It accomplishes the most basic element and need of gameplay: the game is fun.

When a game becomes a chore, a second-job, outright work, it's not a very enjoyable game for me, and most people. There are those, yes, that dedicate themselves to the upper echelon of high-level play, competing and sacrificing much for money and prestige.

Those people are the minority.

I very much enjoy deep fighting games, but I enjoy deep FUN fighting games, and MK looks to deliver. Is it the "deepest"? No, but not everybody wants to swim in the deepest water with the most depth. Sometimes the shallower coral reefs give the most rewarding and enriching experiences.

Beyond that, what is inherently wrong about enjoying a particularly visceral and extremely fun game? If it was all about gore, no, Mortal Kombat wouldn't be fun, and Splatterhouse would have sold millions. But Splatterhouse wasn't much fun. Successfully pulling off a hard-earned X-ray counter at the right time and crushing my opponent's skull to make a dramatic come-back victory, and then topping that off with a fancy fatality to put the cherry on top of my white-knuckle victory?

That's fun. That's REALLY fun. And I would rather have those feelings and experiences a hundred times over than to play the blandest, most technical fighting game that's free of any personality, emotion, spirit, heart, or enjoyment.

Math is technical. You don't see me doing that for fun (but there ARE people out there that do... so, to each his own).

"That's fun. That's REALLY fun. And I would rather have those feelings and experiences a hundred times over than to play the blandest, most technical fighting game that's free of any personality, emotion, spirit, heart, or enjoyment. "

What you're describing is a false dichotomy, though. There's no reason whatsoever you shouldn't be able to have a fully satisfying MK experience in a game as technically accomplished as SF4 or Tekken 6. None whatsoever.

If more MK fans weren't willing to compromise, we wouldn't have this bullshit question of which ones are going to be satisfied and which ones aren't. Plenty of fighters have the personality and accessability that makes them enjoyable for casual players and depth enough to satisfy any pro player. There's no reason Ed Boon and company should get a special dispensation to still receive praise even when falling short of that very much achievable industry standard for the genre.

So the guy over at IGN was complaining that the bosses were too cheap. I dunno man, sounds to me like he's just being a sore loser. I don't think sucking at fighting games justifies a lower score... just saying.

And I'm saying that I'm having a fully satisfying MK experience with a technically accomplished fighter that is MORE accessible to my preferences.

And, yes, as I've covered before, I play a LOT of fighting games. Blazblue is one of my favorites, being both deep, fast, and full of quirky charm incomparable to other games. Do you know who I main in Street Fighter IV? Dan. The quirkiest, most hapless and pathetic character in a bright pink gi you'll ever see.

But, once again, this is a brand new fighting engine that has JUST come out. They have it set up to be fixed. The goal of super-hardcore-mega-deep fighting that you clamor for is still very much in reach with some modest tweaks, patches, and feedback. Tell them what you think. Are X-rays overpowered? Are whiffed specials not punishable enough? Is Mileena's Flesh Pit outfit too distracting? Is the D-pad too mushy? Is the air conditioner too cold? Let them know what they should do to better your gameplay experience and they'll do what they can to the best of their abilities.

But the foundation they have is great. It's fun. It's fluid. It's versatile. It's the deepest MK has ever been. It's the most enjoyable MK has ever been. It's comparable to other fighting games in many, many positive ways, and I praise them for that. Make no mistake, I'll give them my critiques as well and lists of improvements, but you make this sound like a disaster, and the high scores, even perfect scores, refute your complaints rather handily.

Well to be honest the Story mode wasn't the best when it came to graphics. My brother and I noticed that sometimes weird stuff would happen like Sonya's bangs dissapearing into her hair...plus even though the graphics looked amazing while playing, when you watched the clips they weren't that realistic tbh. Other than that I think the game is awesome ;)

4 hours away from Gamestop opening to buy my copy >.>

And if MK didn't focus on "fun" more then technicality, it wouldn't be MK.

Fun is more important.

"And if MK didn't focus on "fun" more then technicality, it wouldn't be MK."

False. MK fans deserve nothing less than both.

