Fellow fatality fans, it seems there's currently a bit of a problem in the six realms, as Mortal Kombat 1, a game that received a scathing review from yours truly for its hideous Switch performance, has been made unavailable to either purchase or download via the Nintendo Switch 2 eShop. However, if you already own the game on Switch 1, then you can indeed play it on the console.
You can understand this writer's surprise when trying to locate a game that they'd already purchased in order to retest its performance on Nintendo's slick new console, only to be met with no way to get it on said console. Taking a look at the game on the eShop, it's greyed out and tells us that it's incompatible with the Switch 2. Flipping over to Nintendo's official list of incompatible games does show us MK1 has a problem, but it simply says "issue is being investigated".
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However, if you already own the game and are having the same issues in trying to get it on your Switch 2, simply make sure to do a full and proper system transfer from your OG Switch - which you hopefully had done anyway - and the Virtual Game Card will pop up in your collection.
Simple, straightforward, but still confusing enough when players aren't entirely au fait with the ins and outs of the new console.
Now, the most interesting part of all this, to us at least, is once you manage to download the game, it looks far less blurry and plays much, much better. Incompatible my arse, as the man says. Menus that used to crawl to the point you might turn it off before getting into a fight, are now slick and quick to browse through. That's a huge improvement, and the resolution seems to have auto-upgraded itself to a very crisp level.
The fights feel properly smooth, it's fully enjoyable - well, it has been for the ten or so scraps we've had...and even the (almost entirely dead) online is working. Oh, and the loading times, which were awful, are now almost non-existent. It's all very zippy.
In bouts, the graphics are still noticeably downgraded, and the transitions between cutscene and fight, which are so magically seamless on next-gen consoles, are clunky-looking as a result. But! And it's a big old but, it plays better.
It's not entirely free of micro-stutters during cutscenes, and maybe it still chugs somewhere along the line during the huge campaign, but hey, you can now play and enjoy this game fully - which given it was truly unplayable or thereabouts, is a good thing! And, if you own the Definitive Edition there's a ton of fun solo stuff to be doing here, even if the online is a ghost town.
So, unavailable to purchase or download on Switch 2 as it may be, if you own it already (or just buy it on your Switch 1 and then transfer it), now is the best time to dive into Mortal Kombat on a Nintendo console.
Do you own Mortal Kombat 1? Tried it on Switch 2 yet? Let us know how you are finding it in the comments!