It is now officially May 1st and you can now buy Mortal Kombat for the PlayStation Vita at your local and online retailers. It should be made available for direct download to your Vita via the PlayStation Network late afternoon (Central Time).
To celebrate Warner Bros and NetherRealm also released a brand new trailer for the game, check it out below.
We also were lucky enough to get our hands on an advanced copy of the game to prepare a comprehensive review for you, our readers. Overall we feel the game is the best portable version of any Mortal Kombat game to date, despite taking a necessary graphical step backwards from it's big console brother. Not only does the game play just like Mortal Kombat (2011), it also delivers even more content and features for a lower price tag. We rated it a 4 out of 5 but be sure to read our complete review for even more details.
We're not alone either in our feelings it seems. As reviews are showing up online everywhere and the overall consensus is pretty positive. Here's a quick recap of reviews so far and their scores, we will add more as they come in through out the day.
To wrap things up here is the official Press Release from Warner Bros on the Release of the Game.
MORTAL KOMBAT NOW AVAILABLE FOR PLAYSTATION® VITA SYSTEM
Burbank, Calif. – May 1, 2012 – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and NetherRealm Studios announced today the exclusive release of Mortal Kombat for the PlayStation®Vita handheld system in North America. Making its debut on the new handheld device, the acclaimed fighting franchise delivers lethal action to gamers on-the-go, priced at $39.99.
“Mortal Kombat for PlayStation®Vita allows us to bring the best possible fighting experience to our loyal fans - anytime, anywhere,” said Ed Boon, Creative Director, NetherRealm Studios. “The game runs at a seamless 60 frames per second, and provides unique gameplay modes and features that take advantage of PlayStation®Vita’s exciting new hardware capabilities. Mortal Kombat for PlayStation®Vita is the ultimate portable fighting game and provides hours of fun for mobile gamers.”
Selling more than three million units worldwide, the reinvention of the franchise was released on consoles in 2011. Mortal Kombat became the highest-selling fighting game of the year and won numerous “Best Fighting Game of 2011” awards, including Spike TV’s 2011 Video Game Awards, Game Informer, Official Xbox Magazine and GameTrailers.com.
Bringing new and exclusive content to the PS Vita system, this edition of Mortal Kombat offers over-the-top fatalities and cringe-worthy X-ray moves. Players will get to test themselves with 150 brand new Challenge Tower missions, including touchscreen Fatalities, Test Your Slice and Test Your Balance. Players can also take the fight to their friends wherever they go with local multiplayer using ad-hoc connectivity or against friends near and far with a Wi-Fi connection.
The legendary fighting game is now available exclusively for the PS Vita system in North America.
For more information about Mortal Kombat, please visit www.themortalkombat.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mortalkombat or on Twitter @MK_Mortalkombat.
This is an incredible $60 savings, a deal that may not be matchable for a while. So run, do not walk, over to Amazon to place your order now before May 12th.
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike OE(Side Tournament)
Admission is only $10 for EVO games or $5 for side games. Plus they have lots of prizes for players: like iPhone accessories, PDP Mortal Kombat Sticks and even one winner will go home with their a copy of Mortal Kombat for the PS Vita AND a PlayStation Vita to play it on!
Sounds like it's a no brainer for people in the NYC area looking for some competition this weekend. Good luck to everyone who attends, break a leg or two X-ray style!
Anyone who has played through the new exclusive Bonus Challenge TowerMortal Kombat on the PlayStation Vita's knows how hard some of the challenges can get.
When you reach Challenge #130 you may even ask yourself: "Who thought up the challenge to hit Shao Kahn 60 times in 60 seconds? This is impossible!"
Well we say to please refrain from smashing your Vita, as the fine folks at NetherRealm Studios stepped up to show how it's actually possible in a new video. In the video below they clear the challenge with 8 seconds to spare!
But you may be thinking, that's a narrow margin of Victory. What's the lowest someone can get? Well our reader @Iam_FACEL3SS has an answer. He video recorded himself doing it in 30 seconds flat!
Do you have a few tough spots in the Bonus Challenge Tower that you need help with? Or doy you have a tip that someone may have looked over? Then head on over to our Bonus Challenge Tower Strategy thread.
Artists will often display their concept art on their websites after a game is completed as part of their résumé, which can offer a glimpse into an alternate version of the game, or feature stuff that was never put to use for various reasons. In the latest example, Daanish Syed, an artist at NetherRealm Studios, has posted some unused concept designs from various Mortal Kombat projects over on his website. The posts appear to be a few months old, but too good not to share with the community.
One of the most interesting concepts comes from the PlayStation Vita port of Mortal Kombat (2011), which demonstrates an impressive Interactive Main Menu using the touch-screen. Unfortunately, this didn't make the game, likely due to time constraints.