Ahem, if I'm not mistaken, video games were, are, and will always be...made to HAVE FUN!!!! If you're playing a game because u want to have a boring time or because u want to find something to bitch and complain about, then u have some major issues and need to see the light. I seriously feel sorry for u that u cant just have fun while playing a video game. Instead u have 2 try 2 bring everyone down because u want 2 live in a fantasy world where u substitute a video game for being real life. MK is a fun game no matter how u wanna cut it and, yes, there might be some games that are technically deeper in the fighting mechanics but that doesn't mean it's not a good fighter and it definitely isn't boring. When I bought my PS3, I bought it to be entertained and to have fun. This MK does both of those things. I didn't buy it thinking it would teach me and train me 2 become a professional fighter or a sniper or professional athlete. Every game made is made 2 entertain u, whether its a fighting game, a shooting game, a sports game or whatever other type of game.

Really, what does creating your own streotype of a supposed MK fan and trying 2 bring us down 2 your level accomplish? Does it make u feel proud of yourself?

Really? You found MKDA/MKD/MKA's gameplay fun?? Coz I thought it was broken and boring as hell!

I'd much rather have a story mode and challenge tower then have a game that is so inaccessible by a casual player. The problem with making it overly technical is that it is overly technical. Tekkan? Virtua Fighter? Those games (at least to me) were frustrating as hell because if you weren't a hardcore player, you got your ass kicked.

I like the fact that in MK, the presentation of the fights is awesome, it looks like fighting, and not some hyped up anime. I like the fact however, that I can not play the game for a year or two, and then come back to it, and still beat the tar out of people.

I also don't give a shit about tournaments or video game competitions. I don't give a shit about the technical aspects of how to link 50 different combos together.

I play because it's fun, and yeah, I do play because of the outrageous story. I'll take those over "tournament" quality features any day.

MvC3 is a good game gameplay wise but its as bare bones as you can get, theres an arcade ladder a VS mode and thats IT. Dosent even attempt to have a story. ill pick it up when i can get a new copy for $30 or less, its great for a party or when your gettin stoned with a bunch of people but i cant play that game by myself for more than 20 mins without getting bored lol

I'm a fan of almost every possible fighting game in existence. That's how fanatic I am about them. I have tons of fighting games for multiple platforms and in different styles and I must say MK and Street Fighter will always be my favorites.

Do not generalize.

I give a 9.9 to the game. -0.1 because it doesn't have a run button. Eveything else is perfect.

mk is finally getting its much deserved respect

i mostly agree with you, but i actually liked mkd quite a bit. the graphics for mkd were still too cartoony, too lackluster for their time, but i really enjoyed the cast of characters, their designs, many of the fatalities, and the 3-stance combos. that said, much of mkda left me wincing and mka was pure recycled crap and was an obvious attempt at a cash grab by making mkt part 2. there was no point in having every character in one game if many of the characters had the same combos, animtions, etc. that said, mka being such crap is why i love mk 2011 so much as everything i hated about about mka is not present in mk 2011. it is fun, effort and attention to detail is very present, and graphics/sound are FINALLY up to date.

MKDA-A were horrible kombatwise, they did feel klunky, but it was still Mortal Kombat. Frustrating at times, absolutely, but yanno, MK has always been frustrating at times.

I'm not a fighting game fan. I'm a Mortal Kombat fan. I'll be out and proud about those two facts. I grew up with MK. Hell, I had SF2 as well. SF2 collected dust while MK1, 2, and 3/UMK3 were played so much that so many years later, my MK2 cartridge is still sitting there in my Sega Genesis. And the Genesis doesn't even work anymore.

.... the thing that I don't get from detractors of MK, is that well... MK doesn't flashy anime like moves to be fun. It doesn't need to be played by tournament level people who think playing video games professionally is their dream. They can be played by the casual, and the hardcore, and they reward the people who do practice, and they reward the people who don't.

The game is meant to be played for fun, not for "OMG MUST WIN COMPETITION" epeen.

High level competition IS fun for a lot of people. No less so just because you don't care for it.

