Why is the Switch Version of Mortal Kombat 1 so bad?

Gamers who want to feel the adrenaline of high-risk gambling can do no better than blindly paying full price for a video game port. Some ports rock, like Death Stranding on PC, but they just as often fall short of expectations. Most Mortal Kombat handheld ports haven’t been great so far, with Mortal Kombat 1 on the Switch taking the crown for the worst MK port yet.

But what’s so bad about it?

If you happened to get MK1 for PC, Xbox Series X|S, or PS5, you’re in for one hell of a great time. Not only is MK1 a genuinely great modern fighter, but it also looks great. That, however, actually poses a problem for those who want to experience it on their aging Nintendo console. NetherRealm Studios wisely refrained from putting its high-end fighter on the past-gen Sony and Microsoft consoles. Sadly, the company forgot that the Switch hardware would also struggle to run it.

The result is a game that’s broken in many aspects. Ports for older hardware naturally feature worse graphics, and this one sure does, but the problems here go far beyond just that. MK1 for the Switch also hosts a myriad of graphical and mechanical bugs that are pretty hard to justify.

(Please note that while Shang Tsung is a highly mischievous sorcerer, shrinking into oblivion isn’t one of his listed powers)

And it doesn’t just stop there. Players have also complained about terrible framerates, visual glitches, and even slowdowns in the menu. We can’t blame all these problems on old hardware limitations. This port just feels rushed, or at the very least, wasn’t optimized well for the system. Honestly, MK1 on the Switch verges on unplayability.

But good things could be on the horizon

Ed Boon, one of the co-creators of the Mortal Kombat series, has admitted that the Switch version of Mortal Kombat needs fixing. He has stated that NetherRealm is working on finding and solving all of the problems plaguing the Switch version.

We can only hope that, someday, the Switch version of MK1 will become acceptable. However, with the state the game is in now, a lot of work needs to be done to get to that point.

In the meantime, you can now enjoy Mortal Kombat 1 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and, if you have forgotten everything you just read, on Switch.