Mortal Kombat vs DC was a pretty good game, but not a pure Mortal Kombat game. Too many Mortal Kombat games tried to be something special when the answer was simple, go back to the roots. That is just what they did with this game, and with more than the title. (Of course that is why we commonly call it Mortal Kombat 9) Also the Playstation 3 version has Kratos.

This game's story mode begins with Raiden getting pulverized by Shao Kahn. Right as Raiden is about to die, he sends a message to his previous self from the first game and says 'He must win!' Of course this is incredibly vague, so the past Raiden from the original game assumes that this is for Liu Kang to win, and therefore does what he can to ensure this happens. The story mode has the player going as different characters through each chapter. Most of the cutscenes seamlessly go into a fight, and are all well animated and surprisingly well voice acted. I would actually go to say that the story mode for this game would by good enough to have as a movie. Because each chapter has the player as a different character, it gives him/her an opportunity to find his/her favorite easily, without the annoying trial and error of constant versus matches. The story has sixteen chapters, with the first five being the story of the first Mortal Kombat, the second six chapters applying to Mortal Kombat II, and the last five are the story of Mortal Kombat III.

The gameplay goes back to series roots by being on a 2D plane which means that up is jump and down is crouch again. The controls are a little different. In the old games the buttons were for high and low punches and kicks, it seems this time that it refers to each limb, similar to Tekken. The controls for most special attacks are taken straight from Mortal Kombat 3, meaning that being good at Mortal Kombat 3 will likely make you good at this game. The fatalities are however different from Mortal Kombat 3. A lot of attacks will launch an opponent in the air, and like in Mortal Kombat 5, a player can juggle the opponent with certain attacks. Speaking of launching in the air, there are attacks, such as the air throw which shockingly is like the regular throw, but only works in the air. The large combos are gone, instead it goes back to a full slugfest. It is still possible to do long combos by combining regular attacks with special attacks but it requires more skill and figuring out than just remembering a combination of buttons, which for me have always felt more like putting in a cheat code, and therefore I have always preferred to think up my own combos, I feel it shows me as a better player. The game features several fatalities for each character, some gorier than others, and also there are stage fatalities which change by stage, not character despite the fact that the controls are different for each character. The babalities are a welcome return from Mortal Kombat 3 which can only be done if you haven't blocked. The game features a new, incredibly gory feature which is X Ray moves. These can only be done when your bar at the bottom is filled. What these do is a slow motion attack which zooms in and shows the bone and organ damage. It really is quite gruesome, but that is what Mortal Kombat is all about. I like it. The bar used for X Ray moves can also be used for c-c-c-combo breakers which do just that, and also enhance attacks which apply to a special attack and improve it by either improving the effect, the size, and/or the damage.

The game has a new mode called challenge tower. This is 300 challenges, each rewarding you with Koins, which is pretty kool.(Sorry) The challenges consist of survival fights, limiting fights, and the good old Test Your Might and Sight challenges. To go with the classic ones there are the new Test Your Strike and Luck challenges. Test your strike is like test your might, but instead of just increasing the bar, you have to make sure it doesn't get too high else you will fail. The test your luck is just that. A slot machine will come up and choose who you will fight and with what restrictions. There is also a mode where you can practice your fatalities, or at least the ones you have unlocked.(Each character has one unlocked at the start) This mode will show you what to press, and where to press it. It's a pretty good way to find out how to humiliate people online after you have beat them, assuming that you actually beat them. The game also features the classic tournament tower which is as simple as beating the opponent to get to the next round.

The game's graphics are really nice looking in the fights and cutscenes, and the blood looks very realistic, staying on the floor. Each character has incredible detail, which is only amplified in parts when the camera zooms in such as at the end of a fight. The gory parts of the game are well done, and when a character is cut in half for example all of the organs and bones can be seen split accurately to the attack. The way the characters react to getting shredded up is incredibly realistic which is appropriate. The only downside to the graphics would have to be the 2D characters which look vector based and to me just look bloody awful. At least they are recognizable, but a lot of the colors for example are wrong. Besides this the graphics look really nice, some of the best I have seen in a fighting game.

The soundtrack is rather quiet, especially when compared to the sound effects. The music when you can hear it is actually well done, especially the remixes of old tracks, which are used on the old stages. I like the ability to change the music to the old music, but my main problem with the soundtrack is that it is just too quiet. I don't really have much more to say about that, mainly because I can't really hear it.

In my not as grand as it should be conclusion I will say that this is one hell of a game and I recommend it to not only Mortal Kombat fans, but to fighting game fans everywhere. This is one beautifully made game that looks truly amazing and would probably sound great if I could hear it. The controls are well mapped, and the online has little problems with lag.(Though they do happen) This game is so fun to play in multiplayer, and despite having done pretty much everything on it, I still play it. I give the game a huge 9.8 out of 10. This is one damn good game.