Mortal Kombat 1

Mortal Kombat 1 is a 2023 fighting game developed by NetherRealm Studios and published by Warner Bros. Games. It is the twelfth main installment in the Mortal Kombat series, and serves as its second reboot after 2011’s Mortal Kombat. The game takes place after the events of 2019’s Mortal Kombat 11, and is set in a new timeline (the third main timeline in the series’ history) created by Liu Kang during his ending in 11’s Aftermath expansion. In this new timeline, Liu Kang assembles a clique of fighters to participate in the latest Mortal Kombat tournament in Outworld while contending with an alliance formed by Titan Shang Tsung. In the follow-up expansion, Khaos Reigns, Liu Kang and his allies must contend with Titan Havik.

Mortal Kombat 1 features a story mode, online multiplayer with rollback netcode, and offline gameplay, as well as cross-play and cross-progression, a first in the series. However, cross-play and cross-progression are unavailable at launch on Nintendo Switch, though cross-play support was added on February 27, 2024, while the King of the Hill online mode will support cross-play in the future. The game introduces a feature called Kameo Fighters, who provide assistance to the player during fights in a similar fashion to the tag assist fighters of the Towers of Time mode in Mortal Kombat 11. These characters are separate from the main roster and are chosen before each fight.

Fatal Blows, first introduced in Mortal Kombat 11, make a return. Like before, these can be triggered when a player’s health drops below 30%, but this time they have the player and his Kameo Fighter delivering an attack in tandem. Additionally, the most significant attacks performed during the Fatal Blow are highlighted with effects like those seen in Mortal Kombat X‘s X-Ray moves. Also returning is the airborne combo system seen in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon and the action spin-off Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. For single-player, the game features the return of the plot-driven Story Mode and the traditional form of Towers mode from the previous games.

While introducing the addition of the seasonal Invasions mode, an online mode combining fighting mechanics with board game and role-playing game elements. The players are tasked with moving around the board while completing various challenges on each space they move to, earning rewards such as skins, in-game currency, or concept art for completing the challenges. Each Invasion season lasts around six weeks and has its own board and theme. For multiplayer, the versus modes include Local mode to play a match on the same console, Online mode to play against opponents all over the world, and Tournament mode to host a tournament with a unified rule set for the matches.

Returning as an additional finishing move in a free update released alongside the Khaos Reigns expansion DLC is Animalities, first introduced in Mortal Kombat 3 and its updates Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and Mortal Kombat Trilogy, which allow the player to morph into an animal and maul their opponent. After defeating Kronika and Shang Tsung, Fire God Liu Kang uses Kronika’s Hourglass to recreate the universe before relinquishing control of it to Geras to become Earthrealm’s protector. Over time, he forms a tenuous alliance with Outworld under the auspices of continuing the Mortal Kombat tournaments.

In the present, Shang Tsung, now a powerless Outworlder, struggles to make a living selling quack medicine until he is approached by a mysterious individual named “Damashi”, who reveals to him that he has the potential to become a sorcerer and that unseen forces have been working against him. Meanwhile, Liu Kang recruits farmhands Kung Lao and Raiden, financially struggling Hollywood actor Johnny Cage, and former yakuza gangster Kenshi Takahashi to compete in the latest tournament, with Raiden eventually being named Earthrealm’s champion and winning the tournament.