Ultimate Mortal Kombat for DS

As a fan of the Mortal Kombat Series, I was excited about Ultimate Mortal Kombat before it was released back in 2006. The series had evolved from a fairly simple fighting game, to influence music, movies, and gamers of every generation. It had some rough spots during a couple of the games, including some major glitches, but these were overlooked by the dedicated throngs that have spent hours of life wasting away learning new combinations and fatalities. Each game has been addictive in its own way, and it takes awhile to get the moves down just right, so you can defeat Shao Khan and win the game on any level of difficulty.

Upon its release I immediately bought it, and played it so much that I lost some sleep. However, I was a bit disappointed immediately, because this is basically Mortal Kombat 3 repackaged, however its portability made up for it in some regards. The main issue for me was portability, as the DS would go on road trips, and hide in my jacket pocket while at work. There's always a time and place to get in a few quick rounds of MK, so it was great being able to take it with me anywhere. There were some improvements over some of the graphics glitches that occured during 3, as I noticed they weren't behind when making a lot of fast moves. Also, there were no more frozen screens, which was an absolute annoyance in the past.

The one thing about this game, is there are plenty of characters to choose from, and a couple that you can unlock. For the unlockables, I wasn't that thrilled with Ermac, because he is a watered down version of Reptile and SubZero. However, Mileena is vicious with her kicking abilities, and can render any opponent out of action in just a few seconds. My favorite character is Reptile, because much like in the previous edition, you can make him disappear, and shoot a hideous green venom that can be lethal when paired up with combinations. As usual Subzero rocks with his ice throws and freezing opponents in midair, and I totally dig Liu Kang. There's something funny about that silly scream he makes when doing the mid air kicks, and his fireballs are as dangerous as ever.

The addition of Sheeva is hilarious. Sheeva can jump up, and land on an opponent, which appears to cause a lot of pain with her size. I really like Kurtis Stryker, who is apparently a police officer on Earth, and his machine gun and grenade throws are challenging against any opponent. The robots Cyrax, Sektor, and Smoke are awesome, even though they have a lot of similar moves. With the exception of Cyrax, they can leap next to your opponent from the other side of the screen, and knock take care of business quickly. Cyrax is especially dangerous though, because he has a net that he can use, which captures his opponent and renders him helpless for a couple of seconds.

Scorpion makes a return with his flying dagger and yelling, and Sonya Blade blows deadly kisses. Her partner from the past Jax now has his retrofitted arms, so he can do some damage with these metallic devices. I like how one of his moves has an earthquake effect, as you throw his fist into the ground, and your opponent shakes with it. Its not a major damage causing move, but its a lot of fun. Nightwolf is a decent character, but I found his moves with the exception of the tomahawk, to be fairly mild. Likewise for Kabal, who is limited with the exception of spinning his oponent and using what appears to be crowbars. Sindel has a scream that you don't want to hear, so I would avoid using her as a character, unless you like fingernails across the chalkboard. Kung Lao is back with his hat tossing routine, which I like, and you can use the character changing Shao Tsung.

The graphics are a bit smoother with regards to movement than MK3, but its really just the same thing, with the exception of a few new characters. I am pleased that the screen doesn't freeze up anymore, and the graphics from the game look really good on the DS screen. The images are all clear, and you can see a bit more of detail on the characters faces and weaponry with this version. Otherwise, expect the graphics to be a little bit dated, and the fight scenes are much the same as the previous edition.

The sound is as good as the DS can provide, which is fine for portable gameplay. Its always hilarious to hear Scorpion yell his classic lines, and to hear Liu Kang do his noise with the kicks. The sound is essential for the fatalities, and in this regard I was very happy with it. The fatalities in this version are just downright brutal, so please do not allow small children to play this, unless you want them to stay up all night and keep you awake because of it. They are as bloody as I've ever seen, and there's just nothing worse than getting chopped up in thousands of pieces or getting thrown onto nails.

The replay value is decent for this, and if you get tired of the traditional kombat, you can always switch to the Puzzle Kombat. This is Tetris with a MK twist, and as you try to put the pieces into position, there are characters up top fighting it out. It is a bit cheesy, but its a worthwhile diversion if you are doing something unimportant, like working. Due to the different levels, it will take you awhile to beat this game, and Motaro and Shao Khan are as stingy as ever. It didn't take terribly long to get through Motaro on easy level, but Shao Khan is never a free lunch. He is one of the best villians ever on a video game, and I just think his taunting you while fighting, can sometimes make you fight better or distract you from the task at hand.

Now that this game is a couple of years old, you can easily buy it used for around $19. It is available at most used video game retailers, or online at Ebay. I think it is a game worth purchasing if you are a fan of the series, and you want a bit of Kombat while out on the road. However, gamers that only think of this as a casual fighting game, might be a bit disappointed in it. As for the learning curve from Sony to Nintendo, it wasn't that hard with its user friendly controls, so if you have experience you'll have the combos and fatalities down in no time. The only real problem about this game is now I can't get the song out of my head, but there are worst musical pieces out there.