Highlights
- Mortal Kombat 1 pays tribute to the fans and previous games, offering a nostalgic and satisfying experience with plenty of references and odes.
- The game gives long-overdue recognition to underappreciated characters like Ashrah and Reiko, providing them with compelling storylines and unique gameplay mechanics.
- Beloved characters like Smoke, Nitara, Baraka, and Reptile receive significant improvements in terms of design, backstory, and gameplay, making them some of the game's standout choices.
In many ways, Mortal Kombat 1 is a love letter to all things Mortal Kombat. It’s a recognition and celebration of both the fans and each and every Mortal Kombat game. Not only is the story mode a complete crowd-pleaser and chock-full of references and odes, but Mortal Kombat 1's roster is incredible.
Mortal Kombat 1 has pivoted the focus from special forces and kombat kids towards the 3D-Era characters and gone back towards the mythical sides of things. While some characters like Kenshi have always been incredible, both in terms of gameplay and their involvement in the story, a lot of early to mid-2000s characters aren’t as fortunate. They do however get some recognition and justice in this game, and each of them might just be the best version of the character we’ve ever seen.
6 Ashrah
Ashrah made her debut in Mortal Kombat: Deception. She had a goofy hat; she was a demon and also a good guy and that was largely all there was to it. Now Ashrah has her own story mode chapter. Ashrah is focused on themes of redemption, she was a demon of the Netherrealm, who realized she wanted better. Ashrah must fight evil to purify her soul and remove the demonic parts of her. Ashrah isn’t a major character or anything, but she gets a ton of focus on her in this game. Particularly when she teams up with Kenshi and Reptile, and fights against Quan Chi.
In terms of gameplay, Ashrah is a very solid kombatant. She has tons of different launchers, aerial moves, and long range attacks. Ashrah and her blade Kris have tons of fun strings and players who sink time into her can easily find lots of flashy and elaborate combos.
5 Reiko
Reiko always had a cool design, and he’s been around for a long time. He has basically always been a number 2 guy to Shao Kahn, but he’s recently got some more attention. Reiko was a big part of the MKX comics and has now come back onto the main roster after a long wait since Armageddon.
Reiko isn’t an important character in MK1, but he has been given an incredible design, with tons of cool gear options and awesome armor. Moreover, Reiko has a unique move-set, he stands as the only grappler in the game. Moreover, he has access to the shooting star projectiles and long-range ‘power’ kicks. Overall, he’s one of the most complex and intricate characters in the game and is sure to be a popular pick in online play.
4 Smoke
Smoke, as one of the MK ninjas has always been a very popular character. He has, however, been left in the background for the past few games, appearing mainly as an unimportant NPC in the story. Ever since MK9, Smoke has been displaced by his cyborg alternative.
With that in mind, it’s great to see Smoke back in his human ninja form and as a member of the Lin Kuei. Smoke is the adopted brother of Sub Zero and Scorpion and tries to act as Sub Zero’s moral compass. He has some incredible mix-ups and gruesome fatalities. Smoke is probably one of the hardest characters to main in the game due to his complicated moveset but learning him is extremely fun and rewarding. His new design isn’t too shabby either.
3 Nitara
Nitara has only been playable in two Mortal Kombat games, both over a decade ago. Her new redesign is incredible and all the different gear and skins players can use make her one of the best-looking characters in the game. While Nitara isn’t explored too deeply in the Story Mode, it is clear how much effort went into developing her.
Nitara has some of the coolest and most diverse moves in the entire game. Her rapid, up-close-and-personal combat style is a welcome change to her usual skillset. Nitara focuses a lot on blood-related moves and has a ton of incredible aerial combos as well. She’s one of the clearly marked improvements in this game, despite the controversial voice acting.
2 Baraka
Fans of the series have been disappointed with how Baraka has been treated for a while now. He’s been cannon fodder since his inception, and has never impressed gameplay-wise either. There was a little focus on Baraka in MK11, but this is where he really gets to shine. Baraka’s past is explored, and he pivots into more of an anti-hero role.
His relationship with Johnny Cage and Kenshi is focused on during the mid-game as well. As always Baraka has an impressive design, but now he backs it up with some really solid gameplay. Baraka has some of the coolest-looking and brutal combos in the game.
1 Reptile
Reptile is one of the most popular characters in the Mortal Kombat series, he’s also usually been super fun to play and has had some crazy designs. So, it might seem a little weird to think he’d have any improvements. This is exactly what makes it impressive that Reptile in MK1 is probably the best we’ve seen in a while.
Reptile, or Syzoth is no longer cannon fodder. He gets his own chapter in the story and the game does a good job exploring his origin and motivations. Moreover, his redesign is incredible. The transformations between his human form and natural form are super slick as well. Reptile has incredible combo variety and is an all-round.
Mortal Kombat 1 is out now on PlayStation 5, Xbox X, PC, and Nintendo Switch.