Here's an original proof of concept for Mortal Kombat (2011)'sKing of the Hill mode, complete with MK trivia and a humorous cell phone warning from everyone's favorite ninja specter.
Last but not least, here's some avatar themes from a would-be Xbox 360 dashboard theme. While Xbox users got Mortal Kombat themed avatar costumes, no dashboard theme was ever offered. The theme sections appear to be styled after some of the arenas from the game.
Hello, my name is Scott Ellison. I am the Editor-In-Chief at Saving Content, a site I started last year with some close friends so we could discuss our opinions on games while bringing a fresh review process. Being friends with Patrick for a long time, he and I discussed joining forces for this year's E3 to bring the most information from the show floor directly to you.
What will be we covering you may ask? Well we know that WB Games will be present at E3, likely with their upcoming games Lollipop Chainsaw and LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes. However at this time we don't know if Netherrealm Studios will showing anything at the show. If they do have something new for the show, I will do my best to bring all the information and media I can muster. In addition to that I'll be looking at what Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo may be showing this year that may be important for Mortal Kombat fans.
If you want something outside of the scope of just Mortal Kombat, then head over to Saving Content where I'll be writing up things I see, play, do, and run into on the show floor, including pictures and video. I'll also be at the Microsoft and Ubisoft E3 Briefings, live-tweeting as it happens.
So what do you have to do to prepare for us going to E3? Best thing to do is if you are on Twitter follow @TRMK, @SavingContent and my account @Hawk_SE for the most up to date news. If you prefer Facebook, then you can also Like both TRMK and SavingContent's Pages on Facebook for updates.
By doing that, you'll have an endless stream of news pouring in, and more than what you'll know what to do with and be the first of your friends to share it for consumption.
GameSpot has finally posted their comprehensive 20th Anniversary Mortal Kombat Retrospective documentary. GameSpot stops by NetherRealm Studios and Chicago Wushu to interview the team members about the genesis of the original Mortal Kombat. Over the twenty minutes they sit down and interview the game's sole programmer Ed Boon, character and animation artist John Tobias, background artist John Vogel, audio engineer & composer Dan Forden, Carlos Pesina who played Raiden, Daniel Pesina who played Johnny Cage and the ninjas, and Ho Sung Pak who played Liu Kang and Shang Tsung.
This was really well done and I'm hoping we see further documentaries from various outlets as this year continues.
This morning, Injustice.com came online and is showing a surprise teaser for NetherRealm Studios' next fighting game, based in the DC Universe, Injustice: Gods Among Us. This is to be NetherRealm's second fighting game to feature DC Universe characters since the Mortal Kombat crossover Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, produced when the studio was still Midway Games. Unlike Mortal Kombat (2011), it looks like Injustice will also be available on the new Nintendo Wii U, in addition to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Currently, the release date has been broadly set to sometime next year, 2013.
The Injustice website is currently live with a few renders of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Harley Quinn and Solomon Grundy. The website also has Social Media links so that you can follow updates from the game creators directly from the source on both Twitter @InjusticeGame and Injustice on Facebook.
Update 9:40AM: Now Gamespot has an interview up with Ed Boon about Injustice that goes into detail on the arenas and how they matter to the game. Also how DC Comics let them re-envision the character models a bit with their own twists.
Update 10am: We now have the full Press Release which you can read in it's entirety below:
WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES
Injustice: Gods Among Us
New Fighting Game Franchise from the Makers of Award-Winning Mortal Kombat Franchise Revealed
BURBANK, Calif. – May 31, 2012 – What if our greatest heroes became our greatest threat? Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment today announced Injustice: Gods Among Us, an all-new game in development by award-winning NetherRealm Studios, creators of the definitive fighting game franchise Mortal Kombat. The game is scheduled for release in 2013 for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and the Wii U™ system from Nintendo.
Injustice: Gods Among Us debuts as a bold new fighting game franchise that introduces a deep, original story featuring a large cast of favorite DC Comics icons such as Batman, Harley Quinn, Solomon Grundy, Superman, The Flash, Wonder Woman and many others. Set in a world where the lines between good and evil are blurred, players will experience heroes and villains engaging in epic battles on a massive scale.
“With Injustice: Gods Among Us, we are creating an all-new franchise with incredible battles set in the DC Comics Universe,” said Martin Tremblay, President, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “NetherRealm Studios is the extremely talented team behind the latest Mortal Kombat hit and it is developing a game unlike any other in the fighting genre.”
“We can’t wait to reveal Injustice: Gods Among Us because it will give our fans and gamers an epic experience as they battle like gods as their favorite DC Comics villains and heroes,” said Ed Boon, Creative Director, NetherRealm Studios. “Our team is excited to make a fighting game that is filled with fast-paced action, incredible story-telling and iconic DC Comics characters.”
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