Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat appeared on PlayStation Vita in a version that took the successful 2011 revival of the legendary series and added a heap of extra content on top. The game returns to a two-dimensional plane of combat and to the brand's roots: a tournament between worlds, brutal fights, and the infamous finishing moves that once helped push the genre onto newspaper front pages. Battles work with a meter that can be spent on a boosted special attack, breaking the opponent's combo, or a devastating X-ray hit that shows bones breaking in close-up detail. Systemically it's a surprisingly deep fighter that's also accessible, since anyone can grasp the basics within a few minutes.

The Vita version includes the full story campaign, which walks the player through a narrative that switches between characters across chapters, plus added fighters that were sold elsewhere as paid content. It also arrived with an expanded challenge tower holding several hundred tasks, including new ones built specifically around the handheld's abilities, namely touch and tilt controls. Technically it was a solid port: resolution and some effects took a step back, but the pace of the fighting stayed intact, and the dark, grimy atmosphere of the arenas works even on a smaller screen.

Reviews welcomed the portable version warmly, highlighting especially the sheer amount of content that made it one of the most content-rich fighters on the console. Criticism was aimed at the technical compromises and a less stable online mode. The 2011 revival of the series had a major impact on the whole genre with how heavily it leaned on a large story campaign and companion modes, which quickly became the standard. In the Vita version, it's still a fighter you can sink dozens of hours into even solo, since there's enough content to last for weeks. At the same time, it's a game that nicely reminds you why the series once stirred up such heated debates about violence, and why it managed to keep its audience regardless.