Oh my goodness, it’s been WAY too long since I’ve written something on here! The month of March was one of those glorious periods where I was so enthralled by the titles I’d been playing that I could hardly be bothered to avert my gaze from my television to the horizon to see what other titles may be cresting the sun-soaked hills. Uh, in this metaphor, it’s morning. Maybe like right after sunrise or something? I don’t know, just let me have this one.

Lately, I’ve been going RPG-crazy with Pokemon White (arguably my favorite Pokemon release; the moving sprites and 3D landscapes finally bring the game to life, but oh how I miss the safari zone), the XBLA release of Torchlight (cannot wait for the sequel; I hope there will be character importing or heirlooming), and more Two Worlds II (chapter one took roughly 15 hours, and I’m still thoroughly enjoying it). Awesome.

So I haven’t seen much coming in Spring 2011 that’s captured my attention. Brink looks like it could be really great when played with friends, and while I’d normally be all over any title like that, I don’t think I’ll be able to convince anyone to take the plunge with me. The only game that’s really got me thinking is Mortal Kombat. I know. Flame shield at full power and capacity.  

I put my faith in Midway a few years ago with Manchester Orchestra versus D.C. United for the 360 (ALEX ROSS IS COOL AND ALL BUT WHY DID YOUR SPECIAL EDITION NOT COME WITH A FUCKING CASE FOR THE DISC?) and was disappointed with the glaring lack of kontent that makes Mortal Kombat so much fun and grants overwhelming amounts of replay value to the titles. There was no krypt to be found, no puzzle kombat, only a couple of unlockable kharacters, and no DLK, despite plans to release a few extra kombatants. Admittedly, this is because Midway was a causality of our failing economy, but I still couldn’t help but feel heartbroken that I’d never get to uppercut people as Martain Manhunter.

Despite that letdown, I’m willing to give Ed Boon and NetherRealm Studios (the fallout from Midway Chicago) a second chance with this ninth iteration of the MK series. Why? Well, first and foremost is Warner Brothers’ involvement in the game. Previously, Midway developed and published most of their own games in-house, and I’m hoping that having an outside company as a publisher and a second set of compound eyes will help quash bugs and get everything nice and polished for release. There’s currently a demo up on the PSN, and from what I can tell it’s been fairly well-received; I haven’t played it only because I don’t have a PS3. I’ve been trying to watch some gameplay footage from the demo, and so far this video has gotten me pretty hyped…you’ll see why:

All I could think was “AY YO JOHNNY CAGE WHERE YO CURLEH MUSTACHE AT?”

Besides the kombat flow looking a lot quicker and smoother than it did in the vignettes posted on themortalkombat.com, I got my first taste of the menus for the game, and oh my goodness, they look so sick! While I’m usually more easily swayed by gameplay than by flashy graphics and animation, I’m impressed by the dynamic motion in the navigation. I definitely won’t tire of Scorpion punching Sub-Zero in the face any time soon, that’s for sure. 

From the more superficial aspects likes menus to the core components like kharacter models and environments, Mortal Kombat looks beautiful. In the May 2011 issue of GamePro, there’s a great article detailing the road NetherRealm has traveled on their journey to MK9, and there’s a half page devoted exclusively to kombat arenas. A mixture of concept art and actual screenshots, it looks like Boon and his team have redesigned a bunch of MK1,2 and 3 favorites in gorgeous detail. They’ve also confirmed stage fatalities for MK9 as well, so you can count on uppercuting bros into pits of acid and spikes and unused cases not included in the special edition of MKvsDC. 

The return of k-k-kombo breakers has me excited too. While I can appreciate the artform that is juggling, it’s nice to have a counter to keep you in the fight if/when your opponent gets too silly. I think RAGE mode is gone too, which is another definite plus for me. My friends Brian and Kelin put it best: X-Factor mode is stupid—you always forget to use it until your opponent does, then you just use it yourself at the same time. Wait.

In RAGE mode’s place is the X-Ray attack, which seems much more at home here than it did in Blitz 2: the League. It works as a sort of tiered special attack that culminates with you zoning in on a particular body part of your opponent and utterly destroying it. So far I’ve seen broken bones and squished organs, but I’m trying hard not to spoil them all for myself. Fingers crossed for a Johnny Cage testicle attack. I like the ambiguous feel of that last sentence, let’s not correct it for clarity. 

Perhaps the biggest selling point for me is the new tag mode. Fighting games just seem more fun with tag modes, and it’s about time MK gave it a shot—queue someone calling me out and saying, “Hey, MK: Deception. Noob/Smoke.“ However, NetherRealm is trying something I haven’t seen since DOA4 tried with their tag mode: 2-player co-op. That’s right: two humans, one couch, two AI opponents…FIGHT! As a co-op fanatic, I’m thrilled. More games need this feature, so badly. Oh, and an online spectator mode. Wait. 

Boasting a roster that’s (so far) 26 kombatants strong—God of War’s Kratos is PS3-exclusive; Boon and his team have teased a possible 360 exclusive, but there hasn’t been any reveal yet—and with at least three more planned as DLK—the first batch is planned to drop about a month post-launch—MK9 is looking like it might finally be the Mortal Kombat title that revives the series and maybe even brings it into the limelight alongside current fighting goliaths Marvel vs Capcom 3 and Super Street Fighter IV. To me though, Capcom’s fighters are of a completely different breed than Midway/NetherRealms—they’re practically uncomparable. I just hope they’re all just as fun. Woah, I really can’t wait until April 19th.