NetherRealm Studios’ Mortal Kombat 1 is now available on PC, Xbox Series, PS5 and, curiously, the Nintendo Switch. While the latter port is a miracle for Switch users, it’s also a hilariously ugly version of the new fighting game.
Mortal Kombat fans took to social media last week to show off the hilariously downgraded version of NetherRealm’s otherwise stunning fighting game. The top-of-the-line visuals of the game’s current-gen console versions have been heavily chipped away to reveal a functional-but-shocking port.
Mortal Kombat 1’s Switch graphics look pretty great during, well, combat. From the standard perspective, character details are quite good and textures aren’t awful. Even stages look pretty damn great for the Switch’s underpowered Tegra X1 hardware.
However, when you get close to characters, Mortal Kombat 1 on Switch looks hilariously rancid. Faces specifically look reminiscent of PSP ports, lacking any detail whilst sporting eyes that look into abyss, longing for a soul.
During intro animations or fatalities, the faces of Mortal Kombat 1 characters are hilariously out of place. Completely lacking any detail or emotion, the otherwise fine models are ruined by plastic faces that look like a poorly-painted Kenner figure from the 1980s.
However, it is disingenuous to call the entirety of Mortal Kombat 1 on Switch “rancid”. In fact, for the most part, NetherRealm has pulled off another fantastic Switch port, although those faces do need to be fixed in an update.
Nevertheless, there are some gamers who believe the Switch port of Mortal Kombat 1 is a “ripoff”. Despite offering a wealth of content, online commenters claim the game shouldn’t cost full price on Switch due to its graphical downgrades.
With the Nintendo Switch 2 at least a year away from launch, this is the best we should expect from new AAA games releases on Switch. While there are genuinely some rough visuals on display, Mortal Kombat 1 on the Nintendo Switch is pretty damn good. Well, if you don’t count the microtransactions.
Mortal Kombat 1 is now available on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and Nintendo Switch. No Xbox One and PS4 version is planned.