I’m honestly more astonished they even attempted to do this at all given this game was never even targeting PS4/Xbox One either. This was very clearly just attempting to get some extra cash out of a very large install base of people who likely don’t have access to the current gen versions
shadow0wolf0
I’m really happy when reviewers actually give bad reviews for games, feels like the worst score you can give is a six or seven nowadays. Good job ign.
All_Eyez_On_U
And that image is not helping
Animegamingnerd
They really should have just waited a year and do a next-gen port at launch instead.
Really hope, they just give everyone who bought this trainwreck of a version a free upgrade like the PS5 and Series X versions of MK11 got if a next gen Switch version is indeed in the plans.
-_-Predditor-_-
FATALITY!
timisher
MK11 has a difficult time running on switch. This stood no chance.
earbox
what a pile of Krap.
Vncpls
This should’ve never been a thing. If they wanted something to sell on the Switch, i dunno, just port Injustice 1 and 2 or something. Maybe work with another dev team to get Switch it’s own MK instead of porting this. This just feels like a waste of time and resources.
mindofdoot
I know there’s probably gonna be a lot of updates later on, but this is a rough looking port with too many graphical glitches to be ignored
tombsflow
I can’t wait to aww hogwarts legacy on the switch lol
Smacback
I think it’s a accurate score. MK11 launched on switch In a much better state. Biggest problem with the switch version is the inconsistent gameplay, and lack of change for hardware. MK11 had a lot of work done to it to run as intended on switch, that meant making character select screens simpler, have higher load times without animated loading screens, reduce the amount of objects and physics in the backgrounds, and MK11 on switch did good in focusing on character models/lighting/ and maintaining frame rate.
MK1 for switch did not change shit and unfortunately they should have changed more than MK11 since they had the time to do it. They had been working on this port for a long time, they should have known that 4 characters on screen would not allow 60fps and bouncing from 60>30 is terrible mid gameplay. Character select screens and gear and customization is terrible and loads awfully slow. Some backgrounds have way way way too much going on for the switch to handle and to also have 2 fully rendered characters.
A few solutions would have been: lock the resolution to 480p docked, lock fps to 30, have a static image character selector and customization, change or recolor complex shades of clothes and hair (oh god definitely the hair) so that it remains consistent with the characters design, add more detail or at least iron out buggy effects on main character models (main character models are the most important thing since that is what is front and center in your game!) and finally add a static loading screen with a nice background of the location we are fighting and fully load the characters details. I would rather wait 20 more seconds and see a character fully rendered then to see one that looks like playdough. I don’t understand why they didn’t try to implement any of what they learned in mk11 switch that worked in the increasing performance.
pacman404
I played the switch version and I think it’s totally playable, the problem is that it’s 70 bucks. If it was 24.99 or 30 it would be exactly what you expect and you would have fun with it 🤷🏽♂️
Digibutter64
> When I first heard that Mortal Kombat 1 would be skipping the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles
I don’t see why it wouldn’t. It would be like if this also released for Wii U.
Fluffytheterrible
Absolutely savage and absolutely deserved. I mean, look at the title image. It looks like it’s from Deadly Alliance on the PS2
Kasroc
Only reason this exists is because of how well MK11 sold on switch
undressvestido
70$ for that version of the game GOD DAMN
Early_Lawfulness_348
All the boys think she’s a spy. She’s got Betty Davis eyes.
Mild-Ghost
I hope the upcoming Borderlands 3 Switch port doesn’t turn out this way.
NemoNowAndAlways
Not surprised, I had to uninstall Mortal Kombat 11. It ran smoothly, but the graphics were hideous and, even worse, the load times were so insane that I literally found myself falling asleep waiting to play (single player!) matches.
ImNutUnoriginal
I know this port was gonna be at least decent but $70 shouldn’t be a reason to release this port
AcidCatfish___
The sudden praise for IGN now reminds me of the recent IGN video by Dunkey.
Lupinthrope
Someone on this sub said they prefer the switch version to the Steam Deck version lol
edcline
If this is a 3/10 what released game deserves a 2 or a 1?
Throwaway753045
That thread on this sub from yesterday had half the users defending this port. Why are we settling for such botched versions of games? everything toned down or taken out of this port to make it more stable is just so forced. I get that it took work to bring this over, but if it’s this unstable and this much of a mess dont even bother.
Certaintly dont charge *70* dollars for it.
