Gamers who want to feel the adrenaline of high-risk gambling can do no better than blindly paying full price for a video game port. Some ports rock, likeDeath Strandingon PC, but they just as often fall short of expectations. MostMortal Kombathandheld ports haven’t been great so far, withMortal Kombat 1on the Switch taking the crown for the worstMKport yet.
If you happened to getMK1for PC, Xbox Series X|S, or PS5, you’re in for one hell of a great time. Not only isMK1a genuinely great modern fighter, but it also looks great. That, however, actually poses a problem for those who want to experience it on their aging Nintendo console. NetherRealm Studios wisely refrained from putting its high-end fighter on the past-gen Sony and Microsoft consoles. Sadly, the company forgot that the Switch hardware would also struggle to run it.
The result is a game that’s broken in many aspects. Ports for older hardware naturally feature worse graphics, and this one sure does, but the problems here go far beyond just that.MK1for the Switch also hosts a myriad of graphical and mechanical bugs that are pretty hard to justify.
Yeah, Switch version rocks!#MK1#MortalKombat1#MortalKombat#Switch#bugpic.twitter.com/oLwivYnrQE
(Please note that whileShang Tsung is a highly mischievous sorcerer,shrinking into oblivion isn’t one of his listed powers)
And it doesn’t just stop there. Players have also complained about terrible framerates, visual glitches, and even slowdowns in the menu. We can’t blame all these problems on old hardware limitations. This port just feels rushed, or at the very least, wasn’t optimized well for the system. Honestly,MK1on the Switch verges on unplayability.
But good things could be on the horizon
Ed Boon, one of the co-creators of theMortal Kombatseries, has admitted that the Switch version ofMortal Kombatneeds fixing. He has stated that NetherRealm is working onfinding and solving all of the problems plaguing the Switch version.
We can only hope that, someday, the Switch version of MK1 will become acceptable. However, with the state the game is in now, a lot of work needs to be done to get to that point.
In the meantime, you can now enjoyMortal Kombat 1on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and, if you have forgotten everything you just read, on Switch.
