Mortal Kombat began life as the bloody, sadistic rival to Street Fighter II when it hit arcades in 1992, and it proved popular enough to spawn several sequels of varying quality over the next two decades. 2011's Mortal Kombat reboot returned the series to its raw, hard-hitting 2D roots after a few 3D entries and a questionable crossover with DC Comics—and the fanbase ate it up. That breath of fresh air lands on the PS Vita (4 stars, $299) with an enhanced port that not only includes improved gameplay, but all the console DLC (for free!), new challenges, and much more. In short, Mortal Kombat fan should consider this game an instant-buy.

Killing In The Name Of....

Mortal Kombat's story mode opens with Raiden taking a beating at the hands of Shao Khan, amid a sea of massacred heroes and villains. In order to prevent the butcher from taking over the various realms, Raiden sends a mental message to his past self—Raiden in 1992's Mortal Kombat—to help assist the champions who are combating the evil tournament forces. The story is told through a series of in-engine cutscenes that reveal character motivations, but, really, it's all about the fighting.

And there's plenty of it. NetherRealms' port of the hit PS3 and Xbox 360 game keeps everything that gamers loved about the original—wince-worthy X-Ray attacks, hard-hitting combat, gruesome fatalities—and added a few gameplay tweaks designed to repair holes in the damage scaling that allowed savvy (abusive?) gamers to unleash big hurt on opponents with little effort.

Kool Kombat

That's not to say that there aren't cheesy moves—this is Mortal Kombat, a franchise that has never truly embraced the concept of balance. Many characters have unblockables (such as Sheeva's annoying air stomp attack!) and utterly cheap moves. The King of Fighters XIII  this is not.

Mortal Kombat moves at a brisk 60 frames per second, but with the speed comes a tradeoff. The textures aren't quite as detailed as those of the console versions, but many of the potential flaws are masked by the fact that the game is running on the PS Vita's 5-inch display which makes them harder to see. That said, characters still wear damage, which is a nice touch. As your character takes a beating, it suffers bruises, cuts, and tattered clothing.

Mortal Kombat packs Wi-Fi and local ad-hoc combat, and the wireless fighting is fast and smooth, for the most part. I experienced a few lags during Wi-Fi bouts, but it didn't greatly affect the experience. The leaderboards, which list the best ranked and unranked fighters, help spark the competitive spirit as does the mic support, which lets you talk smack to other gamers.

New Challenges Await
If you've played the original 2011 Mortal Kombat and are wondering if it's worth purchasing on the PS Vita the verdict is resounding yes. The PS Vita version adds new character skins from Mortal Kombat II and Ultimate Mortal Kombat III, all of the console DLC characters (Freddie Kreuger, Kenshi, Rain, Scarlett, God of War's Kratos), 150 new Challenge Tower missions, and mini-games (one of which is a Fruit Ninja-inspired diversion that substitutes fruit edibles for body parts).

Mortal Kombat also adds touchscreen Fatalities (you quickly draw the motion with your finger), touch X-rays (you tap the X-ray icon when your power meter is full to unleash a devastating attack). Both touch attacks, thankfully, are optional—you can use the traditional joystick inputs if you'd like.

The Final Judgment
Mortal Kombat represents one of the most stacked PS Vita games to date—you even save directly to the cart itself, so a memory card isn't required. Mortal Kombat's special brand of fighting may not rope in the Street Fighter IV crowd, but if you're fond of the sci-fi/supernatural/ultra-violent spin on brawling, this is a can't-miss title.

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