First impression of Mortal Kombat 1. A reboot of the series from the perspective of a casual fighting game veteran

This may sound weird, but I probably didn’t fight much more virtually than in real life. Yes, I spent a lot of time on Tekken arcade machines, I broke my first joysticks on Street Fighter, I played with Soul Calibur, Guilty Gear and Mugen, and I also saw a few fatalities in my life. However, I was never a hardcore representative of this genre, and my adventure with fighting games ended with a maximum of a few hours for a given title.

The fighting games are great, but not exaggerated

Growing up in the 90’s and having red hair unfortunately forced me to do it often “solos” after school, and later became interested in martial arts during college. Of course, I didn’t like getting hit by my peers, it was much easier for me to get hit in games. However, my lack of dexterity or perhaps perseverance meant that I never learned any decent combos, and I achieved my best results in casual titles such as Smash Bros or Injustice. Let us emphasize that I am not an expert in computer games, although I have played the most important games a few times in my life.

But maybe this introduction is excessive. After all, most of the friends I played with pressed all the keys at once, hoping to accidentally discover an interesting combination. Maybe I’m paying too much attention to the few percent of veterans who have watched the previous Mortal Kombat games and will wake up in the middle of the night and beat any brutality. Growing up in a post-communist atmosphere of small-town violence was probably not that terrible either. Ultimately, I graduated from high school with all my teeth in my jaw and even without a black eye, because by May there was no trace of the last fight.

In any case, I felt it was important to emphasize my starting position. I’m writing this as a person who likes to sit down with a friend in front of the screen and, while drinking a beer, destroy him with a series of random kicks. Or lose to your younger sister who clicks the same combination throughout the fight. I also rate it as someone who does not like violence and is not overly excited by the aura of one of the most brutal games. So I can simply say as a fighting game layman – Mortak Kombat 1 is great.

A successful reboot of the Mortal Kombat series

I like the idea of ​​resetting lore, which I haven’t kept up with for a long time. At the same time, I like the return of old friends. Mortal Kombat doesn’t exist without Scorpion and Sub-Zero, of course, but it’s nice to make sure that a reboot of the series doesn’t mean a reboot of the entire team of warriors. Finally, I like what I see and hear, because the game is simply beautiful and well-sounded. All elements seem balanced and in place. Additionally, on a mid-range PC, the game runs smoothly and does not force us to lower the details – It is worth mentioning here that the Polish QLOC is responsible for the PC version. Their port is a nice change after the last big premieres this year.

After a clear tutorial, we get something that is already popular among gamers. The great story mode sets a standard that other fighting game creators will now be able to reach. We have moments that are funny, nostalgic, inventive, intelligently referring to the classics. It makes you want to fight more fights and discover the plot further.

Importantly, the story has been spread out in such a way that after a few fights we have moments of respite, or rather rest for our tired fingers. The fights are intense and, even on easier difficulty levels, motivate us to click faster. I don’t always know what I’m doing, but I almost never win without thinking. Closing your eyes and pressing random keys probably won’t work. You need to at least keep up with what is happening on the battlefield and use various combinations. There is no boredom.

The new Kameo system allows each warrior to choose someone like a second. This way we gain a few more attacks, which we can activate with a special bar. This is something for experienced players who need to expand their repertoire of moves to cover up their character’s weaknesses, but laymen will also enjoy the wider range of tricks. Of course, all of this can be blocked or evaded – even the most powerful attack follows these rules.

Mortal Kombat 1 is more than just a facelift for the old man

You can see that Mortal Kombat 1 was prepared with love. There are a lot of starting characters, the battle arenas are refined, and the “customization” of the appearance of the outfits is optional and not imposed at every step. The menu is not too large, there are no colorful shops or information windows popping up everywhere. The system with hits so hard that they require immediate x-rays has not been forgotten. I have no idea whether the above-mentioned issues will satisfy hardcore fighting game fans, but for casual gamers MK1 will be great entertainment.

While I would prefer never to repeat school fights, I would go back to the first moments with Virtua Fighter 2 at least once. Mortal Kombat 1 cannot take us back in time, even if it went back 10 places in the numbering. However, it will provide good entertainment in familiar surroundings. It will also allow you to safely transfer excess energy into the pad you squeeze in your hands. However, it better be a solid structure. As I mentioned, the fights are intense. Legends such as Raiden and Shang-Tsung do not recognize sparring.