In 2011, the newly acquired NetherRealm Studios used its expanded WB resources to reboot the Mortal Kombat franchise. The game and its sequels lovingly honored the original trilogy, while raising the bar for single-player fighting games. Despite the name, Mortal Kombat 1 (available on Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S) is more of a continuation of those titles than a full-on reboot. In fact, the fighter shows love to the less fondly remembered Mortal Kombat releases of the past, such as Deadly Alliance, Deception, and Armageddon. It's a ridiculously feature-packed, forward-looking title with aerial-focused, tag team fighting that’s as entertaining to play as its infamous Fatalities are to watch. It’s well worth the $69.99 price, as well as our Editors’ Choice award for fighting games. The New Mortal Kombat Era It’s not a spoiler to say that Mortal Kombat 1 is really Mortal Kombat 12, in that it’s a direct sequel to Mortal Kombat 11. After defeating the vil...
Mortal Kombat 1 isn’t the clean narrative reboot that its name implies, but its rich single-player action and new tag-team aerial brawls make for the best fighting system in the history of the franchise.
Fluid, high-flying fighting mechanics; Bright and colorful visuals; Epic campaign story; Tactical tag-team system; Seasonal single-player content; Excellent netcode
No crossplay at launch; Some questionable roster choices; Story features characters only available as DLC