A package titled Mortal Kombat Kollection Online has been "rated" in Europe, to which I say; hard Brexit now. This Kollection was announced before, as a complete remake of the first three games in the series. But I would be astonished if it was. It feels inevitable that this is going to be yet another package of the arcade originals Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2 and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. It’s very difficult to get especially excited about the prospect of yet another re-release of these titles. While they’re classics, they’re not games I have ever particularly enjoyed playing. Far too difficult for me, with all the really cool stuff (Fatalities, Babalities, Friendships) locked behind inputs that I can never remember anyway, on the rare chance I eke out a win against the cheating AI, or non-cheating-but-vastly-superior friends.

You know what I’d like? The PS2 games. That’s (yes!) Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Deception and Armageddon. Throw in Shaolin Monks, too, because it’s great. Those games are baffling at times but rammed to the gills with really fun content. I’ve talked about the ludicrous Konquest mode in Deception before, but the Armageddon one is fun too, closest to something like Battletoads and Double Dragon with its brawling gameplay supplemented with environmental traps and navigation.

The Mortal Kombat series as a whole has so many weird, interesting games that have never seen the light of day since their original incarnations. Certainly titles like Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Special Forces aren’t good games by any measurable standard, but why should only the best stuff get compiled? Where’s my Aero the Acro-bat Trilogy?

We’ve all played Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 a jillion times. I wanna play Shaolin Monks again. If Mortal Kombat Kollection Online turns out to include anything besides what I’ve predicted, I’ll eat my own backside. I’ll do it, too. ANALITY. (You cannot use the word “anality” – Ed)

• Stuart Gipp
• mortal kombat
• Mortal Kombat Mythologies
• Netherealm