ortal Kombat’s fighting system has always been pretty solid, and over the years the control scheme has been honed to a science. The Wii takes that finely tuned machine and jams a motion sensitive stick in it. All of the basic attacks have been moved to the Wii remote’s d-pad, which is awkward enough by itself. The bigger change is that the special moves are now associated with controller movements. For example, you’ll swing the remote in a half circle to throw a fireball. The fighting system isn’t destroyed – it works okay – but doesn’t feel as responsive or speedy as it does with a good old gamepad. Fortunately, you can use a Gamecube or Classic controller and resolve this issue, but I wouldn’t put this version over any of the others.

Armageddon also comes packed with the RPG-like Konquest Mode and kart racing Motor Kombat, but neither really feel fleshed out enough to be more than a mild distraction. Hopefully, with the push to next-gen, this series steps up and does something more than just re-processing sequel after sequel. Until then, MK will just be one of those games I can get crazy and have fun with, but am a little too embarrassed to tell my friends I played the morning after.