Mortal Kombat

Rating: M

Score: 8.0/10

Once upon a time, there was a really violent game back before any video game rating system. This game was so violent it pretty much single-handedly created the need for a rating system, so kids would know not to play it (only "mature" individuals). Fast forward nearly a decade, and a game of the same title is released to try and revive the series by bringing it back to the basics. Considering all the twists the series took, where are the basics exactly? This game is available for the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3.

Let's get something out of the way first. The series was so off-track they were fighting Batman and other comic book characters. That's...wacky, and considering this game was the recognized as being a brutal and mature game way back, that's almost insulting. Almost, but also quite unintentionally hilarious.

The mechanics are simple and basic. You're a three-dimensional fighter in a two-dimensional stage. You walk from side to side, punching and kicking your opponent until they can't stand. It's the classic high-medium-low punch/kick business with combos and special moves, no fancy things here. You have a special bar that fills up with punches and combos, and you can unleash it at any ti- oh my god did I just snap that guy's rib?

Yep, with the new x-ray zoom-in, you can see when you crack different bones. It gives a sense of impact to certain attacks, but the fact the characters walk it off like nothing makes it lose most of the impact. It's an interesting gimmick, but it's only a gimmick.

Unlike a lot of mediocre fighting games, Mortal Kombat still has the fast and responsive controls backed with a standard fighting mechanic. Punching and kicking with different control stick twirls give different specials, and all specials are pretty simple. Unlike the other Mortal Kombat games, this game has only a good amount of fighters. Not too many, like Armageddon, where there were characters EVERYWHERE, and not like the original with only eight. The Playstation even gets Kratos as a console-exclusive character. Odd, since the Xbox had no exclusives. The irony of it all: the Playstation Network went down just after this game's release, so for a solid month the Xbox exclusive WAS online play!

Like previous Mortal Kombat games, you can end a match with a finisher move. Put in the right combo, and you can do a brutal "fatality" move. These moves are why this game is rated M. They're ridiculously overly brutal and frankly it's a bit frightening that a design team coded, painted, and provided audio so you could experience these scenes on your TV. Still, the Mortal Kombat made a series on this brutality somehow, so why stop now?

It 's back to the basics, but is it worth the price of a new game (which only get more and more expensive)? Considering it makes you remember why you thought the series was fun, as a guilty pleasure to see people get hurt, it's successful. It's very simple, probably overly simple if it weren't for the title "Mortal Kombat" with an insane amount of blood and gore. The fighting is fun and smooth and it's worth kombating over.