"Now-Gamer gives it a 6.1/10"


Really? A 6.1 out of 10? There's just no way. There is no way that this game could deserve that low of a score. This guy is obviously an MK hater. I'm not saying "OMG! this game is a TEN! Anyone who rates it lower sucks!!!" However, a 6.1? Uh uh.

It's 5.7 on their PS3 version review, but no indication why the difference. Simply two different reviewers, I'm assuming.

http://ps3.nowgamer.com/reviews/ps3/9768/mortal-kombat

"...in harking back to earlier days, the game feels stuck in the past, the fact the fighting system really isn’t deep compared to other modern day brawlers, the fact the gore is little more than a sideshow and the fact that most of the fan service appeals to fans who have grown up a great deal since the Nineties throws up numerous reasons to criticise, however."

He concludes: "There’s fun to be had and – obvious as it may sound – fans of the series will get a kick out of it (and a punch, and their head ripped off), but generally speaking there are far better fighters out there for your buck. 5.7/10"

It seems like a reasonable score given his expressed opinions, *if* you assume that 5.0 indicates an average game and that the scores aren't arbitrarily inflated like they so often are on review sites (where average seems more like 7.5 or 8.0).

Argh! I'm between jobs and was hoping to hold my purchase off for another week... DAMN GAMETRAILERS REVIEW SAYS NO!! Lol. Seriously though, I tend to agree with GT most of the time, and the 9.4 blew me away. Good for you NRS! Way to make MK king again!

Just wanted to quickly add to the flame war going on - Mortal Kombat hasn't been complete trash since UMK3, but it hasn't had the depth of Street Fighter, Tekken, or Soul Caliber in terms of gameplay; you can still prefer it if you'd like, but there was a reason it wasn't taken seriously by non-MK fans. However, it's abundantly clear now that was largely in part to Midway not giving the MK team time to tweak, because look at this: WB gives NRS the time to make the game they want, and it's pulling in near perfect scores from many credible review sites.

Don't be upset when people say things like "SF and Tekken have long been better," because they have more solid ground to stand on than the conflicting opinion. It's okay to admit MK's past flaws, as they have been ironed out and now we fans have a game to be really proud of. It's like when someone used to be really fat and start working out and get into great shape - they don't mind showing people their fat pictures anymore because that's not them anymore. Or maybe my example sucks because my excitement to go buy this shizz is starting to overcome my brain.

Well, I'm off to buy the game right now - guess it's coming out of savings :D

I hadn't read the PS3 one. I guess looking at it from that point of view (regarding what constitutes an average game), It's not so bad.

Either way, I guess the only opinion of a game that really counts is our own. So, If I like it... who gives a damn if others don't. Forgot that for a minute when I saw that score.

I can't believe ign gave it an 8. I wouldn't mind it, but this game blows MvC3 out of the water, and that got an 8.5. I think this is ign being douche bags again. They can't let this franchise beat capcom ever. Oh no, capcom can do no wrong except

No story mode
No Spectator mode
Terrible connection coding
On the disc DLC
Terrible endings
And no extra modes to be found

Bullshit. Fuck ign. I should have expected this though. The same jackasses who gave GTA4 a perfect 10. I'm done with them. GT all the way.

Sorry but this game deserves more credit than it's getting from some sources. And this is coming from someone who absolutely loves the Tekken series and pretty much most of the fighters out there.

But as someone said, we don't need to listen to what other people tell us is good. As long as we think it is good then that's all that matters. WE are the critics, not just those people on IGN or Gamespot!

As others have said, and I agree, the only review that matters is yours.
Edit: And I wasn't generalizing. I was expressing consensus. Mortal Kombat fans love Mortal Kombat and think it's the best, to the point of defending it even when it's a giant sack of crap (MKD, for example). Fighting games fans USUALLY prefer other games, with very, very, very few exceptions that are within an acceptable margin of error.
8.0 is a fair score. You people are insane to think otherwise.

I agree 8.0 is a fair score, but not when MK: Deception got 8.8 and Armageddon an 8.5 on the very same site. That's insulting... lol