Mortal Kombat 1 Review (Switch) - Play It on Anything Else

I am sure that a broken, glitchy, input-dropping, slow-motion slideshow mess is not at all what Netherrealm Studios had intended for the Switch port of Mortal Kombat 1, which the official Mortal Kombat site says was developed by Shiver Entertainment and Saber Interactive, apparently by stripping-down the Steam version of the game for Nintendo’s hybrid console. That might have worked in theory, but it seems like the developers plum ran out of time, resources, manpower, or willpower, because the end result is not only nothing like the current-gen versions of the game, but a legendarily bad port that is already being hailed as one of the buggiest ever less than a month after release. But for gamers with no other choice, is the core experience worth looking past all of the issues? I’ve got the X-ray results in, and here’s the skinny. 

Clocking in at over 33GB, this incredibly unoptimized version of the newest entry in the long-running gory fighting game series is plagued with any number of technical issues. Put a common glitch on a Bingo card, and you’ll likely encounter it within the first hours of gameplay. Mortal Kombat 1 for Switch is as hilarious as the memes make it out to be. The more the CPU gets taxed, the more messed up everything looks, and at its ugliest moments, the game simultaneously goes into a Matrix-esque super slow-mo speed-ramp to highlight the jank. It’s unintentionally funny, which can sometimes complement the ridiculous but entertaining story.

A Compelling Reboot

The world of Mortal Kombat has long been defined by the rivalry between Earthrealm and Otherworld, with any number of alliances, backstabbings, tricksters, and schemers, as well as heroes and villains on both sides. After the epic events of Mortal Kombat 11, a second reboot of the timeline was an understandable choice, and I’m happy to report that they did a really commendable job with the writing, motion capture, and performances, turning in one of the more straightforward and approachable Mortal Kombat storylines. The story is shorter than the last few entries, and depending on your difficulty and skill level, can likely be completed in 2-3 sittings, but even if the visual quality and performance dips often on the Switch, it’s still one of the game’s highlights.

Aside from the Story mode, there’s also Towers, basically a classic arcade mode where you’ll choose the amount of fights you’ll engage in before taking on Shang Tsung and hopefully seeing your chosen character’s endings. Apparently, the Invasions mode, which contains seasonal content and has more of an RPG-like progression, is coming to Switch soon. You’ll be fighting with modifiers, will use consumables, and swap characters often, since each is tied to certain elements that reward counterpicks and encourage players to learn the full roster. Invasions seems fun and I will definitely check it out when it releases, but I doubt it will bump up the score for this review.

Many Ways to Slay

Of course, there are a plethora of Versus modes, supporting Local play between systems or on one console, and a variety of Online modes, both ranked and casual. As for ranked play, as you rack up wins, you’ll earn unique items during Kombat League progression, which will apparently refresh with each new season update. Casual play has modes such as private lobbies. The most novel mode is King of the Hill, where a lobby of players will take turns trying to oust the top dog. It’s basically what happens at arcades when you put your coin down as a challenger and a brilliant addition.

As you play through the game’s modes, you’ll earn experience that will level up your account, fighters, and unlock Kameo fighters (assists). The game’s initial roster is on the lower side, but I appreciate the balancing and obvious fine-tuning that went into the gameplay. Aerial options seem more viable, and the ability to call in assists ups the potential ways that an upset can happen at any time in a match. For the most part, I found blocking to be a strong option, but Mortal Kombat 1 overall rewards aggressive play. Of course, the game also has the requisite training modes, including a very welcome one dedicated to helping players master Fatalities. Speaking of the Fatalities, I was disappointed in most of them. They reuse or slightly modify a bunch of older and classic ones. Thankfully, there’s already some fun DLC, such as a Jean Claude Van Damme skin over Johnny Cage.

I Really Can’t Recommend This Version

The essentials are accounted for, but just barely. On paper, a case could be made that this is the same set of features present in other versions of Mortal Kombat 1. However, the grim reality is that the Switch version is littered with bugs that not only affect the performance of the game, but leave you second-guessing as to whether you are missing your inputs, or the game is failing to register them. 

Various players have confirmed that, indeed, dropped inputs are commonplace. At times, I found that calling in my assists failed to work properly, and what’s more, trying to work around the rampant slowdown made it near-impossible to play optimally. Hence, I relied on blocking and punishing far more than I’d like, as well as cheap poking tactics to eke out wins when playing from behind. To me, this need to work around the myriad of technical limitations essentially renders the game unplayable at a basic level.

The most insulting aspect of the whole experience is the price. Warner Bros. wants to charge Switch players $70 USD for this rushed port. While that in and of itself is a joke, it’s no joke to players who pre-ordered on the Switch on the promises of the game running smoothly, especially considering Nintendo’s refusal to offer refunds for digital purchases. Most hardcore gamers will understand the difference between console limitations, but one would at least expect the game to be playable at a basic level. Every time Mortal Kombat 1 was shown off in trailers, there was no mention that the Switch game would be anything but a slightly-uglier port. The fact that the publishers want to charge the same full price as a PS5 or XSX version of this game, let alone the PC version, is absolutely outrageous. I think that even at $50, this would have been asking too much. The presentation and performance are frankly unacceptable on a console that can handle games like Nier: Automata and Monster Hunter Rise. At times, some of the characters’ faces look like rudimentary PSP models.

It’s a dying shame the developers took out the ability to capture videos from the game, as I would have been happy to share the ghastly and bizarre situations I encountered with far too much frequency where the graphics would morph from photo-realistic pre-renders to potato heads with barely an expression, and then to some uncanny middle ground. At times I was reminded of the bizarre feeling I got from watching Tommy Wiseau’s The Room, which was shot on both digital and 35mm cameras and jarringly cut back and forth between the two mediums.

I’m not sure what sets of decisions led to the Switch version of Mortal Kombat 1 being the disastrous port that it did, but the constant glitches and bugs, inconsistent framerate, and dropped inputs made it nigh-unplayable for me at anything past a casual level. If you’re a masochist or enjoy glitch-fests, you might find something salvageable about this experience, but I strongly implore you to reconsider, and to warn your friends. Buy a new console if you must, but do not spend your hard-earned money on this travesty.

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Verdict: 2/5 (Poor)

*We’ve recently changed our review score format from a 10-score rating to a 5-score rating. You can check out the definition of the new review score system on our About Us page.

PROS

• Excellently-realized series reboot that acknowledges the changes in fun ways

• Fan-favorite characters have a lot of personality

• Well-realized gameplay mechanics such as improved aerials and the Kameo system

CONS

• More bugs than a plague of locusts

• Kampaign mode is relatively short

• A lack of original Fatalities

• $70 price for the Switch version is highway robbery

What I’ve Played 

• Beat the main story on Medium and Hard difficulty

• Beat Towers with 12/30 characters

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