Digital Foundry's Mortal Kombat 1 Review

[Juxtapose]

Last weekend, Digital Foundry reviewed the console versions of Mortal Kombat 1:

Looks like near identical play on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, smart nips and tucks with excellent performance on Xbox Series S, and problems on the Switch (aside from the visuals).

@fr stack You may find the above video informative. Playing handheld, don't worry about a lot of the visual critiques, it's the performance one's you'll want to pay attention to. Again, as someone who's played this version, once it's been patched more to (hopefully) get a stable frame rate, and sees a price drop, it'd be good as a handheld version.

 

[kabelfritz]

not a great review considering the amount of actual technical issues this game has.

 

[Juxtapose]

not a great review considering the amount of actual technical issues this game has.

Digital Foundry is a tech review website. They focus on hardware performance, the game engine, graphics tech, etc.

 

[kabelfritz]

Digital Foundry is a tech review website. They focus on hardware performance, the game engine, graphics tech, etc.

i know what they do. last time i checked the game stuttered in singleplayer too and online issues as black screen, 99% sound disappearance and fake pings are not out of their scope.

 

[Dankster Morgan]

The switch is embarrassing, no wonder they hid screenshots and used a PC on low to fake what the game actually looked like. And to think they're charging full price for it, what a joke.

 

[Juxtapose]

i know what they do. last time i checked the game stuttered in singleplayer too and online issues as black screen, 99% sound disappearance and fake pings are not out of their scope.

Perhaps they simply didn't occur in their testing.

I had no issues in Story Mode at all, for example.

They didn't seem to cover online play and focused more on graphical and general performance.

I've had sound disappear twice, a tutorial and a single match amounting to maybe 2 minutes out of 33 hours of play, so it seems rare (and thus may not have occurred in their time with the title).

The switch is embarrassing, no wonder they hid screenshots and used a PC on low to fake what the game actually looked like. And to think they're charging full price for it, what a joke.

It's not the visuals that bug me, that's expected. The frame rate issues need to be addressed. A reduced cost/partial refund would be nice too.

 

[kabelfritz]

I had no issues in Story Mode at all, for example.

it might have to do with xbox quick resume, that can mess some games up. still, DF territory if so.

 

[Dankster Morgan]

Perhaps they simply didn't occur in their testing.

I had no issues in Story Mode at all, for example.

They didn't seem to cover online play and focused more on graphical and general performance.

I've had sound disappear twice, a tutorial and a single match amounting to maybe 2 minutes out of 33 hours of play, so it seems rare (and thus may not have occurred in their time with the title).



It's not the visuals that bug me, that's expected. The frame rate issues need to be addressed. A reduced cost/partial refund would be nice too.

It’s just stupid as fuck they made an absolute abomination in the switch port but couldn’t make a gimped PS4 version.

 

[Juxtapose]

it might have to do with xbox quick resume, that can mess some games up. still, DF territory if so.

That could be. I have not tried Quick Resume with the game yet.

I love the feature overall, but use it sparingly (usually for something like, say, Diablo II: Resurrected when I have yet to find a Waypoint and don't want to do a lengthy slog again, or to circumvent the Checkpoint bug in Gears 5: Hivebusters).

Having worked closely with IT for 20 years, I'm a fan of clean boots of software.

It’s just stupid as fuck they made an absolute abomination in the switch port but couldn’t make a gimped PS4 version.

The thing is, it's clearly evident they could have made a PlayStation 4/Xbox One versions as well. Having said that, I'd prefer games target current gen only now. We've reached that point. And I say this as someone who still uses his Xbox One X (as a back up/casual use console).

My suspicion as to why it's on Switch: the publisher wanted the title on the latest platform for each of the major companies, since Mortal Kombat is a big money maker. For Nintendo, that's the Switch as a whole.

 

[Juxtapose]

For those interested, in their latest DF Direct Digital Foundry discusses the Switch port further and how things can be addressed:

Jump to 34:00 minutes if the time inbed didn't work in the link.

 

[Gooberking]

It’s just stupid as fuck they made an absolute abomination in the switch port but couldn’t make a gimped PS4 version.

Honestly, Switch is probably a cash grab situation that doesn't exist on PS4. There really isn't a lot of reason or incentive to make and maintain a PS4 version of a game they seemed to be struggling to get out the door in the first place. Then there are the inevitable questions about where the Xbox One version is if a PS4 version exists, and it's probably easier all around to just say "Current gen only" and end that conversation.

Switch on the other hand can be a trash port and it's still going to sell like crazy just because how many people have them. I can't find the per platform sales, but I remember when KP did a 4x Elder God KL run and was commenting on how effortless it was to find games on Switch. He never had to wait for a game. Anyone taking the game seriously wasn't playing on Switch, but there were people out there and there may have been a lot of them

 

[Juxtapose]

Honestly, Switch is probably a cash grab situation that doesn't exist on PS4. There really isn't a lot of reason or incentive to make and maintain a PS4 version of a game they seemed to be struggling to get out the door in the first place. Then there are the inevitable questions about where the Xbox One version is if a PS4 version exists, and it's probably easier all around to just say "Current gen only" and end that conversation.

Switch on the other hand can be a trash port and it's still going to sell like crazy just because how many people have them. I can't find the per platform sales, but I remember when KP did a 4x Elder God KL run and was commenting on how effortless it was to find games on Switch. He never had to wait for a game. Anyone taking the game seriously wasn't playing on Switch, but there were people out there and there may have been a lot of them

The Switch's sales sky rocketed through the pandemic. As I recall, it's outselling all current generation consoles to this day.

 

[Dankster Morgan]

Well Nintendo fans have absolutely no standards so it’s understandable