Dreamweaver_duh
As someone who played MK11 on PS4 (at launch), MK11 on Nintendo Switch was a really good port all things considered. The character models and X-Rays/ Fatalities, arguably the most important part of the game, looked great despite the downgrades. Sure, the game ran worse, and The Krypt was laughably bad, but it was a solid port otherwise.
This? This looks like it shouldn’t even exist. The only good thing about this version is that it runs natively on the Switch instead of being a Cloud version (I heard it runs at 60fps as well), but how could they do such a good job with MK11 and do such a bad job with MK1? I expected it to at least look as well as MK11 on Switch.
greedyiguana
This was your chance to call it mortal Kombat 1 out of 10
Crowbar_Faith
I know money is money, but if you can’t reach a certain standard of quality on a certain game system, then just don’t release it for that system.
deathjokerz
Eye-popping review
Stylu_u
IGN giving a bad score
must be THAT bad
GotDemMadUps
What a shame. MK11 was such a better port compared to this, what happened???
humble_janitor
Why does MK1 get put through the ringer, but Scarlet/Violet get protected in a fortress, with 24/7 nintendo nerds on duty?
slime00012
Wait, did they also review the Switch version?
I didn’t know IGN reviews on different platforms.
Houeclipse
Honestly they should have waited for Switch 2 to come out and then port it there
stevenomes
So mortal combat 11 is better on switch than the new one?
Trap_Lord85
I mean is anyone really surprised by that? Honestly? Only really good games on the switch are Nintendo made and indies
Zeles1989
hey we at least got 3 right boys? Let’s go!!
tothemoonigoes
I can’t pay 70 dollars for a fighting game. Hell no. I know the cutscenes are beautiful but I also saw them all for free on YouTube
liquid_profane
Yeah, yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.
Sebswag29
I my self love to play the switch but just why it looks so bad even the MK11 switch looks better then this idk how they messed it up so badly
LiliumPapillon
I bought the previous MK for Switch. And it runs and looks pretty awful. So i have no hope for this one.
ThePikesvillain
I’m not going to buy it yet because I will never pay more than 30% MSRP for a Mortal Kombat game, but honestly it looks like the gameplay is all intact and the real worst part is just the load times. It definitely doesn’t look good, but neither did MK11 and I had fun with that. This reminds me of the Ark Switch release where every review was supremely negative and everyone online was dogpiling on it but at the end of the day I honestly had a really good time playing it. It was not broken, the game worked perfectly fine, the graphics weren’t good but it had its moments where it almost looked decent and again, it was the full game and it worked.
I think I am more leaning towards Switch Up’s review when it comes to MK1: they basically said it is fun, the game works and has a pretty reliable frame rate, it doesn’t look great, there are some visual bugs that hopefully get patched, absolutely do not buy it for the prerelease $100 and it probably should not even be $70, but if this is your only way to play it and you enjoy Mortal Kombat games then get it and you will have fun with it.
salartarium
It’s interesting to me that it looks this bad after their new engine upgrade. You’d think they could improve the graphics from the last game after switching to Unreal 4. If it’s just a lazy port I wonder why they didn’t put resources in it considering how well MK11 sold on the Switch.
Goozy89
Listen, mortal kombat is the last game I’m thinking of or want to play when I turn my switch on. Why this even happened is beyond me.
Well actually, 11 did well so I get it. But wow. I’m also the same person that’s gonna install the Arkham trilogy so what do I know hahaha
NylesRX
Give me the copium comments, I beg you. In the meantime, let me get my thoughts out. This is the Switch we’re talking about, if by now your expectations aren’t at all tempered, you have no clue what you’re going on about. I’m positively surprised it runs as well as it does at launch.
1. From the looks of it the reviewer is playing docked, which historically is a lesser priority for the devs than handheld. As a Switch reviewer, you either know you are deliberately asking for trouble, or are just plainly ignorant when playing docked only, so that’s a bit disingenious. I was curious, so I replicated the exact scenario from the video on my Switch handheld – the load up time was 20s, with a single unsignifcant stutter during the opening scene and the combat started and continued smoothly.
2. The game handheld plays in stable 60, capping at 30 whenever a Kameo pops up on screen. Other than that, the framerate is generally very stable and in no way hinders you from hitting your inputs, which should be a fighting game priority.
