Mortal Kombat

The NRS era of Mortal Kombat marks a significant shift after the chaotic mess that was Armageddon. Following the nonsensical storylines, the decision to reset the timeline was a smart move that gave the series a fresh start. While the stories in this era still have their weak points, they don't reach the level of disarray seen in Armageddon. In terms of narrative, this era is an improvement, though it's still not without its flaws.

But let's get to the real highlight of the NRS era: the sheer amount of sexual appeal. Female characters are presented with an abundance of revealing outfits, turning up the heat in a way that hadn't been seen before. From Kitana to Sonya, and even Kira's cameo appearance-where she wore her alternate, more revealing costume from Deception/Armageddon-the NRS era certainly didn't hold back on showcasing its female fighters. Kira's brief inclusion, before being scrapped and replaced by Skarlet, was a frustrating moment for me, especially since her appearance was one of the more eye-catching cameos.

On the gameplay side, the timeline reset also led to some interesting decisions, like making Kabal a good guy for part of the story, which was an amusing twist. Watching him get pulled back into the darkness by Kano was a fun dynamic, adding some layers to Kabal's character. While the stories may not be as bad as Armageddon, there's still a lot that doesn't quite stick, but overall, the reset was a good call.

Another huge win for this era was the introduction of the best guest character ever: Kratos. His inclusion was a perfect fit for Mortal Kombat's brutal world. The sheer savagery of his fighting style and his incredible Fatality made him feel right at home, and honestly, he's probably the best guest character the series has ever seen.

Unfortunately, the NRS era wasn't without its own missteps. A notable frustration was the lack of creativity when it came to Fatalities. Kira, who was known for her mix of Kano and Sonya's moves in Deception, had her iconic Fatality effectively stolen by Mileena, a move that felt lazy and disappointing for fans who appreciated Kira's original style. This lack of innovation soured an otherwise solid era of Mortal Kombat.

In conclusion, the NRS era breathed new life into the Mortal Kombat franchise, with a solid reset of the timeline, plenty of fanservice, and iconic guest characters like Kratos. However, the series still struggles with creativity, particularly when it comes to Fatalities and storytelling. Still, it was a huge improvement over the shambles of Armageddon.

Sometimes I wonder if Warner really know what a goldmine they are sitting on with the Mortal Kombat franchise. This is a series that features literally dozens of characters with rich backgrounds and deep mythology. But so far all we've had are two trashy movies back in the mid-90s. With so many sequels and spin-offs the video games series has now been rebooted with this current-gen monstrosity.

The difficulty of Mortal Kombat is ridiculous. The game simply doesn't give you a chance. The rivals seem to move at twice the speed as you do, leaving you unable to do anything apart from getting pulverized. There's simply no way you have time to punch in the codes for combo moves or specials. And since every character has different codes you'd have to be an idiot savant to memorize all these. The only way I managed to finish the story mode was through trickery and chance. The collision detection is also very inconsistent, which almost caused me to turn green with rage and rip through my clothing on a few occasions. It's a very bloody game too, with brutal fatalities and 'X-ray' moves where we get to see cool shots of bones breaking and guts shredding...oh wait...I'm not an angry 15-year-old boy. Actually, these moments are kinda distasteful and desensitizing. The game certainly earns its adult rating.

There are 51 trophies featured in the game but I only managed to unlock 32% of them as the Platinum literally requires THOUSANDS of hours of gameplay. I don't want to imagine what kind of person would commit that amount of time to a video game.

Pros: Great sound effects, lots of colorful stages.

Cons: Long, long, loooooong, unskippable cut-scenes, extreme difficulty.

Graphics B+ Sound A Gameplay C Lasting Appeal B-

This game takes the original formula and expands on it. Really recommendable!! One of the games that made the 7th gen so great!

With amazing graphics on PS3 and XBOX 360, brutal fatalities, beatiful combos, the characters are amazing, with very cool origins (like kabal), the story is so cool with too much plot twists. This game is perfect, I want a remake.

The concept behind this game's story mode is good, but it changes the MK universe as a whole and has some points in the story mode where characters go completely out of character. The story mode also has a lot of continuity errors such as Reptile already being a Reptile in the first tournament when he is supposed to be human looking. He then devolves over time into his reptilian looking form. Speaking of the ninjas, only some of them have the classic mk1 look at the first tournament while others like Sub-Zero and Scorpion have detailed outfits. Overall there is a lot of inconsistencies with this title's story and design, but a new spin with this generation of consoles on Mortal Kombat is refreshing.