Summary
After months of anticipation,Mortal Kombat 1is finally out in the wild. Fans of the gory fighting franchise are diving into NetherRealm Studios' newest installment across the globe, and so far, it’s living up to expectations. Not only doesMortal Kombat 1deliver the franchise’s trademark action with some fresh twists, but it weaves a compelling narrative that soft-reboots the canon while hearkening back to classicMKlore. It remains to be seen if this new entry will cement itself as one of the bestMKgames in franchise history, butMortal Kombat 1has thus far made a strong first impression overall.
WhileMortal Kombat 1is succeeding in most respects, there is one aspect of the game that has proven to be a glaring issue. The team behindMK1decided to make the game a truly next-gen experience, releasing it on PS5, Xbox Series, X/S, and PC. At the same time, however, the decision was made to also bringMK1to the Nintendo Switch, a console infamous for its performance difficulties in regard to third-party games. Other highly technical titles have managed to find their footing on the console despite some shortcomings, but the Switch version ofMK1has turned into a train wreck of epic proportions.
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Mortal Kombat 1’s Switch Version Explained
The first andmost obvious issue withMK1on the Switch is its graphical quality. On PS5 and Xbox Series X/S,MK1is one of the most visually captivating games of the last few years. Environments are vibrant, facial animations are lifelike, and the game as a whole appears polished. The exact opposite is true on Switch, asMK1’s graphics on the console are in a frankly unacceptable state. Character models look deplorable, with each face appearing smooth and doll-like, and any nuance in facial animation is completely absent.
In addition to its visual woes,MK1on the Switch has a host of technical problems. While frame rate issues are to be expected with this sort of game on this sort of hardware, it goes much deeper than that. Many cinematic animations are glitchy, heads often float or strangely distort after fatalities and brutalities, and some CPU fighters have been known to break the fighting plane and veer off into the background. In many ways, these glitches can be humorous, but they ultimately serve to harmMK1’s overall reputation.
How MK1’s Switch Version Affects Its Reputation
Mortal Kombat 1retails for $70 in most marketplaces, which has become the new standard along with the current generation of PlayStation and Xbox consoles. Given this higher price point, fans should be able to expect a high-quality productno matter what version ofMK1they buy, but that clearly isn’t the case here. For many gamers, this may be the only version ofMK1they get to play, tainting their perception of the game while others get to enjoy a much more polished version. If anotherMKgame ever does come to Switch, fans may be more likely to skip that entry to save themselves the pain of yet another buggy, visually poor mess.
Mortal Kombat 1had a lot of things working for it leading up to its release. From a bold new take onMKstorytelling toMK1’s exciting new Kameo system, it had a chance to be a revolutionary step forward for the franchise as a whole. While all of that work is not necessarily lost due to the Switch version, it places an unfortunate asterisk on the reputation of the game. Many gamers may only ever know the Switch version ofMK1, in which case all they may remember about the game is its shortcomings, and not the refined experienced NetherRealm Studios crafted on other platforms.
Mortal Kombat1is available now on PC, PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X/S.
