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Good: Tons of content, unique and hilarious fatalities

Bad: Load times

In my opinion, Mortal Kombat Deception is the best of the post-arcade era of the series (which includes Deadly Alliance and Armageddon). It featured a healthy cast of characters that each feature two fatalities and a "hara-kiri," as well as a wealth of unlockables. While many PSP owners are growing tired of ports, this actually seemed like a decent pick for one. MK: Unchained does the original proud in many ways, but also makes it worse experience in a few regards.

Unchained is almost a direct port, with a few minor exceptions. It has added a few characters (including series favorites Shao Kahn and Goro), as well as making the "unlockables" from Deception available at the very start. In my opinion, this greatly diminishes the replay value of this title. I spent countless hours in the Konquest mode of the original with the sole intention of unlocking every single character. Making them readily available takes away the main incentive for playing through the otherwise ho-hum mode.

For those that haven't played the original, Konquest follows a new character named Shujinko as he grows from an unskilled teenager to an elderly master of martial arts. You travel the many realms of MK, collecting "koins" and learning much about the fighting system. It's not terrible, but it would be if it was a stand-alone action/adventure game. It's decent if you take it for what it is an added mode in a fighting game.

As a fighting game, it's entirely competent and oftentimes very entertaining. First-time players might get turned off by how stiff the engine feels, but it becomes more natural once you start learning the special moves. This is not a Soul Calibur, you can't pull off fancy combos during your first time playing. You have to find characters you like, and spend time in training learning all of their moves.

The trademark of the series has always been the over-the-top fatalities at the end of battles. Armageddon, the latest console installment of the series, did away with this sacred feature in favor of a terrible "dial-a-Fatality" system. Thankfully, some of the best fatalities in series history are present in Unchained. On top of each character featuring two fatalities, they also have access to a "hara-kiri" suicide option. At the "Finish Him!" screen, a character can kill themselves in gruesome fashion if the button input occurs before the fatality strike. It makes no real change to the gameplay, but it's an interesting and funny new twist on the fatality system.

On the visual end of things, Unchained does the console versions proud. The blood and guts still fly with abandon, and the characters still look like the same goofy action figures as always. Liu Kang still sounds absolutely ridiculous, and there's enough cheesy screams and grunts to fill a vault of bad B-movies. Music is par for the course, and MK vets won't find anything to complain about.

Despite my complaints about the readily-available characters, my only main problem with Unchained is the constant load times. It's a good game for sure, but significant waits between each fight make it a less-than-great portable experience.

Graphics: 8.0

Sound: 7.5

First Play: 7.0

Replay Value: 6.5

Gameplay: 7.0

Overall: 7.1