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Gamers on the go have had their fighting fix for a while now with the releases of Tekken, Capcom Collection, and even a Midway Collection that had Mortal Kombat 1, 2, and 3. Many wondered if those games were all gamers would see from the MK series on the PSP, or was it just a tease for better things to come. The answer is Mortal Kombat Unchained, and while the essence of the game is literally MK Deception on the go, the wonky d-pad, useless analog stick, and load times keep the game from reaching portable greatness on the PSP.

All the problems, keep in mind are no fault of Midway's, but within the confines of the PSP that really wasn't built by a fighting fan, this is to be sure. Nevertheless, if you were able to adapt to MK from the Midway collection, then consider this a must buy as you have already prepared yourself for the worst parts of this game. On a whole though, MK Unchained is a very faithful port of Deception with a few added goodies such as modes and characters that didn't see the light of day on the home consoles.

Visuals on the PSP are top notch and continue to explore the deep and complex world of the MK universe. The character models are extremely detailed, move fluidly even with all the fighting style variances and changes on the fly, and the backdrops supply some very cool multi tiered new levels, as well as reliving some old favorites from older versions of MK. The blood is back and flows like sweet wine-buckets and buckets of sweet wine. There is indeed no limit that team Boon feels could not be reached. The team continues to find new ways to shock their audience with new and far more brutal fatalities. With larger levels, stage fatalities, great looking and unique player models, ultra violent content, and a load of extra hidden goodies for fans of the series, you can enjoy MK on the go with eye pleasing results on the PSP. It must be noted that there are substantial load times that may break the rhythm of any good fighting fan, but if this fan is playing on the PSP, they are already use to shoddy load times.

Game play is where the series hits the love/hate relationship between fighting fans. I am not going to get into the haters, as there is no convincing them otherwise no matter what argument you may present to them. If you are not a fan of the MK style of fighting, then by all means stop reading this article, as you opinion will not change. For the rest of us who adore the series, you can rest assured that this game plays just as fluidly, deep, and with many complex combos that will have you mastering that one favorite of yours to take on all comers. This is of course taking into consideration that either you have A) gotten use to the terrible d-pad, B) have become acquainted and familiar with the nub analog stick, or C) Got the cool Tekken D-Pad converter for fighting fans. I mean lets face it, the PSP wasn't built with us in mind, and therefor it took a fighting fan to devise a great peripheral to make fighting games not only more tolerable, but now playable. For the unfamiliar, the MK series works off a set of combination button presses that result in some killer combos. As like last year, the MK series has branched off into adding more depth in the form of fighting styles. Each character has three such fighting styles, which are unique to each character, two fighting and one weapon style. The depth comes in the form that you can switch back and forth to any fighting styles on the fly. This not only keeps your opponent on their toes, but also throws a bit of diversity in the mix. The key to being successful is waiting for your opponent to make a mistake or leave themselves open. Added this year to the mix is a combo breaker that will help players who are helpless against the barrage of combination punches that string repeatedly. The CPU A.I. has gotten the juice to feel much more like a human player than in previous versions. You will find that the CPU will react to combos, moves, and techniques and even seems that they learn your tendencies, which will make things much more difficult as the game progresses. What hasn't been looked into as of yet is a way to counter those damn juggles. If you find a character who can string a combination of juggle hits on you, it is near impossible to defend against it. With that minor quibble out of the way, which is one that fans are used to by now, devotees to the MK series will find the game play in this Deceptions a step above Deadly Alliance, with just enough new additions that will give hope for sequels to come.

Mortal Kombat Unchained has the most replay value of any fighting game on the PSP. You obviously have your combat mode that acts like an arcade mode. You play against the CPU or human, but against the CPU, you will move along the tier of enemies until you defeat the final boss. You are then treated to character endings and credits. Added to the series this year is a slew of new modes that will keep players busy for quite sometime. You have the Konquest Mode that puts you in the story of a young man who wants to be like his famed heroes from the Mortal Kombat tournaments. You will progress though this story, meeting people, training, collecting items, and finding unlockables. This mode is a fun little single player adventure mode that will keep players busy for a few hours and allows them a different way to find the goodies hidden in the game. Next, you have once of the coolest additions added to a fighting game in quite some time. Chess Kombat replicates the old Battle Chess series from my childhood. You choose your pieces that will be represented by fighters of your choice. The object is to get to the champion, or king, piece and win the game. That catch here is that even though you may have out-witted your opponent on the chessboard, you must still take that piece in true Mortal Kombat style. Lastly, the Boon team has added a game mode that is also a classic replication, but has no one-on-one fighting of any kind. In Puzzle Kombat, you play a Tetris or Super Puzzle Fighter knockoff title as characters of your choice duel on the bottom of your screen. The fighting that goes on below has no real significance on your game, but the animations and goings on are cool - and they are animated in the big head anime variety as well. Toss in a new endurance mode that allows you to fight a never-ending number of baddies to see how many you may defeat in a row. What makes MK Deception so phenomenal is that all of these modes, with the exclusion of Konquest and endurance, can be played online against people all over! With MK online, the old feeling of competitive one-on-one play is back, but now in the privacy of your own home instead of a sweaty arcade hall. Now it is time for all you so-called Mortal Kombat champions to put up or shut up.

This is what fans have been waiting for. This is the definitive Mortal Kombat title for handhelds. You have more fatalities, self-fatalities (hara-kiri), stage fatalities, more characters, four deep modes of play, unlockable Krypt items, and online play. PSP gamers by now most likely will own this already if you are MK fan. Keep in mind that in the end, this is a great port of MK Deception, and with a few new characters and the endurance mode, the game now with Armageddon on shelves may feel a bit dated already. But hey, MK fans are still playing the old 16 bit versions, so dated isn't even an issue right?