Sit down folks, this is gonna be a sad review.

Mortal Kombat 9, 2011, Komplete Edition, whatever (I'm gonna call it MK9), is... really damn good. This is the game that brought Mortal Kombat back to relevancy in a time where the future was no longer certain for the franchise. After MKDC ended up being what it is today, and a bunch of projects being outright shut down, WB went and got the MK franchise, and now we have NRS. So far, so good, right?

MK9 is pretty much what you liked from the classic games, if you liked someone from the OG trilogy, they would be here. (save for Motaro and Chameleon, I guess) The game is fast paced, the combos are good fun and the dial-a-combos of this game are a interesting in-between of the old MK dial-a-combos and the strings of the 3D era. The visuals are great save for the female characters' faces (which explains why half of them wear masks), and as far as their costumes go... I think I kinda understand why they went a safer route, NRS had to get their head out of the late-90's/2000's LMAO.

The gameplay added a super meter, which similar to SF4, brings in EX moves for the cost of a bar, and combo breakers for the cost of two. X-Rays are here for the cost of three bars, but despite the armor they're casual fodder at best, you rarely see this used in competitive play, it's just not worth it when you can get around the same damage using a single bar, or sometimes meterless depending of the character.

MK9 is not a balanced game, straight up. Kabal can do ANYTHING, Kenshi can zone you for days, Cyrax has resets on top of resets, while Quan Chi has nothing going save for the good ol' Rune Trap, Noob is good in the corner but he's not a character made to get people in the corner, and don't even get me started on Jade. xD But I'd say the lack of balance doesn't really ruin the game or anything, fighting games aren't known for being balanced anyway, at least in my view.

This is also the last MK game to feature Tag Team mode, which is a good dose of fun despite it being ridiculously broken, even more if you can get 4 people to play (I only managed to do it once). You can make tag combos, you can do a input for your tag partner come in and throw a special move (which feels very familiar to the current MK1 kameos), some bad characters can become viable if you pair them with someone who covers their weaknesses, the list goes on. It's broken as hell, but it's a good time.

Minigames are back and in full force. Test Your Might which is the classic from the very first MK game, Test Your Sight making a comeback from MKDA, Test Your Luck which actually reminds me of the Party Mode from KOF Maximum Impact 2 with all the different battle modifications and all that, and finally, Test Your Strike which is a little similar to Test Your Might, all of them are welcome additions, not to mention the Challenge Tower, which needs zero introductions at this point.

This game also has tons of secrets. We're talking VS mode codes, secret fights, even a freaking Toasty Boost which gives you full meter if you time a sequence of buttons right whenever Dan Forden and his lovely t-shirt show up on the screen. The spirit of classic MK is alive and well in this game.

There's also the Krypt, but I don't think it's that interesting or impressive. Also there's a jumpscare if you stay idle for too long? That's pretty dumb, but I'll let it slide. xD

The Story Mode is fine, it's a retelling of the first three games, rebooting the franchise back from the Battle of Armageddon, there's some funny moments and aside from the 2-on-1 battles and I guess Shao Kahn getting a little too abusive with the armor, you can't go wrong with it. Oh yeah, beating it unlocks Cyber-Sub and Quan Chi, which must have been a treat for pro players who used them, because imagine going to the venue before the tournament starts just to beat the story and ensure your mains will be there! LMAO

Speaking of the bosses, they're nowhere near the nightmares of MK1, 2, or UMK3, but they can still kick your ass if you're not careful. Their attacks hit hard and they might sneak in some super armor here and there, but as far as the lineage of bosses go in the MK series, they're okay, except for Challenge 300, of course.

I think I've went long enough as I can without addressing the elephant in the room: you can't buy this game anymore. Hell, I got it because a friend gave it to me. And that's really sad. I don't know if it's due to the female characters, or due to rights over Freddy, or maybe they just didn't want to give support to the online, but it's a damn shame you can't but the game through here. There are keys roaming around, yes, but they're not getting any cheaper, so keep that in mind.

All in all, MK9 is a FANTASTIC game which brought the series back from the grave, the gameplay set the standard for the following games, there's a ton to do with the minigames and challenge towers (not mentioning online because I'm not sure how this is going with the game in its current state), the visuals look great for a 2011 game, the combos are great, there's plenty of secrets, the biggest downside being the poor job to preserve it and make it available for newer players trying to get started on the franchise. It's undoubtedly a thumbs up, just be careful to not to get scammed in those key sites. I don't think they're reintroducing this game back to Steam in an official way, but let's try to stay hopeful.

best MK game

This a game is just play'n enjoyable and a has plenty of features to keep you coming to prefect one or another thing this game has to offer. If its not the great cast of characters its the challenges that the game boosts through the campaign the challenge towers with unique endings for all characters. The fighting is satisfying and bloody with of course the most famous announcer and fatalities.

have fun