Highlights

  • Mortal Kombat 1's first Kombat Pack stands out with its massive DLC bundle, featuring six Kombatants and numerous Kameo fighters.
  • The release schedule for Kombat Pack 1 spans an entire year, offering a steady stream of new content for fans.
  • Takeda, the final character coming to Mortal Kombat 1, may benefit from the developers' increased knowledge and balance changes over the game's first year.

Mortal Kombat 1 is the newest AAA fighting game on the block, but it still faces stiff competition. Street Fighter 6 was released earlier in the year and is one of the best games the series has seen in a long time, and Tekken 8 is right around the corner, alongside Under Night In-Birth 2, the predecessor to which was an indie darling in the fighting game community. The fighting game genre is booming, but Mortal Kombat 1's first Kombat Pack sets it apart. With six Kombatants and even more Kameo fighters, the DLC bundle is massive. The supervillain guest characters may be the popular focus, and yet the pack is bringing back plenty of series veterans with Takeda among them.

While the size of MK1's first Kombat Pack is one of the things that is setting it and the game itself apart from other fighting games right now, it will take a long time to complete. The 6 primary kombatants and 5 Kameo Fighters will roll out over the course of an entire year. Unfortunately, for fans awaiting his return, Takeda is the final character coming to the game. Luckily, the rest of the pack is filled with other exciting characters as well, and its rollout schedule promises that fans will never have to wait too long for new content.

Kombat Pack 1's Release Schedule

  • Omni-Man - November 2023
  • Quan Chi - Winter 2023/2024
  • Peacemaker - Winter 2023/2024
  • Ermac - Spring 2024
  • Homelander - Spring 2024
  • Takeda Takahashi - Summer 2024
Sub-Zero, Liu Kang, and Omni-Man in Mortal Kombat 1
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Every Mortal Kombat 1 Character, Ranked by Popularity (July 2024)

Although there's quite a bit of overlap between the best and most popular Mortal Kombat 1 characters, there are also one or two big surprises.

Takeda Doesn't Have Much of a History

mortal kombat 11 where is takeda

Takeda was absent in MK11 after being originally added in Mortal Kombat X. This means that despite finding fans quickly, the character has only appeared in one game. Takeda is a relative newcomer but his role in the universe and previous appearance provide insight into how he may play in this entry. Takeda Takahashi is a Shirai Ryu ninja and a Kombat Kid. In MKX, his gameplay resembles fellow ninjas Sub-Zero and Scorpion.

The thing that sets Takeda apart is that instead of being an all-rounder, he sacrifices some flexibility for a killer mid-range zoning game utilizing his metallic whips.

Takeda Is Weak From Afar But Hard to Approach

Takeda uses metallic whips to fight his opponents in MKX. This gave the character some of the best reach on normal attacks in that game. Takeda was easy to whiff-punish and poke with, even though his ability to follow up was limited to relatively short combos. His big trade-off was that he lacked a fireball, giving zoners the upper hand. Takeda had a projectile that could be thrown at the ground, though it lacked the reach of the fireballs of Scorpion and other shoto archetype fighters. Takeda also had fewer options up close than true all-rounders, though he was still quite capable.

Takeda Will Likely Have More Freedom in MK1

MK1 Kombat Kids

Takeda in Mortal Kombat 1 will likely retain his focus on mid-range play but could receive a larger move set. One thing that set Takeda apart in MKX was that he had some powerful options in the air. The air game in MK1 has been pretty much buffed across the board, so it would be unsurprising to see the developers lean into this element of the character. It is also likely that the character will remain weak at a distance, but the addition of Kameo Fighters will make it easier for players to make up for this.

Takeda is still about half of a year away and the character could benefit from this. MK1's first balance patch was controversial in part because of how nerfs to Kameo Fighters impacted the primary fighters. The nerfs to the assist mechanic hurt characters that relied on them more than well-rounded kombatants. Now, while the patch was helpful overall, there are still a lot of balance changes needed. Takeda's status as the final DLC character in the pack could mean that he will benefit from the developer's new knowledge built up over the game's first year in players' hands.