Video: Digital Foundry's Technical Analysis Of Mortal Kombat 1 On Switch

It's definitely time for a Switch 2!

I'd rather these types of ports skip the Switch entirely. if WB / NetherRealm want income from Switch, they'd be better off giving us the classic entries instead.

Since the switch release this sites comment section told me I was a graphic whore for thinking 720p games weren’t “good enough”. Happy to see it took a whole generation to finally get people on board.

This just looks awful, even for the Switch hardware. It runs and looks worse than Mortal Kombat 11, it’s filled with bugs and textures don’t even load. Fortnite runs on the same engine, at a much higher resolution, yet looks and runs much better than Mortal Kombat 1. Hogwarts Legacy’s Switch port makes me worried now. And regarding @Balbommebite‘s comment, new hardware won’t stop terrible ports like this. It will only get worse.

I decided to go with the PS5 version. I love my switch despite it's weak hardware when it comes to third party games but I'm not paying 70+ dollars on a half ass job. Maybe down the road if a patch does a decent job of getting the game up to par with what switch is actually capable of and the price goes down I'll still consider the switch version.

@sikthvash Yep. Some games are better off not releasing on the Switch at all.

Mortal Kombat 1 is excellent on XBOX/PS5 and should have just skipped the Switch.

i must admit im enjoying the story mode in the game, though the graphics are a big letdown

I would never pay so much money for such an unfinished product.

Shame as MK11 actually runs really well on Switch.

Maybe a hot take but NRS's portable ports have left a lot to be desired since the Vita days so I'm just not surprised. That said, I wonder if this version would have benefited from coming out after the other platforms? Even then, I question how long they'll support stuff like the Invasion mode on the switch version.

My friend was showing me this on Switch last night, and yeah, it definitely lacks the graphical wow factor of the other versions, it seemed perfectly playable. There are a few stutters here and there, but nothing that bad. It feels like people are making a bigger deal about it than it is. Of course the Switch version will be a technical downgrade, but the gameplay is what matters. If they can smooth it out a little with a patch, it'll be great.

how could Mortal Kombat 1 have such abismal perfomance on Switch, when Mortal Kombat 11 on Switch run so well?what happened for MK1 to be so bad on Switch? i fear Hogwarts Legacy on Switch might face the same situation off lMK1

I watched a video comparing them and my take away is that neither version is for me. The sound of the bones breaking is just too much for my delicate constitution. I liked the originals when I was a kid but the smaller characters and pixel graphics made ripping someone’s spine out seem comical where here it seems…accurate. No thanks

@Giancarlothomaz
MK1 is a glitchy mess while MK11 wasn't. MK1 actually runs at a higher resolution and comparable gameplay performance to MK11, but it's hard to notice when the textures/animations aren't loading in properly and the framerate is crashing during cutscenes.

This should surprise noone.
Props to them for trying to get this on Switch, but as expected the sacrifices made are just too much.
I find the Switch visuals hard to look at sometimes because it seems like it's out of focus.
Skipping this entirely on Switch. I would have rather a Klassic Kollection of the arcade and SNES trilogy for Switch.

The switch is basically a portable Wii U. I don't think that's always a bad thing but it can't keep up with games built on stronger hardware. I don't blame them for porting a mediocre version of MK1 since the developers know switch fans will take anything at this point. Once you're used to watered down experiences and day 1 updates, your expectations drop faster than Mario taking a barrel to the head 😄

The Switch doesn't need this type of violent trash in its library to begin with.

An obvious cash grab.
Ready for Hogwarts Legacy people?

I feel it needed a bespoke version really. The 'dial eveything down to lowest settings' still wasn't enough for a 60fps game. The slow down with assist characters really looks like it breaks the games flow, even with the drastic drop off in visual quality.

@sixrings No kidding. Even native switch games that started to struggle, you had people like "That's okay!"

Switch was fine in it's early years, but as first party titles started to demand more of the hardware, it was clear the switch as it stands just isn't capable of keeping up. Not without severe sacrifice, and even then it sometimes struggled.

My personal opinion. I find the port is marvelous for how old is the Nintendo Switch technology. But I don’t like to much fighting games.

I've managed to get it for 35€ and the game looks worse than MK 11 but it's totally playable and the story mode is really good.
I'm hoping that the update with come sooner rather than later to make it the perfect bargain for me 👌

@FatBeverly

The Switch eshop is filled with softcore Hentai games.

I think that’s a bit worse. MK violence is funny. It’s comedy for comedy’s sake. And it’s a good fighting game at its core that backs that silly violence up.

Those Hentai games are literally worthless trash.

They should have delayed the Nintendo port for Switch 2 next year.

Just give us the original trilogy, I'd be SUPER stoked to have the first three games running at 60 FPS on Switch ALL DAY. This is just BS.

@FatBeverly There's alot worse on the switch. With that said MK1 isn't the only violent game on the switch. Nintendo has made sure to market the switch as console for everyone of all ages.

Im not a fighter game veteran, though I've played a few games in the Mortal Kombat library. It's violent, yes, but at the same time it's so over the top that it's cartoonish. Even the dialogue pokes fun at itself.

It's not a trash game though. In it's core are very solid fighting mechanics that actually requires you to pay attention and improve. The series even goes an extra mile to include an a story and entire lore for it's universe

There's alot of care put into the series that makes it far from trash.

@FatBeverly Agony exists on the Switch.

A lot of talk of Switch 2 being the reason why this has technically screwed up on the Switch 1. No, it's the devs. They had good experience of making a Switch game through MK XI that needed patching. Okay, this is a different engine but they do understand the system.

Shame, as the modes sound really good.

@Giancarlothomaz

Mk 11 was a last gen game. Mk 1 on the other hand is a current gen game...and the Switch is mostly comparable in brute power with last last gen mostly.

Take for example the GBC...ports from NES games like Super Mario Bros or Ghost and Goblins were excellent and even improved.
Ports from SNES games like Donkey Kong Country and MegaMan X were graphically worse but managed to still add a free surprises and be fairly good if limited conversions.
But GBC ports from even newer games like Street Fighter Alpha and Resident Evil 1 were ridiculously compromised. The little thing just couldn't manage so much, plain and simple, no amount of developer wizardry would be able to put RE1 on GBC in any decent form.

I'm enjoying it. Playing thru the story on my bed on my switch. A game here and there at work. It would be prettier on Xbox series that I got to but portability and the fact that it runs at all, I like it, but that's just me.