

I started up the MK11 story mode tonight while friends were over, so pretty soon I'll be mostly caught up.

2.5D FIGHTER - Shinnok is revived, and seeks to destroy Earthrealm using fallen warriors now turned into Revenants. It's up to the new generation to save the day.

PROS:

++ Improved campaign. Story was more cinematic than MK 2011 which made the experience more entertaining.

++ Kombat Kids. I personally liked the focus being placed primarily on the Kombat Kids. They took risks in trying to introduce new and mostly interesting characters. (Except for Jackie Briggs)

++ Original characters. Overall, I'm a fan of most of the new characters they introduced to the series (Kotal Kahn, Takeda, Kung Jin, Dvorah, Cassie)

++ Fast-paced. Gameplay is faster paced and is more fun than MK 2011.

++ Offline content. Lots of side content again.

CONS:

-- Roster. The overall character roster is worse compared to MK 2011. And the DLC characters were not that great either.

-- Janky animations. Some character animations look off or feel clunky. Punches or kicks look unnatural when using some characters.

-- Underdeveloped characters. The inclusion of the Kombat Kids was good, but they were underdeveloped.

The fighting genre is not one I know much about or have a ton of experience in. This is my first mortal kombat since I played the original a very long time ago and I am very impressed. The characters have memorable designs, individualistic gameplay, and most important of all personality. Each character feels unique to the rest, they also have special relationships with each other showcased by having phrases or conversations depending on who you were playing as and against whom. I was not expecting all that from the 10th installment of a fighting game. I have previously felt quite disappointed with Street Fighter but Mortal Kombat has shown itself to be more my speed. The gameplay is very smooth and combo-focused but there are so many ways to use the characters where it does not become a hassle for new players or boring after a while. I flew through the campaign which was quite interesting and fun where I found myself remembering all the character's names and stories. Mortal Kombat 10 left me interested in more games from its series due to its memorable characters and brutal fun battles, a true modernization from the original that I played as a kid.

p.s My favorites were Kitana, Cassie, and Sonya Blade!

I never got into fighting games, but when I bought my Vita it came with a copy of MK9 and I admit, it was an enjoyable game. So, I picked up Mortal Kombat Xtra Large cause sometimes you want a simple game where you don't have to collect treasures, scour for resources, or deal with RPG elements, you just want to beat the living shit outta people. And I was excited of the prospect of playing as Jason, my favorite slasher. Of all the cross-over properties a Mortal Kombat game could pick I think horror villains is a good fit, both are all about blood & gore, makes more sense than that odd Star Wars/Soul Cailbre thing.

Yeah, MK XL is probably one of the most violent games I own, course I think the Netherrealm team strives to make the goriest game anyone will own. I still find it funny how you can perform an X-Ray move that breaks both legs and busts their jaw only to have them continue on as if that didn't happen. The fighters you play as aren't people, they're bags of pig guts and blood shaped like people.

The fighting is real smooth and natural feeling. They're on game #10, I'd hope the fighting would feel solid in their fighting game by now. The fun moves are easy enough to master and button-mashing can get you through a pinch if you need it.

Compared to MK9, the character list is much shorter. That being due to MK9 basically retreading 3 games of content vs the original stuff of MK XL. This meant the story mode was much shorter too, which was fine by me. It was more coherent and enjoyable. I don't get how Jax came back to life, but the others stayed evil? I was interested in seeing how we had this new emperor who wasn't a total meathead jerk deal with a civil war and Earthrealm diplomacy, and Scorpion & Sub-Zero becoming 'wise old sensi', and Johhny "Kurt Russell" Cage still makes me laugh. And while I couldn't play as Nightwolf, I did enjoy the new characters. The Mickey Mouse Club of Cassie, Jacqui, & crew were done well and it was neat to see the older protagonists as parents and more like real people. The new emperor & entourage gave new influence, mostly Aztec, sorry the Osh-Tek. As a fan of all things Western, my favorite character was Erron Black.

All in all, you want a good fighting game, get this, but I shouldn't have to tell you that. I enjoy these games most as having something to throw on when friends are over and just beat the crap outta each other. And why do none of these games take advantage of the awesome theme from the movie. It's the most recognizable music to the series. Maybe it's a copyright thing, but why not get it? It's freaking catchy.

I love this game!

The story mode was very interesting. I like the fact that they brought the new generation into the game, particularly Cassy Cage (daughter of Johnny Cage and Sonia Blade). The graphics were attractive showing skillful and meticulous design.

The new costumes were so-so; some I liked and others not so much. Scorpion's costumes was especially well designed.

Also the fact the player in 1 V 1 mode can choose to play as Hanso Hasashi or Scorpian is really really impressive.

One thing that I wasn't very fond of is the limited character selection. Work on that creators of MK!

All in all, this is a good, fun, and enthralling game. I highly recommend it. Worth every penny.

7.5/10

I think this is probably the funnest Mortal Kombat. Keep in mind that while I enjoyed the first few, they aren't exactly the best fighting games ever. Also keep in mind that I literally haven't played an MK since probably 4.

It seems less clunky these days, with pretty fluid combos. The story mode is neat, having a bunch of new characters is probably a good idea in order to keep the series fresh, but I like the old names because that's what I grew up with. There's enough content here to keep someone entertained for a while.

I'm not bothered by unlocking easy fatalities because having to do a combo, while the other person stands there helpless, is not something that gets me going. I just want to see the fatalities once or twice, just so I can see how gruesome they are, and then I move on. The on-disc DLC, and the way they flaunt that shit, is unappealing (read: bullshit).

Mortal Kombat is flash, and flash only lasts so long. That's why it's not really a great series, as opposed to other fighters. It still has its place in history, but it is not top-tier fighting. This is still the best time I've probably had with the series though, so that counts for something.

On a note that has nothing to do with the game itself, I think it would be neat to have a story mode like Mortal Kombat Mythologies (obviously improved), kinda like Smash Bros. Brawl had with the Subspace Emissary. I enjoyed having a platform/adventure game packed in with my fighting game.