Mortal Kombat 11

Version 1.0.0. At time of testing (May 2024), there is a patch available to version 1.0.26.

Mortal Kombat 11 is one of those games that requires download to unlock most content. There is still some content on the cart, but it is pretty bare bones.

To start, when reaching the menu, there are four options:
*Konquer
*Fight
*Kustomize
*Learn

Out of these four options, only “Fight” and “Learn” have available elements/features. Any mode that is unavailable will have a statement that says: “Please connect to the internet to update your game to access this feature.”

“Konquer” mode, which includes the “Story” mode, “Towers of Time”, “Klassic Tower” and “Kript” are not available on cart. This alone cuts out a major portion of the game.

Under the “Fight” menu, the player is able to access “Local” or “Tournament.” “Online” and “AI Battle” are not available on cart. With Local play, the player can play against a CPU or against another human player. Tournament mode only allows human vs human fights with a tournament format. Under both Local and Tournament modes, the player is able to select 12 characters. There are a total of 25 character slots but only 12 are available, all other characters are blacked out.

Characters available are as follows:
*Raiden
*Skarlet
*Kabal
*Jade
*Kano
*Sonya
*Johnny Cage
*Cassie Cage
*Geras
*Scorpion
*Sub-Zero
*Baraka
***Please note, I tested all 12 characters and they are definitely all available on the cartridge.***

There are also 10 available arenas on the cartridge. Overall, there are 22 arenas that are shown on screen, but only 10 are available on cart, and the rest are locked. Arenas available are as follows:
*Shaolin Trap Dungeon
*Tarkatan War Kamp
*Lost Hive of the Kytinn
*Shinnok’s Bone Temple
*Koliseum Beast Pen
*Cyber Lin Kuei Assembly
*Shang Tsung’s Island Ruins
*Goro’s Lair
*Black Dragon Fight Klub
*Tank Garage Bunker
***Please note, I did test all 10 arenas and they are definitely all available on cartridge.***

Under the “Kostimize” option, there appears to be an option for “Characters” and “Kollection”. I assume that this would allow character customization and to view any items the player has obtained throughout their playtime, but this option is not available on cart and is locked behind the download.

The last thing remaining on the cart is under the “Learn” option. Here, the player can only select “Practice” or “Tutorial.” “Fatality Training” is locked behind the download. Under practice, the player can program an AI opponent to a specific skill set and then battle that AI opponent. I did not spend much time here, but there are a lot of customizable options available to the player so that the AI can perform certain moves or attacks. There is even an option to record a portion of the practice session if the player chooses to do so. There are 8 available slots for these recordings. Under this mode, the player has access to the same characters and arenas that were mentioned previously.

Under Tutorial, there are lessons available to the player to learn the fundamentals of the game. The only tutorials available are the Basics, Advanced Offense, Advanced Defense, Frame Data, Building Kombos, Advantage and Pressure, and lastly Positioning and Resources. I was able to test all Basic tutorials and some of the Advanced Tutorials. Some of the other tutorials were too advanced for me, and I was unable to complete them, but they are available on the cartridge.

Character lessons are not available under Tutorial, and appear to be locked behind the download. There is some verbiage that says “Koming Soon,” but I wasn’t able to get this unlocked.

Now let’s talk about performance and visuals. Let’s be honest, this is not the greatest looking game on the Nintendo Switch. The characters and environments look really blurry. But I will say that it doesn’t look too bad in handheld mode, which is my method of play. During gameplay, it’s not really that noticeable. It looks pretty decent when fighting on screen. What doesn’t look so good, in my opinion, is when characters are making their entrances, when characters do a fatality, or when doing special moves. The camera pans in for a closer shot of the action, which allows you to see the game assets more closely, and it just doesn’t look very good. But, ultimately, it gets the job done sufficiently enough.

The reason behind making the game look this way, I would assume is to make the game run as well as it can on this hybrid console. And here is where the game shines, as it seems like the game is running consistently on a high frame rate. The game is pretty responsive and feels like a Mortal Kombat experience, which personally, I would prefer over visuals.

Even with all this said, there is still a minor issue that occurs. There are times when the game seems to be loading in and it causes the game to freeze for a moment. For example, on one occasion, when I did a Fatality on an AI character, the game seemingly froze for a few moments after the fatality was performed. Finally, I heard the announcer say “Fatality” after a few moments of the game seemingly loading. There were a couple of instances where something similar to this happened. Not a huge deal, but worth mentioning.

Languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish (LAT), Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese.

Audio Languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish (LAT), and Brazilian Portuguese.

Difficulty options: Very easy, Easy, Medium, Hard, and Very Hard.

Accessibility options: None

No DRM found. Played handheld mode on my Nintendo Switch OLED.

Ultimately, there is some content available on cartridge, but there is not enough content for a fully priced purchase. Maybe it is worth it if you can find it heavily discounted.