Portable Kombat: How MK X Stacks Up On Mobile & Tablet

Mortal Kombat X for mobiles and tablets is not quite what we’d call a traditional companion app. Although there are certainly ties to its console and PC brethren, this app can be played as a standalone version of NetherRealm’s latest gorefest, albeit a slightly watered down one. Still, for the sweet price of nothing, it’s certainly worth checking out, even if it doesn’t give you a real taste of the full MK X package.

Given the unwieldy gesture-based control schemes associated with mobiles and tablets, NetherRealm has pared back much of the core fighting mechanics found in Mortal Kombat. Instead of having buttons allocated to kicks, punches, blocks, and grapples, the app serves up a much simpler system requiring only two thumbs. Swiping the screen will begin a basic combo whereas holding the screen with both thumbs will trigger a block.

The only advanced mechanics in play here are Mortal Kombat’s super moves. Fill the rage meter to a certain point and you’ll be able to unleash some serious damage via one of several precision-based mini-games. Although far from ingenious, they help to break up the flow of combat, as does the presence of teammates. From time to time, players can switch between fighters, allowing the others to catch their breath. Overall the combat system works well, mirroring similar design patterns such as those used in Marvel: Contest of Champions and WWE Immortals (also developed by NetherRealm).

The enduring appeal of these titles, as well as Mortal Kombat X on mobile and tablet, is the presence of daily challenges and unlocks. By logging in each day and completing tasks, players will gradually scrape together various currencies in order to purchase new perks and characters. Aside from enlisting nameless ninjas and commandos, you can draft in a number of the game’s main cast including Jax, Scorpion, and Johnny Cage. Although their movesets have been scaled down, there’s still some iconic specials to be seen and even the occasional fatality.

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For many, the biggest obstacle will be the way in which Mortal Kombat X is structured. There’s no story mode here or traditional online matches. Instead, you’ll go up against a series of increasingly challenging towers, working your way to the top before moving onto the next. Inevitably this ramp in difficult will require players to farm XP and items in order to improve their team.

Play well and often enough and soon you’ll start to unlock various perks for the console versions of the game. These include “Koin” drops as well as a number of quirky albeit non-essential alternate costumes.

If you consider your mobile or tablet to be your primary gaming device then Mortal Kombat X will definitely appeal to you, at least for a short while. Its fight mechanics are infinitely more accessible than those in the full-fat console version and it also looks a treat too. Just don’t be bummed out when that grind starts to kick in and you find yourself slowly eyeing up the microtransaction store.

This appeal will be reduced even more significantly if you happen to already own Mortal Kombat X on other platforms. Although the bonus unlocks will attract super-fans, the rest of the game will feel redundant and a major step back.

1 Comment

  1. Still not on the play store though

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