Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive
Developer: NetherRealm Studios
Genre: Fighting
ESRB: Mature
Release date: April 19, 2011

Like big Hollywood icons, TV personalities and rock stars, video game series are also subject to over-ripening. Sonic the Hedgehog is a good example – once ultra popular, the blue blur saw a steady decline as game after game featuring his likeness was released. A similar thing happened to Mortal Kombat, only instead of the games getting progressively worse, they just expanded out from the original idea and got too big for their britches. What was once an unstoppable juggernaut in the gaming kingdom, now drifted from the dock and relied on spin-offs and far-fetched distractions that took away from the core brutality of the series – the things that made Mortal Kombat great: fist to trachea – “Oh my God…did he just do that?” stuff your parents should have never let you play in the first place.

And that’s precisely what this reboot is attempting to do – take new technology and apply the same old-school magic players have always loved about the earlier games in the series. No numbers after the title, no animalities or platforming adventure offshoots – just Mortal Kombat with a few modern amenities players have come to expect from this generation of gaming.

Where this mantra is most apparent is in the fight itself. See, a homecoming to a two-dimensional fighting plane pleases not only in a return to roots, but also in the control department. Where recent MK sequels bombarded you with multiline, stance-switching combos, this iteration goes back to the D-pad friendly ups, downs, lefts and rights of the first three games. This makes pulling off special moves, and yes, the signature fatalities of the series easier than ever. The only extra I needed to take into account was the special-move bar that, as you take damage, fills up three levels. The first two levels enable you to perform enhanced special moves, so instead of Scorpion throwing one Van-Damme spear, he’ll throw two; instead of a regular ice bolt, Sub-Zero will throw an extended one that has a better chance of catching a mid-air opponent. These come in handy during a fight, but hold out for a full special meter and you’ll be able to perform what is known as an “X-ray” move. These devastating attacks show internal damage, which is not only gruesome, but can turn the tide of a fight in seconds. It’s also an idea I swear I thought of years ago, but that’s a different story best saved for a ranting blog post.

Although the demo is worth your download time to get a taste, the main attraction, when it releases on April 19th, looks to be worth the wait for those without the bandwidth to spare. A gigantic roster of known fighters and console-specific additions (PS3 owners get Kratos from God of War!), tag-team matches and something known as the Challenge Tower. The Challenge Tower is a series of 300 missions that not only test your grasp of the game’s mechanics, but do so it a unique way. You may be expected to fight without arms for a match, or with an upside down screen, or with rainbow blood. It’s all ridiculous, but thankfully not too far from the foundation the team is striving to stick to.

It all remains to be seen, though. My time with the game was pretty fantastic, and brought back all sorts of cherished memories long since lost under the piles of sequels and spin-offs the series regularly added to its lineup. If you’re as excited as I am, Mortal Kombat comes in three progressively pricey flavors: Standard, Kollector’s and Tournament editions. The Standard edition just gives you the game, Kollector’s throws in an art book, classic character skins and figurine book ends, and the Tournament edition features the content of the Kollector’s edition all contained within an extremely limited-edition fight stick.

Whichever you decide upon, one thing’s for sure: the gaming world is going to be a helluva lot bloodier come April 19. Look for Adrenaline Vault’s review of Mortal Kombat soon!