Having finished the story, I feel like I’m going insane. The enitre discourse around the Switch launch feels like drama baiting. If you’re reviewing the game for the Switch, the least you should do is understand what it’s capable of. Everyone doing a 1:1 comparison to the PS5 is out of their minds. MK11 wasn’t that much better at launch.
strangegoo
I think a Switch-exclusive MK1 could have worked if they decided to give it it’s own distinct artstyle and not try to push…whatever this is. Kind of like when Smash was on 3DS and WiiU, they were the same game, but 3DS had those thick outlines. A more “cartoony”/exaggerated version of MK would have worked, imo.
46 Comments
Ouch…
I’m honestly more astonished they even attempted to do this at all given this game was never even targeting PS4/Xbox One either. This was very clearly just attempting to get some extra cash out of a very large install base of people who likely don’t have access to the current gen versions
I’m really happy when reviewers actually give bad reviews for games, feels like the worst score you can give is a six or seven nowadays. Good job ign.
And that image is not helping
They really should have just waited a year and do a next-gen port at launch instead.
Really hope, they just give everyone who bought this trainwreck of a version a free upgrade like the PS5 and Series X versions of MK11 got if a next gen Switch version is indeed in the plans.
FATALITY!
MK11 has a difficult time running on switch. This stood no chance.
what a pile of Krap.
This should’ve never been a thing. If they wanted something to sell on the Switch, i dunno, just port Injustice 1 and 2 or something. Maybe work with another dev team to get Switch it’s own MK instead of porting this. This just feels like a waste of time and resources.
I know there’s probably gonna be a lot of updates later on, but this is a rough looking port with too many graphical glitches to be ignored
I can’t wait to aww hogwarts legacy on the switch lol
I think it’s a accurate score. MK11 launched on switch In a much better state. Biggest problem with the switch version is the inconsistent gameplay, and lack of change for hardware. MK11 had a lot of work done to it to run as intended on switch, that meant making character select screens simpler, have higher load times without animated loading screens, reduce the amount of objects and physics in the backgrounds, and MK11 on switch did good in focusing on character models/lighting/ and maintaining frame rate.
MK1 for switch did not change shit and unfortunately they should have changed more than MK11 since they had the time to do it. They had been working on this port for a long time, they should have known that 4 characters on screen would not allow 60fps and bouncing from 60>30 is terrible mid gameplay. Character select screens and gear and customization is terrible and loads awfully slow. Some backgrounds have way way way too much going on for the switch to handle and to also have 2 fully rendered characters.
A few solutions would have been: lock the resolution to 480p docked, lock fps to 30, have a static image character selector and customization, change or recolor complex shades of clothes and hair (oh god definitely the hair) so that it remains consistent with the characters design, add more detail or at least iron out buggy effects on main character models (main character models are the most important thing since that is what is front and center in your game!) and finally add a static loading screen with a nice background of the location we are fighting and fully load the characters details. I would rather wait 20 more seconds and see a character fully rendered then to see one that looks like playdough. I don’t understand why they didn’t try to implement any of what they learned in mk11 switch that worked in the increasing performance.
I played the switch version and I think it’s totally playable, the problem is that it’s 70 bucks. If it was 24.99 or 30 it would be exactly what you expect and you would have fun with it 🤷🏽♂️
> When I first heard that Mortal Kombat 1 would be skipping the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles
I don’t see why it wouldn’t. It would be like if this also released for Wii U.
Absolutely savage and absolutely deserved. I mean, look at the title image. It looks like it’s from Deadly Alliance on the PS2
Only reason this exists is because of how well MK11 sold on switch
70$ for that version of the game GOD DAMN
All the boys think she’s a spy. She’s got Betty Davis eyes.
I hope the upcoming Borderlands 3 Switch port doesn’t turn out this way.
Not surprised, I had to uninstall Mortal Kombat 11. It ran smoothly, but the graphics were hideous and, even worse, the load times were so insane that I literally found myself falling asleep waiting to play (single player!) matches.
I know this port was gonna be at least decent but $70 shouldn’t be a reason to release this port
The sudden praise for IGN now reminds me of the recent IGN video by Dunkey.
Someone on this sub said they prefer the switch version to the Steam Deck version lol
If this is a 3/10 what released game deserves a 2 or a 1?
That thread on this sub from yesterday had half the users defending this port. Why are we settling for such botched versions of games? everything toned down or taken out of this port to make it more stable is just so forced. I get that it took work to bring this over, but if it’s this unstable and this much of a mess dont even bother.
Certaintly dont charge *70* dollars for it.
As someone who played MK11 on PS4 (at launch), MK11 on Nintendo Switch was a really good port all things considered. The character models and X-Rays/ Fatalities, arguably the most important part of the game, looked great despite the downgrades. Sure, the game ran worse, and The Krypt was laughably bad, but it was a solid port otherwise.
This? This looks like it shouldn’t even exist. The only good thing about this version is that it runs natively on the Switch instead of being a Cloud version (I heard it runs at 60fps as well), but how could they do such a good job with MK11 and do such a bad job with MK1? I expected it to at least look as well as MK11 on Switch.
This was your chance to call it mortal Kombat 1 out of 10
I know money is money, but if you can’t reach a certain standard of quality on a certain game system, then just don’t release it for that system.
Eye-popping review
IGN giving a bad score
must be THAT bad
What a shame. MK11 was such a better port compared to this, what happened???
Why does MK1 get put through the ringer, but Scarlet/Violet get protected in a fortress, with 24/7 nintendo nerds on duty?
Wait, did they also review the Switch version?
I didn’t know IGN reviews on different platforms.
Honestly they should have waited for Switch 2 to come out and then port it there
So mortal combat 11 is better on switch than the new one?
I mean is anyone really surprised by that? Honestly? Only really good games on the switch are Nintendo made and indies
hey we at least got 3 right boys? Let’s go!!
I can’t pay 70 dollars for a fighting game. Hell no. I know the cutscenes are beautiful but I also saw them all for free on YouTube
Yeah, yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.
I my self love to play the switch but just why it looks so bad even the MK11 switch looks better then this idk how they messed it up so badly
I bought the previous MK for Switch. And it runs and looks pretty awful. So i have no hope for this one.
I’m not going to buy it yet because I will never pay more than 30% MSRP for a Mortal Kombat game, but honestly it looks like the gameplay is all intact and the real worst part is just the load times. It definitely doesn’t look good, but neither did MK11 and I had fun with that. This reminds me of the Ark Switch release where every review was supremely negative and everyone online was dogpiling on it but at the end of the day I honestly had a really good time playing it. It was not broken, the game worked perfectly fine, the graphics weren’t good but it had its moments where it almost looked decent and again, it was the full game and it worked.
I think I am more leaning towards Switch Up’s review when it comes to MK1: they basically said it is fun, the game works and has a pretty reliable frame rate, it doesn’t look great, there are some visual bugs that hopefully get patched, absolutely do not buy it for the prerelease $100 and it probably should not even be $70, but if this is your only way to play it and you enjoy Mortal Kombat games then get it and you will have fun with it.
It’s interesting to me that it looks this bad after their new engine upgrade. You’d think they could improve the graphics from the last game after switching to Unreal 4. If it’s just a lazy port I wonder why they didn’t put resources in it considering how well MK11 sold on the Switch.
Listen, mortal kombat is the last game I’m thinking of or want to play when I turn my switch on. Why this even happened is beyond me.
Well actually, 11 did well so I get it. But wow. I’m also the same person that’s gonna install the Arkham trilogy so what do I know hahaha
Give me the copium comments, I beg you. In the meantime, let me get my thoughts out. This is the Switch we’re talking about, if by now your expectations aren’t at all tempered, you have no clue what you’re going on about. I’m positively surprised it runs as well as it does at launch.
1. From the looks of it the reviewer is playing docked, which historically is a lesser priority for the devs than handheld. As a Switch reviewer, you either know you are deliberately asking for trouble, or are just plainly ignorant when playing docked only, so that’s a bit disingenious. I was curious, so I replicated the exact scenario from the video on my Switch handheld – the load up time was 20s, with a single unsignifcant stutter during the opening scene and the combat started and continued smoothly.
2. The game handheld plays in stable 60, capping at 30 whenever a Kameo pops up on screen. Other than that, the framerate is generally very stable and in no way hinders you from hitting your inputs, which should be a fighting game priority.
Having finished the story, I feel like I’m going insane. The enitre discourse around the Switch launch feels like drama baiting. If you’re reviewing the game for the Switch, the least you should do is understand what it’s capable of. Everyone doing a 1:1 comparison to the PS5 is out of their minds. MK11 wasn’t that much better at launch.
I think a Switch-exclusive MK1 could have worked if they decided to give it it’s own distinct artstyle and not try to push…whatever this is. Kind of like when Smash was on 3DS and WiiU, they were the same game, but 3DS had those thick outlines. A more “cartoony”/exaggerated version of MK would have worked